Events

  • 685: Battle of Dun Nechtain checks Northumbrian power

    On 20 May 685, a Pictish force led by Bridei defeated a Northumbrian army led by King Ecgfrith at the Battle of Dun Nechtain, also known as Nechtansmere. Ecgfrith was killed in the fighting. That made the battle more than a failed expedition. Northumbria was one of the strongest kingdoms in northern Britain, and Ecgfrith’s…

  • 925: Æthelstan is crowned at Kingston upon Thames

    Æthelstan was crowned King of the Anglo-Saxons at Kingston upon Thames on 4 September 925. The ceremony formally established the authority of a king whose succession had been less straightforward than the coronation might suggest. His father, Edward the Elder, had died in July 924. Æthelstan was accepted as king in Mercia, where he had…

  • 1043: Edward the Confessor is crowned at Winchester

    Edward the Confessor was crowned king at Winchester on 3 April 1043. The ceremony made the kingship public. It did not remove every difficulty. Edward had already been king for months when he was crowned at Winchester on Easter Day, 3 April 1043. Harthacnut, his half-brother, had died in 1042, and Edward had succeeded him…

  • 1066: Harald Hardrada wins the Battle of Fulford

    On 20 September 1066, a Norwegian army led by King Harald Hardrada defeated the English earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria at Fulford, just outside York. The battle came during the struggle for the English crown after Edward the Confessor died in January. Harold Godwinson became king, but both Harald Hardrada and William,…

  • 1066: Harold Defeats the Norwegian Invasion at Stamford Bridge

    King Harold II defeated a Norwegian invasion of England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. The Norwegian king Harald Hardrada and Harold’s brother Tostig Godwinson were both killed. The invasion followed Edward the Confessor’s death in January 1066. Harold Godwinson became king, but his claim to the English throne was challenged.…

  • 1066: William, Duke of Normandy, lands at Pevensey

    On 28 September 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, landed with his invasion force at Pevensey in Sussex. The arrival began the Norman invasion of England that would lead to the Battle of Hastings little more than two weeks later. William had spent months assembling men, horses, ships and supplies, but crossing the Channel depended on…

  • 1066: William Defeats Harold at the Battle of Hastings

    On 14 October 1066, King Harold II’s English army fought William, Duke of Normandy’s invading forces, near Hastings. By the end of the day, Harold was dead, and William had won the battle that opened the way for the Norman conquest of England. Harold became king in January after Edward the Confessor died. William claimed…

  • 1199: King John is crowned at Westminster Abbey

    John was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey on 27 May 1199. His brother Richard I had died the previous month after being wounded in France. John now took the crown. The ceremony gave him public recognition in England, but his claim was open to challenge. John was Richard’s younger brother. Arthur of Brittany,…

  • 1216: Prince Louis lands in Kent to challenge King John

    On 21 May 1216, Prince Louis of France landed at Thanet in Kent with an army. He came into a kingdom already broken by civil war. Less than a year earlier, King John had agreed to Magna Carta at Runnymede. The agreement had not restored peace. John rejected the limits placed on him, the rebel…

  • 1217: Second Battle of Lincoln helps secure Henry III’s cause

    On 20 May 1217, royalist forces relieved Lincoln Castle and defeated a French-backed rebel army during the First Barons’ War. The battle came two years after Magna Carta, but England was still unsettled. King John had died in 1216, leaving his nine-year-old son, Henry III, as king. That changed the war. The quarrel over John’s…

  • 1297: The Scots win the Battle of Stirling Bridge

    On 11 September 1297, a Scottish army commanded by William Wallace and Andrew Moray defeated English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The English army had assembled south of the River Forth. To reach the Scots, positioned on higher ground near Abbey Craig, its soldiers had to cross a narrow wooden bridge. The ground…

  • 1298: Edward I defeats William Wallace at Falkirk

    On 22 July 1298, an English army led by Edward I defeated William Wallace’s Scottish forces near Falkirk. It was Edward’s largest military success in Scotland, but it did not end the war. Wallace had become Guardian of Scotland after the Scottish victory at Stirling Bridge in September 1297. The English army there had attempted…

