| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1809 | - 4 Mar 1809—3 Mar 1817: James Madison, 4th President of the United States
James Madison
- 4 Oct 1809—11 May 1812: Spencer Perceval, UK Prime Minister (Tory)
Spencer Perceval
|
| 2 | 1811 | - 5 Feb 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
|
| 3 | 1812 | - 11 May 1812: Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, assassinated
- 8 Jun 1812—9 Apr 1827: Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool, UK Prime Minister (Tory)
Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool
- 12 Jun 1812: War of 1812
- 18 Jun 1812: Start of American "War of 1812" (to 1814) against England and Canada
- Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
|
| 4 | 1813 | - 1813: Ireland: First recorded "12th of July" sectarian riots in Belfast
- 1813: Jane Austen wrote "Pride and Prejudice"
|
| 5 | 1814 | - 1 Jan 1814: Invasion of France by Allies
- 6 Apr 1814: Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
- 13 Aug 1814: Convention of London signed, a treaty between the UK and the Dutch
- 24 Aug 1814: The British burn the White House
- 29 Nov 1814: "The Times" first printed by a 'mechanical apparatus' (at 1,100 sheets per hour)
- 24 Dec 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the 1812 war between Britain and the US
|
| 6 | 1815 | - 1815: Trial by Jury established in Scotland
- 1815: Davy develops the safety lamp for miners
- 3 Mar 1815: Second Barbary War
- 18 Jun 1815: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
|
| 7 | 1816 | - 1816: Income tax abolished
- 1816: For the first time British silver coins were produced with an intrinsic value substantially
below their face value
- 1816: Climate: the 'year without a summer'
- 1816: Large scale emigration to North America
- 1816: Trans-Atlantic packet service begins
|
| 8 | 1817 | - 1817: March of the Manchester Blanketeers; Habeas Corpus suspended
- 1817: Constable painted "Flatford Mill"
- 4 Mar 1817—3 Mar 1825: James Monroe, 5th President of the United States
James Monroe
|
| 9 | 1818 | - 1818: Manchester cotton spinners' strike
- 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
|
| 10 | 1819 | - 1819: Primitive bicycle, the Dandy Horse, becomes popular
- 1819: Britain returns to gold standard
- 1819: Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles
- May 1819: SS "Savannah" first steamship to cross Atlantic, reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26
days, mostly under sail)
- 16 Aug 1819: Peterloo Massacre at Manchester
|
| 11 | 1820 | - 1820: Cato Street Conspiracy
- 1820: Abolition of the Spanish Inquisition
- 29 Jan 1820: Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
- 1 Aug 1820: Regent's Canal in London opens
- 17 Aug 1820: Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her
|
| 12 | 1821 | - 1821: Faraday publishes "Principles of electro-magnetic rotation"
- 1821: Constable paints "The Hay Wain"
- 5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
|
| 13 | 1822 | - 14 Jun 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
|
| 14 | 1823 | - 1823: New laws concerning marriage by licence
- 1823: Peel begins penal reforms
- 1823: Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School
- 1823: Rubberised waterproof material produced by MacIntosh
- 2 Dec 1823: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in
future European conflicts (the 'Monroe Doctrine')
|
| 15 | 1824 | - 1824: RSPCA established
- 1824: Portland cement patented
- 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: National Gallery in London opens to the public
|
| 16 | 1825 | - 1825: Census Quebec
Census is taken over Lower Canada (Quebec)
- 4 Mar 1825—3 Mar 1829: John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States
John Quincy Adams
- 27 Sep 1825: Stockton to Darlington Railway opens
- 3 Dec 1825: Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land colony is formed
|
| 17 | 1826 | - 1826: Netherlands
Malaria is among the 193 333 component Friesian population more than 4,000 fatalities
|
| 18 | 1827 | - 1827: Ohm's Law published
- 15 Mar 1827: Canada Education
University of Toronto is chartered
- 10 Apr 1827—8 Aug 1827: George Canning, UK Prime Minister (Tory)
George Canning
- 31 Aug 1827—21 Jan 1828: Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich, UK Prime Minister (Tory)
Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich
|
| 19 | 1828 | - 1828: Census Australia
The first Australian Census is taken
- 22 Jan 1828—16 Nov 1830: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, UK Prime Minister (Tory)
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- 25 Oct 1828: St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
|
| 20 | 1829 | - 1829: London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed "Bobbies" after Sir Robert Peel
- 1829: Louis Braille invents his sytem of finger-reading for the blind
- 1829: Australia British
The continent of Australia is claimed as a British territory
- 4 Mar 1829—3 Mar 1837: Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States
Andrew Jackson
- 2 May 1829: Australia
Swan River colony is formed
- 10 Jun 1829: First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race
- 6 Oct 1829: George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to
complete the trial!)
