Timeline
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19 May 1655The British Invasion of Spanish Jamaica begins when the English fleet under Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables arrives in Kingston Harbor. The Spanish surrendered on 27 May and Jamaica remained an English possession until 1962.
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13 Jun 1740The Siege of St. Augustine, Florida begins as British forces attempt to take the Spanish position of Castillo de San Marcos. The siege lasted over a month, ending on 20 July with a British withdrawal when the fort was resupplied.
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7 May 1763Pontiac's War (1763-1766) begins with an attack on Fort Detroit, held by the British. Although council meetings were held to declare war on 27 April, the first engagement of the war was on 7 May.
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1 May 1807The British Slave Trade Act goes into effect, abolishing the buying and selling of enslaved people within the British Empire. The legislation only banned trade in slaves, not slavery itself, which was not abolished until 1833.
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6 Feb 1840The Treaty of Waitangi is signed at Waitangi, Bay of Islands, New Zealand between British officials and Maori chiefs recognizing the legitimacy of Maori land ownership, granting the Maori the rights of British citizens, and establishing the position of a British Governor in New Zealand.
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23 Jul 1840The Province of Canada is established by the British Parliament through the Act of Union, combining Upper Canada and Lower Canada for uniformity and social stability.
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17 Jun 1843The Wairau Affray, the first major armed conflict between Maori indigenous peoples and British settlers, breaks out in Wairau Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand, resulting in the deaths of 22 Europeans and 4 Maori.
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28 Nov 1843The British and French governments formally recognize the independence of Hawaii through the Anglo-Franco Proclamation, becoming the first non-European indigenous state to be recognized by European powers. The United States recognized Hawaiian independence in 1949. The date is celebrated as *La Ku`oko`a* (Independence Day) and is a National Holiday in Hawaii.
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11 Dec 1845The First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1846) begins between the Sikh Empire and British Empire in the Punjab, modern-day India, when the Sikh army crosses the Sutlej River. The war ended in a British victory which was short-lived as the Second Anglo-Sikh War broke out in 1848.
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10 May 1857The Sepoy Uprising in India begins as sepoys (indigenous soldiers) mutiny against British officers in the town of Meerut. The event – also known as the First War of Independence – was sparked earlier by sepoy Mangal Pandey on 29 March and the conflict lasted through 1858 but failed to bring down the British East India Company and win independence.
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2 Aug 1858The British state takes full possession of East India Company territories in India.
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15 Jun 1859The Pig War ("Northwest Boundary Dispute") begins when American farmer Lyman Cutlar shoots the pig owned by Irishman Charles Griffin of the British Hudson's Bay Company on San Juan Island off the coast of Washington Territory (now Washington State) because the pig was eating Cutlar's potato crop. The USA and Great Britain both claimed jurisdiction of the island and the event escalated tensions toward the brink of war, but the matter was settled diplomatically.
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11 Oct 1865The Morant Bay Rebellion breaks out in Morant Bay, Jamaica, when Jamaican activist and preacher, Paul Bogle, leads a march to the local courthouse to demand changes in policy. British Governor Edward John Eyre declared martial law and had Bogle and over 400 others arrested and executed. Today, Bogle is a National Hero in Jamaica.
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1 Apr 1867Singapore becomes a British Crown Colony through the Straits Settlements and, on 1 April 1946, is separated from the Straits Settlements and becomes a separate Crown Colony.
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1884The Somaliland Protectorate (aka British Somaliland) is created.
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24 Oct 1886The merchant-passenger ship *Normanton* sinks off the coast of Japan, resulting in the so-called Normanton Incident when the British captain, John William Drake, saves only the European members of his crew, leaving the Asian crewmembers and 25 Japanese passengers to drown. The event sparked increased anti-Western sentiment in Japan.
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Oct 1893 - Jan 1894The First Matabele War between the Ndebele and British.
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Mar 1896 - Oct 1897The Second Matabele War between the Ndebele (and Shona) and the British.
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2 Sep 1898The Battle of Omdurman is fought during the Anglo-Egyptian Conquest of Sudan between the British-Egyptian expeditionary force under Major General Kitchener and the much larger army of the Mahdist State, ending in a decisive victory for Kitchener owing to his better-disciplined army and superior weaponry.
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18 Mar 1901The Kumasi Mutiny of 1901 begins, lasting three weeks, in Kumasi, Ghana as members of the West African Regiment rebel against British authorities over unpaid wages.
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4 Oct 1910The flag of Bermuda is adopted as a British Red Ensign with the Union Flag in the upper left corner and the coat of arms of Bermuda in the lower right.
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13 Apr 1919The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (Amritsar Massacre) occurs in Amritsar, Punjab, India when British troops under Brigadier General Reginald Dyer open fire on unarmed, peaceful protesters, killing between 379-1,500 people. Dyer was later honored for his service. The massacre inspired the non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi to free India from English colonial rule.
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1920The Somaliland Protectorate (aka British Somaliland) becomes a Crown colony.
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19 Dec 1932BBC World Service begins broadcasting on shortwave under the name Empire Short Wave Service and intended only for citizens of the British Empire. It is now the world's largest broadcaster, reaching approximately 450 million people weekly.
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9 Sep 1939Sayadaw U Ottama, Buddhist monk and Burmese political activist, dies at Rangoon Hospital following a hunger strike to end British colonial occupation and rule of Burma (modern-day Myanmar). September 9 is celebrated in Myanmar today as "U Ottama Day" in honor of his memory.
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1952 - 1960The Mau Mau rebellion against British rule in Kenya.
