1660s: London theaters reopen; actresses appear onstage for the first time

1660: Charles II is proclaimed king of England (crowned in 1661)

1678: John Bunyan publishes The Pilgrim's Progress, Part 1 (Part 2 appears in 1684)

1673: English Test Act bans Roman Catholics from public office

1688: Aphra Behn publishes Oroonoko, an early antislavery novel

1685-1688: James II, king of England, tries to reestablish Catholic Church

1687: Newton publishes Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

1688-1689: Glorious (Bloodless) Revolution: James II is succeeded by Protestant rulers William and Mary

1690: John Locke publishes An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

1695: English Parliament enacts Penal Laws, depriving Irish Catholics of civil rights

1709: First issue of Addison and Steele's The Tatler is printed (The Spectator is begun in 1711)

1707: England, Wales, and Scotland are politically unified as Great Britain

1712: Alexander Pope publishes part of The Rape of the Lock