Timeline of Britain's Black history

125AD: The first Black Briton known as the Beachy Head Lady, would have been living in Britain.

210AD: Records show that a Black Roman legionary was heard making fun of Emperor Septimius Severus in Carlisle.

350AD: One of the first mixed race people would have been living in York under the Roman occupation. Her remains were discovered with elephant ivory bracelets, suggesting that she was a high status individual.

668AD: Hadrian of Canterbury was rejected as Archbishop of Canterbury and became an Abbot in Canterbury instead.

1241: The earliest image of a Black person discovered in the Domesday Book.

1507: John Blanke is recorded as being one of the court musicians in the court of Henry VII, he was one of several black musicians at court and is depicted in art from the time. He performed at Henry VII’s funeral and Henry VIII’s coronation.

1508: William Dunbar publishes a poem called Of Ane Blak-Moir which is about Black Britons of the time.

1562: John Hawkins leads the first slave trading voyage. Britain would then become one of the biggest players in the Atlantic Slave Trade, particularly in the cities of London, Bristol and Liverpool.

1604: A play featuring a fully rounded Black leading character, Othello, is performed for the first time.

1619: More than 20 enslaved Africans kidnapped and taken to the English colony of Virgina, starting slavery in North America.

1688: Aphra Behn publishes her novel about an African of royal blood. She is credited for producing the first attacks on the Atlantic slave trade.

1729: The birth of Ignatius Sancho, he was the first financially independent Black male householder and the first known Black British voter.

1760: The census for this decade lists over 20,000 Black people living in Britain

1761: Dido Elizabeth Belle is the UK’s first mixed race aristocrat

1773: Phillis Wheatley comes to London and publishes a book of poems

1787: William Wilberforce among others start their campaigns to end slavery

1805: Birth of Mary Seacole, who after being turned down for a nursing job during the Crimean War, opened her own “hotel” to help British soldiers.

1807: The Slave Trade Act was passed, making slavery within the British Empire illegal.

1832: John Stewart becomes the UK’s first mixed race MP

1833: The Slavery Abolition Act is passed, this abolished slavery completely throughout the British Empire, and expanded the Slave Trade Act which made the purchase and ownership of slaves illegal.

1835: John Kent serves as the UK’s first Black police officer

1851: The Great Exhibition is held in London’s Hyde Park where goods from Africa, India and the West Indies were displayed and where Indian jewels were incorporated into the Crown Jewels.

1883: Christian Frederick Cole becomes England’s first Black barrister

1886: Arthur Wharton becomes England’s first Black professional footballer

1895: Emma Clarke becomes Britain’s first Black female footballer debuting for the British Ladies’ team in Crouch End, London.

1904: Allan Minns, Britain’s first Black mayor elected in Norfolk

1907: James Peters is the first Black man to play Rugby Union

1913: The first Black mayor in London is elected. John Archer, a politician, he became the Mayor of Battersea

1914: WWI breaks out and Black soldiers were recorded in all branches of the British armed forces, including Walter Tull, who was one of the most celebrated Black soldiers of the war.

1919: Race riots break out across Britain, with Black soldiers and Black-owned businesses mostly targeted.

1939: Outbreak of WWII, around 10,000 Caribbean men and women joined the armed forces.

1939: Evelyn Dove is the first Black singer to appear on BBC Radio

1945: West African Rhythm Brothers are the UK’s first Black Band

1948: The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks

1950: Winifred Atwell is the first Black musician to have a UK number 1 and is also believed to be the first Black musician to sell 1 million records in Britain

1954: Billy Boston is the first Black rugby league player to represent Britain

1957: Althea Gibson becomes the first Black Wimbledon champion.

1958: Notting Hill Riots

1962: Commonwealth Immigrants Act is passed with the aim of reducing immigration from the former British Empire

1964: Dr Martin Luther King Jr visited London on his way to Norway where he was to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. While in the city, he preached at St Paul’s Cathedral.

1965: The Race Relations Act passed

1966: Notting Hill Carnival is launched, inspired by Caribbean culture.

1967: A branch of the Black Panther Party was formed in the UK

1967: Margaret Busby becomes the UK’s youngest and first Black female publisher

1968: Enoch Powell makes his Rivers of Blood speech denouncing immigration. There are riots and uprising across the UK.

1968: A new Race Relations Act receives Royal Assent making it illegal to refuse housing, public services and employment on the grounds of ethnicity.

1968: Barbara Blake Hannah becomes the first Black female journalist to appear onTV when she is named on camera reporter for Thames TV

1968: Sislin Fay Allen is Britain’s first Black policewoman

1969: Learie Constantine becomes the UK’s first Black peer

1971: The immigration Act of 1971 passed stripping Commonwealth citizens’ rights to remain in the UK and restricting immigration.

1972: Clive Sullivan is the first Black man to captain any national British sporting team

1973: Trevor McDonald becomes the first Black news reporter.

1975 David Pitt becomes a life peer, Lord Pitt of Hampstead and later, chair of the British Medical Association

1976: Race Relations Act strengthens laws against discrimination and establishes the Commission for Racial Equality

1978: Viv Anderson becomes the first Black British footballer to play for England in an international tournament.

1978: Justin Fashanu becomes the first publicly gay Black professional footballer

1980: Riots in St Paul’s, Bristol, kickstarts a series of riots across Britain

1981: The Brixton Riots are spurred following the St Paul’s riots

1981: Moira Stuart becomes the first Black female news presenter on National British TV

1982: The Voice is founded, becoming the first British national Black weekly newspaper

1984: Tessa Sanderson becomes the first Black British woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal

1985: Riots in Tottenham are sparked by the death of Cynthia Jarrett during a police raid

1985: Wilfred Wood becomes the first Black Bishop in the Church of England

1987: UK elects four Black members of parliament: Dianne Abbott, Bernie Grant, Paul Boateng and Keith Vaz.

1987: Black History Month celebrated in the UK for the first time

1988 : Naomi Campbell becomes the first Black model to grace the cover of French Vogue.

1991: Bill Morris becomes the first Black leader of a British trade union

1993: Stephen Lawrence’s murder uncovers institutional racism in the Met Police.

1993: Paul Ince becomes the first Black captain of the senior men’s England football team

1997: Ainsey Harriott becomes the first Black Britain to host a TV cooking show

1998: Hope Powel is the first Black woman to manage an England National Football team

1999: The first Black British woman plays the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury

2000: Amendment made to the Race Relations Act comes into force, requiring the police and other public authorities to take action to promote race equality.

2002: Paul Boateng is appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury becoming the first Black Cabinet Minister

2003: Baroness Amos becomes the first Black female Cabinet Minister

2004: Jason Robinson becomes the first Black captain of the England Rugby Union Team

2005: John Sentamu becomes the first Black Archbishop of York

2006: Frank Bowling becomes the first Black artist to be elected to the Royal Academy of Arts

2008: America’s first mixed race president, Barack Obama visits the UK

2013: Malorie Blackman becomes the UK’s Children’s Laureate.

2013: Britain pays compensation to those it had tortured during the Mau Mau’s uprising in Kenya.

2015: Britain’s bill for the compensation paid to slave owners after abolishing slavery is finally paid off.

2016: The first Black Lives Matter protest takes place in the UK

2017: Edward Enninful becomes editor in chief of British Vogue magazine, his first edition features a mixed-race model on the cover.

2018: The Windrush Scandal is revealed

2018: Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle, a mixed race actress from America. Their wedding featured a range of Black and mixed race performers. They are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

2019: Bernadine Evaristo becomes the first Black British winner of the Booker Prize

2019: Stormzy becomes the first Black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury Festival

2020: Black Lives Matter protests take place across the UK, protesting the death of George Floyd.

2020: Demonstrators in Bristol topple a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

2020: Footballer Marcus Rashford takes on the British Government to get free school meals for low income families.

2021: Daniel Kaluuya becomes first Black British actor to win an Oscar