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River Thames

river in southern England

57 dated entries naming River Thames, drawn from 48 separate years between 400 BCE and 1989 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.

Also written as Thames in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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4th century BC

  • 400 BCELondon has its origins on a rise above marshy waters at the point where the Walbrook joins the River Thames. The Celtic king, Belin, rebuilds an earth wall surrounding a few dozen huts and orders a small landing place to be cut into the south side of the wall, along the river front, where a wooden quay is built (approximate date).source

1st century

  • 50Romans build a wooden bridge across the Thames in the London area.source

6th century

  • 527The Kingdom of Essex is founded by the Saxons, who land north of the Thames. They take control of the land between what is now London and St Albans, ceding from the Kingdom of Kentsource

7th century

  • 675King Wulfhere of Mercia dies after a 17-year reign, in which he has extended his sway over much of England south of the Humber River, including Essex, Surrey, and part of Wessex north of the Thames. Wulfhere is succeeded by his brother Æthelred.source
  • 690King Oswine of Kent is toppled by Wihtred, brother of the late king Eadric of Kent, after a 2-year reign. He takes his lands north of the River Thames, in revenge against the East Saxons (approximate date).source

9th century

  • 870The Danes, led by Halfdan Ragnarsson and Bagsecg, invade Wessex and take the royal estate at Reading (Berkshire), which Halfdan makes his headquarters. A naval Viking contingent sails up the Thames River.source
  • 871The Danes sail down the River Thames, to raid the Mercian port of Lundenwic (in the London area). Here, over the winter, they divide their spoils.source
  • 879Viking leader Guthrum becomes 'king' of East Anglia. A Viking fleet sails up the River Thames, and builds a camp at Fulham (near London) to prepare for an invasion of France.source
  • 894Autumn – Battle of Benfleet: Danish Viking forces retire to Essex, after being deprived of food by Alfred the Great (see 893). They draw their longships up the Thames and into the Lea, entrenching themselves at Benfleet.source

10th century

  • 957Mercia and Northumbria rebel against King Eadwig and switch their allegiance to his brother Edgar. The English nobles (in support of the church) agree to divide the kingdom along the Thames River, with Eadwig keeping Wessex and Kent in the south and Edgar ruling in the north. Edgar's advisers recall Dunstan from Flanders (see 956).source
  • 991August 11: Following a raid by Olaf Tryggvason at the mouth of the River Thames, ealdorman Byrhtnoth is killed in the Battle of Maldon in Essex, which is commemorated in the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon. Æthelred the Unready is forced to pay a tribute of 22,000 pounds of silver for Tryggvason to withdraw his troops; this is the first in a series of Danegelds.source

11th century

  • 1052Summer – Godwin, Earl of Wessex, sails with a large fleet up the Thames to London, forcing King Edward the Confessor to reinstate him into his previous position of power.source

12th century

  • 1142December – Stephen lays siege to Oxford Castle, trapping Matilda and her supporters inside the city. Just before Christmas she manages to escape across the snow and ice of the frozen Thames River – dressed in white (to get past Stephen's pickets), and safely reaches Abingdon. The next day Oxford Castle surrenders to Stephen, Matilda rides with an escort to Wallingford Castle, where she seeks refuge.source

13th century

  • 1212July 10 – The Great Fire: The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground; over 3,000 people die, many of them by drowning in the River Thames. According to a contemporary account: "An awful fire broke out on the Southwark side of London Bridge; while it was raging, a fire broke out at the other end also and so hemmed in the numerous crowds who had assembled to help the distressed. The sufferers, to avoid the flames, threw themselves over the bridge into boats and barges; but many of these sunk, the people crowding into them.".source
  • 1215June 15 – A large number of barons, led by Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, meet King John of England on an island in the Thames at Runnymede. They force John to sign Magna Carta, a document that grants liberties to the "free men" – the Barons, the church and the towns. He is subjected to the rule of law, by confirming the status of trial by jury, on June 19.source
  • 1220Spring – King Henry III makes large alterations to the Tower of London including new curtain walls, an improved water-filled ditch, and a water gate, so that he can enter the castle directly from the Thames.source

15th century

  • 1471May 12 – The siege of London is attempted by hundreds of supporters of England's House of Lancaster, who are attempting to free the former King Henry VI from imprisonment in the Tower of London. Led by Thomas Neville, the Lancastrians set cannons up on the south bank of the Thames and attempt to bombard London, but are unable to break the defense put up by Londoners led by Edward Woodville, Lord Scales, and the attack fails after three days.source

16th century

  • 1599February 21 – At Southwark, near London on the south bank of the River Thames, the land upon which the Globe Theatre will be built is leased by Nicholas Brend to a team of investors led by William Shakespeare, Thomas Pope, actors Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, and three others.source

