History of Great Britain By facebooker_10214698797856509 409 Roman government of the British Isles ended 1066 William the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy) 1086 The Domesday Book 1215 King John signed the Magna Carta 1337 Start odf the 100 Years' War between England and France Period: 1348 to 1349 Black Death - nearly half of the English population died 1381 Peasants' Revolt Period: 1455 to 1487 Wars of the Roses 1477 William Caxton printed the first book in England Period: 1534 to 1540 The Reformation 1542 Act of Union united England and Wales Period: 1558 to 1563 Queen Elizabeth I 1603 The Kingdoms of Scotland became James I of England Period: 1642 to 1651 The English Civil War between the king and parliament 1649 Charles I was executed and England became a republic Period: 1653 to 1658 Oliver Cromwell ruled as Protector 1660 Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II 1665 The Great Plague 1666 The Fire of London 1687 Publication of Isaac Newton's Principia 1707 Act of Union united the English and Scotish Parliaments 1805 Battle of Trafalgar 1815 Battle of Waterloo 1825 The world's first passenger railway opened between Stockton and Darlington 1832 Reform Act Period: 1837 to 1901 Reign of Queen Victoria 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species 1907 The first Rolls-Royce motor car was built Period: 1914 to 1918 The First World War 1918 Women over 30 given the vote Period: 1939 to 1945 The Second World War 1948 Free medical care for everyone was introduced - the National Health Service 1952 Queen Elizabeth II came to throne 1965 Natural gas was discovered in the North Sea 1969 Oil was discovered in the North Sea 1973 The UK joined the Common Market, now called the European Union Period: 1979 to 1990 Margaret Thatcher was the UK's first woman prime minister 1994 the Channel Tunel joining England and France opened for trains 1997 The Labour Party won the general election for the first time since 1979 1999 A Scottish Parliament and a national assembly for Wales were set up, taking back some of the powers they had lost more then 200 years before 2002 Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee