British Literature By Bethany Arnett May 2, 731 Bede completes A History of the English Church and People May 2, 1042 Edward The Confessor becomes king of Saxons May 2, 1233 First coal mined at Newcastle May 2, 1386 Chaucer begins writing The Canterbury Tales May 2, 1470 Thomas Mallory writes Morte D'Arthur May 2, 1485 Henry VII becomes the first Tudor king Period: May 2, 1485 to May 2, 1625 The English Renaissance Period May 2, 1516 Thomas More publishes Utopia May 2, 1534 Church of England established May 2, 1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen May 2, 1582 Sir Philip Sidney writes Astrophel and Stella May 2, 1599 Globe Theater opens May 2, 1603 Elizabeth I dies, and James I becomes king May 2, 1620 Francis Bacon publishes Novum Organum May 2, 1625 James I dies Period: May 2, 1625 to May 2, 1798 The Seventeenth and Eightennth Centuries May 2, 1635 Public mail service is established May 2, 1638 John Milton publishes Lycidas May 2, 1642 English Civil War begins May 2, 1649 Richard Lovelace publishes Lucasta May 2, 1685 James II becomes king May 2, 1726 Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver's Tarvels May 2, 1756 Britian enters Seven years' War May 2, 1793 England goes to war with France May 2, 1798 William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads Period: May 2, 1798 to May 2, 1832 The Romantic Period May 2, 1813 Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice May 2, 1814 George Stephenson constructs first successful steam locomotive May 2, 1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester May 2, 1820 John Keats publishes "Ode on a Grecian Urn" May 2, 1832 First Reform Act extends voting rights May 2, 1833 Slavery abolished in British empire Period: May 2, 1833 to May 2, 1901 The Victorian Period May 2, 1843 William Wordsworth becomes poet laureate May 2, 1854 Britian enters Crimean War May 2, 1865 London Fire Department established May 2, 1865 Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventure in Wonderland May 2, 1901 Queen Victoria dies May 2, 1901 Edward VII becomes king Period: May 2, 1901 to May 2, 2011 The Modern and Postmodern Periods May 2, 1902 Joseph Conrad publishes Heart of Darkness May 2, 1914 Britian enters World War 1 May 2, 1922 T.S. Elliot publishes The Waste Land May 2, 1945 George Orwell publishes Animal Farm May 2, 1952 Elizabeth II becomes queen May 2, 1975 North Sea oil production begins May 2, 1997 Tony Blair is elected Prime Minister Mar 2, 2022 Anglo-Saxon Invasion Mar 2, 2022 Alfred The Great becomes king of Wessex Period: Mar 2, 2022 to May 2, 1485 The Old English and Medieval Periods
