Battles
1066: The Norman Conquest. William, Duke of Normandy, beat King Harold II at .... His Norman armies invaded England and most of Wales. William was known as ‘William the Conqueror’, or King William I.
What's the name of the battle?
the Battle of Hastings
1315: Over 7 years, at least 10% of people across Britain died from starvation caused by 2 years of very bad weather.
What's the disaster?
The Great Famine
1337: It started when King Edward III of England tried to invade France. 116 years later, France won.
What's the war?
The Hundred Years’ War
1381: Thousands of peasants protested in London because they wanted equal rights and did not want to pay a new tax. Eventually wool exports were taxed instead.
What's the name of the event?
The Peasants’ Revolt.
1086: King William I created this document, a very detailed record of everyone who owned land or animals. This was so he could tax them. The book still exists.
What's the document?
The Domesday Book
1485: The start of the Tudor dynasty. Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster won ... and became King Henry VII. To stop the fighting of the previous 30 years, he married his rival’s niece, Elizabeth of York. Henry then created the House of Tudor (with a red and white rose logo). England and Wales entered a time of relative peace and growing wealth.
What's the name of the battle?
the Battle of Bosworth Field
1348: The Black Death. It killed 40% of people in one year. Many villages disappeared. But because of a labour shortage, the remaining peasants could suddenly choose who to work for and what to do. There was big social change.
What's the disaster?
Bubonic plague
1450s: When King Henry VI became too ill to rule, Richard, Duke of York was asked to take over temporarily. However, he didn’t want to stop being ruler even when the king was better. This started a 30-year war between two sides of the English royal Plantagenet family: the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
What's the war?
The Wars of the Roses.
1400: A member of the Welsh royalty, Owain Glyndwr, led the Welsh to revolt against the new English king, Henry IV. At first it seemed like he was successful, but eventually the English took back control.
What's the name of the event?
The Welsh Revolt
1215: King John forced to sign this document. King John was a bad king. His lords became angry and made him sign a document that said he must follow the rules of England. It also limited how much the lords could be taxed and gave ‘free men’ the right to a fair trial. This idea of human rights was copied across the world.
What's the document?
the Magna Carta
1296: Edward I invaded Scotland. A year later, a man called William Wallace tried to fight the English. Scottish king Robert the Bruce defeated the English at ... in 1314. Scotland became independent in 1328.
What's the name of the battle?
the Battle of Bannockburn
1665: The Great ... of London. About 20% of London’s population died of it.
What's the disaster?
bubonic plague
1642: King Charles I was not a good leader and wanted money for a war with Scotland. Parliament did not want to help him. People who supported the king (Cavaliers) fought people who supported Parliament (Roundheads). About 10% of the population died in the fighting.
What's the war?
The Civil War
1689: King James II (King Charles II’s brother) was unpopular – and Catholic. He fled abroad after William of Orange (the husband of his Protestant daughter Mary) came with an army. Mary and William became joint monarchs, known as William III and Mary.
What's the name of the event?
The Glorious Revolution
1649: Britain became a republic called .... King Charles I had his head cut off. A military leader called Oliver Cromwell took control. He became a dictator.
What's the name?
‘the Commonwealth’
1939–45: World War 2. Famous moments included evacuating British soldiers from Dunkirk in France (1940), ... (German air attacks stopped by British pilots, 1940), the Blitz (bombing raids on British cities, 1940-41), and D-Day/Normandy Landings (when the US, Canada and UK invaded German-occupied France, 1944).
What's the name of the battle?
the Battle of Britain
1666: It started in a bakery and destroyed 80% of the city.
What's the disaster?
The Great Fire of London.
1914–18: The war brought social change because women had to do the jobs of the men while they were fighting. Men from many other countries also helped Britain as part of the Allied Powers.
World War 1
1798: Irish people fought against British rule, with support from the French. Nearly 30,000 people died. Eventually, the British won.
What's the name of the event?
The Irish Rebellion
1903: For 11 years, women from the Women’s Political and Social Union called ... fought for women to get the vote. After World War I, women over 30 who own property are allowed to vote. In 1928, everyone over 21 was allowed to vote.
What's the name of the union?
The Suffragettes
1715: First Jacobite Rebellion. Catholics who wanted James II of England back on the throne (called Jacobites) fought Protestants who supported the new king George I. The fighting ended when the grandson of James II (known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’) lost ... in 1746.
What's the name of the battle?
the Battle of Culloden
1845-50: Over 1 million people died and about 1 million emigrated when a disease destroyed potatoes, the only food of the poor. During this time, many other foods were grown and sent to Britain. This made Ireland even more determined to become independent.
What's the disaster?
Irish Potato Famine.
1966: Over 30 years of violence and bombing (known as ‘the Troubles’) start because of tension between Unionists (mostly Protestant, who want Northern Ireland to stay with Britain) and Nationalists/Republicans (mostly Catholic, who want Northern Ireland as part of the Republic of Ireland). A peace deal was signed in 1998, which gave Northern Ireland its own locally-elected government.
Conflict in Northern Ireland.
1534: Catholic King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife because she had not had a son. But divorce was forbidden by the Pope. So Henry made himself the head of a new church, the Church of England (Protestant). This led to many years of Catholic-Protestant fighting. Henry VIII is famous now for having six wives. He also executed over 50,000 people.
What's the name of the event?
The Reformation.
2016: 52% of the UK voted to leave the European Union (though in London, Scotland and Northern Ireland most people wanted to stay).
2020: Britain left the European Union.
What's the name of the vote?
Brexit vote.