| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1383 | - 1383—99 9999: Regular series of wills starts in Prerogative Court of Canterbury
|
| 2 | 1832 | - 4 Jan 1832—1937: Immigrants quarantined at Grosse Isle
Canada's immigrant quarantine station opens at Grosse Isle
|
| 3 | 1850 | - 9 Sep 1850—5 Jan 1912: New Mexico Territory Organized
|
| 4 | 1863 | - 2 1863—13 Feb 1912: Arizona Territory Organized
|
| 5 | 1898 | - 7 Jul 1898—20 Aug 1959: Territory of Hawaii was Oraganized
|
| 6 | 1909 | |
| 7 | 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.
|
| 8 | 1911 | - 1911—1911: Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
- 1911—1911: Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
- 1911—1911: First British Official Secrets Act
- 1911—1911: British MPs receive a salary
- 1911—1911: Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
- 1911—1911: Charles Franklin Kettering invents the first automobile electrical ignition system
- 6 Jan 1911—1 Jun 1911: Census of Canada
Census of 9 Provinces and 2 Territories counts 7,206,643 individuals
- 2 Apr 1911—2 Apr 1911: Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
- 22 Jun 1911—22 Jun 1911: Coronation of George V
- 14 Dec 1911—14 Dec 1911: National Insurance introduced in Britain
|
| 9 | 1912 | - 1912—1912: Britain nationalises the telephone system
- 1912—1912: Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' - hoax, exposed in 1953
- 1912—1912: Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
- 1912—1912: Motorized movie cameras invented, replaced hand-cranked cameras
- 1912—1912: The first tank patented by Australian inventor De La Mole
- 1912—1912: Clarence Crane created Life Savers candy in 1912
- 18 Jan 1912—18 Jan 1912: Captain Scott's last expedition - he and his team reach the south pole on Jan
18th; all die on the way back, their bodies found in November
- 14 Apr 1912—14 Apr 1912: The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage - loss of 1,513 lives
- 13 May 1912—13 May 1912: Royal Flying Corps (later the RAF) founded in Britain
- 1 Jun 1912—6 Jan 1912: New Mexico
47th State
- 5 1912—13 May 1912: 17th Amendment passed by Congress
- 2 1912—14 Feb 1912: Arizona
48th State
- 8 1912—2 Jan 1959: Alaska Territory Organized
- 6 1912—30 Jun 1912: Saskatchewan tornado
The worst tornado in Canadian history claims 28 lives in Regina
|
| 10 | 1913 | - 1913—1913: Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
- 1913—1913: Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
- 1913—1913: Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political
purposes
- 1913—1913: Suffragette demonstrations in London - Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned
- 1913—1913: Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords - threat of civil war in Ireland -
formation of Ulster Volunteers to oppose Home Rule
- 1913—1913: The crossword puzzle invented by Arthur Wynne
- 1913—1913: The Merck Chemical Company patented, what is now know as, ecstasy
- 1913—1913: Mary Phelps Jacob invents the bra
- 1913—1913: Gideon Sundback invents the modern zipper
- 2 Mar 1913—3 Feb 1913: 16th Amendment ratified
- 4 Mar 1913—4 Mar 1921: Woodrow Wilson
 Woodrow Wilson U.S. Presidency
- 3 Apr 1913—3 Mar 1921: Woodrow Wilson
- 4 Jun 1913—4 Jun 1913: Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the
Epsom Derby and dies
- 4 Aug 1913—8 Apr 1913: 17th Amendment ratified
|
| 11 | 1914 | - 1914—1914: Chaplin and De Mille make their first films
- 1914—1914: Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster
to be decided after the War
- 1914—1918: World War One
Canadian forces fight in Europe during World War 1
- 1914—1914: Garrett A. Morgan invents the Morgan gas mask
- