Mitchell Families Online

GENEALOGY OF MY MITCHELL FAMILIES - AND A LOT MORE BESIDES!

Home Search Login | Register

Print Bookmark this Page

George Quigley

1798 - 1861 (63 years)

Chart width: Refresh

Timeline

The following individual is flagged as living or private and could not be added because you are not logged in with proper permissions: Living (I7609)

Delete

Elizabeth Hannah Hunt (1859 - 1949)

Rosanna Waterson (1865 - 1917)

Jane Popwell (1634 - 1701)

Ann Westbrook (1837 - )

George Quigley (1798 - 1861)

	Date	Event(s)
1	1596	1596—1692: Spain - Plague Spain Plague
2	1600	1600—1650: South America - malaria Desease Malaria
3	1634	1634: Thirteen Colonies Plague The Thirteen Colonies were the British Colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America founded between 1607 (Virginia) and 1733 (Georgia) that joined together to declare independence in 1776. The Connecticut River Colony had a plague of Smallpox.
4	1635	1635: Letter Office of England & Scotland started 1635: Flintlock small arms invented around this time (replaces matchlock)
5	1636	1636: Hackney Carriages in use by now in London 1636: England-New Castle Plague New Castle, England Disease: Plague
6	1638	1638: King Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason
7	1639	1639: Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
8	1640	3 Nov 1640: Charles I forced to recall Parliament (the 'Long Parliament') due to Scottish invasion
9	1641	1641: Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England 1641: Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland 1641—1644: China Plague The Chinese Disease Plague helped end the Ming Dynasty 23 Oct 1641: 50,000 Irish killed in an uprising in Ulster
10	1642	1642: The Civil War interrupted the keeping of parish registers 1642: English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660) 22 Aug 1642: Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham 13 Nov 1642: Battle of Turnham Green 24 Nov 1642: Abel Janszoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) 18 Dec 1642: Abel Janszoon Tasman first European to set foot in New Zealand
11	1643	13 Dec 1643: Battle of Alton
12	1644	29 Jun 1644: Battle of Cropredy Bridge 2 Jul 1644: Battle of Marston Moor, near York
13	1645	1645: Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland 1645: Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia 1645: Plague made its last appearance in Scotland 14 Jun 1645: Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces
14	1646	5 May 1646: Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army at Newark 20 Jun 1646: Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
15	1647	1647—1652: Spain - Plague The Great Plague of Seville of Spain Disease: Plague
16	1648	1648: Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox 1648: First practical thermometers made 1648: South American Plague South America Disease: Yellow fever
17	1649	1649: Cromwell's Irish campaign starts 1649: King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland 6 Jan 1649: 'Rump' Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial 30 Jan 1649: King Charles I executed 19 May 1649: Commonwealth declared 20 Dec 1649: Theatres banned by Cromwell 20 Dec 1649: Christmas banned by Cromwell
18	1650	1650: Coffee brought to England about this time
19	1651	1651: The second English Civil War (1651-1652) 1651: Scottish prisoners transported to the British settlements in America 3 Sep 1651: Battle of Worcester
20	1653	1653: Commonwealth registers start 1653: Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land 1653: Provincial probate courts abolished 20 Apr 1653: Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament 16 Dec 1653: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland
21	1656	1656: Italy- Naples Plague Naples Plague in Italy Disease: Plague
22	1657	1657: Post Office established by Act of Parliament [others say 1660] 1657: A few Jews permitted to settle in England 1657: Thirteen Colonies Plague Thirteen Colonies plague hits Boston, Massachusetts Disease: Measles
23	1658	1658: Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector (-1660) 3 Sep 1658: Death of Oliver Cromwell
24	1659	1659: Start of national meteorological Temperature records in the UK 6 Feb 1659: Date of first known bank cheque to be drawn
25	1660	1660: Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed 1660: Provincial Probate Courts re-established 1660: Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom 1660: Composition of light discovered by Newton 1660: Honourable East India Company founded by British 1 Jan 1660: Samuel Pepys starts his diary 29 May 1660: Restoration of British monarchy (Charles II) 17 Oct 1660: Ten Regicides are executed at Charing Cross or Tyburn 28 Nov 1660: Twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society 8 Dec 1660: First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
26	1661	1661: Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland 1661: Board of Trade founded in London 1661: Hand-struck postage stamps first used 1661: Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office 30 Jan 1661: Oliver Cromwell formally 'executed', having been dead for over two years!
27	1662	1662: 'Hearth Tax' introduced 1662: Poor Relief Act or "Act of Settlement" 1662: Tea introduced to Britain 24 Aug 1662: Act of Uniformity
28	1663	1663—1664: Netherlands Epedemic Amsterdam Plague kills 24,148 people
29	1664	29 May 1664: Oak Apple Day 27 Aug 1664: Nieuw Amsterdam becomes New York as 300 English soldiers under Col. Mathias Nicolls take the town from the Dutch under orders from Charles II. The town is renamed after the King's brother James, Duke of York
30	1665	1665: Great Plague of London (July-October) kills over 60,000 1665: Five-mile Act restricts non-conformist ministers in Britain 7 Nov 1665: The "London Gazette" first published
31	1666	1666: Use of semaphore signalling pioneered by Lord Worcester 1666: Newton formulated Laws of Gravity 2 Sep 1666: Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June (2-6 Sep)
32	1668	1668: British East India Company obtains control of Bombay 1668: Newton constructs reflecting telescope
33	1669	31 May 1669: Last entry in Pepys's diary
34	1670	2 May 1670: Canada Hudson's Bay Company is founded by the British 26 May 1670: King Charles II and King Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover
35	1671	9 May 1671: Thomas Blood caught stealing the Crown Jewels
36	1672	1672: High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland 1672: War with Holland (to 1674) 1672: Canada New France expands in to Canada
37	1673	1673: First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
38	1674	10 Nov 1674: Treaty of Westminster
39	1675	1675: Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury 1675: Rebuilding of St Paul's started by Wren (completed 1710) 4 Mar 1675: John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England 10 Aug 1675: Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
40	1676	1676: Compton Census, named after its initiator Henry Compton, Bishop of London, was intended to discover the number of Anglican conformists, Roman Catholic recusants and Protestant dissenters in England and Wales from enquiries made in individual parishes
41	1677	1677: Lee's "Collection of Names of Merchants in London" published
42	1678	1678: Extension of Test Act to peers
43	1679	1679: Tories first so named 27 May 1679: Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England
44	1680	1680: William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post 1680: Dodo becomes extinct in Mauritius through over-hunting
45	1681	1681: Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament 1681: Oil lighting first used in London streets
46	1682	1682: Pennsylvania founded by William Penn 1682: Library of Advocates founded in Edinburgh 1682: Halley observes the comet which bears his name
47	1683	1683: Wild boar become extinct in Britain 6 Jun 1683: Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford
48	1685	1685: James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701) 1685: Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland 1685: Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes
49	1686	1686: Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
50	1687	4 Apr 1687: James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists 5 Jul 1687: Newton published his "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica"
51	1688	1688: British Army raised to 40,000 1688: Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament 1688: Hearth Tax abolished 1688: Mutiny Act Feb 1688: Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens Nov 1688: The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates 5 Nov 1688: William of Orange lands at Torbay Dec 1688: Siege of Londonderry (began Dec 1688; ended 28 Jul 1689)
52	1689	1689: Devonport naval dockyard established 13 Feb 1689: William III and Mary II, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne (only William, however, has regal power) 12 Mar 1689: Deposed James VII & II flees to Ireland 24 May 1689: Toleration Act passed for Protestant non-conformists 27 Jul 1689: Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland 16 Dec 1689: Bill of Rights passed by Parliament, ending King's divine right to raise taxes or wage war
53	1690	20 May 1690: England passes Act of Grace, forgiving Roman Catholic followers of James II
54	1692	1692: Land Tax introduced 1692: French intention to invade England came to nothing 13 Feb 1692: The massacre of Glencoe
55	1693	4 Aug 1693: Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pierre P
56	1694	1694: National Debt came into effect in England 1694: Stamp Duties introduced into Britain from Holland 1694: Mary II death leaves William III as sole ruler 1694: Triennial Act, new Parliamentary elections every three years 1694: Scotland: Poll Tax imposed on all over sixteen, except the destitute and insane (-1699) 27 Jul 1694: Bank of England founded by William Paterson (a Scot)
57	1695	1695: Freedom of Press in England granted 1695: Bank of Scotland founded 1695: Act of Parliament imposes a fine on all who fail to inform the parish minister of the birth of a child (repealed 1706) 1695: Start of "Dissenters" lists in parish registers
58	1697	2 Dec 1697: Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
59	1698	1698: Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery 1698: Darien Expedition: a disastrous attempt to establish a Scots settlement in Panama 1698: Duties (taxes) on entries in parish registers 4 Jan 1698: Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London destroyed by fire 14 Nov 1698: Eddystone Lighthouse (Henry Winstanley's) first lit; completed 10 days earlier
60	1700	1700: Population in England and Scotland approx 7.5 million
61	1701	1701: Act of Settlement bars Catholics from the British throne 23 May 1701: After being convicted of piracy and murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd hanged in London
62	1702	8 Mar 1702: Anne Stuart becomes Queen 11 Mar 1702: First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
63	1703	4 Aug 1703: British take Gibraltar 24 Nov 1703: Climate: Most violent storms of the millennium cause vast damage across southern England
64	1704	1704: Penal Code enacted 13 Aug 1704: Battle of Blenheim
65	1705	1705: First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen (some say c1710 or 1711) 1705: Isaac Newton knighted (for his work at the Royal Mint)
66	1706	1706: First evening newspaper "The Evening Post" issued in London
67	1707	16 Jan 1707: Union with Scotland 1 May 1707: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament
68	1708	1708: First Jacobite rising in Scotland 1708: Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
69	1709	1709: Second Eddystone lighthouse completed 1709: First Copyright Act pass 1709: Bad harvests throughout Europe 2 Feb 1709: Alexander Selkirk rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe (published in 1719) by Daniel Defoe
70	1710	1710: Tax on Apprentice Indentures introduced
71	1711	1711: Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London 11 Aug 1711: First race meeting at Ascot
72	1712	1712: Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853) 1712: Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham) 1712: Toleration Act passed
73	1713	1713: By this year there are some 3,000 coffee houses in London
74	1714	1714: Longitude Act: prize of 1714: Schism Act, prevents Dissenters from being schoolmasters in England 1714: Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism 1 Aug 1714: Queen Anne Stuart dies
