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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1583 | - 1583: University of Edinburgh founded
- 1583: Foundation of Cambridge University Press by Thomas Thomas
- Aug 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempts to establish English authority at St John's,
Newfoundland
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| 2 | 1584 | - 4 Jun 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh establishes first English colony in the New World, on
Roanoke Island, Virginia (now in North Carolina)
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| 3 | 1585 | - 1585: Foundation of Oxford University Press
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| 4 | 1587 | - 1587: Introduction of potatoes to England
- 8 Feb 1587: Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle, near Peterborough
- 19 Apr 1587: Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour
- 11 Aug 1587: Raleigh's second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina
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| 5 | 1588 | - 1588: Invention of shorthand by Dr Timothy Bright
- 19 Jul 1588: Spanish Armada sighted off the Lizard (had set sail from Lisbon in late May)
- 29 Jul 1588: Defeat of Spanish Armada off Gravelines
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| 6 | 1591 | - 1591: Trinity College, Dublin, founded
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| 7 | 1592 | - 1592: A Congregational (or Independent) Church formed in London
- 1592: Scotland: Presbyterian Church formally established
- 1592—1596: Seneca nation plague
Seneca nation - Desease Measles
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| 8 | 1593 | - 1593: British statute mile established by law
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| 9 | 1594 | - 1594: Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, leads Irish rebellion against English rule (-1603)
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| 10 | 1596 | - 1596—1692: Spain - Plague
Spain Plague
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| 11 | 1597 | - 1597: Poor Law Act for erection of parish workhouses for the Poor
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| 12 | 1598 | - 1598: Bishop's transcripts of English and Welsh parish registers start
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| 13 | 1600 | - 1600—1650: South America - malaria
Desease Malaria
- 1 Jan 1600: Scotland adopts New Year beginning 1st January (previously 25th March)
- 31 Dec 1600: British East India Company founded
|
| 14 | 1601 | - 1601: Great English Poor Law Act passed
- 1601: First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
|
| 15 | 1602 | - 20 Mar 1602: Dutch East India Company founded
- 8 Nov 1602: Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public
|
| 16 | 1603 | - 1603: London Plague
London Desease: Plague
- 24 Mar 1603: Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns
- 25 Jul 1603: Coronation
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| 17 | 1604 | - 1 Nov 1604: Shakespeare: "Othello" first presented
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| 18 | 1605 | - 5 Nov 1605: Gunpowder plot at Westminster (Guy Fawkes, etc)
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| 19 | 1606 | - 1606: The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia: the Susan Constant, Godspeed,
and Discovery leave England on 19th De c taking 144 days to reach America
- 1606: Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
- 31 Jan 1606: Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators executed
- Mar 1606: Australia
A ship of the Dutch East India Company lands on and explores the western Cape Of York, North Queensland, Australia.
- 12 Mar 1606: Adoption of Union Flag as the flag of "Great Britain" (the term Union Jack is
used officially only when the Union Flag is flown from the Jack Mast of a Royal Naval vessel)
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| 20 | 1607 | - 14 May 1607: Jamestown, Virginia settled
|
| 21 | 1608 | - 1608: First use of telescope by Galileo
- 3 Jul 1608: Canada, Quebec
Quebec is founded
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| 22 | 1609 | - 1609: Egypt Plague
Egypt Disease: Plague
|
| 23 | 1610 | - 1610: James VI & I established the Episcopal Church in Scotland
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| 24 | 1611 | - 1611: Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in Britain
- 22 May 1611: James VI & I created the title of baronet
|
| 25 | 1613 | - 1613: A copper farthing was produced, as a silver coin would be too small
- 29 Jun 1613: The Globe Theatre in London burns during a performance of Henry the Eighth
(finally pulled down in 1644)
|
| 26 | 1616 | - 1616—1619: Southern New England Plague
Killed 30% to 90% of population Southern New England, especially the Wampanoag people Unknown cause. Latest research suggests epidemic(s) of Disease Leptospirosis with Disease Weil syndrome. Classic explanations include Yellow fever, Plague, influenza, Smallpox, chickenpox, typhus, and syndemic infection of hepatitis B and hepatitis D.
