| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1596 | - 1596—1692: Spain - Plague
Spain Plague
|
| 2 | 1668 | - 1668: British East India Company obtains control of Bombay
- 1668: Newton constructs reflecting telescope
|
| 3 | 1669 | - 31 May 1669: Last entry in Pepys's diary
|
| 4 | 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
|
| 5 | 1671 | - 9 May 1671: Thomas Blood caught stealing the Crown Jewels
|
| 6 | 1672 | - 1672: High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland
- 1672: War with Holland (to 1674)
- 1672: Canada
New France expands in to Canada
|
| 7 | 1673 | - 1673: First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
|
| 8 | 1674 | - 10 Nov 1674: Treaty of Westminster
|
| 9 | 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
|
| 10 | 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
|
| 11 | 1677 | - 1677: Lee's "Collection of Names of Merchants in London" published
|
| 12 | 1678 | - 1678: Extension of Test Act to peers
|
| 13 | 1679 | - 1679: Tories first so named
- 27 May 1679: Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England
|
| 14 | 1680 | - 1680: William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post
- 1680: Dodo becomes extinct in Mauritius through over-hunting
|
| 15 | 1681 | - 1681: Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament
- 1681: Oil lighting first used in London streets
|
| 16 | 1682 | - 1682: Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
- 1682: Library of Advocates founded in Edinburgh
- 1682: Halley observes the comet which bears his name
|
| 17 | 1683 | - 1683: Wild boar become extinct in Britain
- 6 Jun 1683: Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford
|
| 18 | 1685 | - 1685: James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701)
- 1685: Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland
- 1685: Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes
|
| 19 | 1686 | - 1686: Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
|
| 20 | 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"
|
| 21 | 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)
|
| 22 | 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
|
| 23 | 1690 | - 20 May 1690: England passes Act of Grace, forgiving Roman Catholic followers of James II
|
| 24 | 1692 | - 1692: Land Tax introduced
- 1692: French intention to invade England came to nothing
- 13 Feb 1692: The massacre of Glencoe
|
| 25 | 1693 | - 4 Aug 1693: Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pierre P
|
| 26 | 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)
|
| 27 | 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
|
| 28 | 1697 | - 2 Dec 1697: Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
|
| 29 | 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
|
| 30 | 1700 | - 1700: Population in England and Scotland approx 7.5 million
|
| 31 | 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
|
| 32 | 1702 | - 8 Mar 1702: Anne Stuart becomes Queen
- 11 Mar 1702: First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
|
| 33 | 1703 | - 4 Aug 1703: British take Gibraltar
- 24 Nov 1703: Climate: Most violent storms of the millennium cause vast damage
across southern England
|
| 34 | 1704 | - 1704: Penal Code enacted
- 13 Aug 1704: Battle of Blenheim
|
| 35 | 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)
|
| 36 | 1706 | - 1706: First evening newspaper "The Evening Post" issued in London
|
| 37 | 1707 | - 16 Jan 1707: Union with Scotland
- 1 May 1707: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament
|
| 38 | 1708 | - 1708: First Jacobite rising in Scotland
- 1708: Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
|
| 39 | 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
|
| 40 | 1710 | - 1710: Tax on Apprentice Indentures introduced
|
| 41 | 1711 | - 1711: Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London
- 11 Aug 1711: First race meeting at Ascot
|
| 42 | 1712 | - 1712: Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853)
- 1712: Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham)
- 1712: Toleration Act passed
|
| 43 | 1713 | - 1713: By this year there are some 3,000 coffee houses in London
|
| 44 | 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
|
| 45 | 1715 | - 1715: Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen')
- 1 Aug 1715: Riot Act passed
|
| 46 | 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
|
| 47 | 1717 | - 1717: First Masonic Lodge opens in London
- 1717: Value of the golden guinea fixed at 21 shillings
|
| 48 | 1719 | - 1719: Third abortive Jacobite rising
|
| 49 | 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
|
| 50 | 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
|
| 51 | 1722 | - 1722: Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland
- 1722: Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
|
| 52 | 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
|
| 53 | 1724 | - 1724: Rapid growth of gin drinking in England
- 1724: Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
|
| 54 | 1726 | - 1726: First circulating library opened in Edinburgh
- 1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
|
| 55 | 1727 | - 1727: Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland
- 11 Jun 1727: George I dies
|
| 56 | 1729 | - 9 Nov 1729: Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain
|
| 57 | 1730 | |
| 58 | 1731 | - 1731: Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701]
- 1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
|
| 59 | 1732 | - 7 Dec 1732: Covent Garden Opera House opens
|
| 60 | 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
|
| 61 | 1734 | - 1734: Kent's Directory published
|
| 62 | 1737 | - 1737: Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship
of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
|
| 63 | 1738 | - 24 May 1738: John Wesley has his conversion experience
|
| 64 | 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
|
| 65 | 1741 | - 1741: Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites
|
| 66 | 1742 | |
| 67 | 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
|
| 68 | 1744 | - 1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
|
| 69 | 1745 | - 1745: Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five')
- 19 Aug 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands
|
| 70 | 1746 | - 16 Apr 1746: Battle of Culloden
|
| 71 | 1747 | - 1747: Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
- 1747: Act for Pacification of the Highlands
|
| 72 | 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)
|
| 73 | 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)
|
