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Muir, Benjamin Bean Maw

Male 1884 - 1960  (76 years)  


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   Date  Event(s)
1 1793 
  • 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
  • 15 Apr 1793—15 Apr 1793: ?5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
2 1794 
  • 1794—1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties
  • 6 Oct 1794—6 Oct 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore treasonous
3 1795 
  • 1795—1795: The Famine Year
  • 1795—1795: Foundation of the Orange Order
  • 1795—1795: Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises - many small farmers were bankrupted by the move towards enclosures and became landless labourers - their wages were often pitifully low
  • 1795—1795: Pitt and Grenville introduce The Gagging Acts' or 'Two Bills' (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) - outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture.
  • 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
4 1796 
  • 1796—1796: Pitt's Reign of Terror': More treason trials - leading radicals emigrate
  • 1796—1796: Legacy Tax on sums over ?20 excluding those to wives, children, parents and grandparents
  • 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
5 1797 
  • 1797—1797: England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments
  • 1797—1797: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore
  • 1797—1797: Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical publications
  • 1797—1797: The first copper pennies were produced ('cartwheels') by application of steam power to the coining press
  • 22 Feb 1797—22 Feb 1797: French invade Fishguard, Wales; last time UK invaded; all captured 2 days later
  • 26 Feb 1797—26 Feb 1797: First ?1 (and ?2) notes issued by Bank of England
6 1798 
  • 1798—1798: First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner
  • Feb 1798—Feb 1798: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish Parliament abolished (Feb-Oct)
  • 1 Aug 1798—1 Aug 1798: Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
7 1799 
  • 1799—1799: Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York
  • 1799—1799: Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain
  • 9 Jan 1799—9 Jan 1799: Pitt brings in 10% income tax, as a wartime financial measure
  • 12 Jul 1799—12 Jul 1799: 'Combination Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations
  • 15 Jul 1799—15 Jul 1799: ?Rosetta Stone' discovered in Egypt made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
8 1800 
  • 1800—1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
  • 1800—1800: Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833)
  • 1800—1800: Royal College of Surgeons founded
  • 1800—1800: Herschel discovers infra-red light
  • 1800—1800: Volta makes first electrical battery
  • 2 Jul 1800—2 Jul 1800: Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
9 1801 
  • 1801—1801: Grand Union Canal opens in England
  • 1801—1801: Elgin Marbles brought from Athens to London
  • 1 Jan 1801—1 Jan 1801: Union Jack becomes the official British flag
  • 10 Mar 1801—10 Mar 1801: First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000. Population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural)
  • 24 Dec 1801—24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
10 1802 
  • 25 Mar 1802—25 Mar 1802: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands ? the 'Peace of Amiens' as it was known brought a temporary peace of 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars ? one of its most important cultural effects was that travel and correspondence across the English Channel became possible again
11 1803 
  • 1803—1803: Poaching made a Capital offense in England if capture resisted
  • 1803—1803: Richard Trevithick built another steam carriage and ran it in London as the first self-propelled vehicle in the capital and the first London bus
  • 1803—1803: Semaphore signaling perfected by Admiral Popham
  • 30 Apr 1803—30 Apr 1803: Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon sells French possessions in America to United States
  • 12 May 1803—12 May 1803: Peace of Amiens ends ? resumption of war with France ? The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5)
  • 23 Jul 1803—23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to Croydon, horse-drawn)
12 1804 
  • 1804—1804: Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed 'Australia'
  • 21 Feb 1804—21 Feb 1804: Richard Trevithick runs his railway engine on the Penydarren Railway (9.5 miles from Pen-y-Darren to Abercynon in South Wales) this hauled a train with 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers. It was commemorated by the Royal Mint in 2004 in the form of A ?2 coin.
  • 3 Mar 1804—3 Mar 1804: John Wedgwood (eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood) founds The Royal Horticultural Society
  • 2 Dec 1804—2 Dec 1804: Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French
  • 12 Dec 1804—12 Dec 1804: Spain declares war on Britain
13 1805 
  • 1805—1805: London docks opened
  • 21 Oct 1805—21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
  • 2 Dec 1805—2 Dec 1805: Battle of Austerlitz; Napoleon defeats Austrians and Russians
14 1806 
  • 1806—1806: Dartmoor Prison opened (built by French prisoners)
  • 9 Jan 1806—9 Jan 1806: Nelson buried in St Paul's cathedral, London
15 1807 
  • 25 Mar 1807—25 Mar 1807: Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 ? but does not prohibit colonial slavery
16 1808 
  • 1808—1808: Gas lighting in London streets
  • 13 Jul 1808—13 Jul 1808: 'Hot Wednesday' ? temperature of 101?F in the shade recorded in London
  • 20 Dec 1808—20 Dec 1808: Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy together in Vienna
17 1809 
  • 12 Feb 1809—12 Feb 1809: Birth of Charles Darwin
  • 18 Sep 1809—18 Sep 1809: Royal Opera House opens in London
18 1810 
  • 1810—1810: John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of road metalling
19 1811 
  • 5 Feb 1811—5 Feb 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
20 1812 
  • 11 May 1812—11 May 1812: Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, assassinated ? shot as he entered the House of Commons by a bankrupt Liverpool broker, John Bellingham, who was subsequently hanged
  • 18 Jun 1812—18 Jun 1812: Start of American 'War of 1812' (to 1814) against England and Canada
  • Oct 1812—Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
21 1813 
  • 1813—1813: Ireland: First recorded '12th of July' sectarian riots in Belfast
  • 1813—1813: Jane Austen wrote 'Pride and Prejudice'
22 1814 
  • 1 Jan 1814—1 Jan 1814: Invasion of France by Allies
  • 6 Apr 1814—6 Apr 1814: Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
  • 13 Aug 1814—13 Aug 1814: Convention of London signed, a treaty between the UK and the Dutch
  • 24 Aug 1814—24 Aug 1814: The British burn the White House
  • 29 Nov 1814—29 Nov 1814: 'The Times' first printed by a 'mechanical apparatus' (at 1100 sheets per hour)
  • 24 Dec 1814—24 Dec 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the 1812 war between Britain and the US
23 1815 
  • 1815—1815: Trial by Jury established in Scotland
  • 1815—1815: Davy develops the safety lamp for miners
  • 18 Jun 1815—18 Jun 1815: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
24 1816 
  • 1816—1816: Income tax abolished
  • 1816—1816: For the first time British silver coins were produced with an intrinsic value substantially below their face value ? the first official 'token' coinage
  • 1816—1816: Climate: the 'year without a summer' ? followed a volcanic explosion of the mountain 'Tambora in Indonesia the previous year the biggest volcanic explosion in 10000 years
  • 1816—1816: Large scale emigration to North America
  • 1816—1816: Trans-Atlantic packet service begins
25 1817 
  • 1817—1817: March of the Manchester Blanketeers; Habeas Corpus suspended
  • 1817—1817: Constable painted 'Flatford Mill'
26 1818 
  • 1818—1818: Manchester cotton spinners' strike
  • 20 Oct 1818—20 Oct 1818: 'Convention of 1818' signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length
27 1819 
  • 1819—1819: Primitive bicycle, the Dandy Horse, becomes popular
  • 1819—1819: Britain returns to gold standard
  • 1819—1819: Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles
  • May 1819—May 1819: SS 'Savannah' first steamship to cross Atlantic reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 Days reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 Days mostly under sail)
  • 16 Aug 1819—16 Aug 1819: Peterloo Massacre at Manchester ? a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester ? demand Parliamentary Reform ? mounted troops charge on the meeting, killing 11 people and and maiming many others
28 1820 
  • 1820—1820: Cato Street Conspiracy ? plot to assissinate British cabinet
  • 1820—1820: Abolition of the Spanish Inquisition
  • 29 Jan 1820—29 Jan 1820: Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
  • 1 Aug 1820—1 Aug 1820: Regent's Canal in London opens
  • 17 Aug 1820—17 Aug 1820: Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her ? George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her ? Caroline is virtually acquitted because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
29 1821 
  • 1821—1821: Faraday publishes 'Principles of electro-magnetic rotation'
  • 1821—1821: Constable paints 'The Hay Wain'
  • 5 May 1821—5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
30 1822 
  • 14 Jun 1822—14 Jun 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
31 1823 
  • 1823—1823: New laws concerning marriage by license ? 'very troublesome' according to some the Act was repealed all in a hurry at the beginning of the next session
  • 1823—1823: Peel begins penal reforms ? death penalty abolished for over 100 crimes
  • 1823—1823: Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School
  • 1823—1823: Rubberised waterproof material produced by MacIntosh
  • 2 Dec 1823—2 Dec 1823: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts (the 'Monroe Doctrine')
32 1824 
  • 1824—1824: RSPCA established
  • 1824—1824: Portland cement patented
  • 4 Mar 1824—4 Mar 1824: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded (called the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' until 1854)
  • 10 May 1824—10 May 1824: National Gallery in London opens to the public
33 1825 
  • 27 Sep 1825—27 Sep 1825: Stockton to Darlington Railway opens ? world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains
34 1827 
  • 1827—1827: Ohm's Law published
35 1828 
  • 25 Oct 1828—25 Oct 1828: St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
36 1829 
  • 1829—1829: London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed 'Bobbies' after Sir Robert Peel
  • 1829—1829: Louis Braille invents his system of finger-reading for the blind
  • 10 Jun 1829—10 Jun 1829: First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race
  • 6 Oct 1829—6 Oct 1829: George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to complete the trial!)
37 1830 
  • 1830—1830: Uprisings and agitation across Europe: the Netherlands are split into Holland and Belgium
  • Jul 1830—Jul 1830: Revolution in France, fall of Charles X and the Bourbons ? Louis Philippe (the Citizen King) on the throne
  • 15 Sep 1830—15 Sep 1830: George Stephenson's Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened by the Duke of Wellington ? first mail carried by rail, and first death on the railway as William Huskisson, a leading politician, is run over!
38 1831 
  • 1831—1831: A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
  • 1 Jun 1831—1 Jun 1831: James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole
  • 1 Aug 1831—1 Aug 1831: 'New' London Bridge opens (replaced 1973) ? old bridge (which had existed for over 600 years) then demolished
39 1832 
  • 1832—1832: Electoral Registers introduced
  • 1832—1832: Electric telegraph invented by Morse
  • 7 Jun 1832—7 Jun 1832: Reform Bill passed ? Representation of the People Act
40 1833 
  • Jan 1833—Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands
  • 29 Aug 1833—29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
41 1834 
  • 1834—1834: Babbage invents forerunner of the computer
  • 18 Mar 1834—18 Mar 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities
  • 1 May 1834—1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
42 1835 
  • 1835—1835: Christmas becomes a national holiday
  • 1835—1835: First railway boom period starts in Britain construction of Great Western Railway
43 1836 
  • 1836—1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
  • 30 Jan 1836—30 Jan 1836: Telford's Menai Straits Bridge opened ? considered the world's first modern suspension bridge
  • 25 Feb 1836—25 Feb 1836: Samuel Colt patented the 'revolver'
  • 6 Mar 1836—6 Mar 1836: The Alamo falls to Mexican troops - death of Davy Crockett
  • Jul 1836—Jul 1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
44 1837 
  • 1837—1837: Pitman introduces his shorthand system
  • 1837—1837: P&O Founded
  • 20 Jun 1837—20 Jun 1837: William IV dies - accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
  • 1 Jul 1837—1 Jul 1837: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales - Registration Districts were formed covering several parishes; initially they had the same boundaries as the Poor Law boundaries set up in 1834
  • 13 Jul 1837—13 Jul 1837: Queen Victoria moves into the first Buckingham Palace
  • 20 Jul 1837—20 Jul 1837: Euston Railway station opens - first in London
45 1838 
  • 28 Jun 1838—28 Jun 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey
46 1839 
  • 1839—1839: First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) - Britain captures Hong Kong
  • 1839—1839: Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan refines the primitive bicycle adding a mechanical crank drive to the rear wheel,thus creating the first true 'bicycle' in the modern Sense
  • 1839—1839: Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
47 1840 
  • 1840—1840: Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
  • 1840—1840: Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed elsewhere)
  • 10 Jan 1840—10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
48 1841 
  • 1841—1841: Thomas Cook starts package tours
  • 10 Feb 1841—10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
  • 6 Jun 1841—6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
49 1842 
  • 1842—1842: Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
  • 30 Mar 1842—30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
  • 29 Aug 1842—29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking - End of First Opium War - Britain gains Hong Kong
50 1843 
  • 1843—1843: First Christmas card in England
  • 27 May 1843—27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
  • 19 Jul 1843—19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
51 1844 
  • 6 Jun 1844—6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
52 1845 
  • 1845—1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
  • 17 Mar 1845—17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
53 1846 
  • 10 Sep 1846—10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
54 1847 
  • 1847—1847: US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
  • Jan 1847—Jan 1847: An anesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
55 1848 
  • 1848—1848: First commercial production of chewing gum
  • 24 Jan 1848—24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California - starts the California gold rush
  • 11 Jul 1848—11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
56 1849 
  • 1849—1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation - which finally occurred in 1971!
