Interesting Dates in History Flashcards
1
Q
Birth of Confucius
A
BC 551
2
Q
Battle of Marathon
A
BC 490
3
Q
The Second Punic War (The Hannibalic War) begins
A
BC 218
4
Q
Caesar assassinated in Rome
A
BC 44
5
Q
Roman Conquest of Britain begun by Emperor Claudius
A
43
6
Q
Revolt of Boudicca (Boadicea)
A
60
7
Q
Great fire of Rome, lasted 9 days (Nero fiddles, etc!)
A
64
8
Q
Mount Vesuvius erupts – the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash
A
79
9
Q
Building of Hadrian’s Wall begins
A
122
10
Q
St Alban first Christian martyr in Britain
A
304
11
Q
Council of Arles (attended by British bishops)
A
314
12
Q
First Council of Nicaea
A
325
13
Q
St Ninian first to preach Christian religion in Scotland, arrives Solway Firth
A
350
14
Q
Council of Rimini (attended by British bishops)
A
359
15
Q
Battle of Adrianople (important defeat of Roman army by Goths)
A
378
16
Q
John Chrysostom dies
A
407
17
Q
Sack of Rome (by Visigoths)
A
410
18
Q
St Patrick begins mission to Ireland
A
432
19
Q
Beginning of invasions by Jutes, Angles and Saxons
A
449
20
Q
Council of Chalcedon
A
451
21
Q
Death of King Arthur (many think he never existed as a real person)
A
537
22
Q
Columba arrives in Iona and founds the Celtic Christian Church
A
563
23
Q
Birth of Mohammed (Muhammad)
A
570
24
Q
Mission led by St Augustine of Canterbury, converts King Ethelbert
A
597
25
St Paul's Cathedral in London founded
604
26
Edwin is king of Northumbria (overcame all Britain save Kent alone)
617–33
27
Synod of Whitby
664
28
Birth of the Venerable Bede, first English historian
673
29
Lindisfarne Gospels
698
30
First written version of Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf
722
31
Bede's Ecclesiastical History
731
32
Charlemagne crowned Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III
800
33
Alfred the Great reigns (Wessex)
871–99
34
The Battle of Chippenham (Alfred defeated), Alfred burns the cakes, The Battle of Edington (Alfred beats Danes)
878
35
Treaty of Wedmore: England divided between Alfred the Great of Wessex (the south and west) and the 'Danelaw' under Guthram (the north and east)
880
36
Beginning of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle marks revival of learning in England
891
37
Edward the Elder reigns (Wessex)
899–924
38
Æthelstan reigns (England)
927–39
39
Edgar introduces a new coinage – the royal portrait becomes a regular feature on coins
973
40
Vikings explore the North American coast
1004
41
London Bridge torn down by Vikings with grappling irons
1010
42
Canute reigns as king of Denmark, Norway and England
1016–35
43
Macbeth murders Duncan and takes the throne of Scotland
1040
44
Edward the Confessor reigns
1042–66
45
King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peter's Abbey (later Westminster Abbey)
1042–52
46
The Great Schism, when Christianity divided into Western (Latin) and Eastern (Greek) branches
1054
47
Edward the Confessor dies, the battle of Hastings
1066
48
Harold Godwinson reigns for less than a year
1066
49
William I reigns
1066–87
50
Harrowing of the North' (William I punished the innocent with the guilty)
1069
51
Building of Tower of London starts
1081
52
Completion of Domesday Book
1086
53
First crusade begins
1096
54
First record of football in England
c. 1100
55
Henry I reigns
1100–35
56
David I becomes King of Scotland
1124
57
Stephen of Blois reigns
1135–54
58
Portugal becomes independent from Spain
1139
59
Second crusade begins
1147
60
First recorded Mersey Ferry
1150
61
Henry II reigns (m. Eleanor of Aquitaine – he already has Normandy, Anjou and Aquitaine, and is now the most powerful man in Europe)
1154–89
62
Thomas Becket assassinated
1170
63
London Bridge construction in stone started (from tax on wool)
1176
64
Third crusade begins
1187
65
Richard I reigns (Richard the Lionheart)
1189–99
66
Jews of York massacred (150 in number)
1190
67
John reigns (Lackland)
1199–1216
68
Pope Innocent III initiates the Fourth Crusade
1202
69
4th crusade from Venice sacks Constantinople
1204
70
Magna Carta (Great Charter)
1215
71
Fourth Lateran Council defined the doctrine of transubstantiation
1215
72
Henry III reigns (Henry of Winchester)
1216–72
73
Fifth crusade begins
1217
74
Start of building current York Minster
1220
75
Introduction of a poll tax in England
1222
76
Sixth crusade begins
1228
77
Treaty of York signed by Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland – set the border between England and Scotland
1237
78
Henry III begins re-construction of Westminster Abbey
1245
79
Seventh Crusade begins
1248
80
Henry III is forced by seven powerful barons to accept the Provisions of Oxford
1258
81
Battle of Lewes; Henry III captured by Simon de Montfort
1264
82
First elected English parliament (De Montfort's Parliament) conducts its first meeting, in the Palace of Westminster
1265
83
Eighth Crusade
1270
84
Ninth (and last) crusade
1271
85
Edward I reigns (Longshanks)
1272–1307
86
Edward I embarks on the conquest of Wales
1277
87
Edward I (Longshanks) orders all Jews to leave England
1290
88
King Edward I awards Scottish crown to John Baliol
1292
89
Battle of Stirling Bridge, defeat of English Army
1297
90
