| 1 | 1383 | - 1383—99 9999: Regular series of wills starts in Prerogative Court of Canterbury
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| 2 | 1832 | - 4 Jan 1832—1937: Immigrants quarantined at Grosse Isle
Canada's immigrant quarantine station opens at Grosse Isle
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| 3 | 1898 | - 7 Jul 1898—20 Aug 1959: Territory of Hawaii was Oraganized
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| 4 | 1910 | - 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.
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| 5 | 1912 | - 8 1912—2 Jan 1959: Alaska Territory Organized
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| 6 | 1913 | |
| 7 | 1914 | - 1914—1918: World War One
Canadian forces fight in Europe during World War 1
- 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.
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| 8 | 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
- 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
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| 9 | 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
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| 10 | 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
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| 11 | 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
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| 12 | 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
- 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
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| 13 | 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)
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| 14 | 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
- 28 Sep 1923—28 Sep 1923: First publication of Radio Times
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| 15 | 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)
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| 16 | 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
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| 17 | 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
|
| 18 | 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
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| 19 | 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)
|
| 20 | 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
- 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
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| 21 | 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
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| 22 | 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
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| 23 | 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
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| 24 | 1933 | |
| 25 | 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')
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| 26 | 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
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| 27 | 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
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| 28 | 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
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| 29 | 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
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| 30 | 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
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| 31 | 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
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| 32 | 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
- 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
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| 33 | 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
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| 34 | 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
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| 35 | 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
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| 36 | 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
- 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
|
| 37 | 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
|
| 38 | 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
|
| 39 | 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
|
| 40 | 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
|
| 41 | 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
- 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
|
| 42 | 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
|
| 43 | 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
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| 44 | 1953 | |
| 45 | 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
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| 46 | 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
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| 47 | 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
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| 48 | 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
|
| 49 | 1958 | - 1958—1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
- 1958—1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
- 1958—1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
- 1958—1958: The modem invented
- 1958—1958: Gordon Gould invents the laser
- 1958—1958: The Hula Hoop invented by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin
- 1958—1958: The integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce
- 13 May 1958—13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
- 26 Jul 1958—26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
- 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
- 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
- 10 1958—23 Oct 1958: Springhill Mine disaster
74 miners killed from third major explosion in mine at Springhill, Nova Scotia
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| 50 | 1959 | - 1959—1959: The internal pacemaker invented by Wilson Greatbatch
- 1959—1959: Barbie Doll invented
- 1959—1959: Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce both invent the microchip
- 3 Feb 1959—3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and
The Big Bopper
- 17 Feb 1959—17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched - first to measure cloud-cover distribution
- 1 Mar 1959—3 Jan 1959: Alaska
49th State
- 24 May 1959—24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
- Aug 1959—Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
- 26 Sep 1959—30 Apr 1975: Vietnam War
 Vietnam War
- 3 Oct 1959—3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
- 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
- 8 1959—21 Aug 1959: Hawaii
50th State
- 6 1959—26 Jun 1959: St. Lawrence seaway opens
Ocean vessels can now sail as far inland as Lakes Michigan and Superior
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| 51 | 1960 | - 1960—1975: Vietnam War
United States and South Vietnam vs North Vietnam
- 1960—1960: Canada's Bill of Rights
Bans discrimination by federal agencies on grounds of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex -- permits Indians to vote
- 1960—1960: The halogen lamp invented
- 17 Mar 1960—17 Mar 1960: New ?1 notes issued by Bank of England
- 18 Mar 1960—18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
- 21 Jul 1960—21 Jul 1960: 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
- 12 Aug 1960—12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
- 12 Sep 1960—12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
- 1 Oct 1960—1 Oct 1960: HMS 'Dreadnought' nuclear submarine launched
- 2 Nov 1960—2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' case
- 6 1960—16 Jun 1960: 23rd Amendment passed by Congress
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| 52 | 1961 | - 1961—1961: Valium invented
- 1961—1961: The nondairy creamer invented
- 1 Jan 1961—1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
- 20 Jan 1961—20 Nov 1963: John F. Kennedy
 John F. Kennedy U.S. Presidency
- 13 Mar 1961—13 Mar 1961: Black & White ?5 notes cease to be legal tender
- 14 Mar 1961—14 Mar 1961: New English Bible (New Testament) published
- 1 May 1961—1 May 1961: Betting shops legal in Britain
- 4 1961—19 Apr 1961: Bay of Pigs Invasion
United States vs Cuba
- 1 1961—22 Nov 1963: John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas
- 3 1961—29 Mar 1961: 23rd Amendment ratified
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1917 - 1961 (43 years)
Woodrow Wilson U.S. Presidency
Franklin D. Roosevelt U.
Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S.