First rail service direct from St Pancras to France (replacing that from Waterloo)
Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in England (thus completing cover of the entire UK)
A Northern Ireland Executive formed under the leadership of Ian Paisley (DUP) and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein)
Extension of Congestion Charge zone for London, westwards
Further enlargement of the European Union to include Bulgaria and Romania
UK postage rates start to be measured by size as well as by weight
80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland
Welsh Assembly Building opened by the Queen
Same-sex civil partnerships begin - famously, on this day, between Elton John and David Furnish
Explosions at the Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead
Last Routemaster bus runs on regular service in London
England regain the 'Ashes' after a gripping Test series (but are whitewashed 5-0 in the return series in Australia 2007)
IRA declare an end to their 'armed struggle'
Suicide bombers attack London for the first time
London chosen as venue for the 2012 Olympic Games
Ban on hunting with dogs came into force in England & Wales (had already been a similar law for about two years in Scotland)
Kyoto Protocol on climate change came into force
Enlargement of the European Union to include 25 members by the entry of 10 new states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus
Alistair Cooke dies at the age of 95 - until four weeks previously, and since 1946, he had broadcast his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio
Ireland becomes first country in the world to ban smoking in public places
Queen Mary 2 arrives in Southampton from the builder's yard in France 2004
Saddam Hussein captured near his home town of Tikrit (executed 30 Dec 2006)
England wins Rugby World Cup in nail-biting final in Australia - first northern hemisphere team to do this
Last commercial flight of Concorde
Temperatures reach record high of 101 F (38.3 C) in Kent
Iraq War
Start of Congestion Charge for traffic entering central London
Invasion of Iraq
George W. Bush
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon
The Queen Mother dies, aged 101 years
Census of Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Millennium Bridge over the Thames in London finally opens
Twelve major countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Holland, Irish Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal) and their dependents start using the Euro instead of their old national currencies; the UK stays out - the
UK Christmas stamps self-adhesive for the first time (self-adhesive 1st & 2nd class definitives already on sale)
Concorde flights resume after modifications to tyres and fuel tanks
War in Afghanistan
New-style number plates on road vehicles in UK [eg. AB 51 ABC]
General Election - Labour returned again with a large majority, the first time they had succeeded in gaining a second term
FA Cup Final played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - first time away from Wembley since 1922
Outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease in UK - lasted until October - caused postponement of local and general elections from May to June
George W. Bush
Derailment at speed on the main London-North eastern line at Hatfield caused by a broken rail
Heavy rains cause worst flooding since records began (1850s) in many parts of Britain (Oct-Dec)
'People Power' emerged suddenly as protestors against high Road Fuel Tax used mobile phones and the Internet to co-ordinate blockades on fuel depots - resulted in nationwide panic buying of fuel and service stations running out across the country
A chartered Air France Concorde crashes on take-off at Paris with the loss of all lives
Millennium footbridge over the Thames opens, but wobbles and is quickly declared dangerous and closed - finally reopened Feb 2002
Ken Livingstone elected first Mayor of London (not to be confused with Lord Mayor of London!)
The Big Number Change takes place in the UK - affected telephone dialling codes assigned to Cardiff, Coventry, London, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth and Southampton
London Eye opens, late but popular
The year in Britain started with a 'flu bug rather than a millennium bug
Hereditary Peers no longer have right to sit in House of Lords
Total eclipse of the sun visible in Devon and Cornwall
The Scottish Parliament is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth - powers are officially transferred from the Scottish Office in London to the new devolved Scottish Executive in Edinburgh
Nunavut created in the Arctic
World population reaches 6 billion
Scientists measure the fastest wind speed ever recorded on earth, 509 km/h(318 mph)
Tekno Bubbles patented
European Monetary Union begins - UK opts out - by the end of the year the Euro has approximately the same value as the US Dollar
'Google' search engine founded
Car bomb explodes in Omagh killing 29 people
Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland - effectively implemented in May 2007
Viagra® invented
Land speed record breaks sound barrier for first time
Diana, Princess of Wales killed in car crash in Paris
IRA declares a ceasefire
Hong Kong returned to China
First time a computer beats a master at chess (IBM's Deep Blue v Garry Kasparov)
Announcement that Bank of England to be made independent of Government control
'New' Labour landslide victory in Britain (Tony Blair replaces John Major as Prime Minister)
Channel 5 TV begins in UK (launched by the Spice Girls)
Census of Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
The gas-powered fuel cell invented
Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales are divorced
Scientists in Scotland clone a sheep (Dolly)
IRA bomb explodes in Manchester
Dunblane massacre
IRA bomb explodes in London Docklands - ends 17 month ceasefire
Web TV invented
Toy Story' released - first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery
The Queen Mother has a hip replacement operation at 95 years old
First item sold on Amazon.com
Nick Leeson brings down Barings Bank
Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Java computer language invented
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) invented
National Lottery starts
William Jefferson Clinton
Channel Tunnel open to traffic
Church of England ordains its first female priests
15 million people now connected to the Internet
HIV protease inhibitor invented
Ratification of Maastricht Treaty, established the European Union (EU)
Bill Clinton
Elizabeth II becomes first British Monarch to pay Income Tax
Betty Boothroyd first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (to 2000)
The pentium processor invented
The Queen describes this year as an 'Annus Horribilis'
Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle causing over ?50 million worth of damage
'Black Wednesday' as Pound leaves the ERM
Football Premier League kicks off in England
27th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Betty Boothroyd elected as first female Speaker of the House of Commons
European Union formed by The Maastricht Treaty
The smart pill invented
Robert Maxwell drowns at sea
Leningrad renamed St Petersburg
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Helen Sharman is first British Astronaut in Space
The 'Internet' comes into existence
Poll Tax replaced (by Council Tax)
Census of Canada
The digital answering machine invented
Channel Tunnel excavation teams meet in the middle
Margaret Thatcher resigns as Conservative party leader (and Prime Minister)
US Invasion of Panama PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Gulf War
George H.W. Bush
Hubble space telescope launched
Riots in London against Poll Tax which had been implemented in England & Wales
Nelson Mandela released in South Africa
Persian Gulf War
The World Wide Web/Internet protocol (HTTP) and WWW language (HTML) created by Tim Berners-Lee
Proceedings of House of Commons first televised live
Berlin Wall torn down
EU decision to ban production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century
The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit
George H. W. Bush
Poll Tax implemented in Scotland
High-definition television invented
Free Trade Agreement with U.S.