75	1715	1715: Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen') 1 Aug 1715: Riot Act passed
76	1716	1716: The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption 1716: Climate: Thames frozen so solid that a spring tide lifted the ice bodily 13ft without interrupting the frost fair
77	1717	1717: First Masonic Lodge opens in London 1717: Value of the golden guinea fixed at 21 shillings
78	1719	1719: Third abortive Jacobite rising
79	1720	1720: South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley 1720: Manufacturing towns start to increase in population 1720: Wallpaper becomes fashionable in England
80	1721	2 Apr 1721: Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742) 4 Apr 1721—11 Feb 1742: Sir Robert Walpole, 1st UK Prime Minister (Whig) Sir Robert Walpole
81	1722	1722: Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland 1722: Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
82	1723	1723: Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate 1723: The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code 1723: The Workhouse Act or Test
83	1724	1724: Rapid growth of gin drinking in England 1724: Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
84	1726	1726: First circulating library opened in Edinburgh 1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
85	1727	1727: Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland 11 Jun 1727: George I dies
86	1729	9 Nov 1729: Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain
87	1730	1730: Irish famine
88	1731	1731: Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701] 1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
89	1732	7 Dec 1732: Covent Garden Opera House opens
90	1733	1733: Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine 1733: Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed 1733: John Kay invents the flying shuttle, revolutionised the weaving industry
91	1734	1734: Kent's Directory published
92	1737	1737: Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
93	1738	24 May 1738: John Wesley has his conversion experience
94	1739	1739: Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival 7 Apr 1739: Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York 23 Oct 1739: War of Jenkins' Ear starts: Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain
95	1741	1741: Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites
96	1742	1742: England goes to war with Spain 16 Feb 1742—2 Jul 1743: Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington
97	1743	16 Jun 1743: (June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen 27 Aug 1743—6 Mar 1754: Henry Pelham, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Henry Pelham
98	1744	1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
99	1745	1745: Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five') 19 Aug 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands
100	1746	16 Apr 1746: Battle of Culloden
101	1747	1747: Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland 1747: Act for Pacification of the Highlands
102	1749	1749: Windsor, Ontario An agricultural settlement is founded in what is now Windsor, Ontario 1749: Halifax, Canada Halifax is founded 27 Apr 1749: First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park, London)
103	1750	1750: Canada,German German Settlers arrive in Halifax Feb 1750: Series of earthquakes in London and the Home Counties cause panic with predictions of an apocalypse (Feb/Mar) 16 Nov 1750: Original Westminster Bridge opened (replaced in 1862 due to subsidence)
104	1751	1751: Halifax, Printing Bartholomew Green established Canada'a first printing press in Halifax Mar 1751: Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed
105	1752	1752: Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning conductor 1 Jan 1752: Beginning of the year 1752 [Scotland had adopted January as the start of the year in 1600, and some other countries in Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar as early as 1582] 3 Sep 1752: Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and Scotland, making this Sep 14
106	1753	1753: Private collection of Sir Hans Sloane forms the basis of the British Museum 1 May 1753: Publication of "Species Plantarum" by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy
107	1754	1754: Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used 1754: In the General Election, the Cow Inn at Haslemere, Surrey caused a national scandal by subdividing the freehold to create eight votes instead of one 1754: First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India 1754: The French and Indian War 16 Mar 1754—16 Nov 1756: Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
108	1755	1755: Publication of "Dictionary of the English Language" by Dr Samuel Johnson 1755: Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827) 1755: The expulsion of the French Canadians by the British 1755: Canada, Post Office The first Post Office is opened in Halifax 2 Dec 1755: Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
109	1756	15 May 1756: The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins Jun 1756: Black Hole of Calcutta 16 Nov 1756—25 Jun 1757: William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, UK Prime Minister (Whig) William Cavendish Duke of Devonshire
110	1757	1757: The foundation laid for the Empire of India 1757: Canada Henry Evans is the first architect in English Canada 14 Mar 1757: Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca 23 Jun 1757: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassey (Palashi, June 23) 2 Jul 1757—26 May 1762: Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
111	1758	1758: India stops being merely a commercial venture 2 Oct 1758: Canada Parliament First Parliament elected in Canada
112	1759	1759: Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels 15 Jan 1759: British Museum opens to the public in London 16 Oct 1759: Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
113	1760	1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland 5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop 25 Oct 1760: George II dies
114	1761	16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
115	1762	1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba 26 May 1762—8 Apr 1763: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, UK Prime Minister (Tory) John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
