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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1603 | - 24 Mar 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—25 Jul 1603: Coronation - James VI of Scotland is crowned first king of Great Britain
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| 2 | 1604 | - 1 Nov 1604—1 Nov 1604: Shakespeare: Othello' first presented
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| 3 | 1605 | - 5 Nov 1605—5 Nov 1605: Gunpowder plot at Westminster (Guy Fawkes, etc)
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| 4 | 1606 | - 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—1606: Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
- 31 Jan 1606—31 Jan 1606: Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators executed
- 12 Mar 1606—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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| 5 | 1607 | - 14 May 1607—14 May 1607: Jamestown, Virginia settled - to become the first permanent British colony in
North America
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| 6 | 1608 | - 1608—1608: First use of telescope by Galileo - he observed the moons of Jupiter two years later in
Jan 1610
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| 7 | 1610 | - 1610—1610: James VI & I established the Episcopal Church in Scotland - Prebyterians persecuted
and many of their records lost
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| 8 | 1611 | - 1611—1611: Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in Britain
- 22 May 1611—22 May 1611: James VI & I created the title of baronet
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| 9 | 1613 | - 1613—1613: A copper farthing was produced, as a silver coin would be too small
- 29 Jun 1613—29 Jun 1613: The Globe Theatre in London burns during a performance of Henry the Eighth
(finally pulled down in 1644)
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| 10 | 1616 | - 23 Apr 1616—23 Apr 1616: Tuesday Apr 23 (Julian calendar): Death of Shakespeare
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| 11 | 1618 | - 1618—1618: Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I
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| 12 | 1619 | - 4 Dec 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)
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| 13 | 1620 | - 1620—1620: Manufacture of coke (the fuel, not the drink!) patented by Dud Dudley
- 21 Dec 1620—21 Dec 1620: (Dec 16 old style): The Mayflower reaches America - founds Plymouth, New
England (had initially set sail from Southampton on Aug 5)
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| 14 | 1621 | - 1621—1621: Chimneys to be made of brick and to be four and a half feet above the roof
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| 15 | 1622 | - 1622—1622: First English newspaper appeared - Weekly News'
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| 16 | 1624 | - 1624—1624: Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
- 1624—1624: Edmund Gunter introduces the surveyor's chain (measurement of length)
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| 17 | 1625 | - 1625—1625: The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
- 27 Mar 1625—27 Mar 1625: Death of King James VI & I
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| 18 | 1628 | - 1 Mar 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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| 19 | 1629 | - 10 Mar 1629—10 Mar 1629: Parliament dissolved by King Charles I - did not meet for another 11 yea
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| 20 | 1633 | - Jun 1633—Jun 1633: Galileo summoned by Inquisition for publishing in favour of Copernican theory
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| 21 | 1635 | - 1635—1635: Letter Office of England & Scotland started
- 1635—1635: Flintlock small arms invented around this time (replaces matchlock)
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| 22 | 1636 | - 1636—1636: Hackney Carriages in use by now in London
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| 23 | 1638 | - 1638—1638: King Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason - forced Scots to choose
between their church and the King - a ?Covenant' swearing to resist these changes to the
Death was signed in Greyfriars Church Edinburgh and was accepted by hundreds of
thousands of Scots (revival of Presbyterian Church)
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| 24 | 1639 | - 1639—1639: Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
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| 25 | 1640 | - 3 Nov 1640—3 Nov 1640: Charles I forced to recall Parliament (the 'Long Parliament') due to Scottish
invasion
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| 26 | 1641 | - 1641—1641: Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
- 1641—1641: Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland
- 23 Oct 1641—23 Oct 1641: 50,000 Irish killed in an uprising in Ulster
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| 27 | 1642 | - 1642—1642: The Civil War interrupted the keeping of parish registers
- 1642—1642: English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660)
- 22 Aug 1642—22 Aug 1642: Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham - First Civil War in England (to
1649)