Lockerbie disaster - Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland
Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act - reformulated the statutory basis of copyright law (including performing rights) in the UK
Piper Alpha disaster - North Sea oil platform destroyed by explosion and fire killing 167 men
First 'Red Nose Day' in UK, raising money for charity
Digital cellular phones invented
The RU-486 (abortion pill) invented
Doppler radar invented by Christian Andreas Doppler
Prozac® invented at the Eli Lilly Company by inventor Ray Fuller
The first patent for a genetically engineered animal is issued to Harvard University researchers Philip Leder and Timothy Stewar
Ralph Alessio and Fredrik Olsen received a patent for the Indiglo ® nightlight
King's Cross fire in London - 31 people die
Enniskillen bombing at a Remembrance Day ceremony
'Black Monday' in the City of London - Stock Market crash
The 'Hurricane' sweeps southern England
Hungerford Massacre - Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a rifle
Excavation begins on the Channel Tunnel
Car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise' capsizes off Zeebrugge - 188 die
Terry Waite kidnapped in Beirut (released 17 Nov 1991)
World population crossed the 5 billion mark
The first 3-D video game invented
Disposable contact lenses invented
M25 motorway ring around London completed
'Big Bang' (deregulation) of the London Stock Market
Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey
The European Community adopts the European flag
Chernobyl nuclear accident - radiation reached Britain on 2 Ma
GLC and 6 metropolitan councils abolished
Census of Canada
A high-temperature super-conductor invented by J. Georg Bednorz and Karl A. Muller
Synthetic skin invented by G. Gregory Gallico, III
Fuji introduced the disposable camera
Plane crash in Gander, Newfoundland
Wreck of Titanic' found (sank 1912)
Live Aid' pop concert raises over ?50M for famine relief
Al Fayed buys Harrods
Miners agree to call off strike
Grenada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Windows program invented by Microsoft
British Telecom privatised - shares make massive gains on first day's trading
Miners' strike ? High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets
IRA bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton - 4 killed
York Minster struck by lightning - the resulting fire damaged much of the building but the Rose Window' not affected
Inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic
Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher killed by gunfire from the Libyan Embassy in London
Miners strike begins
The CD-ROM invented
The Apple Macintosh invented
Brinks Mat robbery: 6,800 gold bars worth nearly ?26 million are stolen from a vault at Heathrow Airport
Plans to abolish GLC announced
Canadian Constitution Act replaces British North America Act of 1867 PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
?1 coin into circulation in Britain
Seat belt law comes into force
Start of breakfast TV in Britain
First female Lord Mayor of London elected (Dame Mary Donaldson)
The Apple Lisa invented
Soft bifocal contact lens invented
First Cabbage Patch Kids sold
Programmer Jaron Lanier first coins the term "virtual reality"
Women's peace protest at Greenham Common (Cruise missiles arrived 14 Nov 1983)
Lorries up to 38 tonnes allowed on Britain's roads
Channel 4 TV station launched - first programme 'Countdown'
Thames Barrier raised for first time (some say first public demonstration Nov 7)
Mary Rose' raised in the Solent (sank in 1545)
Smiley emoticon :-) said to have been used for the first time
Ronald Reagan
IRA bombings in London (Hyde Park and Regents Park)
Prince William is born
Ceasefire in Falklands
First land battle in Falklands (Goose Green)
British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General Belgrano
Royal Navy fleet sails from Portsmouth for Falklands
Argentina invades Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
Argentinians raised flag in South Georgia
DeLorean Car factory in Belfast goes into receivership
Laker Airways collapses
Unemployment reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population)
Human growth hormone genetically engineered
IBM launches its PC ? starts the general use of personal computers
First IBM PC
Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (divorced 28 Aug 1996)
First use of computer mouse (by Xerox PARC system)
Worst April blizzards this century in Britain
Brixton riots in South London - 30 other British cities also experience riots
First London marathon run
Launch of SDP by 'Gang of Four' in Britain
Ronald Reagan
MS-DOS invented
The first IBM-PC invented
The scanning tunneling microscope invented by Gerd Karl Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer
John Lennon assassinated in New York
SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages
The hepatitis-B vaccine invented
ILEA votes to abolish corporal punishment in its schools
Lord Mountbatten and 3 others killed in bomb blast off coast of Sligo, Ireland
Sony introduces the Walkman
Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman UK Prime Minister
Withdrawal of the Royal Navy from Malta
Airey Neave killed by a car bomb at Westminster
32.5% of Scots vote in favor of devolution (40% needed) - Welsh vote overwhelmingly against
Cellular phones invented
Cray supercomputer invented by Seymour Cray
Walkman invented
Scott Olson invents roller blades
Publication of The Times suspended - industrial relations problems (until 13 Nov 1979)
Jimmy Carter
World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham
First May Day holiday in Britain
Regular broadcast of proceedings in Parliament starts
Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston invented the VisiCalc spreadsheet
The artificial heart Jarvik-7 invented by Robert K. Jarvik
Regular supersonic Concorde service between London and NY inaugurated
Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in London
Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale
George Lucas' film Star Wars' released
'Red Rum' wins a third Grand National
Canada abolishes death penalty PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Jimmy Carter
Magnetic resonance imaging invented by Raymond V. Damadian
Drought Act 1976 comes into force ? the long, hot summer
Apple Computer formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Concorde enters supersonic passenger service
National Theatre opens in London
James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister
Deaths exceeded live births in E&W for first time since records began in 1837
'Cod War' between Britain and Iceland
The ink-jet printer invented
Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force
The name 'Micro-soft' coined by Bill Gates (Microsoft' became a Trademark the following year)
First North Sea oil comes ashore
'Yorkshire Ripper' commits his first murder
UK votes in a referendum to stay in the European Community
Charlie Chaplin knighted
Moorgate tube crash in London - over 43 deaths, greatest loss of life on the Underground in peacetime. The cause of the incident was never conclusively determined
Margaret Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative party (in opposition)
Unemployment in Britain rises above 1M for first time since before WW2
The laser printer invented
The push-through tab on a drink can invented
Birmingham pub bombings by the IRA
Lord Lucan disappears
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Flixborough disaster: explosion at chemical plant kills 28 people
New counties formed in Britain after re-organisation of some county boundaries
Quebec makes french the official language
The post-it note invented by Arthur Fry
Giorgio Fischer, a gynecologist from Rome, Italy, invents liposuction
Miners strike and oil crisis precipitate 'three-day week' (till 9 Mar 1974) to conserve power
Marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey
Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time
VAT introduced in Britain
Modern London Bridge opened by the Queen
Gene splicing invented
The ethernet (local computer network) invented by Robert Metcalfe and Xerox
Bic invents the disposable lighter
Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
26th Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
'Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland
Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK
Domestic video cassette recorders introduced
Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports
Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland
The word processor invented
Pong (first video game) invented by Nolan Bushnell
Hacky Sack® invented by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall
UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero
Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973)
Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
War Measures Act Proclaimed in Quebec PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
26th Amendment ratified
Open University starts
Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt
'Greenpeace' founded
Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week as UK adopts decision of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) to call Monday the first day
Banking and Financial Dealings Act - replaced the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
Census of Canada
Multiculturalism/Bilingualism Policy adopted
The dot-matrix printer invented
The food processor invented
The liquid-crystal display (LCD) invented by James Fergason
The microprocessor invented by Faggin, Hoff and Mazor
VCR or videocassette recorder invented
Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
First Glastonbury Festival held
Richard Nixon
Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service
The daisy-wheel printer invented
The floppy disk invented by Alan Shugart
50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
First episode of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' recorded
Civil disturbances in Ulster - Britain sends troops to support civil authorities
Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain
Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
Victoria Line tube opens in London
Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse
Richard Nixon
Canadian Armed Forces established PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
The arpanet (first internet) invented
The artificial heart invented
The ATM invented
The bar-code scanner is invented
Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle- Liverpool)
Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
London Bridge sold (and eventually moved to Arizona) - modern London Bridge, built around it as it was demolished, was opened in Mar 1973
British Standard Time introduced - Summer Time became permanent but arguments prevailed and Britain reverted to GMT in October 1971
The computer mouse invented by Douglas Engelbart
The first computer with integrated circuits made
Robert Dennard invented RAM (random access memory)
Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
25th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
BBC Radios 1 2 3 & 4 open first record played on Radio 1 was the controversial 'Flowers in the Rain' by 'The Move'
'Queen Mary' arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage
'QE2' launched on Clydebank
Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK
First colour TV in Britain
First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain - at Enfield branch of Barclays
Francis Chichester arrives in Plymouth after solo circumnavigation in Gipsy Moth IV (he was knighted 7th July at Greenwich by the queen using the sword with which Elizabeth I had knighted Sir Francis Drake four centuries earlier
'Torrey Canyon' oil tanker runs aground off Lands End first major oil spill
Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on Conniston Water - his body and Bluebird recovered in 2002
The first handheld calculator invented
First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
Aberfan disaster - slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children
First Severn road bridge opens
World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
'The Times' begins to print news on its front page in place of classified Advertisements
Canadian Flag changed PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Australia converts from ? to $
Electronic Fuel injection for cars invented
70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
24th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then abolished 18 Dec 1969
Post Office Tower operational in London
TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain
25th Amendment passed by Congress
Winston Churchill dies
First US raids against North Vietnam
Canadian troops in Cyprus
Britain enacts first Race Relations Act
Astroturf invented
Soft contact lenses invented
NutraSweet invented
The compact disk invented by James Russell
Kevlar invented by Stephanie Louise Kwolek
Lyndon B. Johnson
Forth road bridge opens
'Match of the Day' starts on BBC2
BBC2 TV launched
First Greater London Council (GLC) election
24th Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Social Insurance cards first issued
Acrylic paint invented
Permanent-press fabric invented
BASIC (an early computer language) is invented by John George Kemeny and Tom Kurtz
First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV
First episode of 'Dr Who' on BBC TV
Lyndon B. Johnson
Dartford Tunnel opens
Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational
'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
Minimum prison age raised to 17
23rd Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe')
France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC
The first videodisc invented
Cold weather forces cancellation of most football matches (only 4 English First Division matches in the month) - the first 'pools panel' created
Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
John F. Kennedy
First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar) - first live broadcast on 23 Jul
First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast from Moreton to Rhyl
First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley Glos)
Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
Bay of Pigs Invasion PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Trans-Canada Highway officially opens
Medicare introduced in Saskatchewan
Britain and France agree to construct 'Concorde'
Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies
Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
The audio cassette invented
The fiber-tip pen invented by Yukio Horie
Spacewar, the first computer video game invented
Dow Corp invents silicone breast implants
Betting shops legal in Britain
23rd Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
New English Bible (New Testament) published
Black & White ?5 notes cease to be legal tender
St. Lawrence seaway opens PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
John F. Kennedy
Valium invented
The nondairy creamer invented
Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' case
HMS 'Dreadnought' nuclear submarine launched
MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
Hawaii PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
Francis Chichester arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II (took 40 days), winning the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race which he co-founded
Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
New ?1 notes issued by Bank of England
Vietnam War
Canada's Bill of Rights
The halogen lamp invented
