| 1573 | Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland in the name of Queen Elizabeth I |
| 1588 | British defeat Spanish Armada |
| 1600 | British East India Company established |
| 1607 | Settlement of Jamestown in North America |
| 1609 | Settlement of Bermuda |
| 1613 | British East India Company establish a factory on the Indian west coast |
| 1627 | Settlement of Barbados |
| 1655 | Settlement of Jamaica |
| 1664 | Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam handed over to the British, later renamed New York |
| 1707 | Death of Mughul leader, British East India Company begins warfare with local peoples |
| 1710 | British seize French possession French Arcadia, renamed Nova Scotia |
| 1713 | Treaty of Utrecht makes Britain prominent force in America by giving possession of Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and St. Kitts to the British. |
| 1753 | Anglo-French War (Seven Years War) commences in North America |
| 1757 | Robert Clive defeats the nawab of Bengal and establishes a puppet ruler in India |
| 1760 | Montreal surrendered to British from French |
| 1962 | British seize Havana and capture Cuba from the Spanish |
| 1763 | Treaty of Paris ends Anglo-French War, resulting in Canada, Mississippi, and India becoming British possessions. |
| 1773 | Boston Tea Party |
| 1775 | American War of Independence/Revolutionary War commences |
| 1776 | American Declaration of Independence signed |
| 1783 | American War of Independence/Revolutionary War ends |
| 1788 | Settlement of the penal colony of Botany Bay, later known as Sydney, New South Wales Expedition into the African Interior by the African Association |
| 1793 | British capture Trinenad from the Spanish in the Caribbean First free settlers arrive at New South Wales |
| 1795 | British seize Cape Colony from the Dutch |
| 1807 | Shipment of slaves to and from any British colonies prohibited |
| 1815 | British East India Company seize Ceylon from the Dutch |
| 1821 | Gambia, Gold Coast, and Sierra Leone unite to form British West Africa |
| 1829 | Colony of Western Australia founded |
| 1833 | Slavery throughout the British Empire ended |
| 1837 | Queen Victoria crowned |
| 1839 | Opium Wars begin with China |
| 1841 | British seize Hong Kong from China |
| 1857 | Indian Mutiny begins |
| 1858 | Indian Mutiny ends, British East India Company dissolved by British Crown. India becomes a British Crown Colony |
| 1867 | Canada given Dominion status in the British Empire |
| 1878 | Cyprus becomes a British colony |
| 1882 | British military occupation of Egypt |
| 1894 | Uganda becomes British protectorate |
| 1899 | Boer War begins |
| 1901 | Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Van Diemen’s Land (later Tasmania), South Australia, and Western Australia unite to form the Commonwealth of Australia and gain Dominion status |
| 1907 | New Zealand gains Dominion status |
| 1914 | World War I begins Egypt becomes a British protectorate |
| 1919 | Treaty of Versailles signed World War I ends German African colonies gained |
| 1920 | British East Africa becomes Kenya |
| 1922 | Egypt gains independence from British Empire |
| 1925 | Cyprus becomes a British colony |
| 1930 | Declaration of Indian Independence made |
| 1939 | World War II begins |
| 1941 | Fall of Hong Kong to the Japanese |
| 1942 | Fall of Malaya, Singapore and Burma to the Japanese |
| 1944 | Burma recaptured from the Japanese |
| 1945 | World War II ends |
| 1947 | Indian independence from British Empire granted |
| 1948 | Burma and Ceylon granted independence from British Empire |
| 1949 | Ireland leaves the British Commonwealth |
| 1952 | Elizabeth II ascends to British Throne |
| 1957 | Ghana, Gold Coast, and Malayan states become independent |
| 1959 | Cyprus joins the British Commonwealth |
| 1961 | Sierra Leone becomes independent South Africa leaves the British Commonwealth |
| 1962 | Jamaica, Trinenad and Tobago, Uganda, and Western Samoa become independent |
| 1963 | Kenya and Zanzibar granted independence |
| 1964 | Malawi and Malta become independent |
| 1966 | Botswana, Gambia and Lesotho granted indpenedence |
| 1970 | Fiji and Tonga granted independence |
| 1971 | Bahrain and Qatar become independent |
| 1973 | Bahamas become independent |
| 1975 | Papua New Guinea becomes independent |
| 1976 | Seychelles granted independence |
| 1978 | Dominica granted independence |
| 1980 | Zimbabwe granted independence |
| 1981 | Belize becomes independent |
| 1984 | Sino-Anglo agreement of Hong Kong |
| 1987 | Fiji leaves British Commonwealth |
| 1996 | South Africa rejoins British Commonwealth |
| 1997 | Hong Kong becomes Chinese territory, as agreed in 1984. |
Basic Timeline of British Empire
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