Timeline of British history — every major date from the Stone Age to today

Timeline of British history at a glance

British history is usually divided into eight or nine major periods, each marked by a defining event — a Roman invasion, a Norman conquest, a Tudor coronation, a civil war, a queen's long reign, a world war. The table below summarises every period and the headline dates that go with it. The rest of the article walks through each era in detail, with a focus on the dates most likely to appear in Chapter 3 of the Life in the UK Test.

Key dates in British history

For the monarchy side of this story — every king and queen since 1066 with their dynasty and reign dates — see our companion British monarchs timeline.

Prehistoric and Roman Britain (pre-1066)

People have lived in Britain for around half a million years, but the island we recognise today only formed when rising sea levels separated Britain from continental Europe around 6000 BC. The Life in the UK handbook covers this earliest period briefly, picking up the story with the first farmers who arrived around 6,000 years ago and the construction of monuments such as Stonehenge and Skara Brae in Orkney.

The later prehistoric period is usually divided into three ages:

• Stone Age — to around 2500 BC. Hunter-gatherer and early farming societies. Stonehenge was built in its main phase around 2500 BC.
• Bronze Age — c. 2500–800 BC. Metal-working spreads; the dead are buried in round barrows.
• Iron Age — c. 800 BC–AD 43. The Celts dominate Britain; hill forts and elaborate iron weapons appear.

Roman Britain (AD 43–410)

The Roman conquest of AD 43, led by Emperor Claudius, marks the start of recorded British history. Roman rule lasted nearly four centuries and reshaped the country. The Romans built roads, founded towns including Londinium (London), Eboracum (York) and Aquae Sulis (Bath), and constructed Hadrian's Wall from around AD 122 to mark the northern edge of the empire. Christianity took root in Britain during the Roman period.

By the early fifth century, the western Roman Empire was collapsing under pressure from migrating peoples. In AD 410 the Roman legions withdrew from Britain to defend the heart of the empire, and Roman rule in Britain effectively ended.

Anglo-Saxons and Vikings (c. 410–1066)

After the Romans left, Anglo-Saxon settlers — Angles, Saxons and Jutes from what is now Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands — moved into England. They brought their language (the root of modern English), their pagan religion (later replaced by Christianity from the late 6th century), and a patchwork of small kingdoms.

From 793, when Viking raiders sacked the monastery at Lindisfarne, Britain was hit by waves of Norse invasion. Alfred the Great of Wessex (reigned 871–899) stopped the Vikings from conquering all of England and is often regarded as the first king to call himself King of the Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon period ended on 14 October 1066 at the Battle of Hastings.

The Middle Ages (1066–1485)

The Norman Conquest, 1066

The most-tested date in the entire Life in the UK syllabus is 1066. King Edward the Confessor died in January without a clear heir, and three rivals claimed the throne. Harold Godwinson was crowned first as Harold II, beat off a Norwegian invasion at Stamford Bridge in September, then marched south to face William, Duke of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. Harold was killed; William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. He is remembered as William the Conqueror, and the Norman Conquest brought French language, feudalism and stone castles to England.

Magna Carta, 1215

A century and a half later, the unpopular King John faced a revolt by his barons over heavy taxation and arbitrary rule. In June 1215, at Runnymede on the Thames, John was forced to seal Magna Carta — the “Great Charter”. It established that even the king was not above the law, and laid the foundation for individual rights and parliamentary democracy in Britain. For the full story, see Magna Carta and King John.

Plague, war and the Wars of the Roses

• 1295 — the “Model Parliament” under Edward I sets the pattern of king, lords and commons that became the basis of the modern UK Parliament.
• 1337–1453 — the Hundred Years War with France. England's most famous victories were at Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415), but ultimately England lost almost all its French territories.
• 1348–1350 — the Black Death kills roughly a third of England's population, transforming labour, land prices and society.
• 1381 — the Peasants' Revolt, a popular uprising during the reign of Richard II.
• 1455–1485 — the Wars of the Roses: a series of civil wars between the rival royal houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose). They ended at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, when Richard III was killed and Henry Tudor was crowned Henry VII.

The Tudor era (1485–1603)

The Tudor century saw the English Reformation, the rise of a powerful royal navy, and a cultural flowering under Elizabeth I.

• 1485 — Henry VII wins at Bosworth and founds the Tudor dynasty. He combines the red Lancastrian rose and the white Yorkist rose to create the Tudor rose, still a national emblem of England.
• 1509–1547 — reign of Henry VIII. Famous for his six wives, he broke with the Pope so he could divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon. The Act of Supremacy 1534 made him head of the Church of England, beginning the English Reformation. See our full guide to Henry VIII's six wives.
• 1535–1542 — the Acts of Union with Wales formally annexed Wales to the Kingdom of England.
• 1553–1558 — Mary I tries to restore Catholicism and earns the nickname “Bloody Mary”.
• 1558–1603 — reign of Elizabeth I. Her navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, a turning point in English maritime power. The Elizabethan age produced Shakespeare, Marlowe and the first English voyages to the Americas. Elizabeth died unmarried in 1603, ending the Tudor line.