Springhill Mine disaster PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
First section of M1 motorway opened
Postcodes introduced in Britain
Vietnam War
BMC Mini car launched
Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
Alaska PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Vanguard 2 satellite launched - first to measure cloud-cover distribution
'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper
The internal pacemaker invented by Wilson Greatbatch
Barbie Doll invented
Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce both invent the microchip
Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
Velcro trade mark registered
USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
The modem invented
Gordon Gould invents the laser
The Hula Hoop invented by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin
The integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce
Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
Lewisham rail disaster - 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them
Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became operational Jan 1958
Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
Britain introduces parking meters
Fortran (computer language) invented
Britain and France invade Suez
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)
Premium Bonds first launched - first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
Springhill Mine explosion
First nation-wide 5-year census
Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
The first computer hard disk used
The hovercraft invented by Christopher Cockerell
Bette Nesmith Graham invented "Mistake Out," later renamed Liquid Paper, to paint over mistakes made with a typewriter
Commercial TV starts in Britain
Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
Hurricane Hazel PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
Tetracycline invented
Optic fiber invented
First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
Dwight Eisenhower
BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
Food rationing officially ends in Britain
First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
First transistor radios sold
Routemaster bus starts operating in London
First comprehensive school opens in London
Oral contraceptives invented
The first nonstick pan produced
The solar cell invented by Chaplin, Fuller and Pearson
Ray Kroc started McDonalds
Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
Coronation of Elizabeth II
Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
Winston Churchill knighted
Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
Death of Stalin
22nd Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Sweet rationing ends in Britain
Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century - severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives - - effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands wer
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Radial tires invented
The first musical synthesizer invented by RCA
David Warren invented the black box - flight recorder
Transistor radio invented by Texas Instruments
Great smog hits London
Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
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.
End of tea rationing in Britain
DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
Elizabeth II
First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg
Korean War
Identity Cards abolished in Britain
King George VI dies
Korean War
Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
Contraceptive pill invented
Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
Mr. Potato Head patented
The first patent for bar code (US Patent #2,612,994) issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver
The first diet soft drink sold
Edward Teller and team build the hydrogen bomb
Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
Newfoundland joins Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
First Goon Show broadcast
Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
Super glue invented
Power steering invented by Francis W. Davis
Charles Ginsburg invented the first videotape recorder (VTR)
The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
Soap rationing ends in Britain
'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
Korean War
Petrol rationing ends in Britain
Points rationing ends in Britain
Winnipeg flood
The first credit card (Diners) invented by Ralph Schneider
Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
Canada joins NATO
Clothes rationing ends in Britain
De Haviland produces the Comet - first jet airliner
Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
Cake mix invented
22nd Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
London Olympics begin
National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
Transistor radio invented
Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
The Frisbee® invented by Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni
Velcro ® invented by George de Mestral
Robert Hope-Jones invented the Wurlitzer jukebox
British Railways nationalised
Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
British military occupation ends in Iraq
School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
Canada joins the United Nations PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
First British nuclear reactor developed
Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much flooding later
British/Hungarian scientist, Dennis Gabor, developed the theory of holography
Mobile phones first invented
Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invent the transistor
Earl Silas Tupper patented the Tupperware seal
Coal Mines nationalised
Bank of England nationalised
Canadian Citizenship Act
Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio - until 2004
Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948)
The microwave oven invented by Percy Spencer
First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
Harry Truman
UNESCO founded
United Nations Organisation comes into existence
Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri
VJ Day (Victory in Japan)
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
BBC Light Programme starts
Labour win UK General Election - Churchill out of office
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)
UN Charter signed in San Francisco
Channel Islands liberated
VE Day (Victory in Europe)
Hitler commits suicide
Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
Harry S. Truman
Last V1 flying bomb attack
Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
Newfoundland census
Vannevar Bush proposes hypertext
The atomic bomb invented
Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
Allies enter Germany
First V2 rocket bombs hit London
First V1 flying bombs hit London
D-Day invasion of Normandy
Allies enter Rome
PAYE income tax begins
The kidney dialysis machine invented by Willem Kolff
Synthetic cortisone invented by Percy Lavon Julian
Allies invade Italy - Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator, 24 July
'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF
Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins
Synthetic rubber invented
Richard James invents the slinky
James Wright invent silly putty
Swiss chemist, Albert Hofmann discovered the hallucinogenic properties of LSD
Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau invent the aqualung
'Manhattan Project' - a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
Battle of El Alamein - Montgomery defeats Rommel
First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany - first man-made object to reach space
Germans defeated at Stalingrad
Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops
Battle of Midway
Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne
Census of Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam
Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann - used to crack German codes
John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the first electronic digital computer
Max Mueller designs a turboprop engine
Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
USA enters WWII
Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour
World War II
'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America
Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England
Canada declares war on Japan
First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain
Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
'Bismark' sunk
Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland
Canadian forces defend south coast of England
First use of antibiotics
Bailey invents his portable military bridge
First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle
Britain introduces severe rationing
Konrad Zuse's Z3, the first computer controlled by software
Aerosol spray cans invented by American inventors, Lyle David Goodloe and W.N. Sullivan
Enrico Fermi invents the neutronic reactor
Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
Fall of France to Germany
Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun)
Germany invades France
National Government formed under Churchill
BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd
Québec permits women to vote
National Registration
German occupation of Denmark
Dr William Reich invents the orgone accumulator
Peter Goldmark invents modern color television system
Karl Pabst invents the jeep
'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain - 7,400 men on 5 ships
HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives
Canada declares war on Germany PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France
First air-raid on Britain
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Germany invades Poland
Troops leave Canada
World War II
Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
Start of evacuation of women and children from London
Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
World War II
Igor Sikorsky invents the first successful helicopter
The electron microscope invented
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time'
Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank
'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h); still world record for a steam locomotive
Germany invades and annexes Austria
First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro
HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar
Principle of paid holidays established in Britain
The ballpoint pen invented by Ladislo Biro
Strobe lighting invented
Roy J. Plunkett invented tetrafluoroethylene polymers or Teflon
Nescafe or freeze-dried coffee invented
The first working turboprop engine
'The Dandy' first published
Edward VIII PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister - policy of appeasement towards Hitler
Coronation of King George VI
Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft
Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp
'999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London
Chester F. Carlson invents the photocopier
The first jet engine is built
Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10) - popular carol that Christmas: 'Hark the Herald Angels sing Mrs Simpson's got our King'
Crystal Palace destroyed by fire
George VI
British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's first public TV transmission
'Speaking clock' service starts in UK
First flight of a Spitfire
George V dies
Jet engine first tested
Bell Labs invents the voice recognition machine
Samuel Colt patents the Colt revolver
Penguin paperbacks launched
Voluntary driving tests introduced in UK
Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas in Britain
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)
Land speed record of 301.13 mph by Malcolm Campbell
London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme
Newfoundland census
Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invents nylon ( polymer 6.6.)
The first canned beer made
Robert Watson-Watt patented radar
First time a steam locomotive travels at 100 mph ('Flying Scotsman')
20th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
RMS Queen Mary launched
21st Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
King George V opens Mersey Tunnel
Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany
Englishmen, Percy Shaw invents cat eyes or roads reflectors
Charles Darrow claims he invented the game Monopoly
Joseph Begun invents the first tape recorder for broadcasting - first magnetic recording
First known photos of the 'Loch Ness Monster' taken
21st Amendment ratified
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
ICI scientists discover polythene
Only 6 pennies minted in Britain this year
Frequency modulation (FM radio) invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong
Stereo records invented
Richard M. Hollingshead builds a prototype drive-in movie theater in his driveway
Iraq gains independence from Britain
'The Times' introduces 'Times New Roman' typeface
Amelia Earhart first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic by a female pilot
20th Amendment passed by Congress
Sir Thomas Beecham established the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Cockroft and Walton accelerate particles to disintegrate an atomic nucleus
Moseley founds British Union of Fascists
Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
Polaroid photography invented by Edwin Herbert Land
The zoom lens and the light meter invented
Carl C. Magee invents the first parking meter
Karl Jansky invents the radio telescope
National Government formed to deal with economic crisis - Britain comes off gold standard
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)
Highway Code first issued
Collapse of the German banking system; 3,000 banks there close
Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign states
Statute of Westminster
Harold Edgerton invented stop-action photography
Germans Max Knott and Ernst Ruska co-invent the electron microscope
R101 airship disaster - British abandons airship construction
The 'Persons' Case Decision PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Clarence Birdseye first marketed frozen peas
3M begins marketing Scotch Tape
Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
Youth Hostel Association (YHA) founded in Britain
First Nazis elected to the German Reichstag
Scotch tape patented by 3M engineer, Richard G. Drew
The frozen food process patented by Clarence Birdseye
Wallace Carothers and DuPont Labs invents neoprene
The "differential analyzer", or analog computer invented by Vannevar Bush at MIT in Boston
Frank Whittle and Dr Hans von Ohain both invent a jet engine
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
BBC begins experimental TV transmissions
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
Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
The Great Depression
American, Paul Galvin invents the car radio
Yo-Yo re-invented as an American fad
Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
Madame Tussauds opens in London
Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
Bubble gum invented by Walter E. Diemer
Jacob Schick patented the electric shaver
The Menin Gate war memorial unveiled at Ypres
Last Ford Model T rolls off assembly line
Lindbergh makes solo flight across the Atlantic, in 33? hours
First cooked meals on a scheduled flight introduced by Imperial Airways from London to Paris
First football broadcast by BBC (Arsenal v Sheffield United at Highbury)
First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London
Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer)
Eduard Haas III invents PEZ candy
JWA Morrison invents the first quartz crystal watch