116	1763	1763: Treaty of Paris 16 Apr 1763—13 Jul 1765: George Grenville, UK Prime Minister (Whig) George Grenville
117	1764	1764: Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared 1764: Practice of numbering houses introduced to London 1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768) 1764: Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
118	1765	1765: The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe 22 Mar 1765: Stamp Act passed 13 Jul 1765—30 Jul 1766: Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
119	1766	1766: Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK 30 Jul 1766—14 Oct 1768: William Pitt 'The Elder', 1st Earl of Chatham, UK Prime Minister (Whig) William Pitt 'The Elder', 1st Earl of Chatham 5 Dec 1766: Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
120	1767	1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
121	1768	9 Jan 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London 14 Oct 1768—28 Jan 1770: Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton 6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
122	1769	1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production) 1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand 6 Sep 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
123	1770	1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications 28 Jan 1770—22 Mar 1782: Lord Frederick North, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Lord Frederick North 28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay)
124	1771	1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
125	1772	1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company 1772: "Morning Post" first published (until 1937) 14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
126	1774	13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
127	1775	1 Jan 1775: The first Loyalists arrive in Canada 18 Apr 1775: American Revolutionary War 19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775
128	1776	1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population 1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine 4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence 7 Sep 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine
129	1777	1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
130	1779	1779: Marc Isambard Brunel opens the first steamdriven sawmill at Chatham Dockyard in Kent 1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson 1779: First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland 14 Feb 1779: Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii 23 Sep 1779: Naval engagement between Britain and USA off Flamborough Head
131	1780	1780: Male Servants Tax 1780: The English Reform Movement 1780: Fountain pen invented 1780: About this time the word 'Quiz' entered the language, said to have been invented as a wager by Mr Daly, a Dublin theatre manager 1780: Canada Quakers The underground railroad is founded by Quakers who help slaves escape to Canada 4 May 1780: First Derby run at Epsom (some say 2nd June)
132	1782	1782: Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief 1782: James Watt patents his steam engine 27 Mar 1782—1 Jul 1782: Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, UK Prime Minister (Whig) Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham 4 Jul 1782—2 Apr 1783: William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, UK Prime Minister (Whig) William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
133	1783	1783: Duty payable on Parish Register entries (3d per entry 1783: Canada German Pennsylvania Germans immigrate to southwestern Ontario 2 Apr 1783—19 Dec 1783: William Bentinck Duke of Portland, UK Prime Minister (Whig) William Bentinck Duke of Portland 3 Sep 1783: Treaty of Versailles (Britain/US) 3 Nov 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman) 19 Dec 1783—14 Mar 1801: William Pitt 'The Younger', UK Prime Minister (Tory) William Pitt the Younger
134	1784	1784: Pitt's India Act 1784: Wesley breaks with the Church of England 1784: First golf club founded at St Andrews 1784: Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle 2 Aug 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
135	1785	1785: Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2 million) 1785: Northwest Indian War 1 Jan 1785: John Walter publishes first edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal Register for 3 years)
136	1787	1787: MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
137	1788	1788: First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland 1788: Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not enforced) 1788: First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade 1788: King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis 1788: Gibbon completes "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" 26 Jan 1788: First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales (left Portsmouth 13 May 1787) 26 Jan 1788: Australia New South Wales New South Wales colony is founded by the British as a penal colony
138	1789	28 Apr 1789: Mutiny on HMS Bounty 30 Apr 1789—3 Mar 1797: George Washington, 1st President of the United States George Washington 27 Dec 1789: Canada stagecoach Canada's first stage coach service is established between Queenston and Fort Erie
139	1790	1790: Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland 1790: Australian colony Australian colony experiences a food shortage
140	1791	1791: John Bell, printer, abandons the "long s" (the "s" that looks like an "f") 1791: Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain 1791: Canada Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario) are formed 4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer
141	1792	1792: Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) 1792: Boyle's Street Directory published 1792: Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot 1 Oct 1792: Introduction of Money Orders in Britain 1 Dec 1792: King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
142	1793	11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
143	1794	1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties 6 Oct 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason
144	1795	1795: The Famine Year 1795: Foundation of the Orange Order 1795: Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level 1795: Pitt and Grenville introduce "The Gagging Acts" or "Two Bills" (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) 1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
145	1796	1796: Pitt's "Reign of Terror": More treason trials 1796: Legacy Tax on sums over 14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
146	1797	1797: England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments 1797: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore 1797: Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical publications 1797: The first copper pennies were produced ('cartwheels') by application of steam power to the coining press 22 Feb 1797: French invade Fishguard, Wales; last time UK invaded; all captured 2 days later 4 Mar 1797—3 Mar 1801: John Adams, 2nd President of the United States John Adams 18 Jun 1797: Canada Mail The first mail service between Canada and the United States is established
147	1798	1798: First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner 9 Jan 1798: Franco-American War Feb 1798: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die 1 Aug 1798: Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
148	1799	1799: Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York 1799: Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain 9 Jan 1799: Pitt brings in 10% income tax, as a wartime financial measure 12 Jul 1799: 'Combination Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations 15 Jul 1799: "Rosetta Stone" discovered in Egypt, made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
149	1800	1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy 1800: Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) 1800: Royal College of Surgeons founded 1800: Herschel discovers infra-red light 1800: Volta makes first electrical battery 2 Jul 1800: Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
150	1801	1801: Grand Union Canal opens in England 1801: Elgin Marbles brought from Athens to London 1 Jan 1801: Union Jack becomes the official British flag 4 Mar 1801—3 Mar 1809: Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States Thomas Jefferson 10 Mar 1801: First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000. Population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural) 17 Mar 1801—10 May 1804: Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, UK Prime Minister (Tory) Viscount Sidmouth 1 Apr 1801: First Barbary War 24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
151	1802	25 Mar 1802: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands
152	1803	1803: Poaching made a Capital offence in England if capture resisted 1803: Richard Trevithick built another steam carriage and ran it in London as the first self-propelled vehicle in the capital and the first London bus 1803: Semaphore signalling perfected by Admiral Popham 30 Apr 1803: Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon sells French possessions in America to United States 12 May 1803: Peace of Amiens ends 23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to Croydon, horse-drawn)
153	1804	1804: Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed "Australia" 21 Feb 1804: Richard Trevithick runs his railway engine on the Penydarren Railway (9.5 miles from Pen-y-Darren to Abercynon in South Wales) 3 Mar 1804: John Wedgwood (eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood) founds The Royal Horticultural Society 10 May 1804—23 Jan 1806: William Pitt 'The Younger', UK Prime Minister (Tory) William Pitt the Younger 2 Dec 1804: Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French 12 Dec 1804: Spain declares war on Britain
154	1805	1805: London docks opened 21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar 2 Dec 1805: Battle of Austerlitz; Napoleon defeats Austrians and Russians
155	1806	1806: Dartmoor Prison opened (built by French prisoners) 9 Jan 1806: Nelson buried in St Paul's cathedral, London 11 Feb 1806—31 Mar 1807: William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, UK Prime Minister (Whig) William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
156	1807	25 Mar 1807: Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 31 Mar 1807—4 Oct 1809: William Bentinck, Duke of Portland, UK Prime Minister (Whig) William Bentinck, Duke of Portland
157	1808	1808: Gas lighting in London streets 13 Jul 1808: 'Hot Wednesday' 20 Dec 1808: Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy together in Vienna
158	1809	12 Feb 1809: Birth of Charles Darwin 4 Mar 1809—3 Mar 1817: James Madison, 4th President of the United States James Madison 18 Sep 1809: Royal Opera House opens in London 4 Oct 1809—11 May 1812: Spencer Perceval, UK Prime Minister (Tory) Spencer Perceval
159	1810	1810: John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of road metalling
160	1811	5 Feb 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
161	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
162	1813	1813: Ireland: First recorded "12th of July" sectarian riots in Belfast 1813: Jane Austen wrote "Pride and Prejudice"
163	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
164	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
165	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
166	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
167	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
168	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
169	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
170	1821	1821: Faraday publishes "Principles of electro-magnetic rotation" 1821: Constable paints "The Hay Wain" 5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
171	1822	14 Jun 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
172	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')
173	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
174	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
175	1826	1826: Netherlands Malaria is among the 193 333 component Friesian population more than 4,000 fatalities
176	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
177	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)
178	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!)
179	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
