British Literature By meaganb May 3, 653 Chirstianity begins to spread Aug 7, 731 History of the English church and people - created Jun 3, 750 Surviving version of beowulf is created May 3, 1042 Edward the Confessor becomes king of Saxons Period: May 3, 1066 to May 3, 1485 Medieval Period May 3, 1073 Canterbury becomes England's religious center May 3, 1130 Oxford becomes center for learning May 3, 1170 Thomas Beckett is murdered May 3, 1215 King John is forced to sign the Magna Carta May 3, 1258 First Commoners allowed in Parliament May 3, 1272 Edward 1 becomes king May 3, 1337 Beginning of the Hundred Years' War May 3, 1348 Black Death begins sweeping through England May 3, 1386 Chaucer begins writing The Canterbury Tales May 3, 1470 Thomas Mallory writes Morte d'Arthur Jan 1, 1485 The Renaissance Period Begins Period: Jan 1, 1485 to Dec 31, 1660 The Renaissance Period May 3, 1485 Henry VII becomes first Tudor king May 3, 1512 First masque performed May 3, 1516 Thomas Moore publishes Utopia May 3, 1534 Church of England established May 3, 1547 Henry VIII dies May 3, 1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen May 3, 1563 20,000 Londoners die in plague May 3, 1564 William Shakespeare is born May 3, 1594 Romeo and Juliet is written May 3, 1599 Globe Theater opens May 3, 1603 Elizabeth I dies May 3, 1603 James I becomes king May 3, 1611 King James Bible is published May 3, 1623 First patent laws passed May 3, 1625 Beginning of the 16th century May 3, 1625 James I dies May 3, 1628 William Harvey explains blood circulation May 3, 1635 Public Mail Service established May 3, 1642 Puritans close theaters May 3, 1649 Charles I beheaded May 3, 1650 Newspaper ads appear May 3, 1650 Full bottomed wigs become fashionable May 3, 1658 Puritan government collapses Jan 1, 1660 Neoclassical period begins Period: Jan 1, 1660 to Dec 31, 1798 Neoclassical Period May 3, 1660 Monarchy is restored May 3, 1660 Theaters are reopened May 3, 1662 Royal Society Chartered May 3, 1666 Great Fire of London May 3, 1667 Paradise Lost is published May 3, 1685 James II becomes king May 3, 1688 Glorious Revolution May 3, 1702 First daily newspaper begins publication May 3, 1707 Great Britain created by Act of Union May 3, 1712 Rape of the Lock is published May 3, 1714 George 1 becomes king May 3, 1719 Robinson Crusoe is published May 3, 1726 Gullivers Travels is published May 3, 1751 Elegy in a Counrty Churchyard is published May 3, 1756 Britain enters 7 years' war May 3, 1793 England goes to war with France Period: May 3, 1798 to Dec 31, 1832 Romantic Period May 3, 1801 Act of Union creates United Kingdom and Great Britain May 3, 1801 Union Jack becomes official flag May 3, 1813 Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice May 3, 1818 Frankenstein is published May 3, 1819 Peterloo massacre in Manchester takes place May 3, 1820 Ode on a Grecian Urn is published May 3, 1825 Horse-drawn buses begin operating in London May 3, 1827 System for purifying London water is installed May 3, 1832 First Reform Act extends voting rights Period: Jan 1, 1833 to Dec 31, 1900 Victorian Period May 3, 1833 Slavery abolished in British empire May 3, 1833 Victorian period begins May 3, 1837 Victoria becomes queen May 3, 1839 General theory of elctricity is suggested May 3, 1845 Irish potato famine begins May 3, 1848 Women begin attending University of London May 3, 1854 Britain enters Cimean War May 3, 1860 School for nurses is founded May 3, 1865 London fire department established May 3, 1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published May 3, 1869 Debtors prison is abolished May 3, 1880 Joseph Swan installs first elctric lighting May 3, 1887 First Sherlock Holmes tale published Jan 22, 1901 Edward VII becomes King When his mother, Queen Victoria, died, he became king. May 3, 1901 Queen Victoria dies Aug 4, 1914 Britain enters World War 1 Mar 2, 2022 The Anglo-Saxon Period begins Mar 2, 2022 Alfred the Great becomes King of Wessex Mar 2, 2022 Christian Monastery at Canterbury is founded by St. Augustine Mar 2, 2022 Saxon Monks copy Old English poems into The Exeter Book Period: Mar 2, 2022 to Oct 31, 1042 Anglo-Saxon Invasion