Philo Taylor Farnsworth invents a complete electronic TV system
Technicolor invented
Erik Rotheim patents an aerosol can
Warren Marrison developed the first quartz clock
Philip Drinker invents the iron lung
Death of Harry Houdini
General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
Princess Elizabeth born
Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood
Kodak produces 16mm movie film
Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird
Robert H. Goddard invents liquid-fueled rockets
Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
Britain returns to gold standard
The mechanical television a precursor to the modern television, invented by John Logie Baird
British Imperial Airways begins operations (formed by merger of four British airline companies - became BOAC in 1940)
Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC
First Labour government in Britain, headed by Ramsay MacDonald
The dynamic loudspeaker invented by Rice and Kellogg
Notebooks with spiral bindings invented
First publication of Radio Times
Calvin Coolidge
First Wembley cup final (West Ham 0, Bolton 2) - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles ' popular song of the time became the West Ham anthem
Calvin Coolidge
Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun
First American broadcasts heard in Britain
Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way
Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
Garrett A. Morgan invents a traffic signal
The television or iconoscope (cathode-ray tube) invented by Vladimir Kosma Zworykin
John Harwood invented the self-winding watch
Clarence Birdseye invents frozen food
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
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)
Canada's Coat of Arms proclaimed by George V PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Royal Ulster Constabulary founded
Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended
Insulin invented by Sir Frederick Grant Banting
The first 3-D movie (spectacles with one red and one green lens) is released
Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London, leading to the formation of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland
Census: Population - England and Wales: 37.9 Million; Scotland: 4.9 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
19th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Warren Harding
Warren G. Harding
Census of Canada
First birth control clinic
Insulin discovery announced
Railway Act in Britain amalgamates companies - only four remained
Newfoundland census
Artificial life begins -- the first robot built
John Larson invented the lie detector
18th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
First roadside petrol filling station in UK - opened by the Automobile Association at Aldermaston on the Bath Road
Thompson patents his machine gun (Tommy gun)
Marconi opens a radio broadcasting station in Britain
Regular cross-channel air service starts
After a referendum, northern Schleswig is returned to Denmark
The tommy gun patented by John T Thompson
The Band-Aid (pronounced 'ban-'dade) invented by Earle Dickson
Treaty of Versailles signed
Alcock and Brown complete first nonstop flight across the Atlantic
19th Amendment passed by Congress
Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
Soldier Settlement Act
The pop-up toaster invented by Charles Strite
Short-wave radio invented
The flip-flop circuit invented
The arc welder invented
First woman elected to House of Commons, Countess Markiewicz as a Sinn Fein member refused to take her seat
Armistice signed
Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus
Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive in WW1 (Jul-Aug)
18th Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Ontario forest fire PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic
Bentley Motors founded
War of Independence in Ireland
Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
The superheterodyne radio circuit invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong
Charles Jung invented fortune cookies
British forces capture Jerusalem
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
'October' Revolution in Russia - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government; Lenin becomes Chief Commissar
WW1 - Vimy Ridge PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Battle of Passchendaele - little gained by either side (Jul-Nov)
The Halifax Explosion
George V changes surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor (Royal proclamation on 17 July)
USA declares war on Germany
Lenin returns to Russia after exile
World War I
February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
Ministry of Labour is established in Britain
Battle of Cambrai - first use of massed tanks, but effect more psychological than actual
Income Tax introduced
Gideon Sundback patented the modern zipper (not the first zipper)
Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
First use of tanks in battle, but of limited effect (Battle of the Somme 1 July to 18 Nov: over 1 million casualties)
Sir Roger Casement hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason
Empress of Ireland sinks PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener
Battle of Jutland - only major naval battle between the British and German fleets
First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
Easter Rising in Ireland - after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs independence
Battle of Verdun - appalling losses on both sides, stalemate continues
Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
Women get vote in Manitoba
Radios tuners invented, that received different stations
Stainless steel invented by Henry Brearly
Alberta coal mine disaster PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll (aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland - 1,198 died
Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916)
Second Battle of Ypres - poison gas used for first time
Submarine blockade of Britain starts
First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia - four killed
Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
A new constitution establishes a two-chamber parliament elected by universal suffrage
Eugene Sullivan and William Taylor co-invented Pyrex in New York City
German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
First policewoman goes on duty in Britain
Battle of Ypres - beginning of trench warfare on western front
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)
British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph links to the outside world
Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason
Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
Saskatchewan tornado PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
World War I
Chaplin and De Mille make their first films
Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster to be decided after the War
World War One
Garrett A. Morgan invents the Morgan gas mask
Alaska Territory Organized
17th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and dies
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
16th Amendment ratified PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Arizona PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
17th Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political purposes
Suffragette demonstrations in London - Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned
Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords - threat of civil war in Ireland - formation of Ulster Volunteers to oppose Home Rule
The crossword puzzle invented by Arthur Wynne
The Merck Chemical Company patented, what is now know as, ecstasy
Mary Phelps Jacob invents the bra
Gideon Sundback invents the modern zipper
