Timeline of the Tower of London

AD 43 — Romans build a fort on the site of present-day London

1066 — The first fortress is built on the site of the Tower of London

1078 — Construction begins on the stone tower that will become the White Tower

1255 — First elephant in England arrives at the Tower

1322 — Ceremony of the Keys, which is still performed today, begins

1381 — The Tower is invaded during the Peasants’ Revolt

1483 — The two “Little Princes in the Tower” disappear, probably murdered

1485 — Yeoman Warders officially established

1536 — Queen Anne Boleyn beheaded in the Tower

1618 — Sir Walter Raleigh taken from the Tower to be beheaded

1660 — Sightseers are admitted to the Tower for the first time

1671 — Colonel Blood attempts to steal the Crown Jewels

1674 — Skeletons of two children believed to be the two little princes are dug up

1747 — Lord Lovat becomes the last person executed on Tower Hill

1831–35 — Menagerie is moved from the Tower to the London Zoo

1941 — Josef Jakobs, a German spy, is the last person to be executed in the Tower

1994 — The Jewel House at the Tower opens to display the Crown Jewels