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George B. Simpson

George B. Simpson

Male 1871 - 1957  (86 years)


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   Date  Event(s)
1 1383 
  • 1383—99 9999: Regular series of wills starts in Prerogative Court of Canterbury
2 1763 
  • 1763—1884: POST-DEPORTATION PERIOD
3 1817 
  • 1817—1898: Indian Wars
4 1832 
  • 4 Jan 1832—1937: Immigrants quarantined at Grosse Isle
    Canada's immigrant quarantine station opens at Grosse Isle
5 1837 
  • 6 1837—22 Jan 1901: Victoria
    House of Hanover: Daughter of Edward, 4th son of George III; married (1840) Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who became Prince Consort
6 1850 
  • 6 Sep 1850—3 Jan 1896: Utah Territory Organized
  • 9 Sep 1850—5 Jan 1912: New Mexico Territory Organized
7 1853 
  • 3 Feb 1853—10 Nov 1889: Washington Territory Organized
8 1861 
  • 2 Feb 1861—1 Nov 1889: North Dakota Territory Organized
  • 3 Feb 1861—1 Nov 1889: South Dakota Territory Organized
  • 2 1861—31 Jul 1876: Colorado Territory Organized
9 1863 
  • 3 Mar 1863—2 Jul 1890: Idaho Territory Organized
  • 2 1863—13 Feb 1912: Arizona Territory Organized
10 1864 
  • 5 1864—7 Nov 1889: Montana Territory Organized
11 1868 
  • 7 1868—9 Jul 1890: Wyoming Territory Organized
12 1869 
13 1871 
  • 4 Feb 1871—2 Apr 1871: Dominion of Canada Census
    The first national census after Confederation includes Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia - counts 3,689,257
  • 27 Mar 1871—27 Mar 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
  • 29 Mar 1871—29 Mar 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
  • 29 Jun 1871—29 Jun 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
  • 7 1871—20 Jul 1871: British Columbia joins Canada
    British Columbia becomes Canada's sixth province
14 1872 
  • 1872—1872: Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
  • 1872—1872: Licensing hours introduced
  • 1872—1872: Chinese and First Nations banned from voting in BC
    The British Columbia Qualifications of Voters Act denies the Chinese and First Nations peoples the right to vote
  • 1872—1872: Dominion Land Act
    Prairies opened for settlement by offer of 160 acres of land to each settler, resident for 3 years and paying a $10 filing fee
  • 1872—1872: A.M. Ward issues the first mail-order catalog
  • 1872—1872: J.S. Risdon patents the metal windmill
  • 4 Dec 1872—4 Dec 1872: American ship 'Mary Celeste' is found abandoned by the British brig 'Dei Gratia' in the Atlantic Ocean
15 1873 
  • 1873—1873: North-West Mounted Police created
    "Mounties" formed from civilians to patrol the west
  • 1873—1873: Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire
  • 7 Jan 1873—1 Jul 1873: Prince Edward Island joins Canada
    Prince Edward Island becomes Canada's seventh province
  • 5 1873—13 May 1873: Nova Scotia coal mine explosion
    60 men die in Westville, Nova Scotia when a coal mine is destroyed by fire and explosion
  • 8 1873—25 Aug 1873: The Great Nova Scotia Cyclone
    500 killed by cyclone
16 1874 
  • 1874—1874: Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
  • 1874—1874: Voting rights extended
    male British subjects 21 years old and over, with annual income of $400 and 'enfranchised Indians' given the right to vote
  • 1874—1874: American, C. Goodyear, Jr. invents the shoe welt stitcher
  • 5 Apr 1874—5 Apr 1874: Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world - features of it later copied in Central Park, New York
17 1875 
  • 1875—1875: London's main sewage system completed
  • 1875—1875: Supreme Court of Canada established
  • 1875—1875: Western Indian treaties signed
  • 1 Jan 1875—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)
18 1876 
  • 1876—1876: Nicolaus August Otto invents the first practical four-stroke internal combustion engine
  • 1876—1876: Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
  • 1876—1876: Melville Bissell patents the carpet sweeper
  • 8 Jan 1876—1 Aug 1876: Colorado
    38th State
  • 14 Feb 1876—14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
19 1877 
20 1878 
  • 1878—1878: CID established at New Scotland Yard
  • 1878—1878: Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
  • 1878—1878: Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph
  • 1878—1878: Sir Joseph Wilson Swan was the first person to invent a practical and longer-lasting electic lightbulb
21 1879 
  • 18 Sep 1879—18 Sep 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
22 1880 
  • 1880—1880: Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria
  • 1880—1880: Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
  • 1880—7 Nov 1885: Chinese build railroad
    The construction of the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway employs thousands of Chinese workers
  • 1880—1880: Englishmen, John Milne invents the modern seismograph
  • 1880—1880: The British Perforated Paper Company invents a form of toilet paper
  • 2 Aug 1880—2 Aug 1880: Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
23 1881 
  • 1881—1881: Postal Orders introduced
  • 1881—1881: Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy
  • 1881—1881: First Acadian Convention at Memramcook
    First Acadian Convention at Memramcook. The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother is voted as the Acadian National holiday and is celebrated each year on August 15th.
  • 1881—1881: David Houston patents the roll film for cameras
  • 1881—1881: Alexander Graham Bell invents the first crude metal detector
  • 1881—1881: Edward Leveaux patents the automatic player piano
  • 4 Mar 1881—19 Sep 1881: James A. Garfield
    James A. Garfield U.S. Presidency James A. Garfield U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1881—19 Sep 1881: James Garfield
    James Garfield wounded by assassin's bullet on 3 Jul 1881 and dies 19 Sep 1881
  • 4 Apr 1881—4 Apr 1881: Census of Canada
    counts 4,324,810 individuals
  • Sep 1881—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—4 Mar 1885: Chester A. Arthur
    Chester A. Arthur U.S. Presidency Chester A. Arthur U.S. Presidency
  • 26 Oct 1881—26 Oct 1881: Gunfight at OK Corral
  • 9 1881—4 Mar 1885: Chester A. Arthur
    Chester A. Arthur, vice president under James Garfield, sworn in as president upon the death of Garfield
24 1882 
  • 1882—1882: Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
  • 1882—1882: Home children arrive
    First shipload of sponsored immigrant children arrive in Canada (Dr. Barnardo Homes etc.)
  • 1882—1882: Northwest Territories divided
    Athabasca, Assiniboia, Alberta and Saskatchewan created
25 1883 
  • 1883—1883: Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France
  • 24 May 1883—24 May 1883: Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River)
  • 1 Aug 1883—1 Aug 1883: Parcel post starts in Britain
  • 27 Aug 1883—27 Aug 1883: Eruption of Krakatoa near Java - 30,000 killed by tidal wave
26 1884 
  • 1884—1884: Second Acadian Convention at Miscouche
    Second Acadian Convention at Miscouche on Prince Edward Island. The tri-color with gold star is approved as the Acadian flag and the hymn Ave Maris Stella becomes the national anthem of the Acadians.