  • 1337: Philip VI confiscates Guyenne from Edward III

    On 24 May 1337, Philip VI of France declared Edward III’s lands in Guyenne forfeit. The act was legal in form, but political in effect. Edward was king of England, yet he held land in south-west France as Duke of Aquitaine. For that land, he owed duties to the French king. The arrangement left him…

  • 1346: Edward III wins the Battle of Crécy

    Edward III’s English army defeated a larger French force under Philip VI at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. It was the first major land battle of the Hundred Years’ War and allowed Edward to continue north and besiege Calais. Edward had landed in Normandy in July and led his army across northern…

  • 1381: Peasants’ Revolt begins at Brentwood

    On 30 May 1381, resistance to the poll tax broke out in Brentwood, Essex. The government was trying to raise money for the war with France. The poll tax had already caused anger because it was difficult to avoid and fell on many ordinary people. When officials came to investigate unpaid taxes in Essex, they…

  • 1399: Henry Bolingbroke becomes King Henry IV

    On 30 September 1399, Henry Bolingbroke claimed the English throne and became King Henry IV after deposing his cousin, Richard II. Only months earlier, Henry had been an exile. Richard had banished him after a dispute with Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. When Henry’s father, John of Gaunt, died in February 1399, Richard seized control…

  • 1399: Henry IV Is Crowned at Westminster Abbey

    On 13 October 1399, Henry Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV at Westminster Abbey. His coronation followed the deposition of his cousin Richard II less than two weeks earlier. Henry was the son of John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III, and belonged to the House of Lancaster. Richard exiled him in 1398. When…

  • 1400: Owain Glyndŵr Is Proclaimed Prince of Wales

    On 16 September 1400, supporters of Owain Glyndŵr proclaimed him Prince of Wales. The declaration marked the beginning of a rebellion against English rule that continued for more than a decade. Glyndŵr was a Welsh landowner from a family connected to the old Welsh princely houses. The immediate causes of his revolt included a long-running…

  • 1403: Henry IV Defeats Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury

    On 21 July 1403, King Henry IV defeated a rebel army led by Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy in fields north of Shrewsbury. Hotspur was killed during the fighting, and the most serious immediate challenge to Henry’s rule collapsed with him. The two men had once been allies. The powerful Percy family supported Henry Bolingbroke when he…

  • 1420: Treaty of Troyes makes Henry V heir to France

    On 21 May 1420, Henry V of England and Charles VI of France agreed on the Treaty of Troyes. The treaty made Henry regent of France and heir to the French throne. He was also to marry Charles’s daughter, Catherine of Valois. On paper, it was an extraordinary settlement. Henry had turned military success into…

  • 1455: First Battle of St Albans opens the Wars of the Roses

    On 22 May 1455, a Yorkist force defeated the royal army at St Albans. Henry VI was captured. Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was killed. The battle was small beside later fighting in the Wars of the Roses, but its consequences were serious. It showed that the king’s government could no longer contain the rivalries…

  • 1501: Catherine of Aragon arrives in England

    Catherine of Aragon arrived in Plymouth, England, on 2 October 1501. Nearly sixteen years old, she had come from Spain to marry Arthur, Prince of Wales, the eldest son and heir of Henry VII. Catherine was the youngest surviving daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. Her proposed marriage to Arthur formed part…

  • 1513: England defeats Scotland at the Battle of Flodden

    On 9 September 1513, an English army defeated the invading Scots at the Battle of Flodden near Branxton in Northumberland. King James IV of Scotland was killed along with many of the leading men of his kingdom. James had invaded England in support of Scotland’s alliance with France. Henry VIII was campaigning in France, fighting…

  • 1525: England and France agree to the Treaty of the More

    England and France agreed to the Treaty of the More on 30 August 1525, six months after the French army suffered a major defeat at Pavia. The agreement marked a reversal in Henry VIII’s foreign policy. At Pavia, Emperor Charles V’s forces defeated the French. They captured King Francis I. Francis was taken into captivity,…

