Plymouth

city in Devon, England

24 dated entries naming Plymouth, drawn from 22 separate years between 851 CE and 1939 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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9th century

851Danish Viking raiders enter the Thames Estuary, and plunder Canterbury and London. They land at Wembury near Plymouth, but are defeated by Anglo-Saxon forces led by King Ethelwulf of Wessex. His eldest son Æthelstan of Kent, accompanied by Ealdorman Ealhhere, attacks a Viking fleet off the coast at Sandwich, and captures nine of the enemy vessels while the remainder flees.source

15th century

1439Plymouth becomes the first town incorporated by Parliament.source

16th century

1501October 2 – Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon arrives in England and arrives at Plymouth. Although she will later become the wife of King Henry VIII in 1509, she initially arrives to marry Henry's older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.source
1577December 13 – Francis Drake leaves Plymouth, England, aboard the Pelican, with four other ships and 164 men, on an expedition against the Spanish, along the Pacific coast of the Americas, which will become his circumnavigation.source
1578November 19 – Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Ralegh set out from Plymouth in England, leading an expedition to establish a colony in North America. They will be forced to turn back six months later.source
1580September 26 – Francis Drake returns to Plymouth, England from his voyage of circumnavigation (westbound) on the Golden Hind, the second completed in a continuous voyage, and the first under its original commander.source
1588July 31 – The first engagement between the English and Spanish fleets (off Plymouth) results in a victory for the English, under command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake.source
1588September 9 – English captain Thomas Cavendish completes his circumnavigation in a record time of 781 days, returning to Plymouth more than two years after setting off on July 21, 1586. The previous record had been 1,018 days by the expedition of Sir Francis Drake from 1577 to 1580. By the time of his return, Cavendish has only his flagship, Desire, after having started with two other vessels (the warship Content and the 40-ton supply ship Hugh Gallant).source
1595February 6 – Sir Walter Raleigh of England departs from Plymouth to begin an expedition to South Americasource

17th century

1620Mayflower and Speedwell return again to England, anchoring at Plymouth; the latter ship is given up as a participant in the voyage and on September 12 (September 2 OS) departs for London, most of her passengers and stores having been transferred to the Mayflower.source
1620September 16 (September 6 OS) – Mayflower departs from Plymouth in England on her third attempt to cross the Atlantic. The Pilgrims on board comprise 41 "saints" (English separatists largely from Holland), 40 "strangers" (largely secular planters from London), 23 servants and hired workers, together with c. 30 crew.source
1622May 25 – The English ship Tryall, which left Plymouth, England for Batavia (now Jakarta), wrecks on the Tryal Rocks, nine months later (the wreck is discovered in 1969).source
1625November 1–7 – Cádiz Expedition: English forces commanded by Admiral George Villiers (which set out from Plymouth on October 8) are decisively defeated by the Spanish at Cádiz.source
1698November 14 – The first Eddystone Lighthouse, built off Plymouth, England, is illuminated.source

18th century

1703December 7–10 (November 26–29 O.S.) – The Great Storm of 1703, an extratropical cyclone, ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing at least 8,000, mostly at sea. The Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth is destroyed in the storm together with its designer Henry Winstanley and many buildings on land are damaged.source
1758February 22 – A fleet of 158 British Royal Navy warships, under the command of Admiral Edward Boscawen, departs from Plymouth toward North America in an effort to conquer the French Canadian territories of New France. Many of the sailors die of nutritional deficiencies along the way, including the scurvy that kills 26 of the crew of HMS Pembroke, captained by future world explorer James Cook on his first long voyage.source
1762The Plymouth Synagogue is built in Plymouth, England, the oldest built by Ashkenazi Jews in the English-speaking world.source
1768August 26 – James Cook departs from Plymouth aboard on his first voyage of discovery.source
1772July 13 – The second voyage of James Cook departs from Plymouth on Captain Cook's new ship, HMS Resolution and the companion ship HMS Adventure in an attempt to prove the existence of an uncharted continent even further south than New Zealand.source
1776July 12 – Captain James Cook sets off from Plymouth, England, in HMS Resolution on his third voyage, to the Pacific Ocean and Arctic, which will be fatal to him.source
1779August 17 – Action of 17 August 1779: The 64-gun British warship HMS Ardent is captured by France in the English Channel off of Plymouth after an ineffective attempt by the British captain to properly aim its cannons at the French frigate Junon.source

19th century

1831December 27 – Charles Darwin embarks from Plymouth on the second voyage of HMS Beagle which will be the foundation for his life of scientific study.source
1896January 16 – Devonport High School for Boys is founded in Plymouth (England).source

20th century

1939October 7 – WWII: British Royal Navy cruiser departs Plymouth in convoy for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying £2M in gold bar to be used for purchase of military materiel in North America, a predecessor of Operation Fish.source