17th century

  • 1606December 19 – The Susan Constant sets out from the River Thames in England leading the Virginia Company's fleet for the foundation of Jamestown, Virginia.source
  • 1620History of submarines: Cornelis Drebbel demonstrates the first navigable undersea boat in the Thames in England.source
  • 1620A severe frost in England freezes the River Thames; 13 continuous days of snow blanket Scotland. On Eskdale Moor, only 35 of a flock of 20,000 sheep survive.source
  • 1625In England, a very high tide occurs, the highest ever known in the Thames, and the sea walls in Kent, Essex, and Lincolnshire are overthrown, thus great desolation is caused to the lands near the sea.source
  • 1652October 8 – First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of the Kentish Knock – In a battle fought near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the North Sea, about 30 km from the mouth of the River Thames, the Dutch are forced to withdraw.source
  • 166223 August – an extravagant pageant on the River Thames greets the arrival of Charles II and his new queen Catherine of Braganza on their arrival at the Palace of Whitehall from Hampton Court.source
  • 166727 June – An attempt by Dutch ships to enter the River Thames above Gravesend is called off.source
  • 1683December – The River Thames in England freezes, allowing a frost fair to be held.source
  • 168312 December – start of exceptional cold spell. The River Thames freezes, allowing a frost fair to be held (pictured).source
  • 1684January–March – England has its coldest winter in living memory; the River Thames and the sea as far as 2 miles out from land freezes over. The Chipperfield's Circus dynasty begins when James Chipperfield introduces performing animals to England at the Frost Fair on the Thames in London.source
  • 1684January 15 (January 5 O.S.) – To demonstrate that the River Thames, frozen solid during the Great Frost that started in December, is safe to walk upon, "a Coach and six horses drove over the Thames for a wager" and within three days "whole streets of Booths are built on the Thames and thousands of people are continually walking thereon." Sir Richard Newdigate, 2nd Baronet, records the events in his diary.source
  • 1684February 15 (February 5 O.S.) – The Great Frost in Britain, during which the River Thames was frozen in London and the sea as far as 2 mi out from land and which started the previous December, ends as the Thames begins to thaw. William Maitland later writes that the Frost, which started in December 1683, "congealed the river Thames to that degree that another city, as it were, was erected thereon; where by the great number of streets and shops, with their rich furniture, it represented a great fair, with a variety of carriages, and diversions of all sorts." During the freeze, there had been great loss of beast and of wildlife, especially birds, and similar reports from across Northern Europe. The Chipperfield's Circus dynasty began during the freeze, with James Chipperfield introducing performing animals to the country at the Frost Fair on the Thames in London.source

18th century

  • 1701May 23 – Scottish-born Captain William Kidd, having been imprisoned in Boston Gaol (Massachusetts) and Newgate Prison (London) and convicted by the High Court of Admiralty of piracy and the murder of one of his crew, is hanged at Execution Dock in Wapping (London). His body suffers gibbeting over the River Thames at Tilbury Point; ballads are already spreading the legend that he has left buried treasure in the Americas.source
  • 171717 July – George Frideric Handel's Water Music performed on a barge on the River Thames for King George I.source
  • 1717July 17 – Water Music by George Frederick Handel is first performed, on a Thames barge in London.source
  • 1719June 18 – Captain John Perry fixes the Dagenham Breach of the River Thames in England.source
  • 17252 March – in London, a night watchman finds a severed head by the Thames; it is later recognized to be that of the husband of Catherine Hayes. She and an accomplice are executed the following year.source
  • 1726March 2 – In London, a night watchman finds a severed head by the River Thames; it is later recognized to be that of the husband of Catherine Hayes. She and an accomplice are later executed.source
  • 1729November 29 – The first (wooden) Putney Bridge is completed, as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston, England.source
  • 172929 November – completion of the first (wooden) Putney Bridge as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston.source
  • 175018 November – Westminster Bridge is officially opened for the general public to use, the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Putney.source
  • 176919 November – Blackfriars Bridge across the River Thames in London opens to traffic.source
  • 177623 May – The Criminal Law Act introduces hard labour as a punishment since penal transportation to British North America has been made impossible due to the American Revolution (initially intended as a temporary measure). The first prison hulk to accommodate such prisoners comes into use on 15 July on the River Thames.source
  • 17901 January – the Oxford Canal is opened throughout its 91 miles, providing an important link between the River Thames at Oxford and Coventry in the English Midlands.source
  • 17982 July – the Marine Police Force is formed on the River Thames by magistrate Patrick Colquhoun to prevent pilfering in the Port of London and West India Docks; it is the first organised police force in Britain.source

19th century

  • 1839March 26 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held on the River Thames in England.source
  • 1843March 25 – Marc Isambard Brunel's Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under the River Thames and the world's first bored underwater tunnel, is opened in London for pedestrians.source
  • 184325 March – Marc Isambard Brunel's Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under the River Thames, is opened to pedestrians.source
  • 1845May 19 – HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with 134 men, comprising Sir John Franklin's expedition to find the Northwest Passage, sail from Greenhithe on the Thames. They will last be seen in the summer, entering Baffin Bay.source
  • 184519 May – HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men, comprising Sir John Franklin's expedition to find the Northwest Passage, sail from Greenhithe on the Thames. They will last be seen in the summer entering Baffin Bay.source
  • 185831 January – I. K. Brunel's SS Great Eastern, the largest ship built to date, is launched on the River Thames.source
  • 1869August 27 – The University of Oxford wins the first international boat race held on the River Thames, against Harvard University.source
  • 1870August 2 – The Tower Subway beneath the River Thames in London, the world's first underground passenger "tube" railway, officially opens. Although this lasts as a railway operation only until November, it demonstrates the technologically successful first use of the cylindrical wrought iron tunnelling shield, devised by Peter W. Barlow and James Henry Greathead, and of a permanent tunnel lining of cast iron segments.source
  • 1878September 3 – Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat SS Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.source
  • 18783 September – over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat SS Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.source
  • 1880March 20 – For the first and last time in its history, the annual side-by-side rowing race between the 8-member teams of University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge on the River Thames is postponed. The call comes because of a thick fog that makes visibility impossible. Two days later, Oxford wins the race by 3+3⁄4 lengths.source
  • 1897May 22 – The Blackwall Tunnel, at this time the longest underwater road tunnel in the world, is opened for traffic beneath the River Thames in the East End of London by the Prince of Wales.source

20th century

  • 1904September 2 – John Voss sails the rigged dugout canoe Tilikum into the River Thames in England after a 3-year voyage from Victoria, British Columbia, westabout.source
  • 1989August 20 – Marchioness disaster: Fifty-one people die when a pleasure boat collides with a dredger on the River Thames adjacent to Southwark Bridge in London.source

Named in the same entries