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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1520 | - Nov 1520: Three ships under the command of Ferdinand Magellan negotiate the Strait of
Magellan, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
|
| 2 | 1521 | - 17 Apr 1521: Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant
his teachings
- 17 May 1521: Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, executed for treason
- 25 May 1521: Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of
Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw
|
| 3 | 1522 | - 6 Sep 1522: The Victoria, one of the surviving ships of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition,
becomes the first ship known to circumnavigate the world
|
| 4 | 1525 | - 1525: New Testament translated into English by William Tyndale
|
| 5 | 1527 | - 1527: Bishop Vesey's Grammar School founded in Sutton Coldfield
|
| 6 | 1528 | - 1528: St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle completed
|
| 7 | 1531 | - 11 Feb 1531: Henry VIII recognised as Supreme Head of the Church of England
|
| 8 | 1532 | - 1532: Foundation of the Court of Session in Scotland
|
| 9 | 1533 | - 25 Jan 1533: Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn secretly, wife #2 (she was crowned as Queen
on 1st June)
- 30 Mar 1533: Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
- 23 May 1533: Henry VIII's marriage with Catherine of Aragon officially declared annulled
- 11 Jul 1533: Henry VIII excommunicated by Pope Clement VII
- 17 Sep 1533: Anne Boleyn gives birth to a daughter Elizabeth, to become Queen Elizabeth I
|
| 10 | 1534 | - 1534: Reformation of the Catholic Church in England church (Henry VIII)
|
| 11 | 1535 | - 1535: Sir Thomas More executed
|
| 12 | 1536 | - 1536: Dissolution of monasteries starts in England (to 1540)
- 1536: Wales and England legally united by the Laws in Wales Act of 1535
- 19 May 1536: Anne Boleyn executed
- 30 May 1536: Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, wife #3 (she was crowned as Queen on 29th
October)
- 18 Jul 1536: The authority of the Pope is declared void in England
|
| 13 | 1537 | - 24 Oct 1537: Jane Seymour dies from complications in giving birth to a son, the future
Edward VI
|
| 14 | 1538 | - 1538: English and Welsh parish registers start
- 1538: Henry VIII issues English Bible
- 17 Dec 1538: Henry VIII excommunicated by Pope Paul III
|
| 15 | 1540 | - 1540: Statute of Wills allows freehold land to be bequeathed
- 6 Jan 1540: Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, the 'Flanders Mare', wife #4
- 9 Feb 1540: First recorded horse racing event in Britain, at Chester
- 9 Jul 1540: Henry VIII divorces Anne of Cleves
- 28 Jul 1540: Thomas Cromwell executed; Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard the same day,
wife #5
|
| 16 | 1541 | - 1541: Henry VIII proclaimed king (rather than feudal lord) of Ireland
|
| 17 | 1542 | - 13 Feb 1542: Catherine Howard executed
- 14 Dec 1542: Death of King James V of Scots; his baby daughter Mary "Queen of Scots"
succeeds him, just 6 days old
|
| 18 | 1543 | - 12 Jul 1543: Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, wife #6, who survives him
- 9 Sep 1543: Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned "Queen of Scots" in
Stirling (spelling of the royal house changes from Stewart to Stuart)
|
| 19 | 1544 | - 1544: Henry's VIII's "Rough Wooing" of the Scottish Borders
- 1544: Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland
|
| 20 | 1545 | - 20 Jul 1545: Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII, sinks in the Solent raised in 1982
|
| 21 | 1546 | - 1546: Trinity College, Cambridge founded by Henry VIII
|
| 22 | 1547 | - 1547: English replaced Latin in church services in England and Wales
- 1547: Ivan the Terrible takes title 'Tsar of all the Russias'
- 1547: Vagrants Act passed (able-bodied tramps can be detained as slaves)
- 28 Jan 1547: Death of Henry VIII (succeeded by Edward VI, aged 9, to 1553)
- 20 Feb 1547: Coronation of Edward VI in Westminster Abbey
- 10 Sep 1547: Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, said to be the first 'modern' battle to be fought in the
British Isles
|
| 23 | 1548 | - 1548: Priests in England allowed to marry (about a third then did so) but see 1554
|
| 24 | 1549 | - 1549: English Parliament declares enclosures legal
- 1549: First Act of Uniformity in England made Catholic Mass illegal