| 74 | 1751 | - 1751: Halifax, Printing
Bartholomew Green established Canada'a first printing press in Halifax
- Mar 1751: Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed
|
| 75 | 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
|
| 76 | 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
|
| 77 | 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
|
| 78 | 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
|
| 79 | 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
|
| 80 | 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
|
| 81 | 1758 | - 1758: India stops being merely a commercial venture
- 2 Oct 1758: Canada Parliament
First Parliament elected in Canada
|
| 82 | 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
|
| 83 | 1760 | - 1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
- 5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop
- 25 Oct 1760: George II dies
|
| 84 | 1761 | - 16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
|
| 85 | 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
|
| 86 | 1763 | - 1763: Treaty of Paris
- 16 Apr 1763—13 Jul 1765: George Grenville, UK Prime Minister (Whig)
George Grenville
|
| 87 | 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
|
| 88 | 1765 | |
| 89 | 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
|
| 90 | 1767 | - 1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
|
| 91 | 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
|
| 92 | 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
|
| 93 | 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)
|
| 94 | 1771 | - 1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
|
| 95 | 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
|
| 96 | 1774 | - 13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
|
| 97 | 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
|
| 98 | 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
|
| 99 | 1777 | - 1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
|
| 100 | 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
|
| 101 | 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)
|
| 102 | 1782 | |
| 103 | 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
|
| 104 | 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)
|
| 105 | 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)
|
| 106 | 1787 | - 1787: MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
|
| 107 | 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
|
| 108 | 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
|
| 109 | 1790 | - 1790: Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
- 1790: Australian colony
Australian colony experiences a food shortage
|
| 110 | 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
|
| 111 | 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
|
| 112 | 1793 | - 11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
|
| 113 | 1794 | - 1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties
- 6 Oct 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High
Treason
|
| 114 | 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
|
| 115 | 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
|
| 116 | 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
|
| 117 | 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)
|
| 118 | 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
|
| 119 | 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
|
| 120 | 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
|
| 121 | 1802 | - 25 Mar 1802: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands
|
| 122 | 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)
|
| 123 | 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
|
| 124 | 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
|
| 125 | 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
|
| 126 | 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
|
| 127 | 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
|
| 128 | 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
|
| 129 | 1810 | - 1810: John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of
road metalling
|
| 130 | 1811 | - 5 Feb 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
|
| 131 | 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
|
| 132 | 1813 | - 1813: Ireland: First recorded "12th of July" sectarian riots in Belfast
- 1813: Jane Austen wrote "Pride and Prejudice"
|
| 133 | 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
|
| 134 | 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
|
| 135 | 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
|
| 136 | 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
|
| 137 | 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
|
| 138 | 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
|
| 139 | 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
|
| 140 | 1821 | - 1821: Faraday publishes "Principles of electro-magnetic rotation"
- 1821: Constable paints "The Hay Wain"
- 5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
|
| 141 | 1822 | - 14 Jun 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
|
| 142 | 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')
|
| 143 | 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
|
| 144 | 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
|
| 145 | 1826 | - 1826: Netherlands
Malaria is among the 193 333 component Friesian population more than 4,000 fatalities
|
| 146 | 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
|
| 147 | 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)
|
| 148 | 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!)
|
| 149 | 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
|
| 150 | 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)
|
| 151 | 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
|
| 152 | 1833 | - Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands
- 29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
|
| 153 | 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
|
| 154 | 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
|
| 155 | 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
|
| 156 | 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
|
| 157 | 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
|
| 158 | 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
|
| 159 | 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
|
| 160 | 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
|
| 161 | 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
|
| 162 | 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
|
| 163 | 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
|
Cal 1800 - 1844 (~ 44 years)
