Historical Landmarks

AD 43 Emperor Claudius establishes the trade port of Londinium.

61 Boudicca sacks the city but is defeated, and London is rebuilt.

c.200 City wall built. London becomes the capital of Britannia Superior.

410 Romans withdraw to defend Rome. London falls into decline.

884 London becomes the capital under Alfred the Great.

1348–9 Black Death wipes out 50 percent of London’s population.

1534 Henry VIII declares himself head of the Church of England.

1605 Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up James I and Parliament.

1642–9 Civil war between Royalists and Roundheads.

1665 Plague hits London again, killing around 110,000 citizens.

1666 Great Fire of London.

1837–1901 Victorian Empire-building and the Industrial Revolution.

1851 Great Exhibition in Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.

1863 London Underground opens its first line, the Metropolitan line.

1888 Serial murderer Jack the Ripper strikes in Whitechapel.

1914–18 World War I. Zeppelins bomb London.

1922 The BBC transmits its first radio programmes.

1939–45 World War II. London is heavily bombed.

1951 Festival of Britain. South Bank Centre built adjacent to Waterloo.

1960s London is the capital of hip for fashion, music and the arts.

1980s Margaret Thatcher years. Several IRA bombs hit London.

1986 The Greater London Council is abolished by Thatcher.

1996 Shakespeare’s Globe opens on Bankside.

2000 The Dome, London Eye, Tate Modern and Jubilee Line extension open to celebrate the millennium. Ken Livingstone elected Mayor.

2003 ‘Congestion charge’ imposed to control traffic in central London.

2005 Suicide bombers kill 52 and injure approximately 700 people.

2008 Boris Johnson elected Mayor of London. Global Financial Crisis.

2012 Queen’s Jubilee. Olympics held in London. Johnson re-elected.

2013 The Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to Prince George.

2015 The second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is born, Princess Charlotte. The Conservative Party win the general election.