Old And Middle English 600-1485

410 : Roman legions withdrew from Britain .

410-1066 : Anglo-Saxon times ; Medieval Period .
450 : Anglo-Saxon and Jutish invasions from North West Germany
477 : First invasion of England by Saxons under Aelle : south Saxon colony of
Sussex established .
495 : Second Saxon invasion , under Cerdic ; west Saxon colony of Wessex
established .
500 : King Arthur was somewhere in south-west England .
537 : Death of King Arthur , leader of the early sixth-century revolt by the
native Britons against continental colonizers : retreat of many Britons in this
period to Scotland , Wales , Cornwall , and Brittany . The geographical term '
Great Britain ' originates in the sixth century , as later rulers from France were
obliged to distinguish between Brittany and the island of 'Britannia' , which
they called 'Grande Bretagne' .
547 : Norwegians established the colony of Northumbria , in northern England
.
565 : Introduction of Christianity to Britain by Saint Columba .
597 : Establishment of Saint Augustine's Christian mission at Canterbury .
The Christian Culture had arrived in England with Saint Augustine .
664 : Synod of Whitby confirmed Catholicism as the state religion .
793-95 : Viking invasions in Scotland , northern and eastern England .
802 : England united , under King Egbert of Wessex .
871 : Alfred { the Great } became King of Wessex : he led Anglo-Saxon revolt
against Scandinavian invaders .
871-99 : The reign of King Alfred the Great .
878 : Battle of Edington .
885 : Partition of England { under King Alfred the Great } .
Ninth century : Danish invasions ; occupation of eastern England .
917-26 : England reoccupied Danish-held territories .
973 : Edagar of Wessex proclaimed first King of all England .
978 : Edgar was succeeded by Ethelred .
1013 : Danish Conquest { monarchy , 1016-42 } .
1016 : Canute , son of Sweyn , became King of England after the death of
Ethelred , and married Ethelred's widow , Emma of Normandy .

1035 : Death of Canute ; Danish succession guaranteed with the execution of

the English 'pretender' , Alfred .
1040 : Macbeth became king of Scotland on the death of Duncan .
1042 : Death of Hardicanute , the last Danish king of England . Peaceful
restoration of the English monarchy , with Edward the Confessor .
1066 : Death of English King Edward the Confessor ; election of Harold , son
of Godwin , as King . Norwegian forces defeated at Stamford Bridge . Norman
Conquest : Harold defeated by William of Normandy at Hastings . { The
Battle of Hastings } .
1086 : Publication of The Domesday Book , a record of land holdings
throughout England and commissioned by William the Conqueror .
1087 : Death of William I the Conqueror .
1095 : Beginning of the 'Crusades' : so-called 'Holy Wars' in the eastern
Mediterranean region to establish the dominance of Christianity over other
faiths { principally Islam } .
1135 : Death of King Henry I .
1150-1485 : Middle English .
1153 : Nicholas Brakespeare became the first Englishman to be elected Pope
of the Roman Catholic church ; he took the title Hadrian VI .
1154 : Henry II became the King of England and most of western France .
1199 : King Richard I died in France , and his brother John became King.
1200 : Macro Polo , the Italian traveler , had traveled as far as China .
1204 : England lost Political control of Normandy . There was a strong feeling
in the early thirteenth century towards democratic politics and the
establishment of a new 'English' national identity after centuries as 'Anglo-
Saxons' . This nationalist feeling was encouraged by the heroic status of King
Richard I , who died young . His successor , King John , was never popular.
One of John's adversaries was Robin Hood , Earl Huntingdon , who was
probably the first democratically inclined nobleman in English history .
1210 : English colonization of Ireland began .
1215 : King John signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede . The Magna Carta
reduced the power of the King , giving more power and property rights to the
aristocrats .
1265 : The first parliament in England .
1282 : Wales was part of the kingdom of England .
1286 : Death of the Scottish King Alexander III .
1306 : Robert declared King of Scotland .

1314 : Battle of Bannockburn .