  • 1884—1884: Voting rights extended
    Spinsters and widows permitted to vote in municipal elections
  • 1884—1884: James Ritty invents the first working, mechanical cash register
  • 1884—1884: Charles Parson patents the steam turbine
  • 1884—1884: Lewis Edson Waterman invents the first practical fountain pen
  • 1884—1884: George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film
  • 1884—1884: Frenchmen, H. de Chardonnet invents rayon
  • 31 May 1884—31 May 1884: John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes
  • 13 Oct 1884—13 Oct 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
27 1885 
  • 1885—1885: Canadian Pacific Railway completed
  • 1885—1885: Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle
  • 1885—1885: Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
  • 1885—1885: Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car
  • 1885—1885: Karl Benz invents the first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine
  • 1885—1885: Harim Maxim invents the machine gun
  • 1885—1885: Gottlieb Daimler invents the first gas-engined motorcycle
  • Mar 1885—Mar 1885: First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking
  • 4 Mar 1885—4 Mar 1889: Grover Cleveland
    Grover Cleveland U.S. Presidency Grover Cleveland U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1885—4 Mar 1889: Grover Cleveland
  • 11 Jul 1885—7 Nov 1885: Canadian Pacific Railway Completed
    'Here on November 7, 1885, a plain iron spike welded East to West', says a plaque in Craigellachie, Eagle Pass, BC
  • 5 Sep 1885—5 Sep 1885: The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel
  • 29 Sep 1885—29 Sep 1885: First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
  • 11 1885—16 Nov 1885: Louis Riel hanged
    Accused of treason for leading the Métis resistance, Louis Riel's hanging in Regina further degrades English-French relations
28 1886 
  • 1886—1886: Gottlieb Daimler builds the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle
  • 1886—1886: John Pemberton invents Coca Cola
  • 1886—1886: Josephine Cochrane invents the dishwasher
  • 20 Jan 1886—20 Jan 1886: Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales
  • May 1886—May 1886: Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named 'Coca-Cola'
  • 29 May 1886—29 May 1886: Putney Bridge opens in London
29 1887 
  • 1887—1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
  • 1887—1887: German, Heinrich Hertz invents radar
  • 1887—1887: Rowell Hodge patents barbed wire
  • 1887—1887: Emile Berliner invents the gramophone
  • 1887—1887: F.E. Muller and Adolph Fick invent the first wearable contact lenses
  • 5 Mar 1887—3 May 1887: Coal mine explosion in Nanaimo, BC
    148 killed in mine explosion
30 1888 
  • 1888—1888: First box camera - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film
  • 1888—1888: Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre
  • 1888—1888: County Councils set up in Britain
  • 1888—1888: Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year
  • 1888—1888: Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez Canal in war and peace
  • 1888—1888: Voting rights extended
    All adult male British subjects except unenfranchised Indians living on reserves are permitted to vote
  • 1888—1888: John Boyd Dunlop patents a commercially successful pneumatic tire
  • 1888—1888: Nikola Tesla invents the AC motor and transformer
  • 1888—1888: Marvin Stone patents the spiral winding process to manufacture the first paper drinking straws
  • 20 Mar 1888—20 Mar 1888: Football League formed
31 1889 
  • 1889—1889: Dock Strike - docker's won their 'Docker's Tanner' 6 old pennies
  • 1889—1889: Celluloid film produced
  • 1889—1889: Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act
    Ontario's western boundary extended to west of Lake Superior
  • 1889—1889: Sir James Dewar and Sir Frederick Abel co-invent Cordite - a type of smokeless gunpowder
  • 1889—1889: Joshua Pusey invents the matchbook
  • 11 Feb 1889—2 Nov 1889: South Dakota
    40th State
  • 11 Feb 1889—2 Nov 1889: North Dakota
    39th State
  • 4 Mar 1889—4 Mar 1893: Benjamin Harrison
    Benjamin Harrison U.S. Presidency Benjamin Harrison U.S. Presidency
  • 31 Mar 1889—31 Mar 1889: Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
  • 3 Apr 1889—4 Mar 1893: Benjamin Harrison
  • 14 May 1889—14 May 1889: Children's charity NSPCC launched in London
  • 3 Jun 1889—3 Jun 1889: Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast
  • 11 Aug 1889—8 Nov 1889: Montana
    41st State
  • 28 Sep 1889—28 Sep 1889: Length of a metre defined
  • 11 Nov 1889—11 Nov 1889: Washington
    42nd State
32 1890 
  • 5 Feb 1890—15 Nov 1907: Indian Territory Organized
    The most of the area that is present day Oklahoma was divided into Oklahoma and Indian Territory
  • 5 Feb 1890—15 Nov 1907: Oklahoma Territory Organized
    The most of the area that is present day Oklahoma was divided into Oklahoma and Indian Territory
  • 4 Mar 1890—4 Mar 1890: Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
  • 7 Mar 1890—3 Jul 1890: Idaho
    43rd State
  • 7 Oct 1890—10 Jul 1890: Wyoming
    44th State
  • 4 Nov 1890—4 Nov 1890: City & South London Railway opens - London's first deep-level tube railway and first major railway in the world to use electric traction
33 1891 
  • 1891—1891: Primary education made free and compulsory
  • 1891—1891: First Children's Aid Society is established in Toronto
  • 1891—1891: Jesse W. Reno invents the escalator
  • 18 Mar 1891—18 Mar 1891: First telephone link between London & Paris
  • 4 May 1891—4 May 1891: Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893)
  • 4 Jun 1891—6 Apr 1891: Census of Canada
    counts 4,833,239 individuals
  • 24 Aug 1891—24 Aug 1891: Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
34 1892 
  • 1892—1892: Electric oven invented
  • 1892—1892: Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18's
  • 1892—1892: Sir James Dewar invents the Dewar flask or vacuum flask
  • 1892—1892: Rudolf Diesel invents the diesel-fueled internal combustion engine
  • 6 Oct 1892—6 Oct 1892: Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
35 1893 
  • 1893—1893: Zip fastener invented
  • 1893—1893: Henry Ford's first car
  • 1893—1893: American, W.L. Judson invents the zipper
  • 1893—1893: Edward Goodrich Acheson invents carborundum
  • 4 Mar 1893—4 Mar 1897: Grover Cleveland
    Grover Cleveland U.S. Presidency Grover Cleveland U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1893—4 Mar 1897: Grover Cleveland
36 1894 
  • 1894—1894: Picture postcard introduced in Britain
  • 1 Jan 1894—1 Jan 1894: Manchester Ship Canal opens
  • 1 Mar 1894—1 Mar 1894: Blackpool Tower opens
  • 30 Jun 1894—30 Jun 1894: Tower Bridge first opens
  • 2 Aug 1894—2 Aug 1894: Death duties first introduced in Britain
37 1895 
  • 1895—1895: Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London
  • 1895—1895: Lumiere Brothers using their Cinematographe are the first to present a projected motion picture to an audience of more that one
  • 1895—1895: Lumiere Brothers invent a portable motion-picture camera, film processing unit and projector called the Cinematographe
  • 12 Jan 1895—12 Jan 1895: The National Trust founded in England
  • 24 May 1895—24 May 1895: Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted
  • 28 May 1895—28 May 1895: Oscar Wilde sent to prison
  • 12 Jul 1895—12 Jul 1895: First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
  • 17 Oct 1895—17 Oct 1895: First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
  • Nov 1895—Nov 1895: X-rays discovered
38 1896 
  • 1896—1896: Gold discovered in Yukon
    Gold found in Bonanza Creek, Klondike River, Yukon
  • 1896—1896: American, H. O'Sullivan invents the rubber heel
  • 1 Apr 1896—4 Jan 1896: Utah
    45th State
  • 5 Apr 1896—5 Apr 1896: First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
  • 2 Jun 1896—2 Jun 1896: Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
39 1897 
  • 1897—1897: Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
  • 4 Mar 1897—14 Sep 1901: William McKinley
    William McKinley U.S. Presidency William McKinley U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1897—14 Sep 1901: William McKinley
    William McKinley dies in Buffalo, NY.
