Scottish history timeline from 1054 to 2014
A look at the main events in Scottish history over the past 1000 years.
1054
Southern Scotland under the control of Malcolm Canmore
1072
Norman invasion of Scotland
1124
David I crowned king
1128
Holyrood Abbey founded at Edinburgh
1138
Scots defeated by English at Battle of Standard
1296
Scots defeated by English at Dunbar; Stone of Destiny moved to London
1297
Scots defeat English at Battle of Stirling Bridge under William Wallace
1298
English defeat Scots at Battle of Falkirk
1303
Scots defeat English at Battle of Roslin
1305
William Wallace captured and executed
1306
Robert the Bruce crowned king of Scotland
1314
Scots defeat English at Battle of Bannockburn
1320
Declaration of Arbroath is signed
2017
Death of Robert the Bruce
English invade Scotland under Edward III
1349
Black Death kills over 200,000 Scots
1371
Stuart Dynasty begins
1413
University of St Andrews founded
1423
King James I released by English
1437
King James I assassinated
1451
University of Glasgow founded
1472
Shetland and Orkney become part of Scotland
1482
Berwick-Upon-Tweed captured by English
1495
University of Aberdeen founded
1513
Scots defeated at Battle of Flodden
1542
Mary Queen of Scots is born and crowned at age one
1559
John Knox appointed first Protestant minister in Edinburgh
1560
Protestant Reformation legislation is passed by parliament
1566
King James VI born
1576
First Bible (New Testament) printed in Scotland
1582
University of Edinburgh founded
1587
Mary Queen of Scots executed
1600
New Year celebrated in Scotland for first time
1603
Union of the Crowns as King James VI becomes King James I of England
1614
John Napier invents logarithms
1639
The Covenanter Wars begin
1645
Glasgow and Edinburgh captured by Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army
1649
King Charles I executed
1652
Great Fire of Glasgow
1660
Monarchy restored as Charles II proclaimed King of England, Scotland and Ireland
1661
The first Scottish newspaper, Mercurius Caledonius, is printed
1665
Queen Anne, the last of the Stuart monarchs, is born
1678
First Glasgow to Edinburgh coach service
1692
The Massacre of Glencoe
1695
Bank of Scotland established
1698
Darien Expedition sets sail from Leith for Panama
1707
Act of Union is passed
1711
David Hume born in Edinburgh
1715
First Jacobite rebellion
1720
Charles Edward Stuart born in Rome
1726
James Hutton born in Edinburgh
1727
Royal Bank of Scotland founded
1728
Robert Adam (architect) born; James Cook (navigator) born
1734
Death of Rob Roy McGregor
1745
Second Jacobite rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie
1746
Battle of Culloden ends Second Jacobite rebellion
1747
John Paul Jones (US naval captain) born in Dumfries
1750
Robert Fergusson (poet) born in Edinburgh
1754
Joseph Black discovers carbon dioxide; St Andrews Society of Golfers founded
2017
John McAdam (road builder) born in Ayr
1757
Thomas Telford (civil engineer) born
1758
Alexander Nasmyth (painter) born
1759
Robert Burns born in Alloway, Ayrshire
1760
Carron Ironworks founded in Falkirk
1762
Highland Clearances begin
1766
James Craig’s New Town plan for Edinburgh is approved; Charles Mackintosh (inventor) born
1769
Steam engine patented by James Watt
1770
Source of the Blue Nile discovered by James Bruce
1771
Walter Scott (poet, novelist) born; Mungo Park (explorer) born
1772
Robert Stevenson (engineer) born
1776
Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
2017
First lighthouse in Scotland built
1790
Forth and Clyde Canal opened
1811
James Young Simpson (medical pioneer) born
1813
David Livingstone (missionary and explorer) born
1814
Sutherland Clearances begin
1817
The Scotsman newspaper is first published; Birth of Alexander “Greek” Thomson (architect)
1820
Radical Rising begins
2017
Caledonian Canal between Inverness and Fort William opened; Visit of George IV organised by Sir Walter Scott; Death of Henry Raeburn (painter)
1824
Great Fire of Edinburgh; world’s first football club established in Edinburgh
1831
James Clerk Maxwell born in Edinburgh
1835
Andrew Carnegie (businessman and philanthropist) born in Dunfermline
1838
Clydesdale Bank founded; John Muir (conservationist) born in Dunbar
1842
Glasgow to Edinburgh railway line opened
1843
Free Church of Scotland established
1846
Robert Liston (medical pioneer) born in Linlithgow
2017
Alexander Graham Bell (inventor) born in Edinburgh
1848
Mary Slessor (missionary) born in Aberdeen
1850
Robert Louis Stevenson (novelist) born in Edinburgh; Thomas Lipton (businessman) born in Glasgow
1852
William Ramsay (chemist) born
1854
Patrick Geddes (town planner) born in Ballater
1859
Arthur Conan Doyle (author) born in Edinburgh
1860
First open golf championship held at Prestwick; James Barrie (author) born
1867
Queens Park, Scotland’s first senior football club formed in Glasgow
1868
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (artist and architect) born
1870
Harry Lauder (entertainer) born in Portobello
1872
First Scotland v England football match
1873
Edinburgh Evening News is first published
1877
Blantyre Colliery Disaster
1888
Scottish Labour Party formed; John Logie Baird (inventor) born
1890
Forth Bridge is opened
1892
Keir Hardie is elected as the first socialist to win a seat in the UK Parliament
1895
Scotland’s coldest ever temperature (-27.2C) is recorded at Braemar
1896
Glasgow Subway opened
1909
1909 – Matt Busby (football player and manager) born
1913
Benny Lynch (boxer) born
1915
Gretna Rail Disaster
1923
Flying Scotsman launched
1924
Eduardo Paolozzi (artist) born in Leith; Eric Liddell (sports person) born
1926
John Logie Baird publicly demonstrates television for the first time
1928
Penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming
1930
Sean Connery (actor) born
1934
Scottish National Party formed
1936
Jim Clark (racing driver) born in Fife; Oor Wullie and The Broons first appear in The Sunday Post
1937
The world record for highest attendance at a football match was achieved at Hampden as Scotland entertained England
1938
Glasgow Empire Exhibition held at Bellahouston Park
1939
Jackie Stewart (racing driver) born in Dumbartonshire
1941
Clydebank Blitz
1942
Billy Connolly (comedian) born in Glasgow
1947
First Edinburgh Festival is held
1950
Stone of Destiny liberated from Westminster Abbey
1957
Scottish Television broadcasts for first time
1959
Scotland opens its first nuclear power station at Chapelcross, near Annan, Dumfriesshire
1963
Last hanging in Scotland
1967
Celtic lift the European Cup in Lisbon
1968
Hurricane Low Q hits Glasgow, 20 people killed and hundreds of families left homeless
1971
Ibrox Stadium Disaster; Boxer Ken Buchanan wins World Lightweight Boxing Championship
1979
Scotland votes Yes to Devolution, but fails to achieve the 40% turnout rule as stipulated by the UK government
1988
Scotland on Sunday published for the first time
1990
Scotland win rugby grand slam after beating England 13-7 at Murrayfield
2017
Skye Bridge opened
1996
Stone of Destiny returned to Edinburgh; Dolly the Sheep cloned
1999
Scottish Parliament opened
2013
Andy Murray becomes first British male to win Wimbledon since 1936
2014