180	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)
181	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
182	1833	Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands 29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
183	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
184	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
185	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
186	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
187	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
188	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
189	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
190	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
191	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
192	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
193	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
194	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
195	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
196	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
197	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
198	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
199	1850	9 Jul 1850—3 Mar 1853: Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States Millard Fillmore
200	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
201	1852	1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement 1852: Wells Fargo established in USA 23 Feb 1852—17 Dec 1852: Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, UK Prime Minister (Tory and Whig) Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby 19 Dec 1852—30 Jan 1855: George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen
202	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
203	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)
204	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
205	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)
206	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
207	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
208	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"
209	1860	1860: Slavery official abolition of slavery in the Dutch East Indies 29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
210	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
211	1862	1862: Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks) 20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
212	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
213	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
214	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
215	1866	28 Jun 1866—25 Feb 1868: Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, UK Prime Minister (Tory and Whig) Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
216	1867	1 Jul 1867: The British North America Act takes effect, creating the Canadian Confederation
217	1868	1868: Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia) 27 Feb 1868—1 Dec 1868: Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield 3 Dec 1868—17 Feb 1874: William Ewart Gladstone, UK Prime Minister (Liberal) William Ewart Gladstone
218	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
219	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
220	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
221	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
222	1873	1873: Netherlands Aceh war . On 8 April, the Dutch colonial army lands on the coast of Sumatra
223	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
224	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)
225	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
226	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
227	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
228	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
229	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
230	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
231	1882	1882: Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
232	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
233	1884	31 May 1884: John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes 13 Oct 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
234	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
235	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
236	1887	1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
237	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
238	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
239	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
240	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
241	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
242	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
243	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
244	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
245	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
246	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
247	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)
248	1899	6 Mar 1899: Aspirin first marketed by Bayer 2 Jun 1899: Philippine-American War 11 Oct 1899: Start of Second Boer War 2 Nov 1899: Boxer Rebellion
249	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
250	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
251	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
252	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
253	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)
254	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
255	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
256	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
257	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
258	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)
259	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
260	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
261	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
262	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
263	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
264	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
265	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
266	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
267	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
268	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