40 1898 
  • 1898—1898: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founded
  • 1898—1898: Zeppelin builds airship
  • 1898—1898: First photograph using artificial light
  • 1898—1898: Klondike gold rush
    Gold rush along the upper Yukon River
  • 1898—1898: Yukon gold rush
  • 1898—1898: Rudolf Diesel receives patent #608,845 for an "internal combustion engine" the Diesel engine
  • 1898—1898: Edwin Prescott patents the roller coaster
  • 17 Mar 1898—17 Mar 1898: USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine
  • 25 Apr 1898—12 Aug 1898: Spanish-American War
    Spanish-American War Spanish-American War
  • 27 Jun 1898—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)
  • 7 Jul 1898—20 Aug 1959: Territory of Hawaii was Oraganized
  • 6 1898—13 Jun 1898: The Yukon joins Canada
    Yukon becomes an entity separate from the North-West Territories
  • 4 1898—10 Dec 1898: Spanish-American War
    United States vs Spain
41 1899 
  • 1899—1899: J.S. Thurman patents the motor-driven vacuum cleaner
  • 1899—1899: I.R. Johnson patents the bicycle frame
  • 6 Mar 1899—6 Mar 1899: Aspirin first marketed by Bayer
  • 2 Jun 1899—4 Jul 1902: Philippine-American War
    Philippine-American War Philippine-American War
  • 11 Oct 1899—11 Oct 1899: Start of Second Boer War
  • 2 Nov 1899—7 Sep 1901: Boxer Rebellion
    Boxer Rebellion Boxer Rebellion
  • 10 1899—30 Oct 1899: Boer War
    Canadian troops sent overseas for the first time to fight in the Boer War, but this is opposed by Quebec
42 1900 
  • 1900—1900: School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years
  • 1900—1900: Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified
  • 1900—1900: Escalator shown at Paris exhibition
  • 1900—1900: The zeppelin invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
  • 1900—1900: Charles Seeberger redesigned Jesse Reno's escalator and invented the modern escalator
  • 9 Feb 1900—9 Feb 1900: Davis Cup tennis competition established
  • 27 Feb 1900—27 Feb 1900: Labour Party formed
43 1901 
44 1902 
  • 1902—1902: Marie Curie discovers radioactivity
  • 1902—1902: Cremation Act - cremation can only take place at officially recognised establishments, and with two death certificates issued
  • 1902—1902: Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
  • 1902—1902: Willis Carrier invents the air conditioner
  • 1902—1902: French physicist George Claude invents neon light
  • 1902—1902: The lie detector or polygraph machine is invented by James Mackenzie
  • 1902—1902: The birth of the Teddy Bear
  • 24 May 1902—24 May 1902: Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated
  • 31 May 1902—31 May 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War
  • 9 Aug 1902—9 Aug 1902: Coronation of Edward VII
45 1903 
  • 1903—1903: Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst
  • 1903—1903: Henry Ford sets up his motor company
  • 1903—1903: Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain
  • 1903—1903: Canada loses the Alaska Boundary Dispute to the USA
  • 1903—1903: Edward Binney and Harold Smith co-invent crayons
  • 1903—1903: Bottle-making machinery invented by Michael J. Owens
  • 1903—1903: The Wright brothers invent the first gas motored and manned airplane
  • 1903—1903: Mary Anderson invents windshield wipers
  • 1903—1903: William Coolidge invents ductile tungsten used in lightbulbs
  • 14 Dec 1903—14 Dec 1903: First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
  • 4 1903—29 Apr 1903: Frank Slide, Alberta
    Turtle Mountain landslide, caused by mining, buries town and population of Frank in Alberta
46 1904 
  • 1904—1904: Leeds University established
  • 1904—1904: Teabags invented by Thomas Suillivan
  • 1904—1904: Benjamin Holt invents a tractor
  • 1904—1904: John A Fleming invents a vacuum diode or Fleming valve
  • 8 Apr 1904—8 Apr 1904: France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale
  • 4 May 1904—4 May 1904: America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French (completed 1914)
47 1905 
  • 1905—1905: Germany lays down the first Dreadnought battleship
  • 1905—1905: Aliens Act in Britain: Home Office controls immigration
  • 1905—1905: The title 'Prime Minister' noted in a royal warrant for the first time - placed the Prime Minister in order of precedence in Britain immediately after the Archbishop of York
  • 1905—1905: Albert Einstein published the Theory of Relativity and made famous the equation, E = mc2
  • 1905—1905: Mary Anderson receives a patent for windshield wipers
  • 9 Jan 1905—1 Sep 1905: Alberta and Saskatchewan join Canada
    Alberta and Saskatchewan become Canada's eighth and ninth provinces
  • 11 Apr 1905—11 Apr 1905: Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
48 1906 
  • 1906—1906: Introduction of free school meals for poor children
  • 1906—1906: Amundsen traverses the North-West Passage
  • 1906—1906: William Kellogg invents Cornflakes
  • 1906—1906: Lewis Nixon invents the first sonar like device
  • 1906—1906: Lee Deforest invents electronic amplifying tube (triode)
  • 10 Feb 1906—10 Feb 1906: Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship
  • 15 Mar 1906—15 Mar 1906: Rolls-Royce Ltd registered
  • 26 May 1906—26 May 1906: Vauxhall Bridge opened in London
  • 20 Sep 1906—20 Sep 1906: Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
  • 6 1906—24 Jun 1906: Census of Northwest Provinces
    Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Quinquennial censuses instituted
49 1907 
  • 1907—1907: Lumiere develops a process for colour photography
  • 1907—1907: First airship flies over London
  • 1907—1907: New Zealand becomes a Dominion
  • 1907—1907: Imperial College, London, is established
  • 1907—1907: Leo Baekeland invents the first synthetic plastic called Bakelite
  • 1907—1907: Color photography invented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere
  • 1907—1907: The very first piloted helicopter was invented by Paul Cornu
  • Jul 1907—Jul 1907: Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated
  • 1 Aug 1907—1 Aug 1907: Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
  • 9 Nov 1907—9 Nov 1907: The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
  • 11 1907—16 Nov 1907: Oklahoma
    46th State. The area that had been Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were united to become one state.