New Mexico PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Royal Flying Corps (later the RAF) founded in Britain
The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage - loss of 1,513 lives
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
Britain nationalises the telephone system
Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' - hoax, exposed in 1953
Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
Motorized movie cameras invented, replaced hand-cranked cameras
The first tank patented by Australian inventor De La Mole
Clarence Crane created Life Savers candy in 1912
National Insurance introduced in Britain
Coronation of George V
Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
Census of Canada
Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
First British Official Secrets Act
British MPs receive a salary
Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
Charles Franklin Kettering invents the first automobile electrical ignition system
George V
Edward VII dies - George V becomes King
Halley's comet reappears
Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe
Madame Curie isolates radium
Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville
Constitutional crisis in Britain
Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain
Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture
Georges Claude displayed the first neon lamp to the public on December 11, 1910, in Paris
Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to Dover)
William Taft
Selfridges department store opens in London
William Howard Taft
16th Amendment passed by Congress
Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
First commercial manufacture of Bakelite - start of the plastic age
Peary reaches the north pole
Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
Instant coffee invented by G. Washington
Old Age Pensions Act came into force
First 'Model T' Ford made
SOS became effective as an international signal of distress
Oklahoma PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement
Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain
Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day
Border Ports established
The gyrocompass invented by Elmer A. Sperry
Cellophane invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger
Model T first sold
J W Geiger and W Müller invent the geiger counter
Fritz Haber invents the Haber Process for making artificial nitrates
Census of Northwest Provinces PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated
Lumiere develops a process for colour photography
First airship flies over London
New Zealand becomes a Dominion
Imperial College, London, is established
Leo Baekeland invents the first synthetic plastic called Bakelite
Color photography invented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere
The very first piloted helicopter was invented by Paul Cornu
Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
Vauxhall Bridge opened in London
Rolls-Royce Ltd registered
Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship
Introduction of free school meals for poor children
Amundsen traverses the North-West Passage
William Kellogg invents Cornflakes
Lewis Nixon invents the first sonar like device
Lee Deforest invents electronic amplifying tube (triode)
Frank Slide, Alberta PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
Alberta and Saskatchewan join Canada
Germany lays down the first Dreadnought battleship
Aliens Act in Britain: Home Office controls immigration
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
Albert Einstein published the Theory of Relativity and made famous the equation, E = mc2
Mary Anderson receives a patent for windshield wipers
America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French (completed 1914)
France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale
Leeds University established
Teabags invented by Thomas Suillivan
Benjamin Holt invents a tractor
John A Fleming invents a vacuum diode or Fleming valve
First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
Census of Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst
Henry Ford sets up his motor company
Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain
Canada loses the Alaska Boundary Dispute to the USA
Edward Binney and Harold Smith co-invent crayons
Bottle-making machinery invented by Michael J. Owens
The Wright brothers invent the first gas motored and manned airplane
Mary Anderson invents windshield wipers
William Coolidge invents ductile tungsten used in lightbulbs
Edward VII
Coronation of Edward VII
Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War
Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated
Theodore Roosevelt
Marie Curie discovers radioactivity
Cremation Act - cremation can only take place at officially recognised establishments, and with two death certificates issued
Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
Willis Carrier invents the air conditioner
French physicist George Claude invents neon light
The lie detector or polygraph machine is invented by James Mackenzie
The birth of the Teddy Bear
First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi - Morse code from Cornwall to Newfoundland
Britain's first submarine launched
Theodore Roosevelt
Boer War PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in Boer War
Queen Victoria's funeral - interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park
Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner
Commonwealth of Australia founded
King Camp Gillette invents the double-edged safety razor
The first radio receiver, successfully received a radio transmission
Hubert Booth invents a compact and modern vacuum cleaner
Labour Party formed
Davis Cup tennis competition established
School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years
Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified
Escalator shown at Paris exhibition
The zeppelin invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Charles Seeberger redesigned Jesse Reno's escalator and invented the modern escalator
Boxer Rebellion
Start of Second Boer War
Spanish-American War PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Philippine-American War
Aspirin first marketed by Bayer
The Yukon joins Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
J.S. Thurman patents the motor-driven vacuum cleaner
I.R. Johnson patents the bicycle frame
Territory of Hawaii was Oraganized
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe completed at Rhode island by Joshua Slocum in Spray (started from Boston, Mass on Apr 24, 1895)
Spanish-American War
USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founded
Zeppelin builds airship
First photograph using artificial light
Klondike gold rush
Yukon gold rush
Rudolf Diesel receives patent #608,845 for an "internal combustion engine" the Diesel engine
Edwin Prescott patents the roller coaster
William McKinley
William McKinley
Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
Utah PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Gold discovered in Yukon
American, H. O'Sullivan invents the rubber heel
X-rays discovered
First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
Oscar Wilde sent to prison
Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted
The National Trust founded in England
Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London
Lumiere Brothers using their Cinematographe are the first to present a projected motion picture to an audience of more that one
Lumiere Brothers invent a portable motion-picture camera, film processing unit and projector called the Cinematographe
Death duties first introduced in Britain
Tower Bridge first opens
Blackpool Tower opens
Picture postcard introduced in Britain
Manchester Ship Canal opens
Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Zip fastener invented
Henry Ford's first car