|
| 21 | 1830 | - 1830: Uprisings and agitation across Europe: the Netherlands are split into Holland and
Belgium
- 1830: Origional Australians
An attempt to force Aborigional people onto the Tasmanian peninsula is made
- Jul 1830: Revolution in France, fall of Charles X and the Bourbons
- 15 Sep 1830: George Stephenson's Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened by the Duke of
Wellington
- 22 Nov 1830—9 Nov 1834: Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
|
| 22 | 1831 | - 1831: A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
- 1 Jun 1831: James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole
- 1 Aug 1831: 'New' London Bridge opens (replaced 1973)
|
| 23 | 1832 | - 1832: Electoral Registers introduced
- 1832: Electric telegraph invented by Morse
- 6 Feb 1832: Australia Swan River
Swan River colony is renamed Western Australia
- 14 May 1832: Black Hawk War
- 7 Jun 1832: Reform Bill passed
|
| 24 | 1833 | - Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands
- 29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
|
| 25 | 1834 | - 1834: Babbage invents forerunner of the computer
- 18 Mar 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities
- 1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
- 16 Jul 1834—14 Nov 1834: William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
- 14 Nov 1834—10 Dec 1834: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, UK Prime Minister (Tory)
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- 10 Dec 1834—8 Apr 1835: Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet
|
| 26 | 1835 | - 1835: Christmas becomes a national holiday
- 1835: First railway boom period starts in Britain
- 1835: Origional Australians
It is declared by the governor of New South Wales that the Aborigines do not own their own land
- 18 Apr 1835—30 Aug 1841: William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
- 2 Oct 1835: Texas War of Independence
|
| 27 | 1836 | - 1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
- 30 Jan 1836: Telford's Menai Straits Bridge opened
- 25 Feb 1836: Samuel Colt patented the 'revolver'
- 6 Mar 1836: The Alamo falls to Mexican troops
- 11 May 1836: Mexican-American War
- Jul 1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
- 28 Dec 1836: South Australia
South Australia colony is founded with its western border set at 132° E
|
| 28 | 1837 | - 1837: Pitman introduces his shorthand system
- 1837: P&O Founded
- 4 Mar 1837—3 Mar 1841: Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States
Martin Van Buren
- 20 Jun 1837: William IV dies
- 1 Jul 1837: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales
- 13 Jul 1837: Queen Victoria moves into the first Buckingham Palace
- 20 Jul 1837: Euston Railway station opens
|
| 29 | 1838 | - 1838: Australia Prussian Settlers
Prussian settlers arrive in South Australia, first time a large group of non-British settlers arrive
- 28 Jun 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey
|
| 30 | 1839 | - 1839: First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842)
- 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: Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
- 1839: Australia Scottish
First Settlers from Scotland arrive in Port Phillip
- 1839: Netherlands recognizes the independence of Belgium
|
| 31 | 1840 | - 1840: Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
- 1840: Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed
elsewhere)
- 1840: William I renounce the government. Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands
- 10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
- 21 May 1840: New Zealand
New Zealand becomes part of New South Wales
- 16 Nov 1840: New Zealand
New Zealand colony is founded
|
| 32 | 1841 | - 1841: Thomas Cook starts package tours
- 1841: New Zealand
New Zealand is a separate colony and no longer part of New South Wales
- 10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
- 4 Mar 1841—4 Apr 1841: William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States
William Henry Harrison
- 4 Apr 1841—3 Mar 1845: John Tyler, 10th President of the United States
John Tyler
- 6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
- 30 Aug 1841—29 Jun 1846: Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet
|
| 33 | 1842 | - 1842: Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
- 30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anaesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
- 29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking
|
| 34 | 1843 | - 1843: First Christmas card in England
- 27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
- 19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
|
| 35 | 1844 | - 1844: Netherlands
very severe winter and the two following years, the potato crop failed . 's Population goes hungry.