1337-1453 : The Hundred Years War between France and England .
1339 : England invaded France , wishing to reassert the English King's
authority and power in the continental lands which he owned; the dispute
with French royalist forces continued until 1453 { the so-called 'Hundred
Years' War } .
1348 : Bubonic Plague-'the Black Death'- strikes England .
1362 : The English language becomes the official language of the Law
Courts .
1371 : Death of Scottish King David II : replaced by Robert II .
1377 : Death of English king Edward III .
1380 : First translation of the Christian Bible into English , by John Wycliff .
1381 : The Peasants' Revolt , led by Wat Tyler { England } .
1394-1437 : The reign of the King of Scotland ,King James I .
1398-1468 : The invention of printing by Gutenberg in Germany .
1399 : King Richard II deposed and replaced by King Henry IV .
1413 : Henry V became the King of England .
1415 : Battle of Agnicourt : the peak of English supremacy in the Hundred
Years' War .
1420 : King Henry V of England was recognized as 'Regent' of France .
1422 : Death of Henry V and Charles VI .
1423-24 : Scottish king James I imprisoned by the English .
c.1440 : Invention of printing in Europe .
1453 : End of Hundred Years' War between England and France .
1455 : Beginning of " The War of the Roses " between the royal houses of
Lancaster and York for the throne of England .
1456 : Gutenberg's Bible published in Germany ; possibly the first printed
book . Edward became Duke of York .
1460 : King Edward IV became Duke of York .
1470 : William Caxton and later his assistant , Wynken de Worde , brought
printing to England .
1476 : William Caxton established the first printing press in England , at
Westminster .
1483 : Death of King Edward IV . King Richard III became Duke of York
1485 : The first Literary work printed in England was Le Morte d'Arthur .

* Anonymous Literary Works In Old English :

1- " The Wanderer " : An elegiac poem .

2- " The Seafarer " : An elegiac poem .
3- " The Dream Of The Rood " : The poem is a religious text and also
important for two reasons : it is the first of a kind poem which became very
popular in later literature , the dream-vision; and it shows a great range of
words to describe the cross of Christ , and range of images which later poems
developed .
4- " Beowulf " : It is the main heroic text , describes events which are part of
the period's memory : invasions and battles , some historic , some legendary .
The poem is set around the sixth century , but was probably not written down
until the eighth century . Beowulf is the first hero in English literature , the
man who can win battles and give safety to his people over along period of
time . The poem is a statement of heroic values .
5- " The Battle Of Maldon " : It is another long poem about battles and
heroes . But it is much more factual , describing a real battle rather than
retelling a fictional story of war .
6- Kulhwch and Olwen : A Welsh story from the spoken tradition about King
Arthur .
7- The Mabinogion : A story about King Arthur .
 * Geoffrey Chaucer :
- " Troilus and Criseyde " { (poems) about 1385 } .
- " The House of Fame " { (poems) 1370s } .
- The Canterbury Tales { 1387-1400 } : A Long Narrative Poem.

* King James I { King of Scotland } :

- Kingis Quair { c.1425 } .

* Sir Thomas Malory :

- Le Morte d'Arthur { published in 1485 } .

The Renaissance 1485-1649

1485 : The Battle of Bosworth Field , the Wars of the Roses came to an end :
death of King Richard . Lancastrian forces were led by Henry Tudor, Earl of
Richmond . Henry was grandson of Queen Catherine , Widow of Henry V . He
became King Henry VII , and initiated the Tudor dynasty . Soon after becoming
king , Henry married Princess Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV .
1492 : Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas .
c.1500 : The Dutch philosopher and religious reformer Erasmus published his
views on humanism- stressing the importance and supreme value of mankind
in daily life and in relationships with God.
1509-47 : The reign of King Henry VIII .
1513 : Niccolo Machiavelli , a Florentine Political Philosopher , published his
major work , The Prince .
1516 : The Dutch scholar Erasmus produced a Greek edition of the Scriptures
in place of the existing Latin one . Queen Mary was born .
1517 : Martin Luther pinned to a chapel door his 95 Theses Against the Sale of
Papal Indulgences .
1521 : The Pope excommunicate Martin Luther , in the same year , King Henry
VIII was granted the title 'Defender of the Faith' .
1521-32 : The conflict between King Henry VIII and the Catholic church with
Pope Clement VII in particular .
1526 : A printed version of the New Testament of the Christian Bible,
translated by William Tyndale , was published with great success .
1529-39 : King Henry VIII made himself the head of the Church of England ,
bringing church and state together .
1533 : Henry defied the Roman Catholic church by divorcing Catherine of
Aragon . His second daughter , Elizabeth , was born the same year .
1538 : Pope Paul III excommunicated King Henry VIII from the Roman Catholic
church .
1539 : The Great Bible , based on the works of two expatriates (Tyndale &
Coverdale) , published in English .
1541 : Jean Calvin , a Frenchman , founded a new Protestant church in Geneva
.
1543 : The Polish astronomer Copernicus's explanation of the solar system
was published ; it is started that the Earth revolves around the Sun . The Italian
, Galileo , continued Copernicus's studies in the 1590s , and was
excommunicated by the Catholic church .