  • 1533: Cranmer declares Henry VIII’s first marriage invalid

    On 23 May 1533, Thomas Cranmer’s court at Dunstable declared Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon invalid. The judgment was brief, but it carried more weight than a private ruling about a failed royal marriage. Henry had already married Anne Boleyn. Catherine was still widely regarded as queen. Anne was pregnant. Henry’s marriage case…

  • 1533: Cranmer declares Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn valid

    On 28 May 1533, Thomas Cranmer declared Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn good and valid. The ruling did not begin the marriage. Henry and Anne had already married. Cranmer’s judgement gave the marriage formal standing in England, at a moment when Henry needed more than private agreement, royal will or court loyalty. Five days…

  • 1533: Anne Boleyn is crowned queen at Westminster Abbey

    Anne Boleyn was crowned queen of England at Westminster Abbey on 1 June 1533. The ceremony followed Henry VIII’s decision to set aside his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, had declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid and had recognised Henry’s marriage to Anne. In England, those rulings gave Anne the…

  • 1535: Printing of the Coverdale Bible is completed

    Printing of the Coverdale Bible was completed on 4 October 1535. Compiled and translated by Myles Coverdale, it was the first complete printed English Bible. English translations of the Bible already existed. Versions associated with John Wycliffe and his followers had circulated in manuscript from the late fourteenth century. William Tyndale also printed an English…

  • 1536: Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour

    On 30 May 1536, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour. The wedding came eleven days after the execution of Anne Boleyn. Henry had removed one queen and taken another almost at once. The main issue was succession. Henry still had no legitimate son. Mary, his daughter by Catherine of Aragon, had been pushed out of the…

  • 1536: Lincolnshire Rebels Send Their Grievances to Henry VIII

    On 9 October 1536, rebels in Lincolnshire sent a petition to Henry VIII opposing his government’s religious and political policies. Known as the Lincoln Articles, the document followed more than a week of unrest that had brought thousands of people into Lincoln. The rebellion began at Louth on 1 October. The closure of smaller monasteries…

  • 1543: Henry VIII marries Katherine Parr at Hampton Court

    Henry VIII married Katherine Parr at Hampton Court Palace on 12 July 1543. The private ceremony took place in the Queen’s Closet. It was attended by members of the royal family, including Henry’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Parr was Henry’s sixth wife. She was also a twice-widowed woman in her early thirties with experience of…

  • 1553: Mary I is crowned Queen of England

    Mary I was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey on 1 October 1553, less than three months after her half-brother Edward VI died. Her coronation had not been assured. Before his death, Edward had attempted to exclude both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession and place Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Jane was…

  • 1567: Mary, Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate

    On 24 July 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, signed documents surrendering the Scottish crown to her thirteen-month-old son. She was twenty-four years old and a prisoner at Loch Leven Castle. Mary’s position had collapsed during the months after the murder of her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was widely…

  • 1578: Martin Frobisher leaves Harwich on his third Arctic voyage

    On 31 May 1578, Martin Frobisher left Harwich with a fleet of 15 ships. It was his third voyage to the Arctic, and it was much larger than his earlier attempts. The voyage still carried the old aim of finding a North-West Passage. English backers hoped the route might open trade with Asia by sailing…

  • 1580: Francis Drake returns to Plymouth after circumnavigating the world

    On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed the Golden Hind into Plymouth, completing a voyage that had taken him around the world and kept him away from England for nearly three years. Drake had left Plymouth in December 1577 with five ships. His expedition was backed by Queen Elizabeth I and other investors. Although the…

  • 1642: Charles I raises his royal standard at Nottingham

    Charles I raised his royal standard at Nottingham on 22 August 1642, calling on his supporters to join him against Parliament. The ceremony is conventionally treated as the formal beginning of the First English Civil War. The dispute had already moved beyond ordinary disagreement between the king and Parliament. In January, Charles had entered the…

  • 1642: Royalists Defeat Parliamentarian Cavalry at Powick Bridge

    Royalist and Parliamentarian cavalry fought south of Worcester on 23 September 1642 in one of the first military encounters between the main field armies of the English Civil War. The immediate issue was a Royalist convoy. Sir John Byron was taking money and silver plate from Oxford towards King Charles I’s army at Shrewsbury when…