57 1851 
  • 1851—1851: Gold discovered in Australia
  • 1 May 1851—1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ('Crystal Palace' exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
58 1852 
  • 1852—1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
  • 1852—1852: Wells Fargo established in USA
59 1853 
  • 1853—1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
60 1854 
  • 1854—1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
  • 27 Mar 1854—27 Mar 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
  • 25 Oct 1854—25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
61 1856 
  • 1856—1856: End of Crimean War
  • 29 Jan 1856—29 Jan 1856: Victoria Cross created by Royal Warrant, backdated to 1854 to recognise acts during the Crimean War (first award ceremony 26 June 1857)
62 1857 
  • 1857—1857: Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
63 1858 
  • 1858—1858: 'The great stink' - smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work
  • 1858—1858: Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
64 1859 
  • 1859—1859: Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain
  • 25 Apr 1859—25 Apr 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869)
  • 4 May 1859—4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon and Cornwall
  • 24 Nov 1859—24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes 'The Origin of Species'
65 1860 
  • 29 Aug 1860—29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
66 1861 
  • 25 May 1861—25 May 1861: American Civil War begins
67 1862 
  • 1862—1862: Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks)
  • 20 Apr 1862—20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
68 1863 
  • 1863—1863: Football Association founded (UK)
  • 1863—1863: Opening of state institution for criminally insane at Broadmoor, England
  • 10 Jan 1863—10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
69 1864 
  • 1864—1864: A man-powered submarine, 'Hunley' sank a Federal steam ship USS Housatonic at the entrance to Charleston harbour in 1864 - the first recorded successful attack by a submarine on a surface ship
  • 11 Mar 1864—11 Mar 1864: The Great Sheffield Flood - over 250 died when a new dam broke while it was being filled for the first time
  • 20 Aug 1864—20 Aug 1864: Red Cross established - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention
  • 8 Dec 1864—8 Dec 1864: Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon officially opened
70 1865 
  • 1865—1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917) becomes first woman doctor in England [she later became the first woman mayor in England, in Aldeburgh 1908]
  • 1865—1865: First concrete roads built in Britain
  • 14 Apr 1865—14 Apr 1865: End of American Civil War - slavery abolished in USA
  • 14 Apr 1865—14 Apr 1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth
  • 5 Jul 1865—5 Jul 1865: William Booth (1829-1912) founds Salvation Army, in London
71 1867 
  • 1 Jul 1867—1 Jul 1867: The British North America Act takes effect, creating the Canadian Confederation
72 1868 
  • 1868—1868: Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
73 1869 
  • 1869—1869: Ball bearings, celluloid, margarine, and washing machines, all invented
  • 23 Nov 1869—23 Nov 1869: Cutty Sark launched in Dumbarton
74 1870 
  • 1870—1870: GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies (nationalised)
  • 1870—1870: Dr Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
  • 1870—1870: Water closets come into wide use
  • 1870—1870: Diamonds discovered in Kimberley, South Africa
  • 1 Oct 1870—1 Oct 1870: First British postcard - halfpenny post
75 1871 
  • 27 Mar 1871—27 Mar 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
  • 29 Mar 1871—29 Mar 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
  • 29 Jun 1871—29 Jun 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
76 1872 
  • 1872—1872: Licensing hours introduced
  • 1872—1872: Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
  • 4 Dec 1872—4 Dec 1872: American ship 'Mary Celeste' is found abandoned by the British brig 'Dei Gratia' in the Atlantic Ocean
77 1874 
  • 1874—1874: Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
  • 5 Apr 1874—5 Apr 1874: Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world - features of it later copied in Central Park, New York
78 1875 
  • 1875—1875: London's main sewage system completed
  • 1 Jan 1875—1 Jan 1875: Midland Railway abolishes Second Class passenger facilities, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies followed during the rest of the year. (Third Class was renamed Second Class in 1956)
79 1876 
  • 14 Feb 1876—14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
80 1877 
  • 1877—1877: Edison invents microphone and phonograph
81 1878 
  • 1878—1878: Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
  • 1878—1878: Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph
  • 1878—1878: CID established at New Scotland Yard
82 1879 
  • 18 Sep 1879—18 Sep 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
83 1880 
  • 1880—1880: Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
  • 1880—1880: Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria
  • 2 Aug 1880—2 Aug 1880: Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
84 1881 
  • 1881—1881: Postal Orders introduced
  • 1881—1881: Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy
  • Sep 1881—Sep 1881: Godalming in Surrey became the first town in England to have a public electricity supply installed (but in 1884 it reverted to gas lighting until 1904)
  • 26 Oct 1881—26 Oct 1881: Gunfight at OK Corral
85 1882 
  • 1882—1882: Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
86 1883 
  • 1883—1883: Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France
  • 24 May 1883—24 May 1883: Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River)
  • 1 Aug 1883—1 Aug 1883: Parcel post starts in Britain
  • 27 Aug 1883—27 Aug 1883: Eruption of Krakatoa near Java - 30,000 killed by tidal wave
87 1884 
  • 31 May 1884—31 May 1884: John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes
  • 13 Oct 1884—13 Oct 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
88 1885 
  • 1885—1885: Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car
  • 1885—1885: Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle
  • 1885—1885: Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
  • 1885—1885: Canadian Pacific Railway completed
  • Mar 1885—Mar 1885: First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking
  • 5 Sep 1885—5 Sep 1885: The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel
  • 29 Sep 1885—29 Sep 1885: First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
89 1886 
  • 20 Jan 1886—20 Jan 1886: Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales
  • May 1886—May 1886: Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named 'Coca-Cola'
  • 29 May 1886—29 May 1886: Putney Bridge opens in London
90 1887 
  • 1887—1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
91 1888 
  • 1888—1888: Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez Canal in war and peace
  • 1888—1888: Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year
  • 1888—1888: County Councils set up in Britain
  • 1888—1888: Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre
  • 1888—1888: First box camera - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film
  • 20 Mar 1888—20 Mar 1888: Football League formed
92 1889 
  • 1889—1889: Celluloid film produced
  • 1889—1889: Dock Strike - docker's won their 'Docker's Tanner' 6 old pennies
  • 31 Mar 1889—31 Mar 1889: Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
  • 14 May 1889—14 May 1889: Children's charity NSPCC launched in London
  • 3 Jun 1889—3 Jun 1889: Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast
  • 28 Sep 1889—28 Sep 1889: Length of a metre defined
93 1890 
  • 4 Mar 1890—4 Mar 1890: Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
  • 4 Nov 1890—4 Nov 1890: City & South London Railway opens - London's first deep-level tube railway and first major railway in the world to use electric traction
94 1891 
  • 1891—1891: Primary education made free and compulsory
  • 18 Mar 1891—18 Mar 1891: First telephone link between London & Paris
  • 4 May 1891—4 May 1891: Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893)
  • 24 Aug 1891—24 Aug 1891: Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
95 1892 
  • 1892—1892: Electric oven invented
  • 1892—1892: Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18's
  • 6 Oct 1892—6 Oct 1892: Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
96 1893 
  • 1893—1893: Henry Ford's first car
  • 1893—1893: Zip fastener invented
97 1894 
  • 1894—1894: Picture postcard introduced in Britain
  • 1 Jan 1894—1 Jan 1894: Manchester Ship Canal opens
  • 1 Mar 1894—1 Mar 1894: Blackpool Tower opens
  • 30 Jun 1894—30 Jun 1894: Tower Bridge first opens
  • 2 Aug 1894—2 Aug 1894: Death duties first introduced in Britain
98 1895 
  • 1895—1895: Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London
  • 12 Jan 1895—12 Jan 1895: The National Trust founded in England
  • 24 May 1895—24 May 1895: Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted
  • 28 May 1895—28 May 1895: Oscar Wilde sent to prison
  • 12 Jul 1895—12 Jul 1895: First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
  • 17 Oct 1895—17 Oct 1895: First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
  • Nov 1895—Nov 1895: X-rays discovered
99 1896 
  • 5 Apr 1896—5 Apr 1896: First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
  • 2 Jun 1896—2 Jun 1896: Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
100 1897 
  • 1897—1897: Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
101 1898 
  • 1898—1898: First photograph using artificial light
  • 1898—1898: Zeppelin builds airship
  • 1898—1898: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founded
  • 17 Mar 1898—17 Mar 1898: USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine
  • 27 Jun 1898—27 Jun 1898: The first solo circumnavigation of the globe completed at Rhode island by Joshua Slocum in Spray (started from Boston, Mass on Apr 24, 1895)
102 1899 
  • 6 Mar 1899—6 Mar 1899: Aspirin first marketed by Bayer
  • 11 Oct 1899—11 Oct 1899: Start of Second Boer War
103 1900 
  • 1900—1900: School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years
  • 1900—1900: Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified
  • 1900—1900: Escalator shown at Paris exhibition
  • 9 Feb 1900—9 Feb 1900: Davis Cup tennis competition established
  • 27 Feb 1900—27 Feb 1900: Labour Party formed
104 1901 
  • 1901—1901: Commonwealth of Australia founded
  • 1901—1901: Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner
  • 22 Jan 1901—22 Jan 1901: Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
  • 2 Feb 1901—2 Feb 1901: Queen Victoria's funeral - interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park
  • Jun 1901—Jun 1901: Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in Boer War
  • 2 Oct 1901—2 Oct 1901: Britain's first submarine launched
  • 12 Dec 1901—12 Dec 1901: First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi - Morse code from Cornwall to Newfoundland
105 1902 
  • 1902—1902: Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
  • 1902—1902: Cremation Act - cremation can only take place at officially recognised establishments, and with two death certificates issued
  • 1902—1902: Marie Curie discovers radioactivity
  • 24 May 1902—24 May 1902: Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated
  • 31 May 1902—31 May 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War
  • 9 Aug 1902—9 Aug 1902: Coronation of Edward VII
106 1903 
  • 1903—1903: Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain
  • 1903—1903: Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst
  • 1903—1903: Henry Ford sets up his motor company
  • 14 Dec 1903—14 Dec 1903: First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
107 1904 
  • 1904—1904: Leeds University established
  • 8 Apr 1904—8 Apr 1904: France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale
  • 4 May 1904—4 May 1904: America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French (completed 1914)
108 1905 
  • 1905—1905: The title 'Prime Minister' noted in a royal warrant for the first time - placed the Prime Minister in order of precedence in Britain immediately after the Archbishop of York
  • 1905—1905: Aliens Act in Britain: Home Office controls immigration
  • 1905—1905: Germany lays down the first Dreadnought battleship
  • 11 Apr 1905—11 Apr 1905: Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
109 1906 
  • 1906—1906: Introduction of free school meals for poor children
  • 10 Feb 1906—10 Feb 1906: Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship
  • 15 Mar 1906—15 Mar 1906: Rolls-Royce Ltd registered
  • 26 May 1906—26 May 1906: Vauxhall Bridge opened in London
  • 20 Sep 1906—20 Sep 1906: Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
110 1907 
  • 1907—1907: New Zealand becomes a Dominion
  • 1907—1907: Imperial College, London, is established
  • 1907—1907: First airship flies over London
  • 1907—1907: Lumiere develops a process for colour photography
  • Jul 1907—Jul 1907: Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated
  • 1 Aug 1907—1 Aug 1907: Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
  • 9 Nov 1907—9 Nov 1907: The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
111 1908 
  • 1908—1908: Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day
  • 1908—1908: Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain
  • 1908—1908: Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement
  • 1 Jul 1908—1 Jul 1908: SOS became effective as an international signal of distress
  • 12 Aug 1908—12 Aug 1908: First 'Model T' Ford made
112 1909 
  • 1909—1909: Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
  • 1909—1909: Peary reaches the north pole
  • 1909—1909: First commercial manufacture of Bakelite - start of the plastic age
  • 1 Jan 1909—1 Jan 1909: Old Age Pensions Act came into force
  • 16 Jan 1909—16 Jan 1909: Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
  • 15 Mar 1909—15 Mar 1909: Selfridges department store opens in London
  • 25 Jul 1909—25 Jul 1909: Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to Dover)
113 1910 
  • 1910—1910: Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain
  • 1910—1910: Constitutional crisis in Britain
  • 1910—1910: Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville
  • 1910—1910: Madame Curie isolates radium
  • 1910—1910: Halley's comet reappears
  • 1910—1910: Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe
  • 6 May 1910—6 May 1910: Edward VII dies - George V becomes King
114 1911 
  • 1911—1911: Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
  • 1911—1911: British MPs receive a salary
  • 1911—1911: First British Official Secrets Act
  • 1911—1911: Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
  • 1911—1911: Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
  • 2 Apr 1911—2 Apr 1911: Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
  • 22 Jun 1911—22 Jun 1911: Coronation of George V
  • 14 Dec 1911—14 Dec 1911: National Insurance introduced in Britain
115 1912 
  • 1912—1912: Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
  • 1912—1912: Britain nationalises the telephone system
  • 1912—1912: Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' - hoax, exposed in 1953
  • 18 Jan 1912—18 Jan 1912: Captain Scott's last expedition - he and his team reach the south pole on Jan 18th; all die on the way back, their bodies found in November
  • 14 Apr 1912—14 Apr 1912: The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage - loss of 1,513 lives
  • 13 May 1912—13 May 1912: Royal Flying Corps (later the RAF) founded in Britain
116 1913 
  • 1913—1913: Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords - threat of civil war in Ireland - formation of Ulster Volunteers to oppose Home Rule
  • 1913—1913: Suffragette demonstrations in London - Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned
  • 1913—1913: Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political purposes
  • 1913—1913: Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
  • 1913—1913: Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
  • 4 Jun 1913—4 Jun 1913: Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and dies
117 1914 
  • 1914—1914: Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster to be decided after the War
  • 1914—1914: Chaplin and De Mille make their first films
  • 28 Jun 1914—28 Jun 1914: Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
  • 4 Aug 1914—4 Aug 1914: Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason
  • 5 Aug 1914—5 Aug 1914: British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph links to the outside world
  • 15 Aug 1914—15 Aug 1914: Panama Canal opened, the Canal cement boat 'Ancon' making the first official transit (plans for a grand opening were cancelled due to the start of WW1)
  • Oct 1914—Oct 1914: Battle of Ypres - beginning of trench warfare on western front
  • 27 Nov 1914—27 Nov 1914: First policewoman goes on duty in Britain
  • 16 Dec 1914—16 Dec 1914: German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
118 1915 
  • 1915—1915: Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
  • 1915—1915: First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
  • 19 Jan 1915—19 Jan 1915: First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia - four killed
  • Feb 1915—Feb 1915: Submarine blockade of Britain starts
  • Apr 1915—Apr 1915: Second Battle of Ypres - poison gas used for first time
  • 25 Apr 1915—25 Apr 1915: Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916)
  • 7 May 1915—7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland - 1,198 died
  • 16 May 1915—16 May 1915: First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll (aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
119 1916 
  • 1916—1916: Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
  • Feb 1916—Feb 1916: Battle of Verdun - appalling losses on both sides, stalemate continues
  • 24 Apr 1916—24 Apr 1916: Easter Rising in Ireland - after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs independence
  • 21 May 1916—21 May 1916: First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
  • 31 May 1916—31 May 1916: Battle of Jutland - only major naval battle between the British and German fleets
  • 5 Jun 1916—5 Jun 1916: Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener
  • 3 Aug 1916—3 Aug 1916: Sir Roger Casement hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason
  • 15 Sep 1916—15 Sep 1916: First use of tanks in battle, but of limited effect (Battle of the Somme 1 July to 18 Nov: over 1 million casualties)
  • 7 Dec 1916—7 Dec 1916: Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
120 1917 
  • 1917—1917: Battle of Cambrai - first use of massed tanks, but effect more psychological than actual
  • 1917—1917: Ministry of Labour is established in Britain
  • Feb 1917—Feb 1917: February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
  • 16 Apr 1917—16 Apr 1917: Lenin returns to Russia after exile
  • 17 Apr 1917—17 Apr 1917: USA declares war on Germany
  • 26 May 1917—26 May 1917: George V changes surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor (Royal proclamation on 17 July)
  • Jul 1917—Jul 1917: Battle of Passchendaele - little gained by either side (Jul-Nov)
  • 7 Nov 1917—7 Nov 1917: 'October' Revolution in Russia - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government; Lenin becomes Chief Commissar
  • 6 Dec 1917—6 Dec 1917: Halifax (Nova Scotia) Explosion, one of the world's largest artificial non-nuclear explosions to date: a ship loaded with wartime explosives blew up after a collision, obliterating buildings and structures within two square kilometres of the explosion
  • 9 Dec 1917—9 Dec 1917: British forces capture Jerusalem
121 1918 
  • 1918—1918: Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
  • 1918—1918: War of Independence in Ireland
  • 18 Jan 1918—18 Jan 1918: Bentley Motors founded
  • 8 Mar 1918—8 Mar 1918: Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic
  • Jul 1918—Jul 1918: Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive in WW1 (Jul-Aug)
  • 1 Oct 1918—1 Oct 1918: Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus
  • 11 Nov 1918—11 Nov 1918: Armistice signed
  • Dec 1918—Dec 1918: First woman elected to House of Commons, Countess Markiewicz as a Sinn Fein member refused to take her seat
122 1919 
  • 1919—1919: Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
  • 1919—1919: Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
  • 15 Jun 1919—15 Jun 1919: Alcock and Brown complete first nonstop flight across the Atlantic
  • 28 Jun 1919—28 Jun 1919: Treaty of Versailles signed
123 1920 
  • 1920—1920: Regular cross-channel air service starts
  • 1920—1920: Marconi opens a radio broadcasting station in Britain
  • 1920—1920: Thompson patents his machine gun (Tommy gun)
  • Feb 1920—Feb 1920: First roadside petrol filling station in UK - opened by the Automobile Association at Aldermaston on the Bath Road
124 1921 
  • 1921—1921: Railway Act in Britain amalgamates companies - only four remained
  • 1921—1921: Insulin discovery announced
  • 1921—1921: First birth control clinic
  • 19 Jun 1921—19 Jun 1921: Census: Population - England and Wales: 37.9 Million; Scotland: 4.9 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
  • 6 Dec 1921—6 Dec 1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London, leading to the formation of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland
125 1922 
  • 1922—1922: Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended
  • 1 Jun 1922—1 Jun 1922: Royal Ulster Constabulary founded
  • Oct 1922—Oct 1922: BBC established as a monopoly, and begins transmissions in November (2LO in London on 14 Nov; 5IT in Birmingham and 2ZY in Manchester on 15 Nov)
126 1923 
  • 1923—1923: Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
  • 1923—1923: Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way
  • 1923—1923: First American broadcasts heard in Britain
  • 1 Jan 1923—1 Jan 1923: The majority of the railway companies in Great Britain grouped into four main companies, the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, LMSR - lasted until nationalisation in 1948
  • 16 Feb 1923—16 Feb 1923: Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun
  • 28 Apr 1923—28 Apr 1923: First Wembley cup final (West Ham 0, Bolton 2) - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles ' popular song of the time became the West Ham anthem
  • 28 Sep 1923—28 Sep 1923: First publication of Radio Times
127 1924 
  • 4 Jan 1924—4 Jan 1924: First Labour government in Britain, headed by Ramsay MacDonald
  • 5 Feb 1924—5 Feb 1924: Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC
  • 31 Mar 1924—31 Mar 1924: British Imperial Airways begins operations (formed by merger of four British airline companies - became BOAC in 1940)
128 1925 
  • 1925—1925: Britain returns to gold standard
  • 18 Jul 1925—18 Jul 1925: Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
129 1926 
  • 1926—1926: First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird
  • 1926—1926: Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
  • 1926—1926: Kodak produces 16mm movie film
  • 1926—1926: Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood
  • 21 Apr 1926—21 Apr 1926: Princess Elizabeth born
  • 3 May 1926—3 May 1926: General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
  • 31 Oct 1926—31 Oct 1926: Death of Harry Houdini
130 1927 
  • 1927—1927: Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer)
  • 7 Jan 1927—7 Jan 1927: First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London
  • 22 Jan 1927—22 Jan 1927: First football broadcast by BBC (Arsenal v Sheffield United at Highbury)
  • 1 May 1927—1 May 1927: First cooked meals on a scheduled flight introduced by Imperial Airways from London to Paris
  • 20 May 1927—20 May 1927: Lindbergh makes solo flight across the Atlantic, in 33? hours
  • 31 May 1927—31 May 1927: Last Ford Model T rolls off assembly line
  • 24 Jul 1927—24 Jul 1927: The Menin Gate war memorial unveiled at Ypres
131 1928 
  • 1928—1928: Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
  • 26 Apr 1928—26 Apr 1928: Madame Tussauds opens in London
  • 15 Sep 1928—15 Sep 1928: Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
132 1929 
  • 1929—1929: Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
  • 1929—1929: Minimum age for a marriage in Britain (which had been 14 for a boy and 12 for a girl) now 16 for both sexes, with parental consent (or a licence) needed for anyone under 21
  • 1929—1929: BBC begins experimental TV transmissions
133 1930 
  • 1930—1930: First Nazis elected to the German Reichstag
  • 1930—1930: Youth Hostel Association (YHA) founded in Britain
  • 30 Jan 1930—30 Jan 1930: Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
  • 31 Jan 1930—31 Jan 1930: 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape
  • 6 Mar 1930—6 Mar 1930: Clarence Birdseye first marketed frozen peas
  • 5 Oct 1930—5 Oct 1930: R101 airship disaster - British abandons airship construction
134 1931 
  • 1931—1931: Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign states
  • 1931—1931: Collapse of the German banking system; 3,000 banks there close
  • 14 Apr 1931—14 Apr 1931: Highway Code first issued
  • 26 Apr 1931—26 Apr 1931: Census: Population - England and Wales; 40 Million; Scotland: 4.8 Million; N Ireland: 1.24 Million (Unfortunately, the census was destroyed by fire in WW2)
  • 21 Oct 1931—21 Oct 1931: National Government formed to deal with economic crisis - Britain comes off gold standard
135 1932 
  • 1932—1932: Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
  • 1932—1932: Moseley founds British Union of Fascists
  • 1932—1932: Cockroft and Walton accelerate particles to disintegrate an atomic nucleus
  • 1932—1932: Sir Thomas Beecham established the London Philharmonic Orchestra
  • 21 May 1932—21 May 1932: Amelia Earhart first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic by a female pilot
  • 3 Oct 1932—3 Oct 1932: Iraq gains independence from Britain
  • 3 Oct 1932—3 Oct 1932: 'The Times' introduces 'Times New Roman' typeface
136 1933 
  • 1933—1933: ICI scientists discover polythene
  • 1933—1933: Only 6 pennies minted in Britain this year
  • 12 Nov 1933—12 Nov 1933: First known photos of the 'Loch Ness Monster' taken
137 1934 
  • 1934—1934: Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany
  • 18 Jul 1934—18 Jul 1934: King George V opens Mersey Tunnel
  • 26 Sep 1934—26 Sep 1934: RMS Queen Mary launched
  • 30 Nov 1934—30 Nov 1934: First time a steam locomotive travels at 100 mph ('Flying Scotsman')
138 1935 
  • 1935—1935: London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme
  • 1935—1935: Land speed record of 301.13 mph by Malcolm Campbell
  • 28 Feb 1935—28 Feb 1935: Nylon first produced by Gerard J. Berchet of Wallace Carothers' research group at DuPont (there is no evidence to the widely-supposed story that the name derives from New York-London)
  • 12 Mar 1935—12 Mar 1935: Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas in Britain
  • 1 Jun 1935—1 Jun 1935: Voluntary driving tests introduced in UK
  • 30 Jul 1935—30 Jul 1935: Penguin paperbacks launched
139 1936 
  • 1936—1936: Jet engine first tested
  • 20 Jan 1936—20 Jan 1936: George V dies
  • 5 May 1936—5 May 1936: First flight of a Spitfire
  • 24 Jul 1936—24 Jul 1936: 'Speaking clock' service starts in UK
  • 2 Nov 1936—2 Nov 1936: British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's first public TV transmission
  • 30 Nov 1936—30 Nov 1936: Crystal Palace destroyed by fire
  • 5 Dec 1936—5 Dec 1936: Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10) - popular carol that Christmas: 'Hark the Herald Angels sing Mrs Simpson's got our King'
140 1937 
  • 1937—1937: '999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London
  • 1937—1937: Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp
  • 12 Apr 1937—12 Apr 1937: Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft
  • 12 May 1937—12 May 1937: Coronation of King George VI
  • 28 May 1937—28 May 1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister - policy of appeasement towards Hitler
  • 3 Jun 1937—3 Jun 1937: Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
  • 4 Dec 1937—4 Dec 1937: 'The Dandy' first published
141 1938 
  • 1938—1938: Principle of paid holidays established in Britain
  • 1938—1938: HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar
  • 1938—1938: First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro
  • 12 Mar 1938—12 Mar 1938: Germany invades and annexes Austria
  • 3 Jul 1938—3 Jul 1938: 'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h); still world record for a steam locomotive
  • 27 Sep 1938—27 Sep 1938: Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank
  • 29 Sep 1938—29 Sep 1938: Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time'
  • 30 Oct 1938—30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
142 1939 
  • 1939—1939: Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
  • 1939—1939: Start of evacuation of women and children from London
  • 1939—1939: Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
  • 1 Sep 1939—1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland
  • 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
  • 6 Sep 1939—6 Sep 1939: First air-raid on Britain
  • 11 Sep 1939—11 Sep 1939: British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France
  • 14 Oct 1939—14 Oct 1939: HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives
  • 7 Dec 1939—7 Dec 1939: 'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain - 7,400 men on 5 ships
  • 17 Dec 1939—17 Dec 1939: 'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
143 1940 
  • 1 Apr 1940—1 Apr 1940: BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd
  • 11 May 1940—11 May 1940: National Government formed under Churchill
  • 13 May 1940—13 May 1940: Germany invades France
  • 27 May 1940—27 May 1940: Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun)
  • 25 Jun 1940—25 Jun 1940: Fall of France to Germany
  • 7 Sep 1940—7 Sep 1940: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
  • 15 Sep 1940—15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
  • 14 Nov 1940—14 Nov 1940: Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
144 1941 
  • 1941—1941: Britain introduces severe rationing
  • 1941—1941: First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle
  • 1941—1941: Bailey invents his portable military bridge
  • 1941—1941: First use of antibiotics
  • 10 May 1941—10 May 1941: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland
  • 27 May 1941—27 May 1941: 'Bismark' sunk
  • 22 Jun 1941—22 Jun 1941: Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
  • 1 Jul 1941—1 Jul 1941: First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941: Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941: 'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America
  • 7 Dec 1941—7 Dec 1941: Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour
  • 8 Dec 1941—8 Dec 1941: USA enters WWII
  • 24 Dec 1941—24 Dec 1941: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
145 1942 
  • 1942—1942: Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann - used to crack German codes
  • 1942—1942: Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam
  • 30 May 1942—30 May 1942: Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne
  • 4 Jun 1942—4 Jun 1942: Battle of Midway
  • 19 Aug 1942—19 Aug 1942: Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops
  • 6 Sep 1942—6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad
  • 3 Oct 1942—3 Oct 1942: First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany - first man-made object to reach space
  • 23 Oct 1942—23 Oct 1942: Battle of El Alamein - Montgomery defeats Rommel
  • 2 Dec 1942—2 Dec 1942: 'Manhattan Project' - a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
146 1943 
  • 1943—1943: Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins
  • 16 May 1943—16 May 1943: 'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF
  • 24 Jul 1943—24 Jul 1943: Allies invade Italy - Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator, 24 July
147 1944 
  • 6 Apr 1944—6 Apr 1944: PAYE income tax begins
  • 4 Jun 1944—4 Jun 1944: Allies enter Rome
  • 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy
  • 12 Jun 1944—12 Jun 1944: First V1 flying bombs hit London
  • 8 Sep 1944—8 Sep 1944: First V2 rocket bombs hit London
  • 11 Sep 1944—11 Sep 1944: Allies enter Germany
  • 16 Dec 1944—16 Dec 1944: Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
148 1945 
  • 4 Feb 1945—4 Feb 1945: Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
  • 29 Mar 1945—29 Mar 1945: Last V1 flying bomb attack
  • 25 Apr 1945—25 Apr 1945: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
  • 30 Apr 1945—30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide
  • 8 May 1945—8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe)
  • 9 May 1945—9 May 1945: Channel Islands liberated
  • 26 Jun 1945—26 Jun 1945: UN Charter signed in San Francisco
  • 16 Jul 1945—16 Jul 1945: First ever atomic bomb exploded in a test in New Mexico (although there were other forms of atomic device before that, such as the Pile at Stagg Field, first critical on 2nd Dec 1942)
  • 26 Jul 1945—26 Jul 1945: Labour win UK General Election - Churchill out of office
  • 29 Jul 1945—29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts
  • 6 Aug 1945—6 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
  • 9 Aug 1945—9 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
  • 15 Aug 1945—15 Aug 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan)
  • 2 Sep 1945—2 Sep 1945: Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri
  • 24 Oct 1945—24 Oct 1945: United Nations Organisation comes into existence
  • 4 Nov 1945—4 Nov 1945: UNESCO founded
149 1946 
  • 1946—1946: Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948)
  • 1946—1946: Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio - until 2004
  • 1 Jan 1946—1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
  • 1 Mar 1946—1 Mar 1946: Bank of England nationalised
150 1947 
