1066
ID: 5777
Normans bring advanced cider-making to England - cider becomes English national drink, orchards expand rapidly
ID: 5777
1066
ID: 2577
January 5, 1066
Death of Edward the Confessor - dies childless, allegedly names Harold as successor on deathbed
ID: 2577
1066
ID: 2578
January 6, 1066
Harold Godwinson crowned - coronation day after Edward's burial, knows invasions coming
ID: 2578
1066
ID: 2579
April 1066
Halley's Comet appears - visible for weeks, seen as omen of disaster, depicted in Bayeux Tapestry
ID: 2579
1066
ID: 2580
May 1066
Tostig raids English coast - Harold's exiled brother attacks with fleet, driven off to Scotland
ID: 2580
1066
ID: 2581
September 20, 1066
Harald Hardrada invades - 'Last Viking' lands with 300 ships and Tostig, defeats earls at Fulford
ID: 2581
1066
ID: 2582
September 25, 1066
Battle of Stamford Bridge - Harold defeats and kills Hardrada and Tostig, only 24 of 300 Viking ships return
ID: 2582
1066
ID: 2583
September 28, 1066
William lands at Pevensey - 7,000 Normans land while Harold in York, builds castle, ravages Sussex
ID: 2583
1066
ID: 2584
October 6, 1066
Harold's forced march south - covers 250 miles from York to London in 4-5 days, gathers fresh troops
ID: 2584
1066
ID: 2585
October 14, 1066
Battle of Hastings - all-day battle, Harold killed by arrow to eye (tradition), Norman Conquest begins
ID: 2585
1066
ID: 2586
December 1066
Submission at Berkhamsted - Edgar Atheling and English nobles submit to William, path to throne clear
ID: 2586
1066
ID: 2587
December 25, 1066
William crowned King of England - coronation at Westminster on Christmas Day, soldiers think riot and burn houses
ID: 2587