- 1549: Wedding ring finger changed from right to left hand
- 9 Jun 1549: First Book of Common Prayer sanctioned by English Parliament
|
| 25 | 1550 | - 1550: Walloon Protestants arrive as refugees from the Low Countries
|
| 26 | 1551 | - 1551: Scotland: General Provincial Council orders each parish to keep a register of baptisms
and banns of marriage
|
| 27 | 1552 | - Mar 1552: An 'Act of Uniformity' imposes the Protestant prayerbook of 1552 in England
|
| 28 | 1553 | - 6 Jul 1553: Edward VI dies; Lady Jane Grey queen for a few days only
- 19 Jul 1553: Mary Tudor ('Bloody Mary') comes to the throne
|
| 29 | 1554 | - 1554: Brief Catholic restoration under Queen Mary Tudor married priests forced to separate
at least 30 miles from their wives
- 12 Feb 1554: Lady Jane Grey beheaded
|
| 30 | 1556 | - 21 Mar 1556: Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer burned at the stake in Oxford
|
| 31 | 1558 | - 1558: Scottish parish registers start
- 1558: System of Counties adopted
- 7 Jan 1558: French take Calais, last English possession in France
- 24 Apr 1558: Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to Franηois the Dauphin of France in Paris
- 17 Nov 1558: Queen Mary Tudor of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister
Elizabeth Protestantism restored in England
|
| 32 | 1559 | - 1559: John Knox returns from Continent strengthens case for Presbyterianism in Scotland
- 1559: Tobacco introduced to Europe
- 15 Jan 1559: Elizabeth crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of
Carlisle
- 29 Apr 1559: Acts of Supremacy passed in Parliament, ending papal jurisdiction over England
& Wales; established Church of England
|
| 33 | 1560 | - 1560: Establishment of Protestantism in Scotland commissary courts thrown into confusion
some records lost
- 27 Feb 1560: Treaty of Berwick between Duc du Chatelherault (as governor of Scotland) and
the English, agreeing to act jointly to expel the French from Scotland
|
| 34 | 1561 | - 1561: Spire of St Paul's, highest in England, destroyed by fire
- 1561: The first coins produced by machinery (known as a 'mill') rather than by hand, but it
was a slow process and did not replace hand struck coinage until new machinery was
introduced in 1663
|
| 35 | 1562 | - 1562: Earliest English slave-trading expedition, under John Hawkins between Guinea and
the West Indies
|
| 36 | 1563 | - 28 Jul 1563: The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege
|
| 37 | 1564 | - 26 Apr 1564: Shakespeare baptised he is said to have been born on Apr 23, St George's
Day; he certainly died on Apr 23, 1616
|
| 38 | 1565 | - 29 Jul 1565: Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, her first
cousin
|
| 39 | 1566 | - 9 Mar 1566: Murder of David Riccio (or Rizzio) in Holyrood House
|
| 40 | 1567 | - 10 Feb 1567: Murder of Darnley outside Holyrood House in an explosion
- 15 May 1567: Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
- 24 Jul 1567: Mary Queen of Scots deposed and replaced by her 1 year old son James VI
|
| 41 | 1568 | - 13 May 1568: Battle of Langside Mary's flight to England and her imprisonment by Queen
Elizabeth I
|
| 42 | 1569 | - 1569: Elizabeth I approved Sunday sports
|
| 43 | 1570 | - 25 Feb 1570: Pope Pius V issued the papal bull 'Regnans in Excelsis' to excommunicate
Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England
|
| 44 | 1571 | - 1571: Beginning of penal legislation against Catholics in England
- 1571: Presbyterianism introduced into England by Thomas Cartwright
- 1571: Repeal of Act prohibiting lending of money on interest gradual change from
'subsistence economy' to 'cash economy' resulted
- 23 Jan 1571: Opening of the Royal Exchange in London, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham
this building destroyed in Great Fire of London 1666
|
| 45 | 1577 | - 1577: James Burbage opens first theatre in London
|
| 46 | 1579 | - 1579: Act of Uniformity in matters of religion enforced
|
| 47 | 1580 | - 1580: Colonisation of Ireland
- 1580: Congregational movement founded by Robert Browne about this time
- 6 Apr 1580: Dover Straits earthquake, largest in the recorded history of England, mentioned
by Shakespeare dozens of ships sunk and a tsunami hit Calais
|
| 48 | 1581 | - 1581: English Levant Company founded
- 16 Jan 1581: English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