50 1908 
  • 1908—1908: Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement
  • 1908—1908: Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain
  • 1908—1908: Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day
  • 1908—1908: Border Ports established
    Ports of entry established for customs and immigration
  • 1908—1908: The gyrocompass invented by Elmer A. Sperry
  • 1908—1908: Cellophane invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger
  • 1908—1908: Model T first sold
  • 1908—1908: J W Geiger and W Müller invent the geiger counter
  • 1908—1908: Fritz Haber invents the Haber Process for making artificial nitrates
  • 1 Jul 1908—1 Jul 1908: SOS became effective as an international signal of distress
  • 12 Aug 1908—12 Aug 1908: First 'Model T' Ford made
51 1909 
52 1910 
  • 1910—1910: Halley's comet reappears
  • 1910—1910: Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe
  • 1910—1910: Madame Curie isolates radium
  • 1910—1910: Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville
  • 1910—1910: Constitutional crisis in Britain
  • 1910—1910: Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain
  • 1910—1910: Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture
  • 1910—1910: Georges Claude displayed the first neon lamp to the public on December 11, 1910, in Paris
  • 6 May 1910—6 May 1910: Edward VII dies - George V becomes King
  • 5 Jun 1910—20 Jan 1936: George V
    House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of Edward VII, married Princess Mary of Teck. Accession, Jan 20, abdication, Dec 10.
53 1911 
  • 1911—1911: Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
  • 1911—1911: Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
  • 1911—1911: First British Official Secrets Act
  • 1911—1911: British MPs receive a salary
  • 1911—1911: Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
  • 1911—1911: Charles Franklin Kettering invents the first automobile electrical ignition system
  • 6 Jan 1911—1 Jun 1911: Census of Canada
    Census of 9 Provinces and 2 Territories counts 7,206,643 individuals
  • 2 Apr 1911—2 Apr 1911: Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
  • 22 Jun 1911—22 Jun 1911: Coronation of George V
  • 14 Dec 1911—14 Dec 1911: National Insurance introduced in Britain
54 1912 
  • 1912—1912: Britain nationalises the telephone system
  • 1912—1912: Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' - hoax, exposed in 1953
  • 1912—1912: Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
  • 1912—1912: Motorized movie cameras invented, replaced hand-cranked cameras
  • 1912—1912: The first tank patented by Australian inventor De La Mole
  • 1912—1912: Clarence Crane created Life Savers candy in 1912
  • 18 Jan 1912—18 Jan 1912: Captain Scott's last expedition - he and his team reach the south pole on Jan 18th; all die on the way back, their bodies found in November
  • 14 Apr 1912—14 Apr 1912: The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage - loss of 1,513 lives
  • 13 May 1912—13 May 1912: Royal Flying Corps (later the RAF) founded in Britain
  • 1 Jun 1912—6 Jan 1912: New Mexico
    47th State
  • 5 1912—13 May 1912: 17th Amendment passed by Congress
  • 2 1912—14 Feb 1912: Arizona
    48th State
  • 8 1912—2 Jan 1959: Alaska Territory Organized
  • 6 1912—30 Jun 1912: Saskatchewan tornado
    The worst tornado in Canadian history claims 28 lives in Regina
55 1913 
  • 1913—1913: Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
  • 1913—1913: Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
  • 1913—1913: Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political purposes
  • 1913—1913: Suffragette demonstrations in London - Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned
  • 1913—1913: Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords - threat of civil war in Ireland - formation of Ulster Volunteers to oppose Home Rule
  • 1913—1913: The crossword puzzle invented by Arthur Wynne
  • 1913—1913: The Merck Chemical Company patented, what is now know as, ecstasy
  • 1913—1913: Mary Phelps Jacob invents the bra
  • 1913—1913: Gideon Sundback invents the modern zipper
  • 2 Mar 1913—3 Feb 1913: 16th Amendment ratified
  • 4 Mar 1913—4 Mar 1921: Woodrow Wilson
    Woodrow Wilson U.S. Presidency Woodrow Wilson U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1913—3 Mar 1921: Woodrow Wilson
  • 4 Jun 1913—4 Jun 1913: Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and dies
  • 4 Aug 1913—8 Apr 1913: 17th Amendment ratified
56 1914 
  • 1914—1914: Chaplin and De Mille make their first films
  • 1914—1914: Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster to be decided after the War
  • 1914—1918: World War One
    Canadian forces fight in Europe during World War 1
  • 1914—1914: Garrett A. Morgan invents the Morgan gas mask
  • 6 Jan 1914—11 Nov 1918: World War I
    Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary vs. Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia. The United States joined on the side of the Triple Entente in 1917.
  • 28 Jun 1914—28 Jun 1914: Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
  • 4 Aug 1914—4 Aug 1914: Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason
  • 5 Aug 1914—5 Aug 1914: British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph links to the outside world
  • 15 Aug 1914—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—Oct 1914: Battle of Ypres - beginning of trench warfare on western front
  • 27 Nov 1914—27 Nov 1914: First policewoman goes on duty in Britain
  • 16 Dec 1914—16 Dec 1914: German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
  • 6 1914—19 Jun 1914: Alberta coal mine disaster
    The worst coal mining disaster in Canadian history claims 189 lives in Hillcrest
  • 5 1914—30 May 1914: Empress of Ireland sinks
    1,014 lives are lost when ship sinks in Gulf of St. Lawrence
57 1915 
  • 1915—1915: Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
  • 1915—1915: First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
  • 1915—1915: A new constitution establishes a two-chamber parliament elected by universal suffrage
  • 1915—1915: Eugene Sullivan and William Taylor co-invented Pyrex in New York City
  • 19 Jan 1915—19 Jan 1915: First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia - four killed
  • Feb 1915—Feb 1915: Submarine blockade of Britain starts
  • Apr 1915—Apr 1915: Second Battle of Ypres - poison gas used for first time
  • 25 Apr 1915—25 Apr 1915: Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916)
  • 7 May 1915—7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland - 1,198 died
  • 16 May 1915—16 May 1915: First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll (aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
58 1916 
  • 1916—1916: Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
  • 1916—1916: Women get vote in Manitoba
