England Timeline of Events

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England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental Europe...

Timeline of Events

1619

12.4.1619

38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).

1620

9.6.1620

The Pilgrims sail from Plymouth, England, on the ''Mayflower'' to settle in North America. (Old Style date; September 16 per New Style date.)

1622

3.22.1622

Jamestown massacre: Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population.

1628

3.1.1628

Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

1632

3.29.1632

Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.

1644

6.29.1644

Charles I of England defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, the last battle won by an English King on English soil.

1648

1.17.1648

England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.

1649

5.19.1649

An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.

1655

5.10.1655

England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.

1659

5.25.1659

Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.

1660

12.8.1660

Margaret Hughes becomes the first actress to appear on an English public stage, playing the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.

1662

8.24.1662

The Act of Uniformity requires England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.

1663

7.27.1663

The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports.

1664

3.12.1664

New Jersey becomes a colony of England.

9.24.1664

The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England.

1665

3.4.1665

English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

1666

9.4.1666

In London, England, the most destructive damage from the Great Fire occurs.

1667

6.9.1667

The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet begins. It lasts for five days and results in a decisive victory by the Dutch over the English in the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

1671

5.9.1671

Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

1674

2.19.1674

England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.

11.10.1674

Anglo-Dutch War: As provided in the Treaty of Westminster, Netherlands cedes New Netherlands to England.

1675

3.4.1675

John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.

1683

6.6.1683

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.

1685

7.15.1685

Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth is executed at Tower Hill, England after his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685.

1687

9.26.1687

The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution.

1689

2.13.1689

William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England.

5.24.1689

The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded.

1695

12.31.1695

A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.

1697

9.20.1697

The Treaty of Rijswijk is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic ending the Nine Years' War (1688–97).

1701

9.16.1701

James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.

1702

3.11.1702

''The Daily Courant'', England's first national daily newspaper is published for the first time.

1703

12.27.1703

Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.

1704

8.4.1704

War of the Spanish Succession: Gibraltar is captured by an English and Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke and allied with Archduke Charles.

1717

6.24.1717

The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England.

1727

9.8.1727

A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.

1757

5.6.1757

English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.

1767

6.18.1767

Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.

1779

9.23.1779

American Revolution: a squadron commanded by John Paul Jones on board the USS Bonhomme Richard wins the Battle of Flamborough Head, off the coast of England, against two British warships.

1780

8.22.1780

James Cook's ship ''HMS Resolution'' returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).

1785

1.7.1785

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.

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