The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain.

The ''Mayflower'' sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.

Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.

William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.

The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain.

The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance.

Great Britain declares war on Spain.

Spain, France and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Seville.

Great Britain, Austria and Savoy-Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms.

British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeats the French at the second battle of Cape Finisterre.

Great Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.

French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.

Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins – Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.

George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.

South Carolina becomes the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.

American Revolution: the Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.

The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.

Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.

American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.

British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.

Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.

American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.

American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey.

American Revolutionary War: Ratification Day, United States Congress ratifies Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.

In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.

Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and Britain, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.

Battle of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.

Battle of Beaver Dams : a British and Indian combined force defeats the U.S Army.

First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.

Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie called for a rebellion against Great Britain in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper ''The Constitution''.

The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland, measuring Convert 1710 long, is opened by the Prince of Wales, who later becomes King Edward VII.

German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.

A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.

Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the Nazi invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.

World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.