- 4 Apr 1581: Francis Drake knighted by Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind after
circumnavigating the world
|
| 49 | 1583 | - 1583: Foundation of Cambridge University Press by Thomas Thomas
- 1583: University of Edinburgh founded
- Aug 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempts to establish English authority at St John's,
Newfoundland
|
| 50 | 1584 | - 4 Jun 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh establishes first English colony in the New World, on
Roanoke Island, Virginia (now in North Carolina) the so-called 'Lost Colony'
|
| 51 | 1585 | - 1585: Foundation of Oxford University Press
|
| 52 | 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 first child
born in the New World of English parents was Virginia Dare (Aug 18)
|
| 53 | 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
|
| 54 | 1591 | - 1591: Trinity College, Dublin, founded
|
| 55 | 1592 | - 1592: A Congregational (or Independent) Church formed in London
- 1592: Scotland: Presbyterian Church formally established all ministers equal no bishops
secular commissaries appointed by the Crown
|
| 56 | 1593 | - 1593: British statute mile established by law
|
| 57 | 1594 | - 1594: Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, leads Irish rebellion against English rule (-1603)
|
| 58 | 1597 | - 1597: Poor Law Act for erection of parish workhouses for the Poor Poor Rate collection
allowed
|
| 59 | 1598 | - 1598: Bishop's transcripts of English and Welsh parish registers start parish records were to
be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies or 'Bishop's Transcripts' of new entries
were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre
|
| 60 | 1600 | - 1 Jan 1600: Scotland adopts New Year beginning 1st January (previously 25th March)
- 31 Dec 1600: British East India Company founded
|
| 61 | 1601 | - 1601: First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
- 1601: Great English Poor Law Act passed
|
| 62 | 1602 | - 20 Mar 1602: Dutch East India Company founded
- 8 Nov 1602: Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public
|
| 63 | 1603 | - 24 Mar 1603: Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns under King James
VI of Scots and I of England (d. 1625)
- 25 Jul 1603: Coronation James VI of Scotland is crowned first king of Great Britain
|
| 64 | 1604 | - 1 Nov 1604: Shakespeare: "Othello" first presented
|
| 65 | 1605 | - 5 Nov 1605: Gunpowder plot at Westminster (Guy Fawkes, etc)
|
| 66 | 1606 | - 1606: Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
- 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
- 31 Jan 1606: Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators executed
- 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)
|
| 67 | 1607 | - 14 May 1607: Jamestown, Virginia settled to become the first permanent British colony in
North America
|
| 68 | 1608 | - 1608: First use of telescope by Galileo he observed the moons of Jupiter two years later in
Jan 1610
|
| 69 | 1610 | - 1610: James VI & I established the Episcopal Church in Scotland Prebyterians persecuted
and many of their records lost
|
| 70 | 1611 | - 1611: Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in Britain
- 22 May 1611: James VI & I created the title of baronet
|
| 71 | 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)
|
| 72 | 1616 | - 23 Apr 1616: Tuesday Apr 23 (Julian calendar): Death of Shakespeare
|
| 73 | 1618 | - 1618: Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I
|
| 74 | 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)
|
| 75 | 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 founds Plymouth, New
England (had initially set sail from Southampton on Aug 5)
|
| 76 | 1621 | - 1621: Chimneys to be made of brick and to be four and a half feet above the roof
|
| 77 | 1622 | - 1622: First English newspaper appeared - "Weekly News"
|
| 78 | 1624 | - 1624: Edmund Gunter introduces the surveyor's chain (measurement of length)
- 1624: Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
|
| 79 | 1625 | - 1625: The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
- 27 Mar 1625: Death of King James VI & I
|
| 80 | 1628 | - 1 Mar 1628: Writs issued by Charles I that every county in England (not just seaport towns)
pay ship tax by this date
|
| 81 | 1629 | - 10 Mar 1629: Parliament dissolved by King Charles I did not meet for another 11 yea
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