    Manitoba is the first province to give women the right to vote
  • 1916—1916: Radios tuners invented, that received different stations
  • 1916—1916: Stainless steel invented by Henry Brearly
  • Feb 1916—Feb 1916: Battle of Verdun - appalling losses on both sides, stalemate continues
  • 24 Apr 1916—24 Apr 1916: Easter Rising in Ireland - after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs independence
  • 21 May 1916—21 May 1916: First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
  • 31 May 1916—31 May 1916: Battle of Jutland - only major naval battle between the British and German fleets
  • 5 Jun 1916—5 Jun 1916: Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener
  • 3 Aug 1916—3 Aug 1916: Sir Roger Casement hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason
  • 15 Sep 1916—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—7 Dec 1916: Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
  • 6 1916—29 Jun 1916: Ontario forest fire
    A forest fire in northern Ontario claims 233 lives
59 1917 
  • 1917—1917: Ministry of Labour is established in Britain
  • 1917—1917: Battle of Cambrai - first use of massed tanks, but effect more psychological than actual
  • 1917—1917: Income Tax introduced
  • 1917—1917: Gideon Sundback patented the modern zipper (not the first zipper)
  • Feb 1917—Feb 1917: February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
  • 6 Apr 1917—11 Nov 1918: World War I
    World War I World War I
  • 16 Apr 1917—16 Apr 1917: Lenin returns to Russia after exile
  • 17 Apr 1917—17 Apr 1917: USA declares war on Germany
  • 26 May 1917—26 May 1917: George V changes surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor (Royal proclamation on 17 July)
  • 12 Jun 1917—6 Dec 1917: The Halifax Explosion
    Canada's worst single disaster, claims 1600 lives, injures 9000 and leaves 6000 homeless in Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • Jul 1917—Jul 1917: Battle of Passchendaele - little gained by either side (Jul-Nov)
  • 4 Sep 1917—12 Apr 1917: WW1 - Vimy Ridge
    Canadian Corps take Vimy Ridge in France but 3,600 die and another 5,000 wounded
  • 7 Nov 1917—7 Nov 1917: 'October' Revolution in Russia - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government; Lenin becomes Chief Commissar
  • 6 Dec 1917—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—9 Dec 1917: British forces capture Jerusalem
  • 12 1917—17 Dec 1917: 18th Amendment passed by Congress
60 1918 
  • 1918—1918: War of Independence in Ireland
  • 1918—1918: Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
  • 1918—1918: The superheterodyne radio circuit invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong
  • 1918—1918: Charles Jung invented fortune cookies
  • 18 Jan 1918—18 Jan 1918: Bentley Motors founded
  • 8 Mar 1918—8 Mar 1918: Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic
  • Jul 1918—Jul 1918: Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive in WW1 (Jul-Aug)
  • 1 Oct 1918—1 Oct 1918: Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus
  • 11 Nov 1918—11 Nov 1918: Armistice signed
  • Dec 1918—Dec 1918: First woman elected to House of Commons, Countess Markiewicz as a Sinn Fein member refused to take her seat
61 1919 
  • 1919—1919: Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
  • 1919—1919: Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
  • 1919—1919: Soldier Settlement Act
    Land grants awarded to 25,000 veteran soldiers
  • 1919—1919: The pop-up toaster invented by Charles Strite
  • 1919—1919: Short-wave radio invented
  • 1919—1919: The flip-flop circuit invented
  • 1919—1919: The arc welder invented
  • 6 Apr 1919—4 Jun 1919: 19th Amendment passed by Congress
  • 15 Jun 1919—15 Jun 1919: Alcock and Brown complete first nonstop flight across the Atlantic
  • 28 Jun 1919—28 Jun 1919: Treaty of Versailles signed
  • 1 1919—16 Jan 1919: 18th Amendment ratified
62 1920 
  • 1920—1920: Thompson patents his machine gun (Tommy gun)
  • 1920—1920: Marconi opens a radio broadcasting station in Britain
  • 1920—1920: Regular cross-channel air service starts
  • 1920—1920: After a referendum, northern Schleswig is returned to Denmark
  • 1920—1920: The tommy gun patented by John T Thompson
  • 1920—1920: The Band-Aid (pronounced 'ban-'dade) invented by Earle Dickson
  • Feb 1920—Feb 1920: First roadside petrol filling station in UK - opened by the Automobile Association at Aldermaston on the Bath Road
  • 8 1920—18 Aug 1920: 19th Amendment ratified
63 1921 
  • 1921—1921: First birth control clinic
  • 1921—1921: Insulin discovery announced
  • 1921—1921: Railway Act in Britain amalgamates companies - only four remained
  • 1921—1921: Newfoundland census
    Census taken in Newfoundland
  • 1921—1921: Artificial life begins -- the first robot built
  • 1921—1921: John Larson invented the lie detector
  • 6 Jan 1921—1 Jun 1921: Census of Canada
    counts 8,787,949 individuals
  • 4 Mar 1921—2 Aug 1923: Warren G. Harding
    Warren G. Harding U.S. Presidency Warren G. Harding U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1921—2 Aug 1921: Warren Harding
    Warren Harding dies of an embolism in San Francisco. He had taken ill on 31 Jul 1921
  • 19 Jun 1921—19 Jun 1921: Census: Population - England and Wales: 37.9 Million; Scotland: 4.9 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
  • 6 Dec 1921—6 Dec 1921: Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London, leading to the formation of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland
  • 11 1921—21 Nov 1921: Canada's Coat of Arms proclaimed by George V
64 1922 
  • 1922—1922: Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended
  • 1922—1922: Insulin invented by Sir Frederick Grant Banting
  • 1922—1922: The first 3-D movie (spectacles with one red and one green lens) is released
  • 1 Jun 1922—1 Jun 1922: Royal Ulster Constabulary founded
  • Oct 1922—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)
65 1923 
  • 1923—1923: First American broadcasts heard in Britain
  • 1923—1923: Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way
  • 1923—1923: Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
  • 1923—1923: Garrett A. Morgan invents a traffic signal
  • 1923—1923: The television or iconoscope (cathode-ray tube) invented by Vladimir Kosma Zworykin
  • 1923—1923: John Harwood invented the self-winding watch
  • 1923—1923: Clarence Birdseye invents frozen food
  • 1 Jan 1923—1 Jan 1923: The majority of the railway companies in Great Britain grouped into four main companies, the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, LMSR - lasted until nationalisation in 1948
  • 16 Feb 1923—16 Feb 1923: Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun
  • 8 Mar 1923—4 Mar 1929: Calvin Coolidge
    Calvin Coolidge, vice president under Warren Harding, sworn in as president the day after Harding dies
