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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1876 | - 14 Feb 1876—14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
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| 2 | 1877 | - 1877—1877: Edison invents microphone and phonograph
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| 3 | 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
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| 4 | 1879 | - 18 Sep 1879—18 Sep 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
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| 5 | 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
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| 6 | 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
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| 7 | 1882 | - 1882—1882: Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
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| 8 | 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
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| 9 | 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
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| 10 | 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
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| 11 | 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
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| 12 | 1887 | - 1887—1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
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| 13 | 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
|
| 14 | 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
|
| 15 | 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
|
| 16 | 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
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| 17 | 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
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| 18 | 1893 | - 1893—1893: Henry Ford's first car
- 1893—1893: Zip fastener invented
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| 19 | 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
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| 20 | 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
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| 21 | 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
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| 22 | 1897 | - 1897—1897: Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
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| 23 | 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)
|
| 24 | 1899 | - 6 Mar 1899—6 Mar 1899: Aspirin first marketed by Bayer
- 11 Oct 1899—11 Oct 1899: Start of Second Boer War
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| 25 | 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
|
| 26 | 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
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| 27 | 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
|
| 28 | 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
|
| 29 | 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)
|
| 30 | 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
|
| 31 | 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
|
| 32 | 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
|
| 33 | 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
|
| 34 | 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)
|
| 35 | 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
|
| 36 | 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
|
| 37 | 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
|
| 38 | 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
|
| 39 | 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
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| 40 | 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
|
| 41 | 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
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English
1876 - 1916 (40 years) 