Land Tax introduced - originally designed as an annual tax on personal estate, public offices and land. For practical purposes, however, assessors tended to avoid assessing items of wealth other than landed property so that it became known as the Land Tax.
French intention to invade England came to nothing
England passes Act of Grace, forgiving Roman Catholic followers of James II
Bill of Rights passed by Parliament, ending King's divine right to raise taxes or wage war
Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland - Jacobites defeated Government troops but at high cost
Toleration Act passed for Protestant non-conformists
Deposed James VII & II flees to Ireland - defeated at the Battle of the Boyne (1 Jul 1690)
William III and Mary II, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne (only William, however, has regal power)
Devonport naval dockyard established
Siege of Londonderry (began Dec 1688; ended 28 Jul 1689)
William of Orange lands at Torbay
The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates
Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens - later became Lloyd's of London
British Army raised to 40,000
Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament
Hearth Tax abolished
Mutiny Act
Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' - written in Latin
James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists
Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701) - Monmouth rebellion and battle of Sedgemoor - British Army raised to 20,000 men
Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland
Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes - 320 executed, 800 transported
Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford - first museum in Britain
Wild boar become extinct in Britain
Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
Library of Advocates founded in Edinburgh - later National Library of Scotland
Halley observes the comet which bears his name
Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament
Oil lighting first used in London streets
William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post
Dodo becomes extinct in Mauritius through over-hunting
Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England - (later repealed from time to time)
Tories first so named
Extension of Test Act to peers
Lee's Collection of Names of Merchants in London' published
Compton Census, named after its initiator Henry Compton, Bishop of London, was intended to discover the number of Anglican conformists, Roman Catholic recusants and Protestant dissenters in England and Wales from enquiries made in individual parishes
Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England
Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury
Rebuilding of St Paul's started by Wren (completed 1710)
Treaty of Westminster - Netherlands cedes New Netherlands (on the eastern coast of North America) to Britain
First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland
War with Holland (to 1674) - British Army increased to 10,000 men
Thomas Blood caught stealing the Crown Jewels
King Charles II and King Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover
Last entry in Pepys's diary
British East India Company obtains control of Bombay
Newton constructs reflecting telescope
Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June (2-6 Sep)
Use of semaphore signalling pioneered by Lord Worcester
Newton formulated Laws of Gravity
The ?London Gazette' first published - one of the official journals of record of the United Kingdom government and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United Kingdom
Great Plague of London (July-October) kills over 60,000
Five-mile Act restricts non-conformist ministers in Britain
Nieuw Amsterdam becomes New York as 300 English soldiers under Col. Mathias Nicolls take the town from the Dutch under orders from Charles II. The town is renamed after the King's brother James, Duke of York
Oak Apple Day - the birthday of Charles II and the day when he entered London at the Restoration; commanded by Act of Parliament in 1664 to be observed as a day of thanksgiving. A special service (expunged in 1859) was inserted in the Book of Common Prayer and people wore sprigs of oak with gilded oak-apples on that day.
Act of Uniformity - Acceptance of Book of Common Prayer required - About 2,000 vicars and rectors driven from their parishes as nonconformists (Presbyterians and Independents) - Persecution of all non-conformists - Presbyterianism dis-established - Episcopalian Church of England restored
'Hearth Tax' introduced - until 1689 (1690 in Scotland)
Poor Relief Act or Act of Settlement' - gave JPs the power to return any wandering poor to the parish of origin (repealed 1834)
Tea introduced to Britain
Oliver Cromwell formally 'executed', having been dead for over two years!
Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland
Board of Trade founded in London
Hand-struck postage stamps first used
Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office
First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
Twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society
Ten Regicides are executed at Charing Cross or Tyburn
Restoration of British monarchy (Charles II) - 'Oak Apple Day' - theatres reopened
Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
Provincial Probate Courts re-established
Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom
Composition of light discovered by Newton
Honourable East India Company founded by British
Samuel Pepys starts his diary
Date of first known bank cheque to be drawn
Start of national meteorological Temperature records in the UK
Death of Oliver Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector (-1660)
Post Office established by Act of Parliament [others say 1660]
A few Jews permitted to settle in England