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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 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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| 2 | 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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| 3 | 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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| 4 | 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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| 5 | 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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| 6 | 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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| 7 | 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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| 8 | 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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| 9 | 1919 | - 1919: Working Week
Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
- 1919: Sir Ernest Rutherford
Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
- 15 Jun 1919: Alcock and Brown
Alcock and Brown complete first nonstop flight across the Atlantic
- 28 Jun 1919: Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles signed
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| 10 | 1920 | - 1920: The Channel
Regular cross-channel air service starts
- 1920: Marconi
Marconi opens a radio broadcasting station in Britain
- 1920: Tommy Gun
Thompson patents his machine gun (Tommy gun)
- Feb 1920: 1st Petrol Station
First roadside petrol filling station in UK - opened by the Automobile Association at Aldermaston on the Bath Road
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| 11 | 1921 | - 1921: Railway Act
Railway Act in Britain amalgamates companies - only four remained
- 1921: Insulin
Insulin discovery announced
- 1921: Birth Control
First birth control clinic
- 19 Jun 1921: Census
Census: Population - England and Wales: 37.9 Million; Scotland: 4.9 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
- 6 Dec 1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London, leading to the formation of the Irish Free
State and Northern Ireland
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| 12 | 1922 | - 1922: Law of Property Act
Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended
- 1 Jun 1922: RUC
Royal Ulster Constabulary founded
- Oct 1922: BBC
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)
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| 13 | 1923 | - 1923: Road Classification
Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
- 1923: Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way
- 1923: Radio Broadcasts
First American broadcasts heard in Britain
- 1 Jan 1923: Railway Grouping
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: Tutankhamun
Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun
- 28 Apr 1923: Wembley
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: Radio Times
First publication of Radio Times
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| 14 | 1924 | - 4 Jan 1924: Labour government
First Labour government in Britain, headed by Ramsay MacDonald
- 5 Feb 1924: Greenwich Time Signals
Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were
first broadcast by the BBC
- 31 Mar 1924: British Imperial Airways
British Imperial Airways begins operations (formed by merger of four British
airline companies - became BOAC in 1940)
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| 15 | 1925 | - 1925: Gold Standard
Britain returns to gold standard
- 18 Jul 1925: Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
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| 16 | 1926 | - 1926: TV
First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird
- 1926: Adoption of children
Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
- 1926: Kodak
Kodak produces 16mm movie film
- 1926: Walt Disney
Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood
- 21 Apr 1926: Princess Elizabeth
Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, born
- 3 May 1926: General Strike
General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
- 31 Oct 1926: Houdini
Death of Harry Houdini
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| 17 | 1927 | - 1927: 1st 'Talkie' film
Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer)
- 7 Jan 1927: Telephone
First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London
- 22 Jan 1927: BBC
First football broadcast by BBC (Arsenal v Sheffield United at Highbury)
- 1 May 1927: Imperial Airways
First cooked meals on a scheduled flight introduced by Imperial Airways from
London to Paris
- 20 May 1927: Lindbergh solo Atlantic flight
Lindbergh makes solo flight across the Atlantic, in 33 hours
- 24 Jul 1927: The Menin Gate
The Menin Gate war memorial unveiled at Ypres
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| 18 | 1928 | - 1928: Vote
Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
- 26 Apr 1928: Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds opens in London
- 15 Sep 1928: Penicillin
Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
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| 19 | 1929 | - 1929: Poor Law
Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
- 1929: Minimum age for a marriage in Britain raised
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: TV
BBC begins experimental TV transmissions
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| 20 | 1930 | - 1930: First Nazis elected
First Nazis elected to the German Reichstag
- 1930: Youth Hostel Association
Youth Hostel Association (YHA) founded in Britain
- 30 Jan 1930: Adolf Hitler
Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
- 31 Jan 1930: Scotch Tape
3M begins marketing Scotch Tape
- 6 Mar 1930: Birdseye
Clarence Birdseye first marketed frozen peas
- 5 Oct 1930: R101
R101 airship disaster - British abandons airship construction
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| 21 | 1931 | - 1931: Banking
Collapse of the German banking system; 3,000 banks there close
- 14 Apr 1931: Highway Code