  • 28 Apr 1923—28 Apr 1923: First Wembley cup final (West Ham 0, Bolton 2) - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles ' popular song of the time became the West Ham anthem
  • 2 Aug 1923—4 Mar 1929: Calvin Coolidge
    Calvin Coolidge U.S. Presidency Calvin Coolidge U.S. Presidency
  • 28 Sep 1923—28 Sep 1923: First publication of Radio Times
66 1924 
  • 1924—1924: The dynamic loudspeaker invented by Rice and Kellogg
  • 1924—1924: Notebooks with spiral bindings invented
  • 4 Jan 1924—4 Jan 1924: First Labour government in Britain, headed by Ramsay MacDonald
  • 5 Feb 1924—5 Feb 1924: Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC
  • 31 Mar 1924—31 Mar 1924: British Imperial Airways begins operations (formed by merger of four British airline companies - became BOAC in 1940)
67 1925 
  • 1925—1925: Britain returns to gold standard
  • 1925—1925: The mechanical television a precursor to the modern television, invented by John Logie Baird
  • 18 Jul 1925—18 Jul 1925: Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
68 1926 
  • 1926—1926: Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood
  • 1926—1926: Kodak produces 16mm movie film
  • 1926—1926: Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
  • 1926—1926: First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird
  • 1926—1926: Robert H. Goddard invents liquid-fueled rockets
  • 21 Apr 1926—21 Apr 1926: Princess Elizabeth born
  • 3 May 1926—3 May 1926: General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
  • 31 Oct 1926—31 Oct 1926: Death of Harry Houdini
69 1927 
  • 1927—1927: Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer)
  • 1927—1927: Eduard Haas III invents PEZ candy
  • 1927—1927: JWA Morrison invents the first quartz crystal watch
  • 1927—1927: Philo Taylor Farnsworth invents a complete electronic TV system
  • 1927—1927: Technicolor invented
  • 1927—1927: Erik Rotheim patents an aerosol can
  • 1927—1927: Warren Marrison developed the first quartz clock
  • 1927—1927: Philip Drinker invents the iron lung
  • 7 Jan 1927—7 Jan 1927: First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London
  • 22 Jan 1927—22 Jan 1927: First football broadcast by BBC (Arsenal v Sheffield United at Highbury)
  • 1 May 1927—1 May 1927: First cooked meals on a scheduled flight introduced by Imperial Airways from London to Paris
  • 20 May 1927—20 May 1927: Lindbergh makes solo flight across the Atlantic, in 33? hours
  • 31 May 1927—31 May 1927: Last Ford Model T rolls off assembly line
  • 24 Jul 1927—24 Jul 1927: The Menin Gate war memorial unveiled at Ypres
70 1928 
  • 1928—1928: Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
  • 1928—1928: Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
  • 1928—1928: Bubble gum invented by Walter E. Diemer
  • 1928—1928: Jacob Schick patented the electric shaver
  • 26 Apr 1928—26 Apr 1928: Madame Tussauds opens in London
  • 15 Sep 1928—15 Sep 1928: Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
71 1929 
  • 1929—1929: BBC begins experimental TV transmissions
  • 1929—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—1929: Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
  • 1929—1939: The Great Depression
    Canada hit hardest by the depression
  • 1929—1929: American, Paul Galvin invents the car radio
  • 1929—1929: Yo-Yo re-invented as an American fad
  • 4 Mar 1929—4 Mar 1933: Herbert Hoover
    Herbert Hoover U.S. Presidency Herbert Hoover U.S. Presidency
  • 3 Apr 1929—4 Mar 1933: Herbert Hoover
  • 10 1929—18 Oct 1929: The 'Persons' Case Decision
    Women are declared 'persons' by the British Privy Council
72 1930 
  • 1930—1930: Youth Hostel Association (YHA) founded in Britain
  • 1930—1930: First Nazis elected to the German Reichstag
  • 1930—1930: Scotch tape patented by 3M engineer, Richard G. Drew
  • 1930—1930: The frozen food process patented by Clarence Birdseye
  • 1930—1930: Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invents neoprene
  • 1930—1930: The "differential analyzer", or analog computer invented by Vannevar Bush at MIT in Boston
  • 1930—1930: Frank Whittle and Dr Hans von Ohain both invent a jet engine
  • 30 Jan 1930—30 Jan 1930: Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
  • 31 Jan 1930—31 Jan 1930: 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape
  • 6 Mar 1930—6 Mar 1930: Clarence Birdseye first marketed frozen peas
  • 5 Oct 1930—5 Oct 1930: R101 airship disaster - British abandons airship construction
73 1931 
  • 1931—1931: Collapse of the German banking system; 3,000 banks there close
  • 1931—1931: Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign states
  • 1931—1931: Statute of Westminster
    The British Dominions are formally recognized by British Parliament
  • 1931—1931: Harold Edgerton invented stop-action photography
  • 1931—1931: Germans Max Knott and Ernst Ruska co-invent the electron microscope
  • 14 Apr 1931—14 Apr 1931: Highway Code first issued
  • 26 Apr 1931—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—21 Oct 1931: National Government formed to deal with economic crisis - Britain comes off gold standard
74 1932 
  • 1932—1932: Sir Thomas Beecham established the London Philharmonic Orchestra
  • 1932—1932: Cockroft and Walton accelerate particles to disintegrate an atomic nucleus
  • 1932—1932: Moseley founds British Union of Fascists
  • 1932—1932: Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
  • 1932—1932: Polaroid photography invented by Edwin Herbert Land
  • 1932—1932: The zoom lens and the light meter invented
  • 1932—1932: Carl C. Magee invents the first parking meter
  • 1932—1932: Karl Jansky invents the radio telescope
  • 3 Feb 1932—2 Mar 1932: 20th Amendment passed by Congress
  • 21 May 1932—21 May 1932: Amelia Earhart first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic by a female pilot
  • 3 Oct 1932—3 Oct 1932: Iraq gains independence from Britain
  • 3 Oct 1932—3 Oct 1932: 'The Times' introduces 'Times New Roman' typeface
75 1933 
76 1934 
  • 1934—1934: Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany
  • 1934—1934: Englishmen, Percy Shaw invents cat eyes or roads reflectors
  • 1934—1934: Charles Darrow claims he invented the game Monopoly
  • 1934—1934: Joseph Begun invents the first tape recorder for broadcasting - first magnetic recording
  • 18 Jul 1934—18 Jul 1934: King George V opens Mersey Tunnel
  • 26 Sep 1934—26 Sep 1934: RMS Queen Mary launched
  • 30 Nov 1934—30 Nov 1934: First time a steam locomotive travels at 100 mph ('Flying Scotsman')
77 1935 
  • 1935—1935: Land speed record of 301.13 mph by Malcolm Campbell
  • 1935—1935: London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme
  • 1935—1935: Newfoundland census
    Census taken in Newfoundland
  • 1935—1935: Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invents nylon ( polymer 6.6.)