The Stuarts (1603–1714)

The seventeenth century was the most turbulent in modern British history — civil war, a king beheaded, a brief republic, a restoration, and a revolution that permanently re-set the balance between Crown and Parliament.

• 1603 — James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England, uniting the two crowns under one monarch (though the countries remained separate kingdoms).
• 1605 — the Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes and other Catholic conspirators try to blow up Parliament. Still commemorated every 5 November.
• 1620 — the Pilgrim Fathers sail from Plymouth on the Mayflower, founding one of the first English colonies in North America.
• 1642–1651 — the English Civil War between supporters of King Charles I (Cavaliers) and Parliament (Roundheads).
• 30 January 1649 — Charles I is executed outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall, the only English king ever tried and beheaded by his own people.
• 1649–1660 — England is a republic, the Commonwealth. Oliver Cromwell rules as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.
• 1660 — the Restoration: Charles II returns from exile and the monarchy is re-established.
• 1665–1666 — the Great Plague kills tens of thousands in London, followed by the Great Fire of London in September 1666.
• 1688 — the Glorious Revolution: Parliament invites William of Orange and his wife Mary (daughter of the Catholic James II) to take the throne. James flees; William and Mary rule jointly.
• 1689 — the Bill of Rights sets out the limits of royal power and the rights of Parliament — a foundation of the modern British constitution.
• 1707 — the Acts of Union join England and Scotland into a single Kingdom of Great Britain with one parliament at Westminster.

Georgian Britain (1714–1837)

The four Georges of the House of Hanover, plus a brief William IV, ruled through more than a century of dramatic change. Britain lost the American colonies, built and then expanded a global empire, beat Napoleon, and entered the Industrial Revolution.

• 1714 — George I, Elector of Hanover, becomes king on the death of Queen Anne. He spoke little English, leaving daily government to his ministers — which is why Sir Robert Walpole, generally considered the first Prime Minister, emerged in the 1720s.
• 1745–1746 — the Jacobite Rising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie is crushed at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746, ending Stuart hopes of regaining the throne.
• 1775–1783 — the American War of Independence. Britain loses its thirteen American colonies, which become the United States.
• Late 1700s onwards — the Industrial Revolution: steam power, factories, canals, then railways transform Britain into the world's first industrial economy.
• 1 January 1801 — the Act of Union joins Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
• 1805 — Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar; he is killed during the battle.
• 1807 — the Slave Trade Act abolishes the slave trade throughout the British Empire (slavery itself is abolished in most of the Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833).
• 1815 — the Battle of Waterloo: the Duke of Wellington defeats Napoleon, ending the Napoleonic Wars.
• 1832 — the Great Reform Act dramatically expands the right to vote and redraws the constituency map.

The Victorian era (1837–1901)

Queen Victoria came to the throne aged 18 in 1837 and reigned for nearly 64 years — at the time, the longest reign in British history (since surpassed by Elizabeth II). The Victorian era is associated with the high point of the British Empire, which at its peak covered around a quarter of the world's land and population.

• 1840 — the world's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, goes on sale in Britain.
• 1851 — the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park showcases Britain's industrial and imperial power.
• 1854–1856 — the Crimean War, during which Florence Nightingale reforms military nursing and helps to establish modern nursing as a profession.
• 1858 — direct British rule of India begins, ending the East India Company's administration.
• 1877 — Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India.
• 1899–1902 — the Second Boer War in South Africa.
• 1901 — death of Queen Victoria. Her son Edward VII begins a short reign that gives its name to the Edwardian era.

The 20th century

Two world wars, the rise and decline of the Empire, the extension of the vote to all adults, and the creation of the welfare state — the twentieth century changed Britain more deeply than any other.

The First World War and women's suffrage

• 1914–1918 — the First World War. Britain and her allies fight Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Around 700,000 British soldiers are killed; the war ends on 11 November 1918, still marked annually as Remembrance Day.
• 1916 — the Easter Rising in Dublin.
• 1917 — King George V renames the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor in response to anti-German feeling.
• 1918 — the Representation of the People Act gives the vote to all men over 21 and to women over 30 who meet a property qualification.
• 1922 — most of Ireland leaves the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State; six counties of Ulster remain as Northern Ireland.
• 1928 — the Equal Franchise Act gives women the vote on the same terms as men, from age 21.

The Second World War

• 3 September 1939 — Britain declares war on Nazi Germany after Hitler's invasion of Poland.
• 1940 — the Battle of Britain, in which the RAF defeats the German Luftwaffe and prevents an invasion of Britain. The Blitz bombing campaign begins in September.
• 1940–1945 — Winston Churchill serves as wartime Prime Minister, famous for speeches such as “we shall fight on the beaches” and “their finest hour”.
• 6 June 1944 — D-Day: British, American and Canadian forces land in Normandy to liberate occupied Europe.
• 8 May 1945 — VE Day (Victory in Europe). Germany surrenders.
• 15 August 1945 — VJ Day; Japan surrenders, ending the war.

Modern Britain (1945–today)

Post-war Britain rebuilt itself, gave up most of its empire, joined and later left the European Union, and devolved powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The country that emerged is recognisably the United Kingdom of today.

