The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

..... as chosen by The History Channel.

Monty Python? Yes. Anything to do with Wales? No.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...h-history.html

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

This is so weird.. how come they didn't include Churchill??

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

An odd list - must have been written by Americans for the History Channel.

Great Britain didn't start until 1603 by a personal union (James VI of Scots taking over English throne) and followed by a political union in 1707 (England and Scotland). It was King James that called the country Great Britain and a year after his coronation the Union Jack (without the St Patrick's cross of Ireland, which came later in 1801) was adopted first by the Royal Navy.

Some of them are a laugh, though


1. 2200BC STONEHENGE - Not British (NB)
2. 43AD ROMAN INVASION - NB
3. 597 SAINT AUGUSTINE - NB
4. 871 ALFRED THE GREAT - NB
5. 1066 BATTLE OF HASTINGS - NB
6. 1215 MAGNA CARTA - NB
7. 1320 DECLARATION OF ARBROATH - NB
8. 1370 CANTERBURY TALES - NB
9. 1381 PEASANTS' REVOLT - NB
10. 1415 AGINCOURT - NB (French - English vs. French and Scots)
11. 1559 RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENT - NB
12. 1588 ARMADA - NB
13. 1605 GUNPOWDER PLOT
14. 1610 SHAKESPEARE
15. 1611 ULSTER PLANTATION
16. 1649 EXECUTION OF CHARLES I
17. 1688 GLORIOUS REVOLUTION
18. 1694 BANK OF ENGLAND
19. 1707 ACT OF UNION - Should be Acts of Union
20. 1721 WALPOLE
21. 1729 GIN CRAZE - ?
22. 1757 BATTLE OF PLASSEY
23. 1759 LONGITUDE
24. 1769 WATT'S STEAM ENGINE - should be 'improved' steam engine
25. 1771 SPINNING FRAME
26. 1776 THE WEALTH OF NATIONS
27. 1781 YORKTOWN
28. 1805 TRAFALGAR
29. 1807 ABOLITION OF SLAVE TRADE
30. 1815 BATTLE OF WATERLOO
31. 1829 THE BOBBY
32. 1850 FACTORY ACT
33. 1856 DAVID LIVINGSTONE & NILE - he didn't find the source of the Nile!
34. 1859 THE RED HOUSE
35. 1859 DARWIN'S ORIGIN OF SPECIES
36. 1863 FA RULE BOOK
37. 1913 THE SUFFRAGETTES
38. 1916 THE SOMME
39. 1927 THE BBC
40. 1931 GANDHI IN BRITAIN - Big deal !
41. 1940 THE BLITZ
42. 1941 WHITTLE'S JET ENGINE
43. 1948 SS WINDRUSH
44. 1948 NHS
45. 1964 SWINGING 60s & THE BEATLES - :rofl:
46. 1971 MONTY PYTHON & BRITISH HUMOUR - :rofl:
47. 1973 BRITAIN JOINS EUROPE
48. 1984 MINERS STRIKE & THATCHER
49. 1991 CHANNEL TUNNEL LINK UP
50. 1998 GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

What do you mean by all those "Not British" comments? I don't get your point.

And in terms of the list itself - what about events where Britain influenced the rest of the world - for better or worse - such as the Balfour Declaration?

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

Britain didn't exist before 1603 - the NB are separate Scottish or English History events - that's all !

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

Some of the stuff on the list hardly changed the history of Britain. I mean Monty Python? Seriously? I guess Friends would be a corner stone of the history of the states then lol.

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

I can think of a few moments that may have been a little more consequential than Monty python and The Beatles (Much as I love Monty Python and loath The Beatles) TBH.

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

Semantics....it was called Britannia before it was known as anything else.

N.

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

Well..no. Gordon Brown (PM) tried to celebrate the signing of the Magna Carta as a British national holiday, which was immediately rejected by the Celtic nations of the UK...because it was not a British but an English historical occasion.

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

well given that he's trying to repeal it, it's probably just as well. :curse:

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

Well, it was always gonna be an arbitary choice - it's not like there is some consistent metrology that one could apply to measure the importance of events.... Given that the list is being used to produce television entertainment, it's a reasonable enough attempt at producing a smörgåsbord of bits'n'pieces to delight & amuse... Seems to be part of a greater zeitgeist of a national navel-gazing to solve the identity crisis that the nation seems to be suffering from....

Re: The 50 Most Important Events In British History
 

ahhh NO7...