1606 The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain.
1621 The ''Mayflower'' sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.
1624 Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
1689 William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.
1703 The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
1710 The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain.
1717 The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance.
1718 Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1729 Spain, France and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Seville.
1743 Great Britain, Austria and Savoy-Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms.
1747 British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeats the French at the second battle of Cape Finisterre.
1752 Great Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe.
1763 French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
1763 Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins – Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.
1763 George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
1775 American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
1776 South Carolina becomes the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.
1776 American Revolution: the Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
1776 The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
1777 Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
1777 American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
1777 British troops occupy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Revolution.
1777 Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.
1780 American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
1780 American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.
1780 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
1781 In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey.
1784 American Revolutionary War: Ratification Day, United States Congress ratifies Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.
1809 In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
1811 Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and Britain, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
1812 Battle of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.
1813 Battle of Beaver Dams : a British and Indian combined force defeats the U.S Army.
1824 First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
1837 Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie called for a rebellion against Great Britain in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper ''The Constitution''.
1890 The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland, measuring {{Convert|1710|ft|m}} long, is opened by the Prince of Wales, who later becomes King Edward VII.
1916 German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
1918 A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1937 Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain.
1940 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the Nazi invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
1941 World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
1944 World War II: More than 1000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
1952 The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free".
1969 The British ocean liner ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
1979 The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from Great Britain.
1985 Arthur Scargill declares that the National Union of Mineworkers national executive voted to end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain without any peace deal over pit closures.
1994 In Great Britain, the first National Lottery draw is held. A £1 ticket gave a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
2003 In a "friendly fire" incident, two A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft from the United States Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull.
2006 At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.