1697.  Peace of Ryswick (S502)
1701.  Act of Settlement (S497)
1707.  England and Scotland united (S513)
1713.  Peace of Utrecht (S512)
 1720.  The South Sea Bubble (S536)
1721.  Rise of Cabinet Government (S534)
 1738.  Rise of the Methodists (S546)
 1748.  Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (S542)
 1751-1757.  English Conquests in India (S544)
1759.  The English take Quebec (S545)
1776.  American Independence (S552)
1782.  American Independence acknowledged (S553)
 1784.  Mail Coaches begin to run (S566)
 1785.  “Industrial Revolution”; Canals; Watt’s Steam Engine (S563)
 1796.  Vaccination introduced (S537)
 1799.  First Savings Bank (S621)
1800.  Great Britain and Ireland united (S562)
 1805.  Battle of Trafalgar (S557)
 1807.  Steam Navigation begins (S565)
 1812.  War with America (S558)
 1815.  Battle of Waterloo (S559)
 1819.  The Six Acts (S571)
 1829.  Catholic Emancipation (S573)
 1830.  First Passenger Railway (S584)
1832.  Great Suffrage Reform (S582)
1835.  Municipal Reform (S599)
 1837-1911.  Colonial Expansion (S618)
1838-1848.  Rise of Chartrists (S591)
 1839.  Postage Reform (S590)
 1845.  First Telegraph (S614)
 1845.  Irish Famine (S593)
 1846.  Repeal of the Corn Laws (S594)
 1857.  Rebellion in India (S597)
 1858.  Jews enter Parliament (S599)
 1859.  Darwin’s Evolution (S606)
 1861.  The Trent Affair (S598)
 1866.  Permanent Atlantic Cable (S595)
 1867.  Second Suffrage Reform (S600)
 1869.  Partial Woman Suffrage (S599)
 1869.  Free Trade established (S594)
 1870.  The Education Act (S602)
1870.  Civil Service Reform (S609)
 1870.  Irish Land Act (S603)
 1871-1906.  Trades Unions Acts (S616)
 1884.  Third Suffrage Reform (S600)
1888, 1894.  Local Government Acts (S608)
 1899.  The Boer War (S623)
1906.  Labor enters Parliament (S628)
 1908.  Old-Age Pensions (S628)
 1910.  Imperial Federation (S625)
1911.  Parliament Act; Salary Act (S631)

THE LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

FIRST PERIOD[1]

“This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of ewar;
This happy breed of men this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” 
                        Shakespeare, “Richard II”

BRITAIN BEFORE WRITTEN HISTORY BEGAN

1.  The Earliest Inhabitants of England.

England was inhabited for many centuries before its written history began.  The earliest races that possessed the country were stunted, brutal savages.  They used pieces of rough flint for tools and weapons.  From flint too they produced fire.  They lived by hunting and fishing, and often had no homes but caves and rock shelters.