  • 1645: Parliament Defeats the Royalists at Rowton Heath

    Parliamentarian forces defeated a Royalist army outside Chester at the Battle of Rowton Heath on 24 September 1645, ending Charles I’s attempt to relieve the besieged city. The King had come to Chester after learning that Parliamentarian forces were threatening one of the Royalists’ remaining important strongholds. Charles entered the city on 23 September with…

  • 1649: England is declared a Commonwealth

    On 19 May 1649, Parliament declared England to be a Commonwealth and Free State. The old order had already been broken. Charles I had been tried and executed in January. In March, Parliament abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords. By May, the new regime needed legal form. The Act of 19 May gave…

  • 1659: Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector

    Richard Cromwell resigned as Lord Protector on 25 May 1659. The Protectorate, which had seemed the strongest alternative to monarchy after the execution of Charles I, was over. Richard had inherited the office after Oliver Cromwell died in 1658. He had the title, but little of the authority that had made his father powerful. Oliver…

  • 1660: Charles II lands at Dover

    Charles II landed at Dover on 25 May 1660 after years in exile, as the political order that had replaced his father was breaking apart. His return was not a military conquest. That is what makes the date useful. Charles returned because enough people in England had decided that monarchy was once again the least…

  • 1660: Charles II enters London at the Restoration

    Charles II entered London on 29 May 1660, his thirtieth birthday. The Restoration now had a public centre: the king in the capital, recognised in the streets, with monarchy visibly returned after eleven years without a ruling king in England. The road back had been long and violent. Charles I had been tried and executed…

  • 1662: Charles II marries Catherine of Braganza

    On 21 May 1662, Charles II and Catherine of Braganza were formally married at Portsmouth. Charles had been restored to the throne two years earlier, after civil war, republic and exile. His marriage was part of the effort to restore the Stuart monarchy to European politics. Catherine was a Portuguese princess, and the match tied…

  • 1666: The Great Fire of London begins

    The Great Fire of London began at around 1 a.m. on Sunday 2 September 1666 in the bakery of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane. Within four days, it would burn through most of the City of London and leave around 100,000 people homeless. The first warning came inside Farriner’s household. His journeyman, Thomas Dagger, woke…

  • 1666: The Great Fire of London is brought under control

    On 6 September 1666, the Great Fire of London was finally brought under control after burning through the City for four days. The fire had begun early on 2 September in the bakery of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane. A dry summer had left buildings vulnerable, while strong winds carried the fire through streets packed…

  • 1669: Samuel Pepys writes the final entry in his diary

    On 31 May 1669, Samuel Pepys wrote the final entry in his diary. He stopped because he feared that continuing to write was damaging his eyesight. The reason was practical and personal. Pepys was not bringing a public work to a planned end. He had kept a private record, written in shorthand, for nearly ten…

  • 1679: Habeas Corpus Act receives royal assent

    The Habeas Corpus Act received royal assent on 27 May 1679. Habeas corpus already existed. The act made the remedy harder to ignore. Habeas corpus was a way of testing detention. A prisoner could be brought before a court, and the court could ask by what authority that person was being held. Locking someone up…

  • 1689: Toleration Act receives royal assent

    On 24 May 1689, the Toleration Act received royal assent. The Act gave many Protestant dissenters in England a legal right to worship outside the Church of England. It was a real change. People who had faced penalties for nonconformist worship could now meet more openly, provided they accepted the conditions set by law. Those…

  • 1694: The Bank of England receives its Royal Charter

    On 27 July 1694, William III and Mary II granted a Royal Charter to the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. The institution had been created mainly to provide the government with money for war against France. The Nine Years’ War placed heavy demands on government finances. England needed a larger and more…

  • 1701: Captain Kidd is executed at Execution Dock

    William Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock in London on 23 May 1701 after being convicted of piracy and murder. Kidd’s case was awkward because he had not begun as a simple outlaw. He was a Scottish sailor who had been commissioned as a privateer and authorised to attack certain enemy or pirate vessels. Privateering…