269	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
270	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
271	1922	1922: Law of Property Act 1 Jun 1922: Royal Ulster Constabulary founded Oct 1922: 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) 23 Oct 1922—20 May 1923: Andrew Bonar Law, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Andrew Bonar Law
272	1923	1923: Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers 1923: Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way 1923: First American broadcasts heard in Britain 1923: Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina celebrates its 25th jubilee 1 Jan 1923: The majority of the railway companies in Great Britain grouped into four main companies, the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, LMSR 16 Feb 1923: Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun 28 Apr 1923: First Wembley cup final (West Ham 0, Bolton 2) 23 May 1923—16 Jan 1924: Stanley Baldwin, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Stanley Baldwin 2 Aug 1923—3 Mar 1929: Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States Calvin Coolidge 28 Sep 1923: First publication of Radio Times
273	1924	4 Jan 1924: First Labour government in Britain, headed by Ramsay MacDonald 22 Jan 1924—4 Nov 1924: James Ramsay MacDonald, UK Prime Minister (Labour) James Ramsay MacDonald 5 Feb 1924: Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC 31 Mar 1924: British Imperial Airways begins operations (formed by merger of four British airline companies 4 Nov 1924—5 Jun 1929: Stanley Baldwin, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Stanley Baldwin
274	1925	1925: Britain returns to gold standard 18 Jul 1925: Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
275	1926	1926: First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird 1926: Adoption of children is legalised in Britain 1926: Kodak produces 16mm movie film 1926: Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood 21 Apr 1926: Princess Elizabeth born 3 May 1926: General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more) 31 Oct 1926: Death of Harry Houdini
276	1927	1927: Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer) 7 Jan 1927: First transatlantic telephone call 22 Jan 1927: First football broadcast by BBC (Arsenal v Sheffield United at Highbury) 1 May 1927: First cooked meals on a scheduled flight introduced by Imperial Airways from London to Paris 20 May 1927: Lindbergh makes solo flight across the Atlantic, in 33 31 May 1927: Last Ford Model T rolls off assembly line 24 Jul 1927: The Menin Gate war memorial unveiled at Ypres
277	1928	1928: Women over 21 get vote in Britain 26 Apr 1928: Madame Tussauds opens in London 15 Sep 1928: Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
278	1929	1929: Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain 1929: 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: BBC begins experimental TV transmissions 1929: US Stock Market The stock market crash in New York. 1929—1935: James Ramsay MacDonald, UK Prime Minister (Labour) James Ramsay MacDonald 4 Mar 1929—3 Mar 1933: Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States Herbert Clark Hoover
279	1930	1930: First Nazis elected to the German Reichstag 1930: Youth Hostel Association (YHA) founded in Britain 30 Jan 1930: Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany 31 Jan 1930: 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape 6 Mar 1930: Clarence Birdseye first marketed frozen peas 5 Oct 1930: R101 airship disaster
280	1931	1931: Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign states 1931: Collapse of the German banking system; 3,000 banks there close 1931: The unemployment rate in the Netherlands soars to unprecedented heights. 14 Apr 1931: Highway Code first issued 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: National Government formed to deal with economic crisis
281	1932	1932: Great Hunger March of unemployed to London 1932: Moseley founds British Union of Fascists 1932: Cockroft and Walton accelerate particles to disintegrate an atomic nucleus 1932: Sir Thomas Beecham established the London Philharmonic Orchestra 21 May 1932: Amelia Earhart first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic by a female pilot 3 Oct 1932: Iraq gains independence from Britain 3 Oct 1932: 'The Times' introduces 'Times New Roman' typeface
282	1933	1933: ICI scientists discover polythene 1933: Only 6 pennies minted in Britain this year 4 Mar 1933—12 Apr 1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt 12 Nov 1933: First known photos of the 'Loch Ness Monster' taken
283	1934	1934: Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany 18 Jul 1934: King George V opens Mersey Tunnel 26 Sep 1934: RMS Queen Mary launched 30 Nov 1934: First time a steam locomotive travels at 100 mph ('Flying Scotsman')
284	1935	1935: London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme 1935: Land speed record of 301.13 mph by Malcolm Campbell 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: Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas in Britain 1 Jun 1935: Voluntary driving tests introduced in UK 7 Jun 1935—26 May 1937: Stanley Baldwin, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Stanley Baldwin 30 Jul 1935: Penguin paperbacks launched
285	1936	1936: Jet engine first tested 20 Jan 1936: George V dies 5 May 1936: First flight of a Spitfire 24 Jul 1936: 'Speaking clock' service starts in UK 2 Nov 1936: British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's first public TV transmission 30 Nov 1936: Crystal Palace destroyed by fire 5 Dec 1936: Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10)
286	1937	1937: '999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London 1937: Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp 12 Apr 1937: Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft 12 May 1937: Coronation of King George VI 28 May 1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister 29 May 1937—10 May 1940: Neville Chamberlain, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Neville Chamberlain 3 Jun 1937: Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson 4 Dec 1937: 'The Dandy' first published
