Time chart

TIMELINE

History is not about dates only, and dates are certainly the most important or the most interesting part of history. It is often useful, however, to put together, in summary form, key events in a chronological time line, so this is what I have here.

Year	Event
AD 1	43 Claudius, the Roman emperor, invades Britain 410 The last of the Roman legions leave Britain 449 The arrival of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in Britain
500	563–97 St Columba comes from Ireland to Christianise Scotland 597 St Augustine brings Roman Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons 627 Edwin King of Northumbria converts to Christianity 787 Vikings begin to raid Britain 886 Boundaries of Danelaw agreed and King Alfred the Great occupies London c. 891 Monks write the history of England in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
1000	1017 The Danish king Canute (or Cnut) crowned king of England 1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, is crowned king after Harold is defeated at the battle of Hastings 1096–99 First Crusade (‘Holy war’ against the Muslim Turks in Jerusalem)
1100	1147–49 Second Crusade 1189–92 Third Crusade
1200	1204 King John loses Normandy to the French crown
1300	1337 Start of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France ?1340–1400 Life of Geoffrey Chaucer 1348–50 The Black Death 1362 Statute of Pleadings: English made the official language of legal proceedings in England
1400	1453 The fall of Constantinople (Istanbul): The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire falls to the Turks 1476 William Caxton introduces printing to England

1500	c. 1500 Start of the Renaissance in Britain 1532 Henry VIII breaks from papal authority and declares himself the head of the church in England 1564–1616 Life of Shakespeare
1600	1600–14 The English, Dutch, Danish and French East India Companies founded 1611 The Authorised (King James) version of the Bible printed 1620 Arrival of the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ in America 1642–52 English Civil War between the Parliamentarians and Royalists 1660 The Restoration of the British Monarchy
1700	1763 The Treaty of Paris: Britain becomes the dominant power in India 1773 The Boston Tea Party 1776 The American ‘Declaration of Independence’ 1786 Francis Light arranges with the Sultan of Kedah to lease Penang
1800	1819 Stamford Raffles arranges with the Sultan of Johore to lease Singapore 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty: Malacca passes from Dutch to British hands 1826 Singapore, Malacca and Penang incorporated into the Straits Settlement 1857–58 The Indian Mutiny: The East India Company is abolished in 1858 1867 Canada becomes a dominion, a self-governing nation in the British empire 1876 Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India 1895 The formation of the Federated Malay States under British control
1900	1901 The formation of the Commonwealth of Australia 1914–18 First World War (‘The Great War’) 1939–45 Second World War 1947 Independence of India: East and West Pakistan carved out 1957 Independence of Malaya (‘Merdeka’) 1963 The Federation Malaysia formed (including Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak) 1965 Singapore secedes from the Federation of Malaysia
2000	2003 Start of the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) in Singapore

Note on language:

You might have noticed that where verbs with tense are used, I have selected present tense in this time chart (eg ‘Malacca passes from Dutch to British hands’). On other occasions, I use the passive form, but elide the auxiliary (helping) verbs that normally precede the main verb (eg ‘English made the official language’ rather than ‘English is made …’). On other occasions, there is just a nominalisation (eg ‘Start of the Hundred Years’ War’, ‘Independence of Malaya’). This is because I am using the general convention associated with ‘headline’ language. You might want to check this against the language of headlines in newspapers.

In essays and other situations of continuous prose, you should generally use the past tense to describe a past or historical event (eg ‘In 1824, Malacca passed from Dutch to British hands’).

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