  • 1706: Marlborough wins at Ramillies

    On 23 May 1706, the Duke of Marlborough led Allied forces to victory over the French at Ramillies during the War of the Spanish Succession. The war had begun over the Spanish inheritance, but it had become a wider struggle over power in Europe. England, the Dutch Republic and their allies sought to prevent Bourbon…

  • 1745: Charles Edward Stuart lands on Eriskay

    On 23 July 1745, Charles Edward Stuart landed on the Hebridean island of Eriskay. He had come to begin an uprising intended to place his father on the British throne. Charles was the grandson of James II of England and VII of Scotland, who had been removed in 1688. His father, James Francis Edward Stuart,…

  • 1745: Charles Edward Stuart raises the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan

    Charles Edward Stuart raised his father’s standard at Glenfinnan on 19 August 1745, formally beginning the Jacobite rising that would take his army through Scotland and into England. Charles had arrived in the Highlands the previous month after sailing from France. He intended to restore the Stuart monarchy by securing the British throne for his…

  • 1745: Jacobites defeat Government forces at Prestonpans

    On 21 September 1745, the Jacobite army led by Charles Edward Stuart defeated Government forces under Sir John Cope at the Battle of Prestonpans, east of Edinburgh. It was the first major battle of the 1745 Jacobite Rising and gave the rebellion an early military victory. Charles had landed in Scotland in July and gathered…

  • 1752: Britain changes to the Gregorian calendar

    On 14 September 1752, Britain began using the Gregorian calendar. The previous day had been Wednesday, 2 September. Thursday was dated 14 September, removing eleven dates from the British calendar. Nobody actually lost eleven days. Time continued normally from Wednesday to Thursday. The dates 3 to 13 September disappeared. Britain had continued to use the…

  • 1760: British forces complete victory at Restigouche

    On 8 July 1760, British forces completed their victory at the Battle of Restigouche. The battle was fought on the Restigouche River, between what is now Quebec and New Brunswick, and formed part of the Seven Years’ War. France had lost Quebec to British forces in 1759, but the war in Canada was not over.…

  • 1768: James Cook leaves Plymouth aboard Endeavour

    James Cook sailed from Plymouth aboard Endeavour on 25 August 1768, beginning a voyage that combined astronomy, natural history, naval surveying and British territorial ambitions in the Pacific. Cook had recently been commissioned as a lieutenant and given command of the expedition. Its first major destination was Tahiti, where the Royal Society wanted observers to…

  • 1791: The Priestley Riots Begin in Birmingham

    On 14 July 1791, political reformers and religious dissenters met at the Royal Hotel in Birmingham. Their dinner marked the second anniversary of the fall of the Bastille and expressed support for the early French Revolution. The diners had left when a crowd gathered outside the hotel. The building was attacked, and the violence soon…

  • 1794: The Royal Navy wins the Glorious First of June

    On 1 June 1794, the Royal Navy fought the French fleet in the Atlantic at the battle later known in Britain as the Glorious First of June. Britain and Revolutionary France were at war. The fighting at sea was not only about ships and honour. It was also about supplies. France needed food, and a…

  • 1798: William Pitt fights George Tierney on Putney Heath

    William Pitt the Younger and George Tierney fought a pistol duel on Putney Heath on 27 May 1798. Pitt was the Prime Minister. Tierney was an opposition MP. Both men fired. Neither was hurt. The quarrel had begun in Parliament. Britain was at war with revolutionary France, and arguments over national defence carried heavy political…

  • 1809: First prisoners arrive at Dartmoor Prison

    On 24 May 1809, around 2,500 French prisoners of war arrived at Dartmoor Prison. The prison had been built during the Napoleonic Wars, when Britain needed secure places to hold men captured in the long war with France. Dartmoor did not begin as the civilian prison it later became. Its first purpose was military: large-scale…

  • 1809: Old Price Riots Begin at Covent Garden Theatre

    On 18 September 1809, the rebuilt Covent Garden Theatre opened in London with a performance of Macbeth. Before the night was over, the audience had turned the occasion into the beginning of the Old Price Riots. A fire destroyed the previous theatre in September 1808. Rebuilding was expensive, and actor-manager John Philip Kemble attempted to…

