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Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Timeline of Events
1606
4.12.1606
The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain.
1621
4.5.1621
The ''Mayflower'' sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.
1624
1.28.1624
Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
1689
4.11.1689
William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.
1703
11.25.1703
The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
1710
4.10.1710
The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain.
1717
1.4.1717
The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance.
1718
12.17.1718
Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1729
11.9.1729
Spain, France and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Seville.
1743
9.13.1743
Great Britain, Austria and Savoy-Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms.
1747
10.25.1747
British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeats the French at the second battle of Cape Finisterre.
1752
9.2.1752
Great Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
1763
2.10.1763
French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
5.7.1763
Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins – Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.
10.7.1763
George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
1775
6.12.1775
American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
1776
3.15.1776
South Carolina becomes the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.
5.15.1776
American Revolution: the Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
7.2.1776
The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
1777
3.8.1777
Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
4.27.1777
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
9.26.1777
10.4.1777
Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.
1780
5.12.1780
9.23.1780
American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.
10.7.1780
American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
1781
1.6.1781
In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey.
1784
1.14.1784
American Revolutionary War: Ratification Day, United States Congress ratifies Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.
1809
11.18.1809
In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
1811
5.16.1811
Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and Britain, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
1812
3.16.1812
Battle of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.
1813
6.24.1813
Battle of Beaver Dams : a British and Indian combined force defeats the U.S Army.
1824
3.5.1824
First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
1837
11.22.1837
Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie called for a rebellion against Great Britain in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper ''The Constitution''.
1890
3.4.1890
The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland, measuring Convert 1710 long, is opened by the Prince of Wales, who later becomes King Edward VII.
1916
1.1.1916
German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
1918
1.31.1918
A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1937
1.1.1937
Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain.
1940
5.13.1940
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the Nazi invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
1941
12.5.1941
World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.