River Thames

river in southern England

33 dated entries naming River Thames, drawn from 33 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.

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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

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

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

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
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 mi from the mouth of the River Thames, the Dutch are forced to withdraw.source
1683December – The River Thames in England freezes, allowing a frost fair to be held.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

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
1719June 18 – Captain John Perry fixes the Dagenham Breach of the River Thames in England.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

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
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
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 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