  • 1812: Wellington enters Madrid

    Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Wellington, entered Madrid on 12 August 1812 with the Allied army. Joseph Bonaparte had abandoned the Spanish capital after the French defeat at Salamanca three weeks earlier. On 22 July, Wellington’s British, Portuguese and Spanish forces had defeated Marshal Marmont’s army at Salamanca. The victory disrupted the French position in central…

  • 1813: HMS Shannon captures USS Chesapeake

    On 1 June 1813, HMS Shannon captured USS Chesapeake off Boston during the War of 1812. The action came at a difficult point for British naval pride. The Royal Navy was still the stronger sea force, but American frigates had already won several single-ship actions. Those defeats challenged Britain’s claim to naval superiority. Shannon’s capture…

  • 1814: British forces capture Washington and burn public buildings

    British troops defeated an American force at Bladensburg on 24 August 1814 and entered Washington later that day. That evening they began burning public buildings in the United States’ capital, including the Capitol and the President’s House. Britain and the United States had been at war since 1812. For much of the conflict, Britain’s war…

  • 1815: Napoleon Surrenders Aboard HMS Bellerophon

    On 15 July 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte boarded HMS Bellerophon off Rochefort and placed himself in the hands of Captain Frederick Maitland. Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo on 18 June. He returned to Paris, abdicated for a second time and travelled towards the French Atlantic coast. He hoped to sail to the United States, beyond…

  • 1819: Cavalry attack reformers at Peterloo

    Around 60,000 people gathered at St Peter’s Field in Manchester on 16 August 1819 for a peaceful meeting demanding parliamentary reform. By the end of the afternoon, mounted troops had entered the crowd; at least 18 people had been killed, and hundreds had been injured. Manchester had grown rapidly during industrialisation but had no MP…

  • 1825: The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens

    On 27 September 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in north-east England. George Stephenson drove the steam locomotive Locomotion No. 1 on the opening journey, hauling goods and passengers. The railway ran for about 26 miles between the coalfield around Shildon and Stockton-on-Tees, through Darlington. Its main purpose was commercial. It needed to move…

  • 1830: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway Opens

    The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened on 15 September 1830, carrying invited passengers between two of Britain’s largest commercial and industrial centres. Unlike earlier lines that relied partly on horses or were built mainly to move freight, the new railway was designed to operate regular services using steam locomotives. The opening was a major public…

  • 1833: The Slavery Abolition Act receives Royal Assent

    The Slavery Abolition Act received Royal Assent on 28 August 1833. It was a major change in British law, but it did not immediately free everyone enslaved across the British Empire. Parliament had prohibited the British slave trade in 1807. Slavery itself continued in British colonies, including the Caribbean, where plantation economies remained dependent on…

  • 1834: The Slavery Abolition Act comes into force

    On 1 August 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act came into force across most British colonies. Around 750,000 people ceased to be legally classified as slaves, but many did not receive immediate full freedom. Britain had abolished the British slave trade in 1807. That law prohibited British participation in the trade but did not free people…

  • 1838: The Battle of Bossenden Wood takes place in Kent

    On 31 May 1838, soldiers confronted a small group of followers in Bossenden Wood, near Dunkirk in Kent. By the end of the clash, 11 people were dead. The group had gathered around John Nichols Tom, who called himself Sir William Courtenay. He made religious and political claims, and some people in the local area…

  • 1840: Parliament acts to end the use of climbing boys

    On 7 August 1840, the Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys Regulation Act became law. Parliament intended to stop children being used as climbing chimney sweeps, but the practice continued. Children had been sent inside chimneys for generations. Their size allowed them to climb narrow flues that adults could not enter. Some were apprenticed to master sweeps,…

  • 1848: Waterloo Station opens in London

    Waterloo Bridge station opened in London on 11 July 1848. The opening had been brought forward by a week so passengers could travel by rail to the Epsom Derby. The London and South Western Railway built the terminus to replace its earlier station at Nine Elms. It brought the railway about two miles closer to…

  • 1854: The Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead devastates both sides of the Tyne