1547 : Death of King Henry VIII ; he was succeeded by his only son , King
Edward VI , who was still a child , and in poor health .
1553 : King Edward died aged 16 , and his eldest half-sister ,Mary, became
queen . Mary's accession followed by a brief protest by Protestant
parliamentarians who made Lady Jane Gray the Queen of England for ten
days .
1556-58 : The Catholic queen Mary I supported Spain in its war with France ,
which aimed to spread Catholicism .
1557 : Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard 's sonnets were published in
Tottle's Miscellany .
1558 : England now opposed Spain , which continued fight in Europe for
Catholic supremacy .
1558-1603 : The reign of Queen Elizabeth I { The Golden Age } .
1559 : The English were expelled from Calais , their last possession in France .
1563 : Beginning of the Catholic 'Counter-Reformation' in Germany .
1564-1616 : William Shakespeare's life .
1568 : Mary , Queen of Scots , who was forced to abdicate the throne of
Scotland , fled to England and claimed the English throne .
1571 : Opening of the London Stock Exchange . England's capitalist economy
grew very quickly around this time , with large overseas trading interests .
1573-1652 : Inigo Jones' life .
1576 : The foundation of the first public theater in London .
1577-80 : Sir Francis Drake's first voyage around the world .
1578 : Opening of The Theater , London's first .
1579 : Macro Polo's romance about his travels was translated into English.
1584 : Sir Walter Raleigh established Virginia , the first English colony in
America .
1587 : Mary , Queen of Scots , executed .
1588 : The Spanish Armada , the fleet of the Catholic King Philip of Spain , was
defeated .
1590s : Shakespeare's own Globe . John Donne wrote his poems .
1592-94 : London theatre closed by an outbreak of plague .
1594 : Foundation of the Bank of England .
1596 : Shakespeare's son , Hamnet , died at the age of ten .
1603 : Elizabeth died . James VI of Scotland became James I .

1608-74 : John Milton's life .

1609 : William Shakespeare's Sonnets were published . Galileo published
several of his highly influential scientific theories .
1611 : The Authorized Version of the Bible or the King James was published .
1618 : Beginning of the Thirty Years' War , initially a religious conflict , in
Northern Europe . Britain supported the Protestant powers , but did not join the
fighting .
1620s : The taste for violence , corruption and complex sexual feelings began
to cause a reaction from extreme Protestants , the Puritans . The Golden Age
of Elizabeth was long past , and new social , religious and political problems
were facing the nation . The Puritans saw the theatre as a symbol of the bad
features of the past , rather than as a major literary form . The Pilgrim Fathers
left England to establish new colonies in north-eastern America .
1623 : The publication of the First Folio of Shakespeare's complete plays .
1625 : Charles I became a king .
1628 : Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood .
1629 : The Royalist government abolished Parliament .
1630s-40s :The political problems of the nation grew , and the Puritans
became more powerful . The Cavalier poets were a group who supported the
king , Charles I , against the Puritans (the Roundheads) . Their poems are
simpler and more lyrical than the poetry of the metaphysicals .
1638 : The War of the Bishops : Scotland resisted the northward spread of the
church of England .
1640s : The monarchy was overthrown , the Renaissance period of discovery ,
experimentation and of new intellectual worlds was coming to an end .
1642 : The closure of the theatres by the Puritans .
1642-48 : English Civil War . Government forces ( 'Cavaliers' loyal to King
Charles I ) opposed parliamentary forces (Roundheads) led by Oliver
Cromwell . Scotland joined on the side of Parliament , and the king was finally
arrested .
1648 : Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in Europe .
1649 : The execution of King Charles I .

* Anonymous Books :
1- The Courtier
2- The Governor
3- The Gull's Hornbook
4- Book of Common Prayer

* Charles Darwin :
- On the Origin of Species { 1859 } .

* The Dutch Erasmus :

- Greek Scriptures { 1516 } .

* Martin Luther :
- 95 Theses Against the Sale of Papal Indulgences { 1517 } .