- 6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
|
| 36 | 1845 | - 1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
- 4 Mar 1845—3 Mar 1849: James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States
jJames K. Polk
- 17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
|
| 37 | 1846 | - 17 Feb 1846: North Australia
North Australia colony is founded covering all of New South Wales north of 26° S
- 30 Jun 1846—21 Feb 1852: Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
- 10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
|
| 38 | 1847 | - 1847: US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
- Jan 1847: An anaesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
- 15 Apr 1847: North Australia
North Australia is reincorporated into New South Wales
|
| 39 | 1848 | - 1848: First commercial production of chewing gum
- 24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California
- 11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
|
| 40 | 1849 | - 1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation
- 1849: Netherlands
King William II dies of a heart attack . On May 12 , King William III inaugurated
- 4 Mar 1849—9 Jul 1850: Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States
Zachary Taylor
|
| 41 | 1850 | - 9 Jul 1850—3 Mar 1853: Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States
Millard Fillmore
|
| 42 | 1851 | - 1851: Gold discovered in Australia
- 1851: Australia Gold Rush
Gold is discovered at Summerhill Creek and Ballarat
- 1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ("Crystal Palace" exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
- 1 Jul 1851: Australia Victoria
Victoria colony is founded
|
| 43 | 1852 | |
| 44 | 1853 | - 1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
- 4 Mar 1853—3 Mar 1857: Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States
Franklin Pierce
|
| 45 | 1854 | - 1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
- 27 Mar 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
- 25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
|
| 46 | 1855 | - 1855: Australia Chinese
Chinese Immigration Act
- 1855: Australia Vote
Men over the age of 21 in South Australia gain the right to vote
- 6 Feb 1855—19 Feb 1858: Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, UK Prime Minister (Tory and Whig)
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
|
| 47 | 1856 | - 1856: End of Crimean War
- 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)
|
| 48 | 1857 | - 1857: Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
- 4 Mar 1857—3 Mar 1861: James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States
James Buchanan
|
| 49 | 1858 | - 1858: 'The great stink'
- 1858: Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
- 20 Feb 1858—11 Jun 1859: Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, UK Prime Minister (Tory and Whig)
Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
|
| 50 | 1859 | - 1859: Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain
- 25 Apr 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869)
- 4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon
and Cornwall
- 12 Jun 1859—18 Oct 1865: Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
- 24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species"
|
| 51 | 1860 | - 1860: Slavery
official abolition of slavery in the Dutch East Indies
- 29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
|
| 52 | 1861 | - 4 Mar 1861—15 Apr 1865: Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
Abraham Lincoln
- 12 Apr 1861: American Civil War
- 25 May 1861—14 Apr 1864: American Civil War
|
| 53 | 1862 | - 1862: Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks)
- 20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
|
| 54 | 1863 | - 1863: Football Association founded (UK)
- 1863: Opening of state institution for criminally insane at Broadmoor, England
- 10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
|
| 55 | 1864 | - 1864: A man-powered submarine, "Hunley", sank a Federal steam ship, USS Housatonic, at the entrance to Charleston harbour in 1864
- 11 Mar 1864: The Great Sheffield Flood
- 20 Aug 1864: Red Cross established
- 8 Dec 1864: Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon officially opened
|
| 56 | 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: First concrete roads built in Britain
- 14 Apr 1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth
- 15 Apr 1865—3 Mar 1869: Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States
Andrew Johnson
- 5 Jul 1865: William Booth (1829-1912) founds Salvation Army, in London
- 29 Oct 1865—26 Jun 1866: Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
|
| 57 | 1866 | |
| 58 | 1867 | - 1 Jul 1867: The British North America Act takes effect, creating the Canadian Confederation
|
| 59 | 1868 | |
| 60 | 1869 | - 1869: Ball bearings, celluloid, margarine, and washing machines, all invented
- 4 Mar 1869—3 Mar 1877: Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States
Ulysses S. Grant
- 23 Nov 1869: Cutty Sark launched in Dumbarton
|
| 61 | 1870 | - 1870: GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies (nationalised)
- 1870: Dr Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
- 1870: Water closets come into wide use
- 1870: Diamonds discovered in Kimberley, South Africa
- 1870: Smallpox epidemic in the Netherlands. In 1871 the number of deaths rises to 15,787
- 1870: Netherlands abolished the death penalty
- 1 Oct 1870: First British postcard
|
| 62 | 1871 | - 27 Mar 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
- 29 Mar 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
- 29 Jun 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
|
| 63 | 1872 | - 1872: Licensing hours introduced
- 1872: Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
- 4 Dec 1872: American ship "Mary Celeste" is found abandoned by the British brig "Dei Gratia" in the Atlantic Ocean
|
| 64 | 1873 | - 1873: Netherlands
Aceh war . On 8 April, the Dutch colonial army lands on the coast of Sumatra
|
| 65 | 1874 | - 1874: Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
- 1874: Netherlands
Children Act Samuel van Houten. Labour by children under 12 is prohibited.