  • 1935—1935: The first canned beer made
  • 1935—1935: Robert Watson-Watt patented radar
  • 28 Feb 1935—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—12 Mar 1935: Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas in Britain
  • 1 Jun 1935—1 Jun 1935: Voluntary driving tests introduced in UK
  • 30 Jul 1935—30 Jul 1935: Penguin paperbacks launched
78 1936 
  • 1936—1936: Jet engine first tested
  • 1936—1936: Bell Labs invents the voice recognition machine
  • 1936—1936: Samuel Colt patents the Colt revolver
  • 20 Jan 1936—20 Jan 1936: George V dies
  • 5 May 1936—5 May 1936: First flight of a Spitfire
  • 24 Jul 1936—24 Jul 1936: 'Speaking clock' service starts in UK
  • 2 Nov 1936—2 Nov 1936: British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's first public TV transmission
  • 12 Nov 1936—6 Feb 1952: George VI
    House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of George V, Duke of York; married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
  • 30 Nov 1936—30 Nov 1936: Crystal Palace destroyed by fire
  • 5 Dec 1936—5 Dec 1936: Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10) - popular carol that Christmas: 'Hark the Herald Angels sing Mrs Simpson's got our King'
  • 1 1936—11 Dec 1936: Edward VIII
    House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Eldest son of George V
79 1937 
  • 1937—1937: Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp
  • 1937—1937: '999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London
  • 1937—1937: Chester F. Carlson invents the photocopier
  • 1937—1937: The first jet engine is built
  • 12 Apr 1937—12 Apr 1937: Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft
  • 12 May 1937—12 May 1937: Coronation of King George VI
  • 28 May 1937—28 May 1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister - policy of appeasement towards Hitler
  • 3 Jun 1937—3 Jun 1937: Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
  • 4 Dec 1937—4 Dec 1937: 'The Dandy' first published
80 1938 
  • 1938—1938: First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro
  • 1938—1938: HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar
  • 1938—1938: Principle of paid holidays established in Britain
  • 1938—1938: The ballpoint pen invented by Ladislo Biro
  • 1938—1938: Strobe lighting invented
  • 1938—1938: Roy J. Plunkett invented tetrafluoroethylene polymers or Teflon
  • 1938—1938: Nescafe or freeze-dried coffee invented
  • 1938—1938: The first working turboprop engine
  • 12 Mar 1938—12 Mar 1938: Germany invades and annexes Austria
  • 3 Jul 1938—3 Jul 1938: 'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h); still world record for a steam locomotive
  • 27 Sep 1938—27 Sep 1938: Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank
  • 29 Sep 1938—29 Sep 1938: Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time'
  • 30 Oct 1938—30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
81 1939 
  • 1939—1939: Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
  • 1939—1939: Start of evacuation of women and children from London
  • 1939—1939: Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
  • 1939—1945: World War II
    huge involvement of Canadian supplies and troops
  • 1939—1939: Igor Sikorsky invents the first successful helicopter
  • 1939—1939: The electron microscope invented
  • 9 Jan 1939—2 Sep 1945: World War II
    Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan vs. Major Allied Powers: United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia
  • 12 Jul 1939—7 Dec 1939: Troops leave Canada
    First group of Canadian troops sail to Britain -- 7,400 on 5 ships
  • 1 Sep 1939—1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland
  • 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
  • 6 Sep 1939—6 Sep 1939: First air-raid on Britain
  • 11 Sep 1939—11 Sep 1939: British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France
  • 9 Oct 1939—10 Sep 1939: Canada declares war on Germany
  • 14 Oct 1939—14 Oct 1939: HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives
  • 7 Dec 1939—7 Dec 1939: 'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain - 7,400 men on 5 ships
  • 17 Dec 1939—17 Dec 1939: 'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
82 1940 
  • 1940—1940: Québec permits women to vote
    The last province to give women the right to vote
  • 1940—1946: National Registration
    Compulsory registration of all persons 16 years of age or older
  • 1940—1945: German occupation of Denmark
  • 1940—1940: Dr William Reich invents the orgone accumulator
  • 1940—1940: Peter Goldmark invents modern color television system
  • 1940—1940: Karl Pabst invents the jeep
  • 1 Apr 1940—1 Apr 1940: BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd
  • 11 May 1940—11 May 1940: National Government formed under Churchill
  • 13 May 1940—13 May 1940: Germany invades France
  • 27 May 1940—27 May 1940: Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun)
  • 25 Jun 1940—25 Jun 1940: Fall of France to Germany
  • 7 Sep 1940—7 Sep 1940: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
  • 15 Sep 1940—15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
  • 14 Nov 1940—14 Nov 1940: Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
83 1941 
  • 1941—1941: First use of antibiotics
  • 1941—1941: Bailey invents his portable military bridge
  • 1941—1941: First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle
  • 1941—1941: Britain introduces severe rationing
  • 1941—1941: Konrad Zuse's Z3, the first computer controlled by software
  • 1941—1941: Aerosol spray cans invented by American inventors, Lyle David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan
  • 1941—1941: Enrico Fermi invents the neutronic reactor
  • 12 1941—Dec 1941: Canadian forces defend south coast of England
  • 10 May 1941—10 May 1941: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland
  • 27 May 1941—27 May 1941: 'Bismark' sunk
  • 22 Jun 1941—22 Jun 1941: Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
  • 1 Jul 1941—1 Jul 1941: First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain
  • 12 Jul 1941—7 Dec 1941: Canada declares war on Japan
    Attack on Pearl Harbour causes Canada to declare war on Japan
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941: 'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941: Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England
  • 7 Dec 1941—7 Dec 1941: Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour
  • 7 Dec 1941—2 Sep 1945: World War II
    World War II World War II
  • 8 Dec 1941—8 Dec 1941: USA enters WWII
  • 24 Dec 1941—24 Dec 1941: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
  • 6 1941—14 Jun 1941: Census of Canada
    Census date changed to prevent clash with Victory Bond campaign. Sampling is initiated
84 1942 
  • 1942—1942: Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam
  • 1942—1942: Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann - used to crack German codes
  • 1942—1942: John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the first electronic digital computer
  • 1942—1942: Max Mueller designs a turboprop engine
  • 30 May 1942—30 May 1942: Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne
  • 4 Jun 1942—4 Jun 1942: Battle of Midway
  • 19 Aug 1942—19 Aug 1942: Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops
  • 6 Sep 1942—6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad
  • 3 Oct 1942—3 Oct 1942: First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany - first man-made object to reach space
  • 23 Oct 1942—23 Oct 1942: Battle of El Alamein - Montgomery defeats Rommel
  • 2 Dec 1942—2 Dec 1942: 'Manhattan Project' - a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
85 1943 
  • 1943—1943: Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins
  • 1943—1943: Synthetic rubber invented
  • 1943—1943: Richard James invents the slinky
  • 1943—1943: James Wright invent silly putty
  • 1943—1943: Swiss chemist, Albert Hofmann discovered the hallucinogenic properties of LSD
  • 1943—1943: Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau invent the aqualung
  • 16 May 1943—16 May 1943: 'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF
  • 24 Jul 1943—24 Jul 1943: Allies invade Italy - Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator, 24 July
86 1944 
  • 1944—1944: The kidney dialysis machine invented by Willem Kolff
  • 1944—1944: Synthetic cortisone invented by Percy Lavon Julian
  • 6 Apr 1944—6 Apr 1944: PAYE income tax begins
  • 4 Jun 1944—4 Jun 1944: Allies enter Rome
  • 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy
  • 12 Jun 1944—12 Jun 1944: First V1 flying bombs hit London
  • 8 Sep 1944—8 Sep 1944: First V2 rocket bombs hit London
  • 11 Sep 1944—11 Sep 1944: Allies enter Germany
  • 16 Dec 1944—16 Dec 1944: Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
87 1945 
  • 1945—1945: Newfoundland census
    Census taken in Newfoundland
  • 1945—1945: Vannevar Bush proposes hypertext
  • 1945—1945: The atomic bomb invented
  • 4 Feb 1945—4 Feb 1945: Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
  • 29 Mar 1945—29 Mar 1945: Last V1 flying bomb attack
