In order to have a deeper understanding of an author's works, we must understand the time period in which
the author lived and the events that influenced him or her. Here are some of the most notable events that might
have influenced the ideas of Alexander Pope. There are two timelines a general one, signaling major philosophical and
political change and a detailed one:
Major
Figures: Hobbes, Locke, Hume
1603: 24 March - Death of Elizabeth I - James I became King of England
1605: 5 November - Gunpowder plot - Guy Fawkes attempts to blow-up Parliament
1606: 12 April - Union Jack adopted
1607: Appearance of Halley's Comet
1611: Authorised version of Bible published
1613: Trinity Hospital founded in Greenwich.
1614: King James I gave Palace of Placenta at Greenwich to his Queen (Anne of Denmark)
1617: Henry Briggs introduces decimal notation.
1618: Sir Walter Ralegh put to death
1619: Death of Queen Anne (Queen's House only partially built)
1620: 6 September - Pilgrim Fathers set sail in Mayflower to America from Southwark sail past Greenwich.
1622: First English newspaper
1625: 27 March - death of James I
1625: Parliament gave Charles I tonnage & poundage for one year only
1629: King Charles I (1600 - 1649) commissions Queens House to be completed by Inigo Jones for his Queen Henrietta Maria.
1634: Ship money demanded by Charles I without Parliament's consent
1635: Queens House in Greenwich completed by Inigo Jones (1573 - c1652).
1635: Connecticut first settled
1636: Hackney carriages in London
1642: English Civil War breaks out - Greenwich no longer favoured royal residence.
1653: Body of Richard Deane lay in state at Greenwich.
1657: Body of Robert Blake at Greenwich.
1660: Charles II welcomed on Blackheath on his return from exile.
1660: Composition of light discovered by Sir Isaac Newton
1661: Hand-struck postage-stamps first used.
1661-2 Bridge Rooms added to Queens House by King Charles II.
1662: Royal Society of London receives Royal Charter
1665: Great Plague in London
1665-6: Samuel Pepys (1633 - 1703), famous diarist, lived in Greenwich.
1666: 2 June: Samuel Pepy's records gun-fire heard at Greenwich from English-Dutch naval conflict.
1666: 2-6 September - Great Fire of London
1675 - 22 June: Greenwich Royal Observatory created by Royal Warrant
1675: 10 August - Building of Royal Observatory commenced
1675: John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal.
1676: Royal Greenwich Observatory built by Sir Christopher Wren.
1676: Greenwich ferry starts operating across the River Thames.
1680: Buccaneers' Raids. John Coxon defeated at Panama
1681: Oil street lights first used in London
1682: Appearance of Halley's Comet
1688: King William III and Queen Mary II ascend the English throne.
1689: Queen Mary II (wife of William III) welcomed at Greenwich on first arrival to England.
1694: October: Greenwich Hospital established by Queen Mary's royal charter (now Royal Naval College).
1698: Peter the Great works in ship-yard in Deptford.
1699: Rangers House built on edge of Greenwich Royal Park.
