Below is a basic timeline of events of great importance to British history occurring during the period covered by this site. Sport is never unaffected by social change, it is important to bear the broader perspective in mind.
| 1651 | Battle of Worcester, end of Civil War, Charles Stuart, son of Charles I, escapes to France. |
| 1653 | Oliver Cromwell made Lord Protector. |
| 1658 | Death of Cromwell. |
| 1660 | The Restoration of the Monarchy: Charles Stuart becomes King Charles II of England and Scotland after Parliament invited him to return to England. |
| 1665 | The Great Plague struck. |
| 1665 | Charles II dies, his brother becomes King James II of England and Scotland. |
| 1668 | 'Glorious Revolution' - James II deposed, replaced jointly by his daughter who becomes Queen Mary II, and her Dutch husband, who becomes King William III of Orange, who was also James's nephew. |
| 1694 | Mary II dies, William III reigns alone. |
| 1701 | The Act of Settlement settles the royal succession on the Protestant Hanoverian family. |
| 1702 | William III dies. Anne, daughter of James II, sister of Mary II, becomes Queen Anne of England and Scotland. |
| 1704 | Battle of Blenheim: A combined Dutch and English army defeats France in Bavaria. |
| 1707 | Act of Union of Scotland with England as Scottish parliament is abolished. |
| 1714 | Anne dies, her second cousin, George of Hanover becomes King George I of Great Britain. End of Stuart dynasty. |
| 1715 | The Jacobite Rebellion of the Old Pretender (James Stuart, son of James II) takes place. |
| 1721 | Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister of Great Britain. |
| 1727 | George I dies, his son becomes King George II of Great Britain. |
| 1735 | George II's son, Frederick Prince of Wales dies, aged 44. It is sometimes suggested the cause was the delayed effect of being hit with a ball while fielding in a cricket match. |
| 1745 | The Jacobite Rebellion of the Young Pretender (Charles Stuart, grandson of James II) begins. |
| 1746 | The Battle of Culloden, the last battle to have taken place on British soil, is fought. Jacobites defeated marking the effective conclusion of their rebellion. |
| 1751 | The Gregorian Calendar is introduced, correcting the 11-day difference and making 1 January New Year’s Day. |
| 1756–63 | The Seven Years War. Victory brings Canada and eastern India under British control. |
| 1760 | George II dies; his son Frederick having died already (see 1735), his grandson becomes King George III of Great Britain. He reigns until 1820, subject to a period of regency 1811 to 1820. |
| 1775–83 | American War of Independence against Britain. |
| 1779 | The first Iron Bridge completed, at Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, an important landmark in the Industrial Revolution. |
| 1783 | 1783 William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister. |
| 1785 | The first edition of the Times is published. |
| 1793–1815 | Napoleonic wars against France. They finally end in British victory at Waterloo. |