1605: The 'Gunpowder Plot' - a plan by disaffected Catholics to blow up James I - is discovered and Guy Fawkes is arrested.
1688: William of Orange lands a 12,000-strong army at Torbay to claim the British throne from James II.
1956: Britain and France invade Egypt following Abdel Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal.
William was 'stadtholder' of the Netherlands and in 1688-1689 became king of England in the 'Glorious Revolution', ruling jointly with his wife, Mary. He deposed James II.
William was born on 4 November 1650 in The Hague, Netherlands. His father, William II of Orange, died just before his birth. His mother Mary was English, the daughter of Charles I.
Although the Orange family were the most powerful in the Netherlands, they were not hereditary sovereigns. For the first two decades of William's life, the family were out of office. In 1672, Louis XIV of France invaded the country and William was invited to be 'Stadtholder' of the Netherlands and its military commander. He subsequently succeeded in driving the French out of the Netherlands and became a champion of Protestantism in Europe.
In 1677, William married his cousin Mary, the elder daughter of James, Duke of York, heir to the English throne. This, William hoped, would cement an Anglo-Dutch alliance against the French.
James, Duke of York, succeeded to the throne in 1685, becoming James II. He was Catholic and many in England feared a Catholic king. In the summer of 1688, after James's wife had given birth to a son, guaranteeing the Catholic succession, some of James's Protestant opponents secretly invited William of Orange to England. In November, he landed with an army in Devon. Most of the nobility supported him and James was forced to flee to France without a fight.
Early in 1689, the English parliament formally offered William and Mary the throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a 'Declaration of Rights' (later 'Bill of Rights') which outlined grievances against James, limited the power of the monarchy and affirmed important rights relating to the powers of parliament.
Predominantly Catholic Ireland remained mostly loyal to James, who landed there with French troops in March 1689. In July 1690, William defeated James and routed his forces at the Battle of the Boyne.
Fighting the French remained William's main concern. In 1689, he had brought Britain into the 'Grand Alliance' against France. For the next eight years he was often away fighting, first in Ireland and then on the Continent, leaving his wife to rule in his absence. William managed to hold the Grand Alliance together and in 1697, under the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick, Louis XIV surrendered much of the territory he had won by conquest and recognised William as England's king.
Mary died of smallpox in 1694, leaving William to rule alone. He died on 19 March 1702, after falling from his horse at Hampton Court. At the time of his death he was constructing a new grand alliance against France.
Because William and Mary had no children, Mary's sister Anne succeeded to the throne.
1688: William of Orange lands a 12,000-strong army at Torbay to claim the British throne from James II.
1956: Britain and France invade Egypt following Abdel Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal.
William was 'stadtholder' of the Netherlands and in 1688-1689 became king of England in the 'Glorious Revolution', ruling jointly with his wife, Mary. He deposed James II.
William was born on 4 November 1650 in The Hague, Netherlands. His father, William II of Orange, died just before his birth. His mother Mary was English, the daughter of Charles I.
Although the Orange family were the most powerful in the Netherlands, they were not hereditary sovereigns. For the first two decades of William's life, the family were out of office. In 1672, Louis XIV of France invaded the country and William was invited to be 'Stadtholder' of the Netherlands and its military commander. He subsequently succeeded in driving the French out of the Netherlands and became a champion of Protestantism in Europe.
In 1677, William married his cousin Mary, the elder daughter of James, Duke of York, heir to the English throne. This, William hoped, would cement an Anglo-Dutch alliance against the French.
James, Duke of York, succeeded to the throne in 1685, becoming James II. He was Catholic and many in England feared a Catholic king. In the summer of 1688, after James's wife had given birth to a son, guaranteeing the Catholic succession, some of James's Protestant opponents secretly invited William of Orange to England. In November, he landed with an army in Devon. Most of the nobility supported him and James was forced to flee to France without a fight.
Early in 1689, the English parliament formally offered William and Mary the throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a 'Declaration of Rights' (later 'Bill of Rights') which outlined grievances against James, limited the power of the monarchy and affirmed important rights relating to the powers of parliament.
Predominantly Catholic Ireland remained mostly loyal to James, who landed there with French troops in March 1689. In July 1690, William defeated James and routed his forces at the Battle of the Boyne.
Fighting the French remained William's main concern. In 1689, he had brought Britain into the 'Grand Alliance' against France. For the next eight years he was often away fighting, first in Ireland and then on the Continent, leaving his wife to rule in his absence. William managed to hold the Grand Alliance together and in 1697, under the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick, Louis XIV surrendered much of the territory he had won by conquest and recognised William as England's king.
Mary died of smallpox in 1694, leaving William to rule alone. He died on 19 March 1702, after falling from his horse at Hampton Court. At the time of his death he was constructing a new grand alliance against France.
Because William and Mary had no children, Mary's sister Anne succeeded to the throne.