- 20 Feb 1874—21 Apr 1880: Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield
- 5 Apr 1874: Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world
|
| 66 | 1875 | - 1875: London's main sewage system completed
- 1875—1882: US Epidemic
North American smallpox epidemic
- 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)
|
| 67 | 1876 | - 1876: Netherlands
Mata Hari was born in Leeuwarden on August 7, Margaret Gertrude Zelle
- 14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone
|
| 68 | 1877 | - 1877: Edison invents microphone and phonograph
- 4 Mar 1877—3 Mar 1881: Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 19th President of the United States
Rutherford Birchard Hayes
|
| 69 | 1878 | - 1878: Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
- 1878: Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph
- 1878: CID established at New Scotland Yard
|
| 70 | 1879 | - 1879: Netherlands
Establishment of the 1st political party : the Anti- Revolutionary Party , led by Abraham Kuyper
- 18 Sep 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
|
| 71 | 1880 | - 1880: Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
- 1880: Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria
- 23 Apr 1880—9 Jun 1885: William Ewart Gladstone, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
William Ewart Gladstone
- 2 Aug 1880: Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
|
| 72 | 1881 | - 1881: Postal Orders introduced
- 1881: Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy
- 4 Mar 1881—19 Sep 1881: James Abram Garfield, 20th President of the United States
James Abram Garfield
- 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)
- 19 Sep 1881—3 Mar 1885: Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President of the United States
Chester Alan Arthur
- 26 Oct 1881: Gunfight at OK Corral
|
| 73 | 1882 | - 1882: Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
|
| 74 | 1883 | - 1883: Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France
- 24 May 1883: Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River)
- 1 Aug 1883: Parcel post starts in Britain
- 27 Aug 1883: Eruption of Krakatoa near Java
|
| 75 | 1884 | - 31 May 1884: John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes
- 13 Oct 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
|
| 76 | 1885 | - 1885: Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car
- 1885: Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle
- 1885: Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
- 1885: Canadian Pacific Railway completed
- Mar 1885: First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking
- 4 Mar 1885—3 Mar 1889: Grover Cleveland, 22nd President of the United States
Grover Cleveland
- 23 Jun 1885—26 Jan 1886: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
- 5 Sep 1885: The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel
- 29 Sep 1885: First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
|
| 77 | 1886 | - 20 Jan 1886: Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales
- 1 Feb 1886—20 Jul 1886: William Ewart Gladstone, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
William Ewart Gladstone
- May 1886: Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named
"Coca-Cola"
- 29 May 1886: Putney Bridge opens in London
- 25 Jul 1886—11 Aug 1892: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
|
| 78 | 1887 | - 1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
|
| 79 | 1888 | - 1888: Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez
Canal in war and peace
- 1888: Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year
- 1888: County Councils set up in Britain
- 1888: Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre
- 1888: First box camera
- 20 Mar 1888: Football League formed
|
| 80 | 1889 | - 1889: Celluloid film produced
- 1889: Dock Strike
- 4 Mar 1889—3 Mar 1893: Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States
Benjamin Harrison
- 31 Mar 1889: Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
- 14 May 1889: Children's charity NSPCC launched in London
- 3 Jun 1889: Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast
- 28 Sep 1889: Length of a metre defined
|
| 81 | 1890 | - 1890: Netherlands
King William III dies . Queen Emma becomes regent
- 1890: Netherlands
Birth of Princess Wilhelmina
- 4 Mar 1890: Forth railway bridge opens
- 4 Nov 1890: City & South London Railway opens
|
| 82 | 1891 | - 1891: Primary education made free and compulsory
- 18 Mar 1891: First telephone link between London & Paris
- 4 May 1891: Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893)
- 24 Aug 1891: Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
|
| 83 | 1892 | - 1892: Electric oven invented
- 1892: Shop Hours Act
- 15 Aug 1892—2 Mar 1894: William Ewart Gladstone, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
William Ewart Gladstone
- 6 Oct 1892: Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
|
| 84 | 1893 | - 1893: Henry Ford's first car
- 1893: Zip fastener invented
- 4 Mar 1893—3 Mar 1897: Grover Cleveland, 24th President of the United States
Grover Cleveland
|
| 85 | 1894 | - 1894: Picture postcard introduced in Britain
- 1 Jan 1894: Manchester Ship Canal opens
- 1 Mar 1894: Blackpool Tower opens
- 5 Mar 1894—25 Jun 1895: Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
- 30 Jun 1894: Tower Bridge first opens
- 2 Aug 1894: Death duties first introduced in Britain
|
| 86 | 1895 | - 1895: Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London
- 12 Jan 1895: The National Trust founded in England
- 24 May 1895: Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted
- 28 May 1895: Oscar Wilde sent to prison
- 25 Jun 1895—11 Jul 1902: Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
- 12 Jul 1895: First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
- 17 Oct 1895: First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences
- Nov 1895: X-rays discovered
|
| 87 | 1896 | - 1896: Netherlands
In 1896, the Hague photographer Adolphe Zimmermans was the first who drove a car on Dutch roads
- 5 Apr 1896: First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
- 2 Jun 1896: Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
|
| 88 | 1897 | - 1897: Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
- 4 Mar 1897—24 Sep 1901: William McKinley, 25th President of the United States
William McKinley
|
| 89 | 1898 | - 1898: First photograph using artificial light
- 1898: Zeppelin builds airship
- 1898: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founded
- 1898: Netherlands
Inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina in Amsterdam.
- 17 Mar 1898: USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine
- 25 Apr 1898: Spanish-American War
- 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)
|
| 90 | 1899 | |
| 91 | 1900 | - 1900: School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years
- 1900: Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified
- 1900: Escalator shown at Paris exhibition
- 9 Feb 1900: Davis Cup tennis competition established
- 27 Feb 1900: Labour Party formed
|
| 92 | 1901 | - 1901: Commonwealth of Australia founded
- 1901: Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner
- 1901: Netherlands
Queen Wilhelmina marries Prince Henry , Duke of Mecklenburg
- 22 Jan 1901: Queen Victoria dies
- 2 Feb 1901: Queen Victoria's funeral
- Jun 1901: Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in Boer War
- 14 Sep 1901—3 Mar 1909: Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
Theodore Roosevelt
- 2 Oct 1901: Britain's first submarine launched
- 12 Dec 1901: First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi
|
| 93 | 1902 | - 1902: Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
- 1902: Cremation Act
- 1902: Marie Curie discovers radioactivity
- 24 May 1902: Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated
- 31 May 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War
- 11 Jul 1902—5 Dec 1905: Arthur James Balfour, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Arthur James Balfour
- 9 Aug 1902: Coronation of Edward VII
|
| 94 | 1903 | - 1903: Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain
- 1903: Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst
- 1903: Henry Ford sets up his motor company
- 14 Dec 1903: First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
|
| 95 | 1904 | - 1904: Leeds University established
- 8 Apr 1904: France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale
- 4 May 1904: America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French
(completed 1914)
|
| 96 | 1905 | - 1905: The title 'Prime Minister' noted in a royal warrant for the first time
- 1905: Aliens Act in Britain: Home Office controls immigration
- 1905: Germany lays down the first Dreadnought battleship
- 11 Apr 1905: Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
- 5 Dec 1905—7 Apr 1908: Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
|
| 97 | 1906 | - 1906: Introduction of free school meals for poor children
- 10 Feb 1906: Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship
- 15 Mar 1906: Rolls-Royce Ltd registered
- 26 May 1906: Vauxhall Bridge opened in London
- 20 Sep 1906: Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
|
| 98 | 1907 | - 1907: New Zealand becomes a Dominion
- 1907: Imperial College, London, is established
- 1907: First airship flies over London
- 1907: Lumiere develops a process for colour photography
- Jul 1907: Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its
shape after being heated
- 1 Aug 1907: Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
- 9 Nov 1907: The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
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| 99 | 1908 | - 1908: Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day
- 1908: Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain
- 1908: Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement
- 7 Apr 1908—7 Dec 1916: Herbert Henry Asquith, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
Herbert Henry Asquith
- 1 Jul 1908: SOS became effective as an international signal of distress
- 12 Aug 1908: First 'Model T' Ford made
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| 100 | 1909 | - 1909: Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
- 1909: Peary reaches the north pole
- 1909: First commercial manufacture of Bakelite
- 1909: Netherlands
Princess Juliana born
- 1 Jan 1909: Old Age Pensions Act came into force
- 16 Jan 1909: Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
- 4 Mar 1909—3 Mar 1913: William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States
William Howard Taft
- 15 Mar 1909: Selfridges department store opens in London
- 25 Jul 1909: Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to Dover)
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| 101 | 1910 | - 1910: Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain
- 1910: Constitutional crisis in Britain
- 1910: Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville
- 1910: Madame Curie isolates radium
- 1910: Halley's comet reappears
- 1910: Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe
- 6 May 1910: Edward VII dies