* William Shakespeare { 1564-1616 } :


- Henry VI , Part One { 1589-93 }
- Henry VI , Part Two { 1589-93 }
- Henry VI , Part Three { 1589-93 }
- Titus Andronicus { 1589-93 }
- The Comedy of Errors { 1589-93 }
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona
{ 1589-93 }
- The Taming of the Shrew { 1589-93
} - Much Ado About Nothing { 1598 }
- Richard III { 1589-93 }
- Love's Labours Lost { 1593-98 }
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- As You Like It { 1600 }
- Hamlet { 1600 }
- Twelfth Night { 1602 }
- Troilus and Cressida { 1602 }
- All's Well That Ends Well { 1603 }
- Antony and Cleopatra { 1607 }
- Timon of Athens { 1607 }
- Coriolanus { 1608 }
- Pericles { 1608 }
{ 1593-98 }
- Richard II { 1593-98 }
- Romeo and Juliet { 1593-98 }
- King John { 1593-98 }
- The Merchant of Venice { 1593-98 }
- Henry IV , Part One { 1593-98 }
- Henry IV , Part Two { 1593-98 }
- The Merry Wives of Windsor { 1593-
98 }
- Henry V { 1599 }
- Julius Caesar { 1599 }
- Measure for Measure { 1604 }
- Othello { 1604 }
- King Lear { 1605 }
- Macbeth { 1606 }
- Cymbeline { 1610 }
- The Winter's Tale { 1611 }
- The Tempest { 1611 }
- Henry VIII { 1613 }

* Christopher Marlowe : { 1564-93 }

- Doctor Faustus
- Edward II
- The Jew of Malta

* Ben Jonson : { 1572/3-1637 }

- Every Man in his Humour { 1598 }
- Every Man out of his Humour { 1899 }
- Volpone { 1606 }
- The Alchemist { 1610 }
- Masque of Queens { 1609 }
- Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue { 1618 }

* Thomas Kyd :
- The Spanish Tragedy { 1592 }

* Thomas Sackville & Thomas Norton :

- Gorboduc { 1561 }
* John Ford :
- ' Tis Pity She's a Whore ' { Published in 1633 }

* John Webster :
- The White Devil { Published in 1612 }
- The Duchess of Malfi

* Thomas Middleton : - The Revenger's Tragedy { 1607 }

- A Mad World - The Changeling
- My Masters - Women Beware Women { 1622 }
- A Trick to Catch the Old One - A Game at Chess { 1624 }

* Sir Philip Sidney :

- " Astrophel and Stella " ( poems )

* Edmund Spenser :
- " The Faeire Queene " { (poems) Published in 1590's }
- " Prothalamion " { 1596 }

* John Donne :
- " Holy Sonnets " { Published in 1633 }
- " Devotions " ( Religious Writings )

* George Herbert :
- " The Collar " { published in 1633 }
- " Easter Wings " { published in 1633 }

* Andrew Marvell :
- " To His Coy Mistress "
- " An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland " { 1650 }
- " The Garden "

* Sir Thomas More :

- Utopia

* Sir Walter Raleigh :

- Discovery of Guiana ( Eldorado )

* Sir Philip Sidney :

- The Arcadia { 1580's }

* Robert Greene :
- Pandosto , the Triumph of Time
- Greene's Groatsworth of Wit { 1592 }
* Thomas Nashe :
- The Unfortunate Traveller { 1594 }
- The Terrors of the Night { 1594 }

* Sir Francis Bacon :

- " Of Truth "
- " Of Revenge "
- " The Advancement of Learning "

* Richard Hooker :
- " Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Politie " { published in 1590's }

* Thomas Hobbes :
- The Leviathan { published in 1651 }

The Commonwealth and Restoration 1649-1713

1658 : Death of Oliver Cromwell .

