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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1883 | - 1883: Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France
- 24 May 1883: Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River)
- 1 Aug 1883: Parcel post starts in Britain
Parcel post starts in Britain
- 27 Aug 1883: Eruption of Krakatoa
Eruption of Krakatoa near Java - 30,000 killed by tidal wave
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| 2 | 1884 | - 31 May 1884: Kellogg's corn flakes
John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes
- 13 Oct 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian
Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
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| 3 | 1885 | - 1885: Carl Benz
Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car
- 1885: Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle
- 1885: first coated photographic paper
Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
- Mar 1885: First UK cremation in modern times
First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking
- 5 Sep 1885: Severn Tunnel
The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel
- 29 Sep 1885: Blackpool Trams
First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
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| 4 | 1886 | - 20 Jan 1886: Mersey railway opened
Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales
- May 1886: Coca-Cola
Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named 'Coca-Cola'
- 29 May 1886: Putney Bridge
Putney Bridge opens in London
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| 5 | 1887 | - 1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
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| 6 | 1888 | - 1888: Suez Canal
Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez Canal in war and peace
- 1888: Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year
- 1888: County Councils
County Councils set up in Britain
- 1888: Pneumatic tyre invented
Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre
- 1888: First box camera
First box camera - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film
- 20 Mar 1888: Football League
Football League formed
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| 7 | 1889 | - 1889: Celluloid film
Celluloid film produced
- 1889: Dock Strike
Dock Strike - docker's won their 'Docker's Tanner' 6 old pennies
- 31 Mar 1889: Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
- 14 May 1889: NSPCC charity launched
Children's charity NSPCC launched in London
- 3 Jun 1889: Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast
- 28 Sep 1889: Length of a metre defined
Length of a metre defined
|
| 8 | 1890 | - 4 Mar 1890: Forth railway bridge opens
Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
- 4 Nov 1890: City & South London Railway opens
City & South London Railway opens - London's first deep-level tube railway
and first major railway in the world to use electric traction
|
| 9 | 1891 | - 1891: Primary education
Primary education made free and compulsory
- 18 Mar 1891: London & Paris
First telephone link between London & Paris
- 4 May 1891: Reichenbach Falls
Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893)
- 24 Aug 1891: Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
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| 10 | 1892 | - 1892: Electric oven invented
Electric oven invented
- 1892: Shop Hours Act
Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18's
- 6 Oct 1892: Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
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| 11 | 1893 | - 1893: Henry Ford
Henry Ford's first car
- 1893: Zip fastener invented
Zip fastener invented
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| 12 | 1894 | - 1894: Picture postcard
Picture postcard introduced in Britain
- 1 Jan 1894: Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal opens
- 1 Mar 1894: Blackpool Tower opens
Blackpool Tower opens
- 30 Jun 1894: Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge first opens
- 2 Aug 1894: Death duties
Death duties first introduced in Britain
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| 13 | 1895 | - 1895: Promenade Concerts
Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London
- 12 Jan 1895: The National Trust
The National Trust founded in England
- 24 May 1895: Henry Irving
Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted
- 28 May 1895: Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde sent to prison
- 12 Jul 1895: First recorded motor journey of any length
First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
- 17 Oct 1895: First motor offences
First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
- Nov 1895: X-rays discovered
X-rays discovered
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| 14 | 1896 | - 5 Apr 1896: First modern Olympic Games
First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
- 2 Jun 1896: Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
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| 15 | 1897 | - 1897: Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
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| 16 | 1898 | - 1898: First photograph using artificial light
First photograph using artificial light
- 1898: Zeppelin airship
Zeppelin builds airship
- 17 Mar 1898: USS Holland launched
USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine
- 27 Jun 1898: First solo circumnavigation of the globe
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe completed at Rhode island by
Joshua Slocum in Spray (started from Boston, Mass on Apr 24, 1895)
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| 17 | 1899 | - 6 Mar 1899: Aspirin
Aspirin first marketed by Bayer
- 11 Oct 1899: Second Boer War
Start of Second Boer War
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| 18 | 1900 | - 1900: School leaving age
School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years
- 1900: Central Line
Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified
- 1900: Escalators
Escalator shown at Paris exhibition
- 9 Feb 1900: Davis Cup
Davis Cup tennis competition established
- 27 Feb 1900: Labour Party formed
Labour Party formed
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| 19 | 1901 | - 1901: Commonwealth of Australia
Commonwealth of Australia founded
- 1901: Vacuum cleaner
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner
- 22 Jan 1901: Queen Victoria dies
Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
- 2 Feb 1901: Queen Victoria's funeral
Queen Victoria's funeral - interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore
Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park
- Jun 1901: Concentration camps
Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in Boer War
- 2 Oct 1901: Britain's first submarine launched
Britain's first submarine launched
- 12 Dec 1901: Radio transmission across the Atlantic
First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi - Morse
code from Cornwall to Newfoundland
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| 20 | 1902 | - 1902: Balfour's Education Act
Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
- 1902: Cremation Act
Cremation Act - cremation can only take place at officially recognised establishments, and with two death certificates issued
- 1902: Marie Curie
Marie Curie discovers radioactivity
- 24 May 1902: Empire Day
Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated
- 31 May 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War
- 9 Aug 1902: Edward VII
Coronation of Edward VII
|
| 21 | 1903 | - 1903: Workers' Education Association (WEA)
Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain
- 1903: Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst
- 1903: Henry Ford
Henry Ford sets up his motor company
- 14 Dec 1903: First flight
First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
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| 22 | 1904 | - 1904: Leeds University established
Leeds University established
- 8 Apr 1904: Entente Cordiale
France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale
- 4 May 1904: Panama Canal
America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French (completed 1914)
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| 23 | 1905 | - 1905: Prime Minister
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: Aliens Act in Britain
Aliens Act in Britain: Home Office controls immigration
- 11 Apr 1905: Special Theory of Relativity
Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
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| 24 | 1906 | - 1906: Free school meals
Introduction of free school meals for poor children
- 10 Feb 1906: HMS Dreadnought
Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship
- 15 Mar 1906: Rolls-Royce Ltd
Rolls-Royce Ltd registered
- 26 May 1906: Vauxhall Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge opened in London
- 20 Sep 1906: RMS Mauretania
Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
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| 25 | 1907 | - 1907: New Zealand
New Zealand becomes a Dominion
- 1907: Imperial College, London
Imperial College, London, is established
- 1907: First airship flies over London
First airship flies over London
- 1907: colour photography
Lumiere develops a process for colour photography
- Jul 1907: Bakelite
Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated
- 1 Aug 1907: Baden-Powell
Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
- 9 Nov 1907: Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
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| 26 | 1908 | - 1908: Coal Mines Regulation Act
Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day
- 1908: Separate courts for juveniles
Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain
- 1908: Lord Baden-Powell
Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement
- 1 Jul 1908: SOS
SOS became effective as an international signal of distress
- 12 Aug 1908: First Ford Model T
First 'Model T' Ford made
|
| 27 | 1909 | - 1909: Beveridge Report
Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
- 1909: Peary reaches the north pole
Peary reaches the north pole
- 1909: First commercial manufacture of Bakelite
First commercial manufacture of Bakelite - start of the plastic age
- 1 Jan 1909: Old Age Pensions Act
Old Age Pensions Act came into force
- 16 Jan 1909: Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
- 15 Mar 1909: Selfridges
Selfridges department store opens in London
- 25 Jul 1909: Bleriot flies across the Channel
Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to Dover)
|
| 28 | 1910 | - 1910: Railway and coal strikes
Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain
- 1910: Constitutional crisis in Britain
The 1909 People's Budget was a product of then British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith's Liberal government, introducing many unprecedented taxes on the wealthy and radical social welfare programmes to Britain's political life. It was championed by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George and his strong ally Winston Churchill, who was then President of the Board of Trade; the duo was called the "Terrible Twins" by contemporaries
- 1910: Dr Crippen
Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville
- 1910: Madame Curie
Madame Curie isolates radium
- 1910: Halley's comet
Halley's comet reappears
- 1910: Tango becomes popular
Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe
- 6 May 1910: Edward VII dies
Edward VII dies - George V becomes King
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| 29 | 1911 | - 1911: Parliament Act
Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
- 1911: British MPs receive a salary
British MPs receive a salary
- 1911: Official Secrets Act
First British Official Secrets Act
- 1911: theory of atomic structures
Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
- 1911: Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers
Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
- 2 Apr 1911: Census
Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
- 22 Jun 1911: George V
Coronation of George V
- 14 Dec 1911: National Insurance
National Insurance introduced in Britain
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| 30 | 1912 | - 1912: Irish Home Rule crisis
Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
- 1912: Britain nationalises the telephone system
Britain nationalises the telephone system
- 1912: Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man'
Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' - The significance of the specimen remained the subject of controversy until it was exposed in 1953 as a forgery, consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan deliberately combined with the skull of a fully developed modern human.