- 13 Nov 1642—13 Nov 1642: Battle of Turnham Green - Royalist forces withdraw in face of the
Parliamentarian army and fail to take London
- 24 Nov 1642—24 Nov 1642: Abel Janszoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania)
- 18 Dec 1642—18 Dec 1642: Abel Janszoon Tasman first European to set foot in New Zealand
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| 28 | 1643 | - 13 Dec 1643—13 Dec 1643: Battle of Alton - victory for Parliamentarians - Sir Richard Bolle killed in St
Lawrence's church
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| 29 | 1644 | - 29 Jun 1644—29 Jun 1644: Battle of Cropredy Bridge - Royalists beat the Parliamentarian forces
- 2 Jul 1644—2 Jul 1644: Battle of Marston Moor, near York - Parliamentarian forces beat the Royalists
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| 30 | 1645 | - 1645—1645: Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland
- 1645—1645: Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot
soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia - population of Scotland estimated at
420,000
- 1645—1645: Plague made its last appearance in Scotland
- 14 Jun 1645—14 Jun 1645: Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces
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| 31 | 1646 | - 5 May 1646—5 May 1646: Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army at Newark
- 20 Jun 1646—20 Jun 1646: Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
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| 32 | 1648 | - 1648—1648: Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox
- 1648—1648: First practical thermometers made
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| 33 | 1649 | - 1649—1649: Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
- 1649—1649: King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland
- 6 Jan 1649—6 Jan 1649: 'Rump' Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial
- 30 Jan 1649—30 Jan 1649: King Charles I executed
- 19 May 1649—19 May 1649: Commonwealth declared
- 20 Dec 1649—20 Dec 1649: Theatres banned by Cromwell
- 20 Dec 1649—20 Dec 1649: Christmas banned by Cromwell
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| 34 | 1650 | - 1650—1650: Coffee brought to England about this time
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| 35 | 1651 | - 1651—1651: The second English Civil War (1651-1652)
- 1651—1651: Scottish prisoners transported to the British settlements in America
- 3 Sep 1651—3 Sep 1651: Battle of Worcester
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| 36 | 1653 | - 1653—1653: Commonwealth registers start
- 1653—1653: Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land
- 1653—1653: Provincial probate courts abolished - probates granted only in London
- 20 Apr 1653—20 Apr 1653: Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament
- 16 Dec 1653—16 Dec 1653: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland
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| 37 | 1657 | - 1657—1657: Post Office established by Act of Parliament [others say 1660]
- 1657—1657: A few Jews permitted to settle in England
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| 38 | 1658 | - 1658—1658: Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector (-1660)
- 3 Sep 1658—3 Sep 1658: Death of Oliver Cromwell
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| 39 | 1659 | - 1659—1659: Start of national meteorological Temperature records in the UK
- 6 Feb 1659—6 Feb 1659: Date of first known bank cheque to be drawn
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| 40 | 1660 | - 1660—1660: Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
- 1660—1660: Provincial Probate Courts re-established
- 1660—1660: Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom
- 1660—1660: Composition of light discovered by Newton
- 1660—1660: Honourable East India Company founded by British
- 1 Jan 1660—1 Jan 1660: Samuel Pepys starts his diary
- 29 May 1660—29 May 1660: Restoration of British monarchy (Charles II) - 'Oak Apple Day' - theatres
reopened
- 17 Oct 1660—17 Oct 1660: Ten Regicides are executed at Charing Cross or Tyburn
- 28 Nov 1660—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—8 Dec 1660: First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
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| 41 | 1661 | - 1661—1661: Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland
- 1661—1661: Board of Trade founded in London
- 1661—1661: Hand-struck postage stamps first used
- 1661—1661: Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office
- 30 Jan 1661—30 Jan 1661: Oliver Cromwell formally 'executed', having been dead for over two years!
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| 42 | 1662 | - 1662—1662: 'Hearth Tax' introduced - until 1689 (1690 in Scotland)
- 1662—1662: Poor Relief Act or Act of Settlement' - gave JPs the power to return any wandering
poor to the parish of origin (repealed 1834)
- 1662—1662: Tea introduced to Britain
- 24 Aug 1662—24 Aug 1662: Act of Uniformity - Acceptance of Book of Common Prayer required - About
2,000 vicars and rectors driven from their parishes as nonconformists (Presbyterians and
Independents) - Persecution of all non-conformists - Presbyterianism dis-established -
Episcopalian Church of England restored
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1603 - 1663 (~ 59 years) 
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