Battle of Falkirk, Edward I defeats William Wallace
1298
91
William Wallace executed at Smithfields
1305
92
Robert the Bruce crowned King Robert I of Scots
1306
93
Edward II reigns (Edward of Caernarfon)
1307–27
94
Dunstanburgh Castle built by the Earl of Lancaster
1313
95
Scottish and Welsh wars. Bannockburn (Robert the Bruce routed the English)
1314
96
Edward II banned football in London
1314
97
Declaration of Arbroath; a statement of Scottish independence
1320
98
Edward III reigns
1327–77
99
Edward III asserts his claim to the French throne – 'Hundred Years War' begins
1338
100
Black Death
1348–51
101
Charles V (the Wise) becomes King of France
1364
102
Statutes of Kilkenny belatedly forbid intermarriage of English and Irish – Gaelic culture unsuccessfully suppressed
1366
103
Richard II reigns
1377–99
104
Start of the Papal Schism (until 1417) when three men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope
1378
105
The Peasant's revolt (John Ball, Wat Tyler, Richard II)
1381
106
First translation of the Bible into English, by John Wycliffe
1382
107
Treaty of Windsor between Britain and Portugal (unbroken)
1386
108
Chaucer begins writing The Canterbury Tales
1387
109
Henry IV reigns (Bolingbroke)
1399–1413
110
Henry V reigns
1413–22
111
Henry V victorious at Agincourt
1415
112
John Hus, Czech priest, burnt at stake
1415
113
Henry VI (first reign)
1422–61
114
Eton College founded by Henry VI
1440
115
Fall of Constantinople; end of Hundred Years' War
1453
116
Publication of the Gutenberg Bible
1455
117
Wars of the Roses
1455–87
118
Edward IV (first reign)
1461–70
119
Henry VI (second reign)
1470–71
120
Battle of Barnet (Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians)
1471
121
Edward IV (second reign)
1471–1483
122
Caxton sets up a printing press in Westminster
1476
123
Edward IV bans cricket
1477
124
Edward V reigns for less than a year
1483
125
Richard III reigns
1483–85
126
Battle of Bosworth Field
1485
127
Henry VII reigns
1485–1509
128
Columbus encounters America
1492
129
Battle of Deptford Bridge – end of the Cornish rebellion against Henry VII
1497
130
Leonardo da Vinci paints Mona Lisa
1503-5
131
Henry VIII reigns
1509–47
132
Flodden Field
1513
133
Thomas More writes Utopia
1516
134
Luther posts 95 theses
1517
135
Cortez conquers Aztecs
1519
136
Publication of Luther's Three Treatises
1520
137
Publication of Luther’s translation of the New Testament into German
1522
138
Publication of Tyndale's translation of the New Testament into English
1526
139
The Marburg Colloquy (between Luther and Zwingli on The Lord's Supper)
1529
140
Act of Supremacy in England creates Anglican Church
1534
141
Execution of Thomas More
1535
142
Calvin establishes reformed faith in Geneva
1536
143
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
1536–41
144
Henry VIII issues English Bible
1538
145
Thomas Cromwell executed
1540
146
Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory
1543
147
Council of Trent opens
1545
148
Ivan the Terrible crowned Tsar of Russia at age 16
1547
149
Edward VI reigns
1547–53
150
Walloon Protestants arrive to England as refugees from the Low Countries
1550
151
Catholic restoration
1553
152
Lady Jane Grey executed (aged 16)
1554
153
Peace of Augsburg ends religious war in Germany; Charles V abdicates
1555
154
Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer burned at the stake in Oxford
1556
155
The First Covenant signed in Scotland (foundation of the Presbyterian Church)
1557
156
Elizabeth I reigns
1558–1603
157
Publication of Calvin's 'The Institutes of the Christian Religion'
1559
158
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, violence against the Huguenots
1572
159
James Burbage opens first theatre in London
1577
160
Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; Introduction of potatoes to England
1587
161
Defeat of Spanish Armada
1588
162
Edict of Nantes ends French religious wars
1598
163
East India Company founded (British)
1600
164
Stuart monarchy begins in England
1603
165
James I reigns
1603–25
166
Gunpowder plot at Westminster
1605
167
Jamestown, Virginia settled – to become the first permanent British colony in North America
1607
168
King James Bible
1611
169
The Globe Theatre in London burns during a performance of Henry the Eighth
1613
170
Ben Jonson becomes first Poet Laureate
1616
171
Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I
1618
172
Pilgrim Fathers sign peace treaty with Native Americans
1621
173
Charles I reigns
1625–49
174
Parliament dissolved by King Charles I – did not meet for another 11 years
1629
175
Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason – forced Scots to choose between their church and the King
1638
176
Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
1639
177
Charles I forced to recall Parliament (the 'Long Parliament') due to Scottish invasion
1640
178
Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
1641
179
Battle of Alton – victory for Parliamentarians
1643
180
Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces
1645
181
Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years' War
1648
182
Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox
1648
183