• 1945 — Clement Attlee's Labour government wins a landslide election and begins building the welfare state.
• 5 July 1948 — the National Health Service (NHS) is launched, providing healthcare free at the point of use.
• 1947–1960s — the end of empire. India and Pakistan become independent in 1947; most other British colonies follow over the next two decades, forming the modern Commonwealth.
• 1952 — accession of Queen Elizabeth II, who will reign for 70 years.
• 1969 — the voting age is lowered from 21 to 18.
• 1 January 1973 — the UK joins the European Economic Community (the forerunner of the European Union).
• 1979 — Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female British Prime Minister.
• 1982 — the Falklands War: Britain retakes the Falkland Islands after an Argentine invasion.
• 1998 — the Good Friday Agreement ends most of the violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
• 1999 — the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales (now Senedd Cymru) sit for the first time, ushering in devolution.
• 2014 — Scotland votes in an independence referendum and chooses to remain part of the UK.
• 2016 — the UK votes by referendum to leave the European Union.
• 31 January 2020 — the UK formally leaves the European Union (“Brexit”).
• 8 September 2022 — Queen Elizabeth II dies at Balmoral; her son King Charles III accedes to the throne.
• 6 May 2023 — the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey.

How British history is tested on the Life in the UK Test

Chapter 3 of the official handbook — “A long and illustrious history” — is the largest chapter on the exam, and typically the biggest share of your 24-question mock. You will not be tested on every date in this article. The handbook focuses on a smaller core of events, monarchs and dates whose significance shaped modern Britain. The most-tested items are:

• AD 43 — Roman conquest under Claudius
• 1066 — Battle of Hastings, Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror
• 1215 — Magna Carta sealed by King John
• 1348 — Black Death
• 1455–1485 — Wars of the Roses, ending at Bosworth
• 1534 — Henry VIII breaks with Rome; Church of England
• 1588 — defeat of the Spanish Armada under Elizabeth I
• 1642–1651 — English Civil War
• 1649 — execution of Charles I
• 1660 — Restoration of Charles II
• 1666 — Great Fire of London
• 1688–1689 — Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights
• 1707 — Acts of Union (Scotland) — Kingdom of Great Britain
• 1801 — Act of Union (Ireland) — United Kingdom
• 1815 — Battle of Waterloo, Wellington defeats Napoleon
• 1837–1901 — reign of Queen Victoria, peak of the British Empire
• 1914–1918 — First World War
• 1918 and 1928 — extension of the vote to women
• 1939–1945 — Second World War; Churchill as wartime PM
• 1948 — founding of the NHS
• 1973 — UK joins the EEC
• 1998 — Good Friday Agreement
• 1999 — Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly
• 2022 — death of Elizabeth II; accession of Charles III

For a structured chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of every topic the handbook covers, see our free Chapter 3 study guide. To drill these dates with instant feedback, sign up for a free account and use the chapter filter on the practice questions page.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main eras in British history?

Most timelines divide British history into prehistoric (before AD 43), Roman (AD 43–c.410), Anglo-Saxon and Viking (c.410–1066), medieval (1066–1485), Tudor (1485–1603), Stuart (1603–1714), Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901), and 20th-century / modern (1901 onwards). English Heritage, which manages many of the country's historic sites, uses the same breakdown.

When did British history begin?

Humans have lived on the island for around half a million years, and farming began roughly 6,000 years ago in the Neolithic period. But recorded British history is usually said to begin with the Roman conquest in AD 43, when Britain first appears in detailed written sources.

What is the most important date in British history?

There is no single answer, but the most-tested date — and the most commonly-cited turning point — is 1066. The Norman Conquest replaced the Anglo-Saxon ruling class, introduced French language and feudalism, and connected England politically to continental Europe in a way that shaped the next thousand years. 1215 (Magna Carta) and 1948 (founding of the NHS) are the other dates most often chosen as transformative.

When was the United Kingdom formed?

The Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the Acts of Union in 1707, joining England (which already included Wales) with Scotland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed on 1 January 1801 by a further Act of Union. After most of Ireland left in 1922, the country became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — its current name.

How long was the Roman occupation of Britain?

Around 367 years — from the conquest in AD 43 to the withdrawal of the legions in AD 410. Roman influence on language, towns, roads and administration outlasted Roman rule by centuries.

Who was the longest-reigning British monarch?

Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned from 6 February 1952 to 8 September 2022 — 70 years and 214 days. She overtook her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria (63 years and 216 days) in September 2015. For the rest of the top 10 and the full list of monarchs since 1066, see our companion article on the British monarchs timeline.

How much of this do I need to memorise for the Life in the UK Test?

Far less than this article covers. Chapter 3 of the handbook focuses on a core set of around 20–30 dates, listed in the section above. You should be comfortable with those, plus the rough sequence of eras (Romans → Anglo-Saxons → Normans → Tudors → Stuarts → Georgians → Victorians → modern). The most efficient way to learn them is by taking practice questions and reviewing the explanations on anything you get wrong.