The UK Timeline

By 212000
  • 2500 BCE

    Stonehenge

    Stonehenge
    Earliest people in the British Isles built famous stones rings with you can visit today.
  • 43

    43 AD-410 AD

    43 AD-410 AD
    The romans took most of Britain from de Celts who lived there. Scotland and its people were too wild, so the Romans built a big wall to protect themselves.
  • 600

    5th and 6th centuries

    5th and 6th centuries
    After the Romans had left, Germanic tribes conquered England. The Saxons were the most successful of them, but the Angels gave "England" its name: It means "Land of the Angels
  • 1066

    The battle of Hastings

    The battle of Hastings
    William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Saxon King Harold and conquered England.
  • 1215

    1215

    1215
    King John had to sign the Magna Carta. This made the law stronger and the king weaker. Perhaps you already know king John from the Robin Hood stories!
  • 1558

    1558-1603 Elizabeth I

    1558-1603 Elizabeth I
    When Elizabeth I was a queen, England became rich and powerful and started to colonise North America. This was also the age of great British art - for example the poet William Shakespeare.

  • 1776-1783

    1776-1783
    In 1776 the English colonists in North America wanted to become independent. They had to fight for it, but finally they succeeded in 1783

  • 18th and 19th centuries

    18th and 19th centuries
    Industrialisation started in England in 18th century. Factories with machines and steam engines were built all over Britain. Steam engines were also used in the first locomotives in the early 19th century.

  • 1837-1901

    1837-1901
    During the time of Queen Victoria I, England had so many colonies all round the world that the sun always shone somewhere in the British Empire.

  • 1914-1918 and 1939-1945

    1914-1918 and 1939-1945
    In the two world wars all of Europe suffered terrible losses.

  • Mahatma Gandhi

    Mahatma Gandhi
    India became independent after long but peaceful protest. The leader of the independence movement was Mahatma Gandhi.

  • 1973

    1973
    The UK joined the European Community, which in 1992 became the European Union.

  • IRA kill the Queen's cousin Lord Mountbatten

    IRA kill the Queen's cousin Lord Mountbatten
    Elizabeth II's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, one of his teenage grandsons and two others were killed by a bomb on his boat at Mullaghmore in county Sligo, Ireland. On the same day the IRA also killed 18 soldiers at Warrenpoint in County Down.

  • Falklans war

    Falklans war
    the argentina forces invaded the British-owned Falkland Islands, a mere 8000 miles away in the South Atlantic. A task force was quickly
    movilidad to reclame the Island and in ten weak war that followed 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives.

  • Britain had controlled Hong Kong since 1942

    Britain had controlled Hong Kong since 1942
    Britain hands back Hong Kong to the people's Republic of China ending more than 150 years British control, the flag of the union was lowered over Government house for the last time.

  • Civil partnerships give same-sex couples legal rights

    Civil partnerships give same-sex couples legal rights
    Civil partnerships between same-sex couples were introduced in the 2004 Civil Partnership Act and came into law in December 2005. Partnered couples gained the same legal rights as married couples and were permitted to hold wedding-style 'civil union' ceremonies.