Charles I executed in England
1649
184
The Commonwealth
1649-60
185
Oliver Cromwell is Lord Protector
1653–58
186
Formation of the Grenadier Guards, the most senior regiment of the Infantry in the British Army
1656
187
Charles II reigns
1660–85
188
Act of Uniformity
1662
189
Great Plague of London (July-October) kills over 60,000
1665
190
Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June
1666
191
John Milton's Paradise Lost
1667
192
Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury
1675
193
Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
1682
194
James II reigns
1685–88
195
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes – drove thousands of Protestants (Huguenots) from France – many settled in England
1685
196
Newton publishes Principia Mathematica
1687
197
Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens
1688
198
Glorious Revolution
1688
199
The Toleration Act gives legal existence to dissenters
1689
200
Peter the Great's reign begins in Russia
1689
201
William III reigns (William of Orange)
1689–1702
202
Battle of the Boyne
1690
203
The massacre of Glencoe
1692
204
Bank of England founded
1694
205
Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery
1698
206
Population in England and Scotland approx 7.5 million
1700
207
War of Spanish Succession
1702–13
208
Union of England and Scotland (Acts of Union …)
1707
209
First Jacobite rising in Scotland
1708
210
Peace of Utrecht
1713
211
Death of Louis XIV (the Sun King)
1715
212
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
1719
213
South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley – government assumes control of National Debt
1720
214
Robert Walpole becomes first prime minister
1721
215
Treaty of Hanover: France, Prussia, Britain v. Spain, Austria
1725–26
216
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels
1726
217
Irish famine
1730
218
Invention of sextant by John Hadley
1731
219
John Wesley has his conversion experience
1738
220
Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival
1739
221
War of Austrian Succession begins
1740
222
England goes to war with Spain
1742
223
Church of Scotland split over taking of Burgess' Oath – Burghers and Anti-Burghers
1744
224
Battle of Culloden – last battle fought in Britain – 5,000 Highlanders routed by the Duke of Cumberland
1746
225
Benjamin Franklin invents a lightning conductor
1752
226
Treaty of Paris ends Seven Years' War and secures Canada for Crown
1763
227
Introduction of spinning mule: key moment in Industrial Revolution
1769
228
Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay)
1770
229
American Revolution; Smith publishes Wealth of Nations
1776
230
Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii
1779
231
William Blake's Poetical Sketches
1783
232
Wesley breaks with the Church of England
1784
233
French Revolution begins
1789
234
First publication of The Observer – world's oldest Sunday newspaper
1791
235
Wollstonecraft begins feminist movement with Vindication of Rights of Women
1792
236
Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin (in America)
1794
237
Foundation of the Orange Order
1795
238
The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die – Irish Parliament abolished
1798
239
Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
1798
240
Napoleon comes to power in France
1799
241
The Napoleonic Wars
1803–15
242
Battle of Trafalgar
1805
243
Luddite uprisings (machine breaking) in the Midlands against weaving frames started
1811
244
Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice
1813
245
Abdication of Napoleon; Congress of Vienna
1815
246
Peterloo Massacre at Manchester
1819
247
UK: Opening of the first railway
1825
248
UK: Great reform bill
1832
249
Slavery Abolition Act
1833
250
First Potato famine in Ireland
1836
251
Chartism (a working-class movement for the extension of the franchise)
1838–49
252
First Opium War between Britain and China – Britain captures Hong Kong
1839
253
British massacred in Khyber Pass
1842
254
Repeal of Corn Laws
1846
255
Marx and Engels publish Communist Manifesto
1848
256
Charles Dicken's David Copperfield
1849
257
Crystal Palace Exhibition in Britain
1851
258
Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
1854
259
Britain establishes direct rule of India
1857
260
Darwin publishes Origin of the Species
1859
261
American Civil War begins
1861
262
Tolstoy's War and Peace
1865
263
Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
1871
264
Opening of Royal Albert Hall
1871
265
Disraeli and the Tories come to power in Britain – pass 11 major Acts of social reform in next 2 years
1874
266
Edison invents microphone and phonograph
1877
267
Rodin's The Thinker
1880
268
Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, first appearance of Sherlock Holmes
1882
269
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
1883
270
Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn
1885
271
Irish Home Rule Bill
1886
272
Van Gogh's Sunflowers
1888
273
Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
1889
274
Length of a metre defined
1889
275
Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat
1889
276
Henry Ford's first car
