Basic Timeline of British Empire

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.