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City Guide > Europe > England > London


History

AD43-50 Romans establish a stronghold on the River Thames
AD60
Queen Boudicca’s revolt destroys the Roman settlement of Londinium
By AD100
Londinium replaces Colchester (Camulodunum) as the capital of the province of Britannia
604
St Paul’s Cathedral is founded by the first Saxon Bishop, Mellitus
1050-65
Edward the Confessor constructs Westminster Abbey
1067
William the Conqueror begins construction of three fortresses, including the Tower of London
1215
City of London is given the right to elect its own mayor
1319
Edward II recognises the city’s autonomy
1327
Completion of St Paul’s Cathedral
1348-75
The Black Death kills half the city’s population
1381
Peasant’s Revolt led by Watt Tyler
1397-1420
Dick Whittington is Mayor of London
1587
The Rose Theatre is built on Bankside
1599
The Globe Theatre opens on Bankside
1600
The East India Company is founded
1605
Guy Fawkes tries and fails to blow up the Houses of Parliament
1649
Execution of Charles I
1665-66
Plague kills more than 110,000 Londoners
1666
Great Fire of London
1683-84
River Thames freezes over in what is now known as the Great Freeze
1694
Founding of the Bank of England
1700
Population stands at 600,000
1750
Street lighting is introduced
1780
Anti-Catholic Gordon riots
1801
Population stands at 900,000
1834
Opening of the capital’s first railway – a local passenger line between London and Greenwich
1837
Opening of the first intercity rail route, London to Birmingham
1851
Great Exhibition is housed in Crystal Palace and Hyde Park and attracts six million visitors
1863
London Underground opens
1889
First major strike called at the docks
1901
Death of Queen Victoria. Population reaches 6.5 million
1918-39
Population of Greater London grows to 8.7 million, but the number of people living in the City shrinks
1926
General Strike
Aug-Sep 1940
Battle of Britain
1940-41
The Blitz
1944-45
Nazi rocket attacks destroy parts of the City, Westminster, the Docks and the East End
1951
Festival of Britain
1960-80
Closure of many London docks
1965
First Notting Hill Carnival takes place
1980
Mrs Thatcher disbands the Greater London Council under Ken Livingstone
1980
Brixton riots
1990
Poll Tax riots in Trafalgar Square
1997
The Queen opens the new Globe Theatre on Bankside
2000
Millennium Dome and the BA London Eye are among many projects that promote London as the ‘Millennium City’. Ken Livingstone elected new major of London
2003 Demonstrators take to the streets for the Stop the War in Iraq march (Feb). President George W Bush's official visit to the capital (Nov).



   
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