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Poor Relief Act or Act of Settlement' - gave JPs the power to return any wandering poor to the parish of origin (repealed 1834)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
Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland
Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament
Commonwealth registers start
Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land
Provincial probate courts abolished - probates granted only in London
Battle of Worcester
The second English Civil War (1651-1652)
Scottish prisoners transported to the British settlements in America
Coffee brought to England about this time
Theatres banned by Cromwell
Christmas banned by Cromwell
Commonwealth declared
King Charles I executed
'Rump' Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial
Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland
Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox
First practical thermometers made
Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army at Newark
Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces
Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland
Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia - population of Scotland estimated at 420,000
Plague made its last appearance in Scotland
Battle of Marston Moor, near York - Parliamentarian forces beat the Royalists
Battle of Cropredy Bridge - Royalists beat the Parliamentarian forces
Battle of Alton - victory for Parliamentarians - Sir Richard Bolle killed in St Lawrence's church
Abel Janszoon Tasman first European to set foot in New Zealand
Abel Janszoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania)
Battle of Turnham Green - Royalist forces withdraw in face of the Parliamentarian army and fail to take London
Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham - First Civil War in England (to 1649)
The Civil War interrupted the keeping of parish registers
English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660)
50,000 Irish killed in an uprising in Ulster
Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland
Charles I forced to recall Parliament (the 'Long Parliament') due to Scottish invasion
Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration