|
Click
on dates below for historical facts
(Back
to Scottish History Page)
 Prehistoric
Scotland
The
history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years B.P. (Before Present), when
humans first began to inhabit Scotland after the end of the Devensian
glaciation, the last ice age. Of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age
civilization that existed in the country, many artifacts remain, but few
written records were left behind.
Mesolithic
hunter-gatherer encampments formed the first known settlements, and
archaeologists have dated an example at Cramond near Edinburgh to around
8500 BC. Numerous other sites found around Scotland build up a picture of
highly mobile boat-using people making tools from bone, stone and antlers.
The oldest standing
house in Northern Europe is at Knap of Howar, dating from 3500 BC
In 3000 BC, some
Neolithic farmers lived in stone houses (such as those at Skara Brae) set
into existing middens.
Neolithic
farming brought permanent settlements, and the wonderfully well-preserved
stone house at Knap of Howar on Papa Westray dating from 3500 BC predates
by about 500 years the village of similar houses at Skara Brae on West
Mainland, Orkney. The
settlers introduced chambered cairn tombs from around 3500 BC, and from about 3000 BC the many standing stones
and circles such as the Ring of Brodgar on Orkney and Callanish on Lewis.
These form part of the Europe-wide Megalithic culture which also produced
Stonehenge in Wiltshire, and which pre-historians now interpret as showing
sophisticated use of astronomical observations. The cairns and Megalithic
monuments continued into the Bronze age, and hill forts started to appear,
such as Eildon Hill near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, which goes back
to around 1000 BC and which accommodated several hundred houses on a
fortified hilltop. Brythonic
Celtic culture and language spread into Scotland at some time after the
8th century BC, possibly through cultural contact rather than through mass
invasion, and systems of kingdoms developed. From
around 700 BC the Iron age brought numerous hill forts, brochs and
fortified settlements which support the image of quarrelsome tribes and
petty kingdoms later recorded by the Romans, though evidence that at times
occupants neglected the defences might suggest that symbolic power had as
much significance as warfare.
(back
to historical dates)
1st
century - 9th century
84: Romans
defeat Caledonians
at the Battle
of Mons Graupius.
143:
Romans construct the Antonine
Wall.
163:
Romans withdraw south to Trimontium
and Hadrian's
Wall.
300:
The term Pict
is first recorded in describing the federated tribes invaded by Constantius
Chlorus.
397: Saint
Ninian establishes a Christian
mission at Whithorn.
470: Votadini
peoples form the kingdom of Gododdin
in the region north of the River
Tweed.
547: Angles
capture the British fortress at Bamburgh
and found the kingdom of Bernicia.
563: Saint
Columba founds a monastery at Iona
and begins his mission to the northern Picts.
574: Áedán
mac Gabráin begins reign over the Gaelic
kingdom of Dál Riata.
580: Riderch
I of Alt Clut rules region later known as the kingdom of Strathclyde.
584: Bruide
son of Maelchon dies.
604: Æthelfrith
unites Bernicia
and Deira
to form the kingdom of Northumbria.
638: Northumbrians
capture Edinburgh
from Gododdin.
680s: Trumwine
Bishop of Abercorn.
685:
Pictish King Bruide
mac Bili defeats Ecgfrith
of Northumbria at the Battle
of Dunnichen, halting the northern expansion of Northumbria.
697: Bruide
mac Der-Ilei among the signatories of the Cáin Adomnáin.
717: Nechtan
mac Der-Ilei expels Ionan
clergy from Pictland and adopts Roman usages with the aid of Bishop Curetán;
masons sent by Abbot Ceolfrid
of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow
Priory help build stone churches at Restenneth, Rosemarkie
and elsewhere in eastern Scotland.
732:
Death of Nechtan mac Der-Ilei; Óengus
mac Fergusa becomes King of the Picts.
747: St
Andrews founded by this time, death of Abbot Tuathalán.
761:
Death of Óengus mac Fergusa.
820:
Death of Caustantín
mac Fergusa.
839: Eóganan
mac Óengusa and his brother Bran killed in battle with Vikings,
end of dominance of Fortriu.
858:
Death of Kenneth
mac Alpin, King
of the Picts; "union of Picts and Scots" traditionally
dated from his reign.
870:
Alt Clut—Dumbarton
Rock— captured by the Norse-Gael
or Viking
leaders Amlaíb
Conung and Ímar
after six month's of siege
878:
Kenneth mac Alpin's son Áed
killed; Giric
becomes king.
889:
Death of Giric; Domnall
mac Causantín, grandson of Kenneth, becomes king.
890:
Exodus of the Strathclyde Britons to Gwynedd
(in Wales)
(back
to historical dates)
10th century - 13th century
900: Causantín
mac Áeda succeeds Domnall mac Causantín.
943:
Causantín mac Áeda abdicates to become a culdee
at St Andrews.
940:
Saint Catroe
of Metz leaves Scotland.
952:
Death of Causantín mac Áeda.
954: Indulf
captures Edinburgh from Northumbria.
1058:
After defeating Mac
Bethad and Lulach, Máel
Coluim III is proclaimed king.
1124: David
I becomes king and introduces the feudal system of landholding to
much of Scotland.
1156: Somerled
defeats the Norse King
of Man, establishing his own semi-independent rule as ri Innse
Gall-King of the Hebrides.
1164:
Somerled is defeated by the Scottish crown in the Battle
of Renfrew.
1234:
Galloway's independent existence ends with the death of Alan,
Lord of Galloway.
1237:
Southern border of Scotland established in the Treaty
of York.
1263:
Scots defeat Norwegians at Largs.
1266: Norway
cedes the Western
Isles to Scotland.
1292: Edward
I of England intervenes in Scottish
affairs and grants the Scottish throne to John
Balliol.
1297: Andrew
de Moravia and William
Wallace lead the Scots to victory over England
at Stirling
Bridge.
(back
to historical dates)
14th century - 16th century
1314: Robert
the Bruce defeats the English at Bannockburn.
1328: Treaty
of Edinburgh. England
recognises Scottish
independence.
1371: Robert
II becomes first Stewart
king.
1402:
English defeat Scots in the Battle
of Nesbit Moor and the Battle
of Humbleton Hill.
1413:
Foundation of the University
of St Andrews.
1451:
Establishment of the University
of Glasgow.
1468: Denmark
cedes Orkney
and Shetland
to Scotland.
1493: Lordship
of the Isles abolished. In 1540 the title was reserved to the
crown.
1495:
Creation of the University
of Aberdeen (King's College).
1513: James
IV and thousands of Scots are killed at Flodden.
1532:
Creation of the College of Justice and the Court
of Session.
1559: John
Knox returns to Scotland from Geneva
to promote Calvinism.
1560:
Parliament legislates protestant
reformation of the Church
of Scotland.
1568: Mary,
Queen of Scots flees to England following the defeat of her army
at the Battle
of Langside..
1578: James
VI takes over government from his regent, James
Douglas.
1582:
Establishment of the University
of Edinburgh by Royal Charter.
1587:
Mary is beheaded by the order of Queen
Elizabeth I of England.
1592: Presbyterianism
becomes the established form of church government in Scotland by Act
of Parliament. A few years later King James successfully reintroduced Episcopacy. (back
to historical dates)
17th century - 18th century
1603:
The Union
of the Crowns: James
VI of Scotland becomes James
I of England.
1638:
Scottish Covenanters
rebel against Charles
I.
1643:
The Solemn
League and Covenant promises Scots army to aid English
parliamentarians against the king.
1651-1660:
Scotland incorporated into the English Commonwealth and Protectorate.
1660:
The monarchy is restored and Scotland resumes its status as a separate
kingdom.
1679: Duke
of Monmouth defeats Covenanters at the Battle
of Bothwell Brig.
1689: Jacobite
highlanders defeats army of William
III at Killiecrankie,
but are halted at Dunkeld.
1689:
The Claim
of Right and the re-establishment of Presbyterianism.
1692: Massacre
of Glencoe.
1695:
The Bank
of Scotland is created by Act of Parliament.
1707:
The Union of the Parliaments: the Act
of Union between England and Scotland is passed.
Scotland
existed as an independent state
until the Act
of Union, 1
May 1707.
1715:
First Jacobite
rising.
1745:
Second Jacobite
rising.
1746:
The Battle
of Culloden ends the second Jacobite
rising.
1748: David
Hume publishes An
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.
1762:
Land tenure reform leads to the Highland
Clearances and massive emigration for several decades.
1769: James
Watt patents idea for separate condensing chamber in the Steam
engine.
1776: Adam
Smith publishes The
Wealth of Nations.
(back
to historical dates)
19th century
1802: John
Playfair publishes summary of James
Hutton's theories of Geology.
1817: The
Scotsman newspaper first published.
1820:
The "Radical
War".
1822: Visit
of King George IV to Scotland organized by Sir Walter
Scott.
1832:
The Reform
Act enlarges the franchise.
1843:
The Disruption
in the Church
of Scotland (over the issue of patronage).
1846:
Beginning of the ten-year Highland
Potato Famine.
1847:
The United
Presbyterian Church of Scotland is established.
1864: James
Clerk Maxwell presents equations describing electromagnetic
fields.
1874:
Patronage abolished in the Church
of Scotland.
1878:
Collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank
1879:
Gladstone's Midlothian campaign.
1879:
The Tay
Bridge Disaster.
1885:
Creation of the Scottish
Office and the post of Secretary for Scotland, later Secretary
of State for Scotland.
1890:
Opening of the Forth
Railway Bridge.
1896:
Opening of the Glasgow
Subway.
(back
to historical dates)
20th century
1908:
Introduction of the Old Age Pension.
1918:
Votes in Parliamentary elections for women over 30 introduced.
1926:
General Strike.
1928:
Equal franchise for all men and women over 21 introduced.
1929:
The Church
of Scotland and the United
Free Church of Scotland unite.
1934: Scottish
National Party founded.
1938:
The Empire
Exhibition, Scotland 1938 is held at Bellahouston
Park, Glasgow.
1941:
The Clydebank Blitz
(13-15 May).
1943:
Creation of the North
of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board to bring electricity to all parts
of the Highlands and Islands.
1945:
First Scottish
Nationalist MP
is elected.
1947:
Nationalisation of the railways - the Scottish
Region of British Railways is created.
1947:
The first Edinburgh
International Festival is held.
1948:
Start of the National
Health Service.
1950:
The Stone
of Destiny is removed from Westminster
Abbey.
1957: Scottish
Television starts broadcasting.
1964:
Opening of the Forth
Road Bridge.
1966:
Opening of the Tay
Road Bridge.
1968:
The General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland permits the ordination of women
as ministers.
1975:
Local government reorganisation (replacing Counties and Burghs for
administrative purposes with Regions and Districts).
1978:
Launch of BBC
Radio Scotland.
1979: Referendum
to create a Scottish Assembly fails to meet the required majority.
1988:
Terrorists blow up Pan
Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie
with the loss of 270 lives, including 11 residents of the town.
1994:
Local government reorganisation (replacing the Regions and Districts
with single-tier councils).
1996:
The Stone
of Destiny is permanently returned to Scotland, to be housed in Edinburgh
Castle.
1997:
A referendum on a devolved Scottish
Parliament is passed by a massive majority.
1999: The
Scottish parliament sits for the first time under the new constitutional
arrangements.
back
to top
back
to Scottish history
|
Crafts
Crafts
Crafts
Crafts
Crafts
Historical Dates