American, W.L. Judson invents the zipper
Edward Goodrich Acheson invents carborundum
Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
Electric oven invented
Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18's
Sir James Dewar invents the Dewar flask or vacuum flask
Rudolf Diesel invents the diesel-fueled internal combustion engine
Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
Census of Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893)
First telephone link between London & Paris
Primary education made free and compulsory
First Children's Aid Society is established in Toronto
Jesse W. Reno invents the escalator
City & South London Railway opens - London's first deep-level tube railway and first major railway in the world to use electric traction
Wyoming PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Idaho
Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
Indian Territory Organized
Oklahoma Territory Organized
Washington
Length of a metre defined
Montana
Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast
Children's charity NSPCC launched in London
Benjamin Harrison
Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
Benjamin Harrison
South Dakota
North Dakota
Dock Strike - docker's won their 'Docker's Tanner' 6 old pennies
Celluloid film produced
Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act
Sir James Dewar and Sir Frederick Abel co-invent Cordite - a type of smokeless gunpowder
Joshua Pusey invents the matchbook
Football League formed
First box camera - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film
Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre
County Councils set up in Britain
Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year
Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez Canal in war and peace
Voting rights extended
John Boyd Dunlop patents a commercially successful pneumatic tire
Nikola Tesla invents the AC motor and transformer
Marvin Stone patents the spiral winding process to manufacture the first paper drinking straws
Coal mine explosion in Nanaimo, BC
Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
German, Heinrich Hertz invents radar
Rowell Hodge patents barbed wire
Emile Berliner invents the gramophone
F.E. Muller and Adolph Fick invent the first wearable contact lenses
Putney Bridge opens in London
Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named 'Coca-Cola'
Louis Riel hanged PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales
Gottlieb Daimler builds the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle
John Pemberton invents Coca Cola
Josephine Cochrane invents the dishwasher
First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel
Canadian Pacific Railway Completed
Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking
Canadian Pacific Railway completed
Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle
Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car
Karl Benz invents the first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine
Harim Maxim invents the machine gun
Gottlieb Daimler invents the first gas-engined motorcycle
Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes
Second Acadian Convention at Miscouche
Voting rights extended
James Ritty invents the first working, mechanical cash register
Charles Parson patents the steam turbine
Lewis Edson Waterman invents the first practical fountain pen
George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film
Frenchmen, H. de Chardonnet invents rayon
Eruption of Krakatoa near Java - 30,000 killed by tidal wave
Parcel post starts in Britain
Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River)
Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France
Chester A. Arthur
Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
Home children arrive
Northwest Territories divided
Gunfight at OK Corral
Chester A. Arthur
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)
Census of Canada
James Garfield
James A. Garfield
Postal Orders introduced
Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy
First Acadian Convention at Memramcook
David Houston patents the roll film for cameras
Alexander Graham Bell invents the first crude metal detector
Edward Leveaux patents the automatic player piano
Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria
Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
Chinese build railroad
Englishmen, John Milne invents the modern seismograph
The British Perforated Paper Company invents a form of toilet paper
Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
CID established at New Scotland Yard
Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan was the first person to invent a practical and longer-lasting electic lightbulb
Rutherford Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Edison invents microphone and phonograph
Thomas Edison invents the cylinder phonograph or tin foil phonograph
Eadweard Muybridge invents the first moving pictures
Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
Colorado
Nicolaus August Otto invents the first practical four-stroke internal combustion engine
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
Melville Bissell patents the carpet sweeper
The Great Nova Scotia Cyclone PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
London's main sewage system completed
Supreme Court of Canada established
Western Indian treaties signed
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)
Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world - features of it later copied in Central Park, New York
Nova Scotia coal mine explosion PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
Voting rights extended
American, C. Goodyear, Jr. invents the shoe welt stitcher
Prince Edward Island joins Canada
North-West Mounted Police created
Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire
American ship 'Mary Celeste' is found abandoned by the British brig 'Dei Gratia' in the Atlantic Ocean
British Columbia joins Canada PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
Licensing hours introduced
Chinese and First Nations banned from voting in BC
Dominion Land Act
A.M. Ward issues the first mail-order catalog
J.S. Risdon patents the metal windmill
Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
Manitoba created PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Northwest Territories created PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Dominion of Canada Census
15th Amendment passed by Congress PROBLEM: start is > earliestEnd, start is > end
Wyoming Territory Organized
Ulysses Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Montana Territory Organized
Arizona Territory Organized
Colorado Territory Organized
Idaho Territory Organized
South Dakota Territory Organized
North Dakota Territory Organized
Washington Territory Organized
New Mexico Territory Organized
Utah Territory Organized
Victoria
Immigrants quarantined at Grosse Isle
Indian Wars
POST-DEPORTATION PERIOD
Regular series of wills starts in Prerogative Court of Canterbury
1895 - Yes, date unknown
Grover Cleveland U.S. Presidency
William McKinley U.S. Presidency
Spanish-American War
Philippine-American War
Boxer Rebellion
Theodore Roosevelt U.S. Presidenc
William Howard Taft U.S. Presidency
Woodrow Wilson U.S. Presidency
World War I
Warren G. Harding U.S. Presidency
Calvin Coolidge U.S. Presidency
Herbert Hoover U.S. Presidency
Franklin D. Roosevelt U.
World War II
Harry S. Truman U.S. Presidency
Korean War
Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. 
Vietnam War
John F. Kennedy U.S. Presidency
Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Presidency
Richard Nixon U.S. Presidency
Gerald Ford U.S. Presidency
Jimmy Carter U.S. Presidency
Ronald Reagan U.S. Presidency
George H. W. Bush U.S. Presidency
Gulf War
Bill Clinton U.S. Presidency
George W. Bush U.S. Presidency
War in Afghanistan
Iraq War