1660 : The Commonwealth collapsed because of weak leadership ; the son of
Charles I was recalled from France and became King Charles II .
1662 : The genius nation led to the foundation of the Royal Society
1660-1700 : The basis was set for the growth of a new kind of society ,
Protestant .
1665 : The Great Plague in London .
1666 : The Great Fire of London : Christopher Wern was appointed principal
architect for the rebuilding of the city .
1667 : Britain's colonial expansion continued for many states in north-eastern
America .
1685 : The death of Charles II .
1685-88 : The brief reign of the Catholic King James II .
1688 : The overthrow of James II in The Glorious or Bloodless Revolution .
Protestant supremacy had been established .
1690 : The Battle of Boyne .
1694 : The Bank of England founded .
1672 : Third Anglo-Dutch War , involving many European states .
1685 : Death of Charles II : succession of his brother James II , a devout
Catholic . Protestant landowners were disturbed when James became King.
1688 : The birth of a male heir to King James II Provoked the Glorious or
Bloodless Revolution . James was exiled , and his daughter Mary became
Queen Mary II .
1689 : The Declaration of Rights in Britain .
1701 : England established the Grand Alliance with the German House of
Hanover .
1701-13 : The War of the Spanish Succession lasting until the Treaty of
Utrecht .
1707 : The Union of the Parliaments of England and Scotland took place.
1709 : The first Copyright Act protects the earnings of Professional writers
1713 : End of the major European war with the Treaty of Utrecht .
1715 & 1745 :Bonnie Prince Charlie led to the second two unsuccessful
rebellions against the new Hanoverian dynasty
1721 : Robert Walpole became the first prime minister of Great Britain .
Britain expanded greatly in mercantile trade and colonial development , often
coming into conflict with the parallel ambitions of France .
1746 : The decisive Battle of Culloden finally ended the Stuart line's claims to
the throne .
c.1770 : The Age of Reason .
1775 : The invention of the steam-engine , by the Scotsman James Watt , led
to a rapid rise in the industrialization and urban growth .
1776 : The American Revolution , and Declaration of Independence .
1789 : The French Revolution .

* Thomas Hobbes :
- The Leviathan { published in 1651 }

* John Milton :
- Paradise Lost { completed in 1667 }
- Paradise Regained
- Samson Agonistes
- " On the Morning of Christ's Nativity "
- " Lycidas " { 1637 }

* John Bunyan :
- The Pilgrim's Progress { published in 1678 }

* John Locke :
- Two Treatises { published in1689 }

* Richard Lovelace :
- " To Lucasta , Going to the Wars " { 1649 }

* John Wilmot :
- " A Satire against Mankind "

* Samuel Butler :
- Hudibras { published 1663-1678 }
 * John Dryden :
- " Heroic Stanzas " { 1658 }
- " To His Sacred Majesty " { 1660 }
- " Absalom and Achitophel "
{ 1681 }
- " The Medal " { 1682 }
- " Macflecknoe " { 1682 }
- " Of Dramatic Poesy " { 1668 }
- " The Secular Masque " { 1700 }
- " The Rape of the Lock "
- Marriage-a-la-Mode { 1672 }
- All For Love { 1678 }
* George Etherege :
- The Comical Revenge { 1664 }
- She Wou'd if She Cou'd { 1668 }
- The Man of Mode { 1676 }

* William Wycherley :
- The Country Wife { 1675 }

* Alexander Pope :
- Dunciad { 1628 }
- " Essay on Criticism " { 1711 }
- " Essay on Man " { 1733-4 }
- " Imitations of Horace " { 1733-8 }

* John Vanbrugh :
- The Relapse { 1696 }
- The Provok'd Wife { 1697 }

* William Congreve :
- The Way of the World { 1700 }

* George Farquhar :
- The Recruiting Officer { 1706 }
- The Beaux Stratagem { 1707 }

* Aphra Behn :
- The Rover { 1677-1681}

* Suasannah Centlivre :
- A Bold Stroke for a Wife { 1718 }

The Romantic Age 1789-1832

1790s : Positive use of the words 'Jacobin' or 'radical' was dangerous .

1793-94 : The Reign of Terror in France , led by left-wing radicals known as
Jacobins who ruthlessly suppressed their political opponents .
1793 : Britain joined the Wars of the Coalition against France ; which was
aiming for supremacy throughout Europe . Major British victories were
achieved at sea , at Trafalgar ,and on land, at Waterloo .
1798 : The publication by Wordsworth and Coleridge of their Lyrical Ballads .
1800 : The second edition of the Lyrical Ballads contained a "Preface" .
1801 : The Act of Union : Ireland was politically joined to Britain .
1804 : Napoleon Bonaparte , an army general , became Emperor of France .
1811-12 : The campaign of the Luddites , who broke factory machinery in a
protest about workers' conditions .
1812-14 : Second War of American Independence : Britain was unable to
regain this part of the former Empire .
1814 : Invention of the railway locomotive by George Stephenson .
1815 : Congress of Vienna , at the end of the wars against France . Britain
emerged as the most powerful nation in Europe, and consolidated this position
throughout the nineteenth century.
1819 : The Peterloo Massacre : a workers' uprising in Manchester was brutally
suppressed , with many casualties .
1820-1832 : The time of continuing unrest which took place against a
background of the cycles of economic depression .
1824 : Trades unions were recognized by the British government .
1829 : The Catholic Emancipation Act made discrimination against Catholics
illegal in Britain .
1830 : A new liberal government was elected in Britain – emulating the
upheavals of the so-called ' July revolution ' in France , which led to the
abdication of King Charles X .
1832 : The death of Sir Walter Scott and the enactment by Parliament of the
First Reform Bill .