Highway Code first issued
- 26 Apr 1931: Census
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: National Government
National Government formed to deal with economic crisis - Britain comes off
gold standard
- 11 Dec 1931: Statute of Westminster
Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign states
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| 22 | 1932 | - 1932: Great Hunger March
Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
- 1932: Cockroft and Walton
Cockroft and Walton accelerate particles to disintegrate an atomic nucleus
- 1932: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Thomas Beecham established the London Philharmonic Orchestra
- 21 May 1932: Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic by a female pilot
- Oct 1932: Moseley
Moseley founds British Union of Fascists
- 3 Oct 1932: Iraq
Iraq gains independence from Britain
- 3 Oct 1932: The Times
'The Times' introduces 'Times New Roman' typeface
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| 23 | 1933 | - 1933: Polythene discovered
ICI scientists discover polythene
- 1933: Only 6 pennies minted in Britain
Only 6 pennies minted in Britain this year
- 12 Nov 1933: Loch Ness Monster
First known photos of the 'Loch Ness Monster' taken
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| 24 | 1934 | - 18 Jul 1934: Mersey Tunnel
King George V opens Mersey Tunnel
- 2 Aug 1934: Adolf Hitler
Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany
- 26 Sep 1934: RMS Queen Mary launched
RMS Queen Mary launched by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland
- 30 Nov 1934: The Flying Scotsman
First time a steam locomotive travels at 100 mph ('Flying Scotsman')
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| 25 | 1935 | - 1935: Green Belt
London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme
- 1935: Malcolm Campbell
Land speed record of 301.13 mph by Malcolm Campbell
- 28 Feb 1935: Nylon
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: Hore-Belisha
Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas
in Britain
- 1 Jun 1935: Voluntary driving tests introduced
Voluntary driving tests introduced in UK
- 30 Jul 1935: Penguin paperbacks
Penguin paperbacks launched
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| 26 | 1936 | - 1936: Jet engine
Jet engine first tested
- 20 Jan 1936: George V
George V dies
- 5 May 1936: Spitfire
First flight of a Spitfire
- 24 Jul 1936: Speaking clock
'Speaking clock' service starts in UK
- 2 Nov 1936: BBC
British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's
first public TV transmission
- 30 Nov 1936: Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace destroyed by fire
- 5 Dec 1936: Edward VIII abdicates
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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| 27 | 1937 | - 1937: 999
'999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London
- 1937: Billy Butlin
Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp
- 12 Apr 1937: Frank Whittle
Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft
- 12 May 1937: King George VI
Coronation of King George VI
- 28 May 1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes PM
Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister - policy of appeasement towards
Hitler
- 3 Jun 1937: Duke of Windsor
Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
- 4 Dec 1937: The Dandy'
'The Dandy' comic first published
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| 28 | 1938 | - 1938: Paid holidays
Principle of paid holidays established in Britain
- 1938: HMS Rodney
HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar
- 1938: Lajos Biro
First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro
- 12 Mar 1938: Germany annexes Austria
Germany invades and annexes Austria
- 3 Jul 1938: Mallard
A4 Steam loco 'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h) at Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line; still world record for a steam locomotive.
- 27 Sep 1938: RMS Queen Elizabeth
Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank
- 29 Sep 1938: Peace in our time
Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time'
- 30 Oct 1938: The War of the Worlds
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
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| 29 | 1939 | - 1939: Czechoslovakia
Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
- 1939: London evacuation
Start of evacuation of women and children from London
- 1939: Coldest winter in Britain
Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
- 1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland
Germany invades Poland
- 3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war
Britain and France declare war on Germany
- 6 Sep 1939: First air-raid
First air-raid on Britain
- 11 Sep 1939: British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France
- 14 Oct 1939: HMS Royal Oak
HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives
- 7 Dec 1939: Canadian troops
'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain - 7,400 men on 5 ships
- 17 Dec 1939: Admiral Graf Spee
'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
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| 30 | 1940 | - 1 Apr 1940: BOAC starts operations
BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd
- 11 May 1940: National Government
National Government formed under Churchill
- 13 May 1940: Germany invades France
Germany invades France, Frances signs armistice on 22 June 1940
- 27 May 1940—4 Jun 1940: Dunkirk
Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk
- 25 Jun 1940: Fall of France
Fall of France to Germany
- 7 Sep 1940: The Blitz
Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
- 15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
- 11 Nov 1940—12 Nov 1940: Battle of Taranto
The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers (Swordfish) from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean Sea to attack the Italian fleet in Taranto harbour.
- 14 Nov 1940: Coventry bombed
Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
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1911 - 1940 (28 years)