British Colonial Empire

State · 1706–1999 CE · at its largest around 1900 CE

At its height Britain ruled about a quarter of humanity, carrying the English language, common law, railways, cricket and parliamentary ideas around the globe. It was also built on conquest, the Atlantic slave trade and famine, and its legacy still shapes borders, migration and politics worldwide.

On its lands while it lasted

Middle Passage (c. 1526–1866 CE): The forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas. Of about 12.5 million people embarked between the 16th and 19th centuries, some 1.8 million died on the crossing.
Mughal Empire founded (1526–1857 CE): Empire founded by Babur that at its height ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, famed for its wealth, administration and architecture.
Isaac Newton (1643 CE – 1727 CE): English mathematician and physicist at Cambridge who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation, co-invented calculus and advanced optics.
George Washington (1732 CE – 1799 CE): Commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and first President of the United States (1789–1797).
Industrial Revolution (c. 1760–1840 CE): The shift from hand production to machines, factories and steam power that began in Britain around 1760, centred on textile towns such as Manchester. It spread to Europe and North America and transformed work, cities and the world economy.
Napoleon (1769 CE – 1821 CE): Corsican-born general who seized power in France in 1799 and crowned himself Emperor in 1804. He conquered much of Europe before his defeat in 1815 and died in exile on Saint Helena.
Watt steam engine (1769 CE): James Watt patented his separate condenser in 1769, greatly improving the steam engine's efficiency. Built with Matthew Boulton in Birmingham from 1775, it powered the Industrial Revolution.
American Revolutionary War (1775–1783 CE): War in which thirteen British colonies, aided by France, won independence and formed the United States of America.
US Declaration of Independence (1776 CE): Adopted by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776, it declared the thirteen colonies independent and asserted natural rights.
Simón Bolívar (1783 CE – 1830 CE): Caracas-born leader who led the independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from Spain, known as El Libertador.
Sydney (1788 CE): The British First Fleet under Arthur Phillip founded a penal colony at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, the start of European colonisation of Australia.
Storming of the Bastille (1789 CE): On 14 July 1789 a Paris crowd seized the Bastille fortress-prison. The event became the symbol of the French Revolution, which overthrew the absolute monarchy.
Haitian Revolution (1791–1804 CE): Uprising of enslaved people in the French colony of Saint-Domingue that abolished slavery and created Haiti, the first state founded by formerly enslaved people.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 CE – 1865 CE): 16th President of the United States, who led the Union through the Civil War, issued the Emancipation Proclamation and was assassinated in 1865.
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia (1812 CE): Napoleon’s Grande Armée of over 600,000 crossed the Niemen in June 1812, fought at Borodino and occupied Moscow, but was forced into a winter retreat in which the great majority of the army was lost.