* William Wordsworth :
- Lyrical Ballads { 1798 }
- "The Prelude"
- "Preface to Lyrical Ballads"
- " Lines Written Above Tintern Abbey "
- " The Old Cumberland Beggar"
- " The Leech Gatherer "

* John Keats :
- Letters
- " Isabella " , " Lamia "
- " The Eve of Saint Agnes "
- " La Belle Dame Sans Merci "
- " Ode to a Nightingale "
- " Ode on a Grecian Urn "
- " To Autumn "

* Samuel Coleridge :
- Lyrical Ballads { 1800 }
- " Biographia Literaria " { 1817 }
- " Christabel " { 1797 Published in 1816 }
- " Kubla Khan " { 1797 Published in 1816 }
- " A Fragment "
- " Dejection : An Ode "
- " Frost at Midnight "
- " This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison "
- " The Rime of the Ancient Mariner "

* Adam Smith :
- Wealth of Nations { 1776 }

* Edmund Burke :
- Reflections on the Revolution in France { 1790 }

* Tom Paine :
- Rights of Man { 1791 }

* Samuel Bamford :
- Passages in the Life of a Radical { published in 1884 }

The Nineteenth Century 1832-1900

1832 : The first Reform Bill : voting rights were extended for the first time to
men who were not landowners , and most of the privileged seats in
Parliament were abolished .
1833 : Slavery abolished in British colonies . First Factory Act improved
workers' conditions and made factory inspections compulsory . Poor Laws
provided accommodation in workhouses for the destitute , but with forced
labour .
1834 : A group of labourers from Dorset were sentenced to exile for
protesting against worker exploitation .
1836 : Parliament's rejection of the popular People's Charter .
1837 : Victoria became queen .
1839 : Industrial uprising of the Chartists .
1845-47 : Famine in Ireland , largely due to failure of the potato crop .
1846 : Life for British farmers eased , with the repeal of the Corn Laws .
1847 : Publication of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Mark & Friedrich
Engels . Both Christianity and the landowners' controls of political power were
questioned .
1848 : The Year of Revolution . Many new regimes were established on the
continent of Europe , but Queen Victoria increased her popularity in Britain .
1851 : The First World Fair was held in the Crystal Palace , especially in Hyde
park , London .
1853-56 : The Crimean War : Britain's first war for two hundred years .
1857 : The Indian Mutiny : Britain's colonial presence was challenged for the
first time .
1859 : Publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin .
1860s : ' Modernism' was recognized as a force in English literature . George
Meredith was an early practitioner of Modernism .
1861 : Death of Prince Albert . Queen Victoria remained a widow for forty
years , until her death .
1861-65 : The American Civil War .
1867 : Karl Marx published , in England , Das Kapital , which was a principle
text of socialist ideology for over a century . The Second Reform Bill .
1868 : Foundation of the British Trades Union Congress , to politicize workers'
rights .
-1870s : Britain leads international communications with the development of
postal services and pioneering work in telecommunications .
1870 : Education Act makes schooling compulsory for children aged 5 to 13 .
Political union in Italy .
1871 : Political union in Germany .
1879 : John Henry Newman , a convert to Catholicism , is created Cardinal of
England by the Pope .
1880s : Radical Liberalism began to give way to Marxist-influenced
Socialism .
1881 : The Socialist Democratic Federation .
1884 : The Fabian Society , which politicized Marxist ideas in parliamentary
terms .
1886 : The Liberal Prime Minister , William Gladstone introduced the first Irish
Home Rule Bill . Many members of his own party opposed him .
1887 : Queen Victoria celebrated fifty years as monarch .
1893 : The Independent Labour Party .
1899 : Establishment in Dublin of the Irish National Theatre .
1899-1902 : The Boer War . Britain won the war , and established the Union
of South Africa .
1901 : Death of Queen Victoria