Southampton

From the records: “Following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the conquering of the local Britons in AD 70 the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established.”

From the records: “St Mary's Church is the largest church in the city and can trace its origins to the first Saxon settlements of the 7th century.”

From the records: “Hamwic is referred to as a market in the account of the life of St Willibald, written by an Anglo-Saxon nun named Hygeburg in the late 8th century.”

From the records: “Viking raids contributed to the decline of Hamwic in the late 9th century, and by the 10th century a fortified settlement, which became medieval Southampton, had been established.”

From the records: “The Viking King Canute the Great defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready in 1014 and was crowned in Southampton.”

From the records: “Southampton's prosperity was assured following the Norman Conquest in 1066, when it became the major port of transit between Winchester (the capital of England until the early 12th century) and Normandy.”

From the records: “Archaeological evidence has dated the foundation of St Michael's Church at 1070 and the church was dedicated to St Michael, patron saint of Normandy.”

From the records: “Southampton Castle was built in the 12th century and surviving remains of 12th-century merchants' houses such as King John's House and Canute's Palace are evidence of the wealth that existed in the town at this time.”

From the records: “Southampton as a port and city has had a long history of administrative independence of the surrounding county; as far back as the reign of King John the town and its port were removed from the writ of the king's sheriff in Hampshire and the rights of custom and toll were granted by the King to the burgesses of Southampton over the port of Southampton and the Port of Portsmouth; this tax farm was granted for an annual fee of £200 in the charter dated at Orival on 29 June 1199.”

From the records: “The Franciscan friary in Southampton was founded circa 1233.”

From the records: “St Julians Hospital, otherwise known as God's House Hospital, was founded around 1196 by Gervase 'le Riche'.”

From the records: “The town was sacked in 1338 by French, Genoese and Monegasque ships (under Charles Grimaldi, who used the plunder to help found the principality of Monaco).”

From the records: “On visiting Southampton in 1339, Edward III ordered that walls be built to "close the town".”

From the records: “In 1348, the Black Death reached England via merchant vessels calling at Southampton.”

From the records: “The city walls include God's House Tower, built in 1417, the first purpose-built artillery fortification in England.”

From the records: “Henry V's famous warship Grace Dieu was built in Southampton and launched in 1418.”

From the records: “In 1447 Henry VI granted Southampton a charter which made it a county of itself, separate for most purposes from the county of Hampshire.”

From the records: “Southampton's Tudor House, otherwise known as Huttofts or Lady Ann Guidotti's House, was built in 1495 for Sir John Dawtry.”

From the records: “The port was the original point of departure for the Pilgrim Fathers aboard the Mayflower in 1620.”

From the records: “In 1642, during the English Civil War, a Parliamentary garrison moved into Southampton, initially to defend against seaborne attack from Royalist ships.”

From the records: “In June 1664 the Black Death returned to Southampton.”

From the records: “Isaac Watts the younger, born in Southampton in 1674, wrote the words of the hymn O God Our Help in Ages Past.”

From the records: “Southampton became a spa town in 1740, thanks to the discovery of a spring of chalybeate water.”

From the records: “Walter Taylor's 18th century mechanisation of the block-making process, in Southampton, was a significant step in the Industrial Revolution, winning him a monopoly on the supply of wooden rigging blocks for the Royal Navy from 1759 to 1803.”

From the records: “The painter John Everett Millais was born in the city in 1829.”

From the records: “The floating bridge was opened in 1836 and connected Southampton to Woolston At that time Woolston was a separate village on the east bank of the River Itchen; it did not become part of Southampton until 1920.”

From the records: “The Southampton Docks company was formed in 1835.”

From the records: “The railway arrived in Southampton in 1839”

From the records: “The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company operated its services from Southampton, officially designating the port as the packet station in May 1843.”

From the records: “Horse-drawn trams appeared in Southampton in 1879.”

From the records: “In 1912, the RMS Titanic sailed from Southampton. 497 men (four in five of the crew on board the vessel) were Sotonians, with about a third of those who perished in the tragedy hailing from the city.”

From the records: “Southampton was designated No. 1 Military Embarkation Port in August 1914.”

From the records: “The Supermarine Spitfire was designed and developed in Southampton, evolving from the Schneider trophy-winning seaplanes of the 1920s and 1930s.”

From the records: “By 1931, a tram passed through the Bargate every 30 seconds and over the course of 14 hours, 2000 cars and 6000 bicycles would use the same narrow passage between Above Bar and the High Street.”

From the records: “In 1938, Southampton docks also became home to the flying boats of Imperial Airways.”

From the records: “Pockets of Georgian architecture remain, but much of the city was levelled during the Blitz of November 1940. 476 tons of bombs were dropped on the city by the Luftwaffe.”

From the records: “In July 1943, military exercise Harlequin tested the ports' capacity for embarking troops and equipment.”

From the records: “A Royal Charter in 1952 upgraded University College at Highfield to the University of Southampton.”

From the records: “On 24 February 1964 Elizabeth II, by letters patent, granted the County Borough of Southampton the title of "City", so creating "The City and County of the City of Southampton".”

From the records: “Southampton Container Terminals first opened in 1968 and has continued to expand.”