- 18 Jan 1912: Captain Scott's last expedition
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: Titanic sinks
The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage - loss of 1,513 lives
- 13 May 1912: Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps (later merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to become the RAF) founded in Britain
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| 31 | 1913 | - 1913: Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords
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: Suffragette demonstrations
Suffragette demonstrations in London - Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned
- 1913: Trade Union Act
Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political purposes
- 1913: Stainless steel invented
Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
- 1913: Geiger Counter
Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
- 4 Jun 1913: Emily Davison
Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and dies
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| 32 | 1914 | - 1914: Irish Home Rule Act
Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster to be decided after the War
- 1914: Chaplin and De Mille
Chaplin and De Mille make their first films
- 28 Jun 1914: Archduke Ferdinand
Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
- 4 Aug 1914: Britain declares war on Germany
Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason
- 5 Aug 1914: British cableship Telconia
British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph
links to the outside world
- 15 Aug 1914: Panama Canal opened
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: Battle of Ypres
Battle of Ypres - beginning of trench warfare on western front
- 27 Nov 1914: First policewoman
First policewoman goes on duty in Britain
- 16 Dec 1914: German battleships
German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
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| 33 | 1915 | - 1915: Junkers
Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
- 1915: Automatic telephone exchange
First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
- 19 Jan 1915: Zeppelin air raid
First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia - four killed
- Feb 1915: Submarine blockade
Submarine blockade of Britain starts
- Apr 1915: Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres - poison gas used for first time
- 25 Apr 1915: Gallipoli campaign
Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916)
- 7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland - 1,198 died
- 16 May 1915: Women's Institute
First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll
(aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
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| 34 | 1916 | - 1916: Compulsory military service
Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
- Feb 1916: Battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun - appalling losses on both sides, stalemate continues
- 24 Apr 1916: Easter Rising in Ireland
Easter Rising in Ireland - after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs
independence
- 21 May 1916: Daylight Saving Time
First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
- 31 May 1916: Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland - only major naval battle between the British and
German fleets
- 5 Jun 1916: Death of Kitchener
Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener
- 3 Aug 1916: Sir Roger Casement
Sir Roger Casement, Irish nationalist, activist, patriot and poet, hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason
- 15 Sep 1916: First use of tanks in battle
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: David Lloyd-George
Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
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| 35 | 1917 | - 1917: Battle of Cambrai
Battle of Cambrai - first use of massed tanks, but effect more psychological than actual
- 1917: Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour is established in Britain
- Feb 1917: February revolution in Russia
February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
- 16 Apr 1917: Lenin returns to Russia
Lenin returns to Russia after exile
- 17 Apr 1917: USA declares war on Germany
USA declares war on Germany
- 26 May 1917: George V
George V changes surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor (Royal proclamation on 17 July)
- Jul 1917: Battle of Passchendaele
Battle of Passchendaele - little gained by either side (Jul-Nov)
- 7 Nov 1917: 'October' Revolution
'October' Revolution in Russia - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government;
Lenin becomes Chief Commissar
- 6 Dec 1917: Halifax (Nova Scotia) Explosion
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: British forces capture Jerusalem
British forces capture Jerusalem
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| 36 | 1918 | - 1918: The Vote
Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
- 1918: War of Independence
War of Independence in Ireland
- 18 Jan 1918: Bentley Motors
Bentley Motors founded
- 8 Mar 1918: 'Flu pandemic
Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic
- Jul 1918: Battle of the Marne
Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive in WW1 (Jul-Aug)
- 1 Oct 1918: Lawrence of Arabia
Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus
- 11 Nov 1918: Armistice signed
Armistice signed - end of the Great War
- Dec 1918: First woman elected to House of Commons
First woman elected to House of Commons, Countess Markiewicz as a Sinn Fein
member refused to take her seat
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1883 - 1918 (35 years)