Britain formally leaves the European Union
After nearly half a century of membership and three and a half years of wrangling, the UK became the first country to exit the bloc.
The United Kingdom formally left the European Union at 11pm London time on Friday, becoming the first country ever to leave the bloc and closing a chapter that began when Britain joined its forerunner in 1973.
The departure came three and a half years after the narrow referendum vote to leave in June 2016, a period that consumed British politics, toppled two prime ministers and exposed deep divisions over the country's identity and place in the world.
There were no dramatic changes at the moment of exit. Britain entered an 11-month transition period during which it would continue to follow EU rules and remain in the single market and customs union while the two sides negotiated their future relationship. The real economic consequences would unfold later.
The mood was split. In Parliament Square, crowds of Brexit supporters gathered to celebrate with flags and a countdown, cheering what they called the recovery of national sovereignty. Elsewhere, pro-EU Britons mourned a decision they feared would leave the country poorer and more isolated, and in Scotland, where most had voted to remain, calls for independence grew louder.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had won a decisive election victory weeks earlier on a promise to "get Brexit done", urged the country to move past years of division. The hardest negotiations, over trade and the rules that would govern the new relationship, still lay ahead.