287	1938	1938: Principle of paid holidays established in Britain 1938: HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar 1938: First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro 12 Mar 1938: Germany invades and annexes Austria 3 Jul 1938: 'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h); still world record for a steam locomotive 27 Sep 1938: Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank 29 Sep 1938: Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich 30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
288	1939	1939: Germany annexes Czechoslovakia 1939: Start of evacuation of women and children from London 1939: Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time 1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland 3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany 6 Sep 1939: First air-raid on Britain 11 Sep 1939: British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France 14 Oct 1939: HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives 7 Dec 1939: 'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain 17 Dec 1939: 'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
289	1940	1940—1945: Netherlands enters World War II with a surprise attack by a huge force from Germany. 1940—1945: In the next five years, Netherlands came to be increasingly under a regime of terror. During the winter of starvation, Netherlands was systematically looted by the Nazis. Tens of thousands of people died from starvation or deprivation. 1 Apr 1940: BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd 10 May 1940—26 Jul 1945: Sir Winston Churchill, UK Prime Minister (Conservative) Sir Winston Churchill 11 May 1940: National Government formed under Churchill 13 May 1940: Germany invades France 27 May 1940: Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun) 25 Jun 1940: Fall of France to Germany 7 Sep 1940: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing 15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF 14 Nov 1940: Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
290	1941	1941: Britain introduces severe rationing 1941: First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle 1941: Bailey invents his portable military bridge 1941: First use of antibiotics 10 May 1941: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland 27 May 1941: 'Bismark' sunk 22 Jun 1941: Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa) 1 Jul 1941: First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain Dec 1941: Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England Dec 1941: 'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America 7 Dec 1941: Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour 7 Dec 1941: World War II 8 Dec 1941: USA enters WWII 24 Dec 1941: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
291	1942	1942: Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann 1942: Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam 30 May 1942: Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne 4 Jun 1942: Battle of Midway 19 Aug 1942: Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops 6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad 3 Oct 1942: First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany 23 Oct 1942: Battle of El Alamein 2 Dec 1942: 'Manhattan Project'
292	1943	1943: Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins 16 May 1943: 'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF 24 Jul 1943: Allies invade Italy
293	1944	6 Apr 1944: PAYE income tax begins 4 Jun 1944: Allies enter Rome 6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy 12 Jun 1944: First V1 flying bombs hit London 8 Sep 1944: First V2 rocket bombs hit London 11 Sep 1944: Allies enter Germany 16 Dec 1944: Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
294	1945	1945: Netherlands Hunger Winter and liberation. 4 Feb 1945: Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin 29 Mar 1945: Last V1 flying bomb attack 12 Apr 1945—20 Jan 1953: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States Harry S. Truman 25 Apr 1945: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops 30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide 8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe) 9 May 1945: Channel Islands liberated 26 Jun 1945: UN Charter signed in San Francisco 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: Labour win UK General Election 26 Jul 1945—26 Oct 1951: Clement Attlee, UK Prime Minister (Labour) Clement Attlee 29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts 6 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima 9 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki 15 Aug 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan) 2 Sep 1945: Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri 24 Oct 1945: United Nations Organisation comes into existence 4 Nov 1945: UNESCO founded
295	1946	1946: Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948) 1946: Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio 1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport 1 Mar 1946: Bank of England nationalised
296	1947	1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year 1947: First British nuclear reactor developed 1947: Netherlands First police action in the Dutch Indies 1 Jan 1947: Coal Mines nationalised 23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded 1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund begins financial operations 1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain 26 Oct 1947: British military occupation ends in Iraq 20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
297	1948	1948: British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports 1948: Transistor radio invented 1948: Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark 1948: Netherlands Second police action in the Dutch Indies 1948: Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina resigns . It will be followed by her daughter Juliana 1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised 5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain 29 Jul 1948: London Olympics begin
298	1949	1949: Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap) 1949: De Haviland produces the Comet 15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing ends in Britain 4 Apr 1949: Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO 3 May 1949: !!Roger Mitchell was born!!