1893
277
The National Trust founded in England
1895
278
The Curies discover Radium
1898
279
Start of Second Boer War
1899
280
Freud publishes Interpretation of Dreams
1899
281
Chekov The Cherry Orchard
1903
282
Entente Cordiale (formalised peace between Britain and France)
1904
283
Einstein publishes relativity theory
1905
284
Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
1909
285
Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and dies
1913
286
World War I begins
1914
287
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
1917
288
War of Independence in Ireland
1918
289
Treaty of Versailles ends World War I
1919
290
Fascists and Mussolini come to power in Italy
1922
291
TS Eliot The Waste Land
1922
292
Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
1925
293
Great Depression begins
1929
294
Statute of Westminster (established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom)
1931
295
Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
1932
296
Huxley Brave New World
1932
297
Hitler comes to power in Germany
1933
298
Penguin paperbacks launched
1935
299
Munich pact
1938
300
World War II begins
1939
301
Winston Churchill as Prime Minister
1940
302
Trotsky assassinated in Mexico on Stalin's orders
1940
303
Film Citizen Kane
1941
304
World War II ends; United Nations founded
1945
305
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
1945
306
Alistair Cooke starts his regularLetter from America on BBC radio
1946
307
First Dead Sea Scrolls found
1947
308
India gains independence: sub-continent partitioned to form India (Secular, Hindu majority) and Pakistan (Islamic)
1947
309
NATO formed
1949
310
Korean War starts
1950
311
First episode of The Archers broadcast
1951
312
Stalin dies
1953
313
Everest conquered by Hillary and Tensing
1953
314
Coronation of Elizabeth II
1953
315
Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood
1954
316
Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister
1955
317
Treaty of Rome creates European Economic Community (EEC); Sputnik launched
1957
318
Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
1957
319
Helvetica typeface created
1957
320
Britain and France invade Suez
1956
321
The Beatles formed
1958
322
Race riots in Britain, at Notting Hill and in Nottingham
1958
323
Charles de Gaulle establishes Fifth Republic in France
1958
324
'The Day The Music Died' – plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper
1959
325
The Year that changed Jazz': Miles Davis Kind of Blue; Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Um; Dave Brubeck Time Out; Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come
1959
326
Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa
1960
327
Berlin Wall erected
1961
328
Cuban Missile Crisis; Second Vatican Council begins
1962
329
Nelson Mandela jailed
1962
330
President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1963
331
Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
1963
332
Martin Luther King gives his I have a dream speech
1963
333
Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister
1964
334
Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on Conniston Water
1967
335
Student revolts; Czech "Prague Spring" revolt
1968
336
Martin Luther King (Apr 4) and Robert Kennedy (Jun 6) both assassinated in USA
1968
337
Apollo 11 – First men land on the moon
1969
338
Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
1970
339
Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland
1972
340
President Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal
1974
341
Helsinki Accords - height of détente
1975
342
Suez canal reopens (after 8 years closure)
1975
343
Concorde enters supersonic passenger service
1976
344
Apr 1: Apple Computer formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
1976
345
George Lucas' film Star Wars released
1977
346
John Paul II elected pope
1978
347
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan; Thatcher elected prime minister in Britain
1979
348
SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages
1980
349
John Lennon assassinated in New York
1980
350
Falklands War
1982
351
Women's peace protest at Greenham Common
1982
352
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope pray together in Canterbury Cathedral
1982
353
Oct 12: IRA bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton – 4 killed
1984
354
Oct 24: Miners' strike
1984
355
Gorbachev comes to power in Soviet Union
1985
356
Big Bang' (deregulation) of the London Stock Market
1986
357
World population crossed the 5 billion mark
1987
358
King's Cross fire in London – 31 people die
1987
359
Berlin wall falls and collapse of communism
1989
360
Riots in London against Poll Tax which had been implemented in England & Wales
1990
361
Break-up of Soviet Union; Balkan conflicts begin in former Yugoslavia
1991
362
Maastricht Treaty creates European Union (EU)
1992
363
Church of England ordains its first female priests
1994
364
IRA bomb explodes in London Docklands – ends 17 month ceasefire
1996
365
New' Labour landslide victory in Britain (Tony Blair replaces John Major as Prime Minister)
1997
366
Euro currency introduced
1999