  • 1947—1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much flooding later
  • 1947—1947: First British nuclear reactor developed
  • 1 Jan 1947—1 Jan 1947: Coal Mines nationalised
  • 23 Feb 1947—23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
  • 1 Mar 1947—1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
  • 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
  • 26 Oct 1947—26 Oct 1947: British military occupation ends in Iraq
  • 20 Nov 1947—20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
151 1948 
  • 1948—1948: British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
  • 1948—1948: Transistor radio invented
  • 1948—1948: Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
  • 1 Jan 1948—1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised
  • 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
  • 29 Jul 1948—29 Jul 1948: London Olympics begin
152 1949 
  • 1949—1949: Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
  • 1949—1949: De Haviland produces the Comet - first jet airliner
  • 15 Mar 1949—15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing ends in Britain
  • 4 Apr 1949—4 Apr 1949: Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
153 1950 
  • 19 May 1950—19 May 1950: Points rationing ends in Britain
  • 26 May 1950—26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ends in Britain
  • 11 Jul 1950—11 Jul 1950: 'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
  • 9 Sep 1950—9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing ends in Britain
  • 28 Dec 1950—28 Dec 1950: The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
154 1951 
  • 3 May 1951—3 May 1951: Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
  • 28 May 1951—28 May 1951: First Goon Show broadcast
  • 20 Dec 1951—20 Dec 1951: Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
155 1952 
  • 1952—1952: Contraceptive pill invented
  • 1952—1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
  • 1952—1952: Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
  • 1952—1952: Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
  • 6 Feb 1952—6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies
  • 21 Feb 1952—21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
  • 2 May 1952—2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg
  • 5 Jul 1952—5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
  • 16 Aug 1952—16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
  • 6 Sep 1952—6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
  • 3 Oct 1952—3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1952—1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA - the mushroom cloud was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised.
  • 25 Nov 1952—25 Nov 1952: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
  • 4 Dec 1952—4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
156 1953 
  • 31 Jan 1953—31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century - severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives - - effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even worse affected with over a thousand deaths]
  • 5 Feb 1953—5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain
  • 5 Mar 1953—5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
  • 26 Mar 1953—26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
  • 24 Apr 1953—24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
  • 25 Apr 1953—25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
  • 2 Jun 1953—2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
  • 26 Sep 1953—26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
157 1954 
  • 1954—1954: First comprehensive school opens in London
  • 1954—1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
  • 1954—1954: First transistor radios sold
  • 6 May 1954—6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
  • 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
  • 5 Jul 1954—5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
  • 30 Sep 1954—30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
158 1955 
  • 1955—1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
  • 27 Jul 1955—27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
  • 22 Sep 1955—22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
159 1956 
  • 1956—1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
  • 1 Mar 1956—1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
  • 17 Apr 1956—17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched - first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
  • 3 Jun 1956—3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class)
  • 31 Oct 1956—31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
160 1957 
  • 1957—1957: Britain introduces parking meters
  • 1957—1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
  • 11 Jan 1957—11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
  • 14 May 1957—14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
  • 15 May 1957—15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
  • 25 May 1957—25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became operational Jan 1958
  • 4 Dec 1957—4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster - 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them
  • 25 Dec 1957—25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
161 1958 
  • 1958—1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
  • 1958—1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
  • 1958—1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
  • 13 May 1958—13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
  • 26 Jul 1958—26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
  • 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
  • 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
162 1959 
  • 3 Feb 1959—3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper
  • 17 Feb 1959—17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched - first to measure cloud-cover distribution
  • 24 May 1959—24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
  • Aug 1959—Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
  • 3 Oct 1959—3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
163 1960 
  • 17 Mar 1960—17 Mar 1960: New ?1 notes issued by Bank of England
  • 18 Mar 1960—18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
  • 21 Jul 1960—21 Jul 1960: Francis Chichester arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II (took 40 days), winning the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race which he co-founded
  • 12 Aug 1960—12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
  • 12 Sep 1960—12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
  • 1 Oct 1960—1 Oct 1960: HMS 'Dreadnought' nuclear submarine launched
  • 2 Nov 1960—2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' case

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