    The Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead began shortly after midnight on 6 October 1854, when fire was discovered at J. Wilson & Sons’ worsted mill in Hillgate on the Gateshead side of the Tyne. The mill contained wool, oil and other combustible material, and the fire spread rapidly. Nearby stood a large bonded warehouse…

  • 1859: The Great Clock at Westminster begins ticking

    On 31 May 1859, the Great Clock at Westminster began ticking. The Great Bell, commonly called Big Ben, was not heard until July. The clock belonged to the new Palace of Westminster, built after the 1834 fire. It was part of the rebuilding of Parliament, but it also had a public use. It gave time…

  • 1868: Michael Barrett is publicly hanged at Newgate

    Michael Barrett was hanged outside Newgate Prison on 26 May 1868. He became the last person publicly hanged in England. Barrett had been convicted after the Clerkenwell explosion of December 1867. The blast was connected to an attempt to free Fenian prisoners from the Clerkenwell House of Detention. It caused civilian deaths and injuries, and…

  • 1878: Princess Alice sinks in the River Thames

    The passenger steamer Princess Alice sank in the River Thames on the evening of 3 September 1878 after colliding with the much larger Bywell Castle near Woolwich. Around 650 people died in what remains the worst single loss of life in a Thames shipping disaster. Princess Alice was a paddle steamer used for excursions from…

  • 1888: Mary Ann Nichols is murdered in Whitechapel

    Mary Ann Nichols was found murdered in Buck’s Row, Whitechapel, in the early hours of 31 August 1888. Nichols, commonly known as Polly, was 43. Shortly before 3.45 a.m., two carmen found her body near a stable entrance. Her throat had been cut and her abdomen mutilated. Police and a doctor were called to the…

  • 1895: Oscar Wilde is convicted of gross indecency

    Oscar Wilde was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 25 May 1895 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. The conviction followed a failed libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde had gone to court as the complainant. When the case collapsed, evidence raised there…

  • 1896: Britain defeats Zanzibar in a war lasting less than an hour

    British warships opened fire on the Sultan of Zanzibar’s palace shortly after 9.00 a.m. on 27 August 1896. Roughly 40 minutes later, the firing had stopped. The Anglo-Zanzibar War is generally described as the shortest recorded war. Its brevity reflected an overwhelming military imbalance. The dispute began two days earlier. Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini died…

  • 1897: Blackwall Tunnel opens beneath the Thames

    The original Blackwall Tunnel opened on 22 May 1897, linking Blackwall on the north bank of the Thames with Greenwich on the south. Its purpose was practical. The Thames was central to London’s trade, but it also made road journeys awkward. Ferries, bridges and longer routes could only do so much for a city whose…

  • 1897: *Dracula* is published in London

    Dracula was published in London by Archibald Constable and Company in May 1897. 26 May is often given as the publication date, though it is safer to treat it as probable rather than exact. Bram Stoker’s novel reached the British market as a gothic story before Dracula became a figure of film, costume and shorthand.…

  • 1897: Ronald Ross finds malaria parasites developing in a mosquito

    Ronald Ross found malaria parasites developing inside a mosquito on 20 August 1897 while working in Secunderabad, India. Ross, a British doctor in the Indian Medical Service, had been investigating the proposed connection between mosquitoes and malaria. French physician Alphonse Laveran had already identified the malaria parasite in human blood, and Patrick Manson had argued…

  • 1900: Queen Victoria gives royal assent to the Australian Constitution Act

    On 9 July 1900, Queen Victoria gave royal assent to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. The Act had been passed by the British Parliament and gave legal force to the federation of the Australian colonies. Federation had not been created in London. Australian politicians and voters had debated the terms of union for years,…

  • 1902: Edward VII and Queen Alexandra are crowned

    On 9 August 1902, Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were crowned at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony took place more than six weeks later than planned because the King had required emergency surgery shortly before the original date. Edward had succeeded his mother, Queen Victoria, on 22 January 1901. His coronation was arranged for 26 June…

