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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 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
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| 2 | 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
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| 3 | 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
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| 4 | 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')
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| 5 | 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
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| 6 | 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'
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| 7 | 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
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| 8 | 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
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| 9 | 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
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| 10 | 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
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| 11 | 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
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| 12 | 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
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| 13 | 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
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| 14 | 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
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| 15 | 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
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| 16 | 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
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| 17 | 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
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| 18 | 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
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| 19 | 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
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| 20 | 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
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| 21 | 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
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| 22 | 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
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| 23 | 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)
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English
1931 - 1953 (21 years) 