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Mental timeline

Every testable date in chapters 2–5 of the handbook, organised by era. ⚓ Anchor dates are worth memorising first — every other date in an era can be positioned relative to one. Events flagged with a coloured tag belong to a sticky pair — recall those as pairs, not in isolation.

Pre-Roman Britain (relative timestamps)

Roman Britain (55 BC – AD 410)

Anglo-Saxons & Vikings (AD 410 – 1066)

Norman Conquest & Middle Ages (1066 – 1485)

Tudors (1485 – 1603)

Stuarts & Civil War (1603 – 1714)

Georgian / Industrial Age (1714 – 1837)

Victorian Era (1837 – 1901)

Early 20th Century & WWI (1901 – 1918)

Inter-war & Irish Partition (1918 – 1939)

Second World War (1939 – 1945)

Post-war Britain (1945 – 1979)

Modern Britain (1979 – present)

Anchor dates — the spine

Memorise these first. Every other date can be positioned relative to one of them.

  1. 55 BC — Julius Caesar's first invasion (unsuccessful) Roman Britain
  2. AD 410 — Roman army leaves Britain, never returns Roman Britain
  3. 1066 — Battle of Hastings — William of Normandy defeats King Harold Norman Conquest & Middle Ages
  4. 1215 — Magna Carta — King John forced to sign by his nobles Norman Conquest & Middle Ages
  5. 1485 — Battle of Bosworth Field — Richard III killed; Henry VII founds Tudor dynasty Norman Conquest & Middle Ages
  6. 1603 — Elizabeth I dies; James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England Stuarts & Civil War
  7. 1605 — Gunpowder Plot (Guy Fawkes) — origin of Bonfire Night Stuarts & Civil War
  8. 1688 — Glorious Revolution — William of Orange + Mary take throne Stuarts & Civil War
  9. 1707 — Act/Treaty of Union — Kingdom of Great Britain created (Scotland + England + Wales) Stuarts & Civil War
  10. 1801 — Act of Union — Ireland joins UK ("United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland") Georgian / Industrial Age
  11. 1805 — Battle of Trafalgar — Nelson defeats French/Spanish at sea (killed in battle) Georgian / Industrial Age
  12. 1815 — Battle of Waterloo — Wellington defeats Napoleon on land (later becomes PM) Georgian / Industrial Age
  13. 1837 — Queen Victoria becomes queen at age 18 (reigns ~64 years) Victorian Era
  14. 1901 — Queen Victoria dies Victorian Era
  15. 1914–1918 — First World War Early 20th Century & WWI
  16. 1918 — Women over 30 get vote; WWI ends 11:00 am, 11 November 1918 Early 20th Century & WWI
  17. 1928 — Women get vote at 21 — "fully democratic" — same as men Inter-war & Irish Partition
  18. 1939 — WWII begins (Hitler invades Poland; Britain + France declare war) Second World War
  19. 1945 — VE Day; atom bombs on Hiroshima + Nagasaki end war with Japan Second World War
  20. 1948 — NHS established — Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, Minister for Health Post-war Britain
  21. 1969 — Voting age reduced to 18; Northern Ireland Troubles begin Post-war Britain
  22. 1973 — UK joins EEC (the European Economic Community) Post-war Britain
  23. 1979–1990 — Margaret Thatcher PM (first woman PM, longest of 20th c.) Modern Britain
  24. 1997 — Tony Blair / Labour elected — devolution begins Modern Britain
  25. 1998 — Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement Modern Britain
  26. 1999 — Scottish Parliament + Welsh Assembly formed; NI Assembly elected Modern Britain

Sticky pairs — the traps

These cluster by era and trip people up. Drill them as pairs, not in isolation.

1805 Trafalgar (Nelson, sea) vs. 1815 Waterloo (Wellington, land)

N before W, 5 before 15 — alphabetical order of commanders matches chronological order of battles.

1679 Habeas Corpus Act vs. 1689 Bill of Rights

Decade-swap. Habeas Corpus (under Charles II) protects the individual from unlawful imprisonment. Bill of Rights (under William & Mary, post-Glorious Revolution) protects Parliament from the monarch. Individual first, then institution — ten years apart.

1215 Magna Carta (John) vs. 1314 Bannockburn (Robert the Bruce)

Exactly 99 years apart; both about limiting/escaping English royal power.

1485 Bosworth (Henry VII) vs. 1605 Gunpowder Plot (James I) vs. 1666 Great Fire

Three "1XX5/6" dates that get confused. Tudor founding → Stuart treason → Stuart London ablaze.

1707 Union with Scotland vs. 1801 Union with Ireland

UK built in two stages. 1707: England + Scotland → Kingdom of Great Britain (island). 1801: GB + Ireland → United Kingdom. Mnemonic: if the question says "UK" → 1801; if it says "Great Britain" alone → 1707.

1832 First Reform Act vs. 1867 Second Reform Act

Both expand franchise.

1918 Women 30+ vote vs. 1928 Women 21+ vote vs. 1969 Age 18 vote

Three franchise milestones. 1928 is the "fully democratic" date.

1939 WWII begins vs. 1945 WWII ends vs. 1948 NHS founded

Wartime → post-war chain. Beveridge (1942) → Attlee elected (1945) → Bevan builds NHS (1948).

1973 UK joins EEC vs. 1997 Blair/devolution vs. 1999 devolved bodies sit

Late-20th-century political reorganization.