  • 1903: The Women’s Social and Political Union Is Founded in Manchester

    The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was founded on 10 October 1903 at Emmeline Pankhurst’s home in Manchester. A small group of women met at 62 Nelson Street and agreed to establish an organisation to campaign for women’s parliamentary vote. The decision followed years of unsuccessful campaigning. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies,…

  • 1907: The first Isle of Man TT race is held

    The first Isle of Man Tourist Trophy motorcycle race was held on 28 May 1907 on the St John’s Short Course. The Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency, not part of the United Kingdom. Even so, the race fits a British-linked history archive because of the island’s close relationship with Britain and the TT’s…

  • 1907: Britain and Russia sign the Anglo-Russian Convention

    Britain and Russia signed the Anglo-Russian Convention in St Petersburg on 31 August 1907, settling several disputes that had sustained their rivalry in Central Asia for much of the previous century. British governments had long been concerned about Russian expansion towards Afghanistan and the approaches to India. Russia had extended its influence across Central Asia…

  • 1914: Britain declares war on Germany

    On 4 August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany after a British ultimatum concerning Belgian neutrality expired without an acceptable reply. German troops had crossed into Belgium that morning. Germany’s war plan required its armies to move through Belgian territory to attack France from the north. The Belgian government had rejected a German demand for…

  • 1914: The British Expeditionary Force fights at Mons

    The British Expeditionary Force fought its first major engagement of the First World War at Mons, Belgium, on 23 August 1914, less than three weeks after Britain declared war on Germany. The BEF had crossed to France under Field Marshal Sir John French to support the French armies. It was small compared with the forces…

  • 1915: Quintinshill rail disaster kills more than 200 people

    On 22 May 1915, a troop train carrying men of the 1/7th Battalion Royal Scots crashed near Quintinshill Junction, near Gretna. A second collision and fire followed. The disaster killed 230 people and became Britain’s worst railway accident. The men on the troop train were part of Britain’s war effort. They were being moved by…

  • 1915: HMS Princess Irene explodes off Sheerness

    HMS Princess Irene exploded off Sheerness on 27 May 1915 while being loaded with mines. The ship was destroyed and sank. The disaster killed 352 people. Princess Irene had been a Canadian Pacific passenger liner before the Admiralty took her into service during the First World War. She was being used as an auxiliary minelayer.…

  • 1916: The Battle of Jutland begins

    On 31 May 1916, the Battle of Jutland began in the North Sea. The Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet met Germany’s High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the First World War. Britain depended on sea power. The Royal Navy kept Germany contained and maintained the blockade meant to weaken the German war effort.…

  • 1917: The Third Battle of Ypres begins

    On 31 July 1917, British and French troops attacked German positions east and north-east of Ypres in Belgium. The assault began the Third Battle of Ypres, later widely known as Passchendaele. British forces had occupied the Ypres Salient since the early part of the First World War. The salient projected into German-held territory and was…

  • 1918: The Battle of Amiens begins

    On 8 August 1918, British Empire and French forces attacked German positions east of Amiens. The offensive began at 4.20 am and achieved one of the largest Allied advances on the Western Front during the First World War. The main attack was made by General Sir Henry Rawlinson’s British Fourth Army, with the Australian and…

  • 1919: Eddington’s eclipse observations support Einstein’s theory

    On 29 May 1919, British-led teams observed a total solar eclipse from Príncipe, off the west coast of Africa, and Sobral in Brazil. The eclipse gave astronomers a rare chance to photograph stars close to the Sun. The test came from Einstein’s general theory of relativity. His theory predicted that the Sun’s gravity would bend…

  • 1920: Women become full members of Oxford University

    Women became full members of the University of Oxford on 7 October 1920, when the Divinity School held the first formal matriculation ceremony for women. Women had already been studying at Oxford for decades. Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville opened in 1879, followed by other women’s colleges and societies. Women attended lectures and took university…

  • 1930: The remaining inhabitants leave St Kilda

    On 29 August 1930, the remaining 36 inhabitants of St Kilda left the islands aboard HMS Harebell. They were not removed against their wishes. Three months earlier, community members had asked the government to help them leave. St Kilda lies more than 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides, with the main settlement on Hirta.…