London Timeline of Events

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London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium...

Timeline of Events

1066

12.25.1066

William the Conqueror is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.

1305

8.5.1305

William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, is captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London where he is put on trial and executed.

1497

6.24.1497

Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London.

1534

2.3.1534

The Irish rebel Silken Thomas is executed by the order of Henry VIII in London, England.

1536

5.15.1536

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest. She is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.

1559

1.15.1559

Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.

1571

1.23.1571

The Royal Exchange opens in London.

1578

5.31.1578

Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool's gold, used to pave streets in London.

1604

11.1.1604

William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Othello'' is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1609

5.20.1609

Shakespeare's sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.

1611

11.1.1611

William Shakespeare's romantic comedy ''The Tempest'' is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1613

6.29.1613

The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground.

1650

9.29.1650

Henry Robinson opens his ''Office of Addresses and Encounters'' in Threadneedle Street, London.

1661

1.6.1661

English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.

1666

9.4.1666

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

1675

8.10.1675

The foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is laid.

1698

1.4.1698

Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.

1701

5.23.1701

After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.

1711

2.24.1711

The London première of ''Rinaldo'' by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.

2.24.1711

The London première of ''Rinaldo'' by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.

1715

5.3.1715

"Edmund Halley's" total solar eclipse (the last one visible in London, United Kingdom for almost 900 years).

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.

1718

5.15.1718

James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun.

1724

11.11.1724

Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London.

1726

5.9.1726

Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.

1732

12.7.1732

The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London.

1738

4.15.1738

Premiere in London of ''Serse'', an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.

1743

2.21.1743

The premiere of George Frideric Handel's oratorio, "Samson" takes place in London.

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.

1766

12.5.1766

In London, James Christie holds his first sale.

1768

1.9.1768

In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.

5.10.1768

John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for ''The North Briton'' severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.

1772

1.1.1772

The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London.

1776

8.10.1776

American Revolutionary War: word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.

1783

11.3.1783

John Austin, a highwayman, is the last person to be publicly hanged at London's Tyburn gallows.

1788

1.1.1788

First edition of ''The Times'' of London, previously ''The Daily Universal Register'', is published.

1791

3.4.1791

A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).

1803

7.26.1803

The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London.

1809

9.18.1809

The Royal Opera House in London opens.

1812

5.11.1812

Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London.

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