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| 102 | 1911 | - 1911: Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
- 1911: British MPs receive a salary
- 1911: First British Official Secrets Act
- 1911: Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
- 1911: Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
- 2 Apr 1911: Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
- 22 Jun 1911: Coronation of George V
- 14 Dec 1911: National Insurance introduced in Britain
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| 103 | 1912 | - 1912: Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
- 1912: Britain nationalises the telephone system
- 1912: Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man'
- 18 Jan 1912: Captain Scott's last expedition
- 14 Apr 1912: The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage
- 13 May 1912: Royal Flying Corps (later the RAF) founded in Britain
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| 104 | 1913 | - 1913: Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords
- 1913: Suffragette demonstrations in London
- 1913: Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political
purposes
- 1913: Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
- 1913: Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
- 4 Mar 1913—3 Mar 1921: Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States
Woodrow Wilson
- 4 Jun 1913: Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the
Epsom Derby and dies
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| 105 | 1914 | - 1914: 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 make their first films
- 28 Jun 1914: Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
- 4 Aug 1914: Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason
- 5 Aug 1914: British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph
links to the outside world
- 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: Battle of Ypres
- 27 Nov 1914: First policewoman goes on duty in Britain
- 16 Dec 1914: German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
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| 106 | 1915 | - 1915: Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
- 1915: First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
- 19 Jan 1915: First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia
- Feb 1915: Submarine blockade of Britain starts
- Apr 1915: Second Battle of Ypres
- 25 Apr 1915: Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916)
- 7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland
- 16 May 1915: First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll
(aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
|
| 107 | 1916 | - 1916: Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
- Feb 1916: Battle of Verdun
- 24 Apr 1916: Easter Rising in Ireland
- 21 May 1916: First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
- 31 May 1916: Battle of Jutland
- 5 Jun 1916: Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener
- 3 Aug 1916: Sir Roger Casement hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason
- 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: Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
- 7 Dec 1916—19 Oct 1922: David Lloyd George, UK Prime Minister (Liberal)
David Lloyd George
|
| 108 | 1917 | - 1917: Battle of Cambrai
- 1917: Ministry of Labour is established in Britain
- Feb 1917: February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
- 6 Apr 1917: World War I
- 16 Apr 1917: Lenin returns to Russia after exile
- 17 Apr 1917: USA declares war on Germany
- 26 May 1917: George V changes surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor (Royal
proclamation on 17 July)
- Jul 1917: Battle of Passchendaele
- 7 Nov 1917: 'October' Revolution in Russia
- 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: British forces capture Jerusalem
|
| 109 | 1918 | - 1918: Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
- 1918: War of Independence in Ireland
- 1918: Epidemic
The Spanish flu caused over 20 million deaths worldwide
- 18 Jan 1918: Bentley Motors founded
- 8 Mar 1918: Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic
- Jul 1918: Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive in WW1 (Jul-Aug)
- 1 Oct 1918: Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus
- 11 Nov 1918: Armistice signed
- Dec 1918: First woman elected to House of Commons, Countess Markiewicz as a Sinn F
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| 110 | 1919 | - 1919: Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
- 1919: Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
- 15 Jun 1919: Alcock and Brown complete first nonstop flight across the Atlantic
- 28 Jun 1919: Treaty of Versailles signed
|
| 111 | 1920 | - 1920: Regular cross-channel air service starts
- 1920: Marconi opens a radio broadcasting station in Britain
- 1920: Thompson patents his machine gun (Tommy gun)
- Feb 1920: First roadside petrol filling station in UK
|
| 112 | 1921 | - 1921: Railway Act in Britain amalgamates companies
- 1921: Insulin discovery announced
- 1921: First birth control clinic
- 4 Mar 1921—2 Aug 1923: Warren Gamaliel Harding, 29th President of the United States
Warren Gamaliel Harding
- 19 Jun 1921: Census: Population - England and Wales: 37.9 Million; Scotland: 4.9 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
- 6 Dec 1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London, leading to the formation of the Irish Free
State and Northern Ireland
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1811 - 