  • 12 Apr 1945—20 Jan 1953: Harry S. Truman
    Harry S. Truman U.S. Presidency Harry S. Truman U.S. Presidency
  • 25 Apr 1945—25 Apr 1945: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
  • 30 Apr 1945—30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide
  • 8 May 1945—8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe)
  • 9 May 1945—9 May 1945: Channel Islands liberated
  • 26 Jun 1945—26 Jun 1945: UN Charter signed in San Francisco
  • 16 Jul 1945—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—26 Jul 1945: Labour win UK General Election - Churchill out of office
  • 29 Jul 1945—29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts
  • 6 Aug 1945—6 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
  • 9 Aug 1945—9 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
  • 15 Aug 1945—15 Aug 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan)
  • 2 Sep 1945—2 Sep 1945: Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri
  • 24 Oct 1945—24 Oct 1945: United Nations Organisation comes into existence
  • 4 Nov 1945—4 Nov 1945: UNESCO founded
  • 4 Dec 1945—20 Jan 1953: Harry Truman
  • 6 1945—26 Jun 1945: Canada joins the United Nations
88 1946 
  • 1946—1946: Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio - until 2004
  • 1946—1946: Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948)
  • 1946—1946: The microwave oven invented by Percy Spencer
  • 1 Jan 1946—1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
  • 7 Jan 1946—1 Jul 1946: Canadian Citizenship Act
    Parliament proclaims an act providing for the creation of Canadian citizens to take effect 1 January 1947
  • 1 Mar 1946—1 Mar 1946: Bank of England nationalised
89 1947 
  • 1947—1947: First British nuclear reactor developed
  • 1947—1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much flooding later
  • 1947—1947: British/Hungarian scientist, Dennis Gabor, developed the theory of holography
  • 1947—1947: Mobile phones first invented
  • 1947—1947: Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invent the transistor
  • 1947—1947: Earl Silas Tupper patented the Tupperware seal
  • 1 Jan 1947—1 Jan 1947: Coal Mines nationalised
  • 23 Feb 1947—23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
  • 1 Mar 1947—1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
  • 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
  • 26 Oct 1947—26 Oct 1947: British military occupation ends in Iraq
  • 20 Nov 1947—20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
  • 3 1947—21 Mar 1947: 22nd Amendment passed by Congress
90 1948 
  • 1948—1948: Transistor radio invented
  • 1948—1948: Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
  • 1948—1948: British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
  • 1948—1948: The Frisbee® invented by Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni
  • 1948—1948: Velcro ® invented by George de Mestral
  • 1948—1948: Robert Hope-Jones invented the Wurlitzer jukebox
  • 1 Jan 1948—1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised
  • 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
  • 29 Jul 1948—29 Jul 1948: London Olympics begin
91 1949 
  • 1949—1949: De Haviland produces the Comet - first jet airliner
  • 1949—1949: Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
  • 1949—1949: Cake mix invented
  • 15 Mar 1949—15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing ends in Britain
  • 4 Apr 1949—4 Apr 1949: Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
  • 4 Apr 1949—4 Apr 1949: Canada joins NATO
  • 3 1949—31 Mar 1949: Newfoundland joins Canada
    Newfoundland becomes Canada's tenth province
92 1950 
  • 1950—1950: The first credit card (Diners) invented by Ralph Schneider
  • 4 1950—30 Jun 1950: Winnipeg flood
    More than 100,000 people forced from their homes in Winnipeg, Manitoba, by the Red River flooding
  • 19 May 1950—19 May 1950: Points rationing ends in Britain
  • 26 May 1950—26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ends in Britain
  • 25 Jun 1950—27 Jul 1953: Korean War
    Korean War Korean War
  • 11 Jul 1950—11 Jul 1950: 'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
  • 9 Sep 1950—9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing ends in Britain
  • 28 Dec 1950—28 Dec 1950: The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
  • 6 1950—27 Jul 1953: Korean War
    As part of the United Nations, Canadian troops participate in the Korean War
  • 6 1950—27 Jul 1953: Korean War
    United States (as part of the United Nations) and South Korea vs. North Korea and Communist China
93 1951 
  • 1951—1951: Super glue invented
  • 1951—1951: Power steering invented by Francis W. Davis
  • 1951—1951: Charles Ginsburg invented the first videotape recorder (VTR)
  • 3 May 1951—3 May 1951: Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
  • 28 May 1951—28 May 1951: First Goon Show broadcast
  • 20 Dec 1951—20 Dec 1951: Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
  • 2 1951—27 Feb 1951: 22nd Amendment ratified
94 1952 
  • 1952—1952: Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
  • 1952—1952: Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
  • 1952—1952: Contraceptive pill invented
  • 1952—1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
  • 1952—1952: Mr. Potato Head patented
  • 1952—1952: The first patent for bar code (US Patent #2,612,994) issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver
  • 1952—1952: The first diet soft drink sold
  • 1952—1952: Edward Teller and team build the hydrogen bomb
  • 6 Feb 1952—6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies
  • 21 Feb 1952—21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
  • 2 May 1952—2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg
  • 2 Jun 1952—2004: Elizabeth II
    House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917):Elder daughter of George VI, acceded Feb 6, 1952
  • 5 Jul 1952—5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
  • 16 Aug 1952—16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
  • 6 Sep 1952—6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
  • 3 Oct 1952—3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1952—1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA - the mushroom cloud was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised.
  • 25 Nov 1952—25 Nov 1952: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
  • 4 Dec 1952—4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
95 1953 
96 1954 
  • 1954—1954: First transistor radios sold
  • 1954—1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
  • 1954—1954: First comprehensive school opens in London
  • 1954—1954: Oral contraceptives invented
  • 1954—1954: The first nonstick pan produced
  • 1954—1954: The solar cell invented by Chaplin, Fuller and Pearson
  • 1954—1954: Ray Kroc started McDonalds
  • 6 May 1954—6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
  • 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
  • 5 Jul 1954—5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
  • 30 Sep 1954—30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
  • 10 1954—15 Oct 1954: Hurricane Hazel
    Southwestern Ontario, Toronto and area, hit by Hurricane Hazel -- 81 died, 4,000 homeless
97 1955 
  • 1955—1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
  • 1955—1955: Tetracycline invented
  • 1955—1955: Optic fiber invented
  • 27 Jul 1955—27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
  • 22 Sep 1955—22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
98 1956 
  • 1956—1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
  • 1956—1956: The first computer hard disk used
  • 1956—1956: The hovercraft invented by Christopher Cockerell
  • 1956—1956: Bette Nesmith Graham invented "Mistake Out," later renamed Liquid Paper, to paint over mistakes made with a typewriter
  • 6 Jan 1956—1 Jun 1956: First nation-wide 5-year census
    Population-count censuses initiated
  • 11 Jan 1956—1 Nov 1956: Springhill Mine explosion
    39 miners killed from explosion in mine at Springhill, Nova Scotia
  • 1 Mar 1956—1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
  • 17 Apr 1956—17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched - first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
  • 3 Jun 1956—3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class)
  • 31 Oct 1956—31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
99 1957 
  • 1957—1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
  • 1957—1957: Britain introduces parking meters
  • 1957—1957: Fortran (computer language) invented
  • 11 Jan 1957—11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
  • 14 May 1957—14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
  • 15 May 1957—15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
  • 25 May 1957—25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became operational Jan 1958
  • 4 Dec 1957—4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster - 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them
  • 25 Dec 1957—25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast

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