- 23 Apr 1616: Tuesday Apr 23 (Julian calendar): Death of Shakespeare
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| 27 | 1618 | - 1618: Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I
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| 28 | 1619 | - 4 Dec 1619: (Nov 24 old style): Colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in
Virginia and give thanks to God (considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the
Americas)
|
| 29 | 1620 | - 1620: Manufacture of coke (the fuel, not the drink!) patented by Dud Dudley
- 21 Dec 1620: (Dec 16 old style): The Mayflower reaches America
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| 30 | 1621 | - 1621: Chimneys to be made of brick and to be four and a half feet above the roof
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| 31 | 1622 | - 1622: First English newspaper appeared - "Weekly News"
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| 32 | 1624 | - 1624: Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
- 1624: Edmund Gunter introduces the surveyor's chain (measurement of length)
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| 33 | 1625 | - 1625: The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
- 27 Mar 1625: Death of King James VI & I
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| 34 | 1628 | - 1 Mar 1628: Writs issued by Charles I that every county in England (not just seaport towns)
pay ship tax by this date
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| 35 | 1629 | |
| 36 | 1630 | |
| 37 | 1633 | - 1633: Thirteen Colonies Plague
The Thirteen Colonies were the British Colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America founded between 1607 (Virginia) and 1733 (Georgia) that joined together to declare independence in 1776. The Plymouth Colony had a plague of Smallpox.
- Jun 1633: Galileo summoned by Inquisition for publishing in favour of Copernican theory
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| 38 | 1634 | - 1634: Thirteen Colonies Plague
The Thirteen Colonies were the British Colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America founded between 1607 (Virginia) and 1733 (Georgia) that joined together to declare independence in 1776. The Connecticut River Colony had a plague of Smallpox.
|
| 39 | 1635 | - 1635: Letter Office of England & Scotland started
- 1635: Flintlock small arms invented around this time (replaces matchlock)
|
| 40 | 1636 | - 1636: Hackney Carriages in use by now in London
- 1636: England-New Castle Plague
New Castle, England Disease: Plague
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| 41 | 1638 | - 1638: King Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason
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| 42 | 1639 | - 1639: Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
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| 43 | 1640 | - 3 Nov 1640: Charles I forced to recall Parliament (the 'Long Parliament') due to Scottish
invasion
|
| 44 | 1641 | - 1641: Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
- 1641: Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland
- 1641—1644: China Plague
The Chinese Disease Plague helped end the Ming Dynasty
- 23 Oct 1641: 50,000 Irish killed in an uprising in Ulster
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| 45 | 1642 | - 1642: The Civil War interrupted the keeping of parish registers
- 1642: English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660)
- 22 Aug 1642: Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham
- 13 Nov 1642: Battle of Turnham Green
- 24 Nov 1642: Abel Janszoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania)
- 18 Dec 1642: Abel Janszoon Tasman first European to set foot in New Zealand
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| 46 | 1643 | - 13 Dec 1643: Battle of Alton
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| 47 | 1644 | - 29 Jun 1644: Battle of Cropredy Bridge
- 2 Jul 1644: Battle of Marston Moor, near York
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| 48 | 1645 | - 1645: Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland
- 1645: Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot
soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia
- 1645: Plague made its last appearance in Scotland
- 14 Jun 1645: Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces
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| 49 | 1646 | - 5 May 1646: Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army at Newark
- 20 Jun 1646: Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
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| 50 | 1647 | |
| 51 | 1648 | - 1648: Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox
- 1648: First practical thermometers made
- 1648: South American Plague
South America Disease: Yellow fever
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| 52 | 1649 | - 1649: Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
- 1649: King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland
- 6 Jan 1649: 'Rump' Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial
- 30 Jan 1649: King Charles I executed
- 19 May 1649: Commonwealth declared
- 20 Dec 1649: Theatres banned by Cromwell
- 20 Dec 1649: Christmas banned by Cromwell
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| 53 | 1650 | - 1650: Coffee brought to England about this time
|
| 54 | 1651 | - 1651: The second English Civil War (1651-1652)
- 1651: Scottish prisoners transported to the British settlements in America
- 3 Sep 1651: Battle of Worcester
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| 55 | 1653 | - 1653: Commonwealth registers start
- 1653: Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land
- 1653: Provincial probate courts abolished
- 20 Apr 1653: Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament
- 16 Dec 1653: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland
|
| 56 | 1656 | - 1656: Italy- Naples Plague
Naples Plague in Italy Disease: Plague
|
| 57 | 1657 | |
| 58 | 1658 | - 1658: Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector (-1660)
- 3 Sep 1658: Death of Oliver Cromwell
|
| 59 | 1659 | - 1659: Start of national meteorological Temperature records in the UK
- 6 Feb 1659: Date of first known bank cheque to be drawn
|
| 60 | 1660 | - 1660: Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
- 1660: Provincial Probate Courts re-established
- 1660: Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom
- 1660: Composition of light discovered by Newton
- 1660: Honourable East India Company founded by British
- 1 Jan 1660: Samuel Pepys starts his diary
- 29 May 1660: Restoration of British monarchy (Charles II)
- 17 Oct 1660: Ten Regicides are executed at Charing Cross or Tyburn
- 28 Nov 1660: Twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir
Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society
- 8 Dec 1660: First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
|
| 61 | 1661 | - 1661: Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland
- 1661: Board of Trade founded in London
- 1661: Hand-struck postage stamps first used
- 1661: Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office
- 30 Jan 1661: Oliver Cromwell formally 'executed', having been dead for over two years!
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| 62 | 1662 | - 1662: 'Hearth Tax' introduced
- 1662: Poor Relief Act or "Act of Settlement"
- 1662: Tea introduced to Britain
- 24 Aug 1662: Act of Uniformity
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| 63 | 1663 | |
| 64 | 1664 | - 29 May 1664: Oak Apple Day
- 27 Aug 1664: Nieuw Amsterdam becomes New York as 300 English soldiers under Col.
Mathias Nicolls take the town from the Dutch under orders from Charles II. The town is
renamed after the King's brother James, Duke of York
|
| 65 | 1665 | - 1665: Great Plague of London (July-October) kills over 60,000
- 1665: Five-mile Act restricts non-conformist ministers in Britain
- 7 Nov 1665: The "London Gazette" first published
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| 66 | 1666 | - 1666: Use of semaphore signalling pioneered by Lord Worcester
- 1666: Newton formulated Laws of Gravity
- 2 Sep 1666: Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June (2-6 Sep)
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| 67 | 1668 | - 1668: British East India Company obtains control of Bombay
- 1668: Newton constructs reflecting telescope
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| 68 | 1669 | - 31 May 1669: Last entry in Pepys's diary
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| 69 | 1670 | - 2 May 1670: Canada
Hudson's Bay Company is founded by the British
- 26 May 1670: King Charles II and King Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover
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| 70 | 1671 | - 9 May 1671: Thomas Blood caught stealing the Crown Jewels
|
| 71 | 1672 | - 1672: High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland
- 1672: War with Holland (to 1674)
- 1672: Canada
New France expands in to Canada
|
| 72 | 1673 | - 1673: First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
|
| 73 | 1674 | - 10 Nov 1674: Treaty of Westminster
|
| 74 | 1675 | - 1675: Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury
- 1675: Rebuilding of St Paul's started by Wren (completed 1710)
- 4 Mar 1675: John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England
- 10 Aug 1675: Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
|
| 75 | 1676 | - 1676: Compton Census, named after its initiator Henry Compton, Bishop of London, was
intended to discover the number of Anglican conformists, Roman Catholic recusants and
Protestant dissenters in England and Wales from enquiries made in individual parishes
|
| 76 | 1677 | - 1677: Lee's "Collection of Names of Merchants in London" published
|
| 77 | 1678 | - 1678: Extension of Test Act to peers
|
| 78 | 1679 | - 1679: Tories first so named
- 27 May 1679: Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England
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| 79 | 1680 | - 1680: William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post
- 1680: Dodo becomes extinct in Mauritius through over-hunting
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| 80 | 1681 | - 1681: Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament
- 1681: Oil lighting first used in London streets
|
| 81 | 1682 | - 1682: Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
- 1682: Library of Advocates founded in Edinburgh
- 1682: Halley observes the comet which bears his name
|
| 82 | 1683 | - 1683: Wild boar become extinct in Britain
- 6 Jun 1683: Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford
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| 83 | 1685 | - 1685: James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701)
- 1685: Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland
- 1685: Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes
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| 84 | 1686 | - 1686: Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
|
| 85 | 1687 | - 4 Apr 1687: James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics
and non-conformists
- 5 Jul 1687: Newton published his "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica"
|
| 86 | 1688 | - 1688: British Army raised to 40,000
- 1688: Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament
- 1688: Hearth Tax abolished
- 1688: Mutiny Act
- Feb 1688: Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens
- Nov 1688: The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates
- 5 Nov 1688: William of Orange lands at Torbay
- Dec 1688: Siege of Londonderry (began Dec 1688; ended 28 Jul 1689)
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| 87 | 1689 | - 1689: Devonport naval dockyard established
- 13 Feb 1689: William III and Mary II, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne (only William, however, has regal power)
- 12 Mar 1689: Deposed James VII & II flees to Ireland
- 24 May 1689: Toleration Act passed for Protestant non-conformists
- 27 Jul 1689: Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland
- 16 Dec 1689: Bill of Rights passed by Parliament, ending King's divine right to raise taxes or
wage war
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| 88 | 1690 | - 20 May 1690: England passes Act of Grace, forgiving Roman Catholic followers of James II
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| 89 | 1692 | - 1692: Land Tax introduced
- 1692: French intention to invade England came to nothing
- 13 Feb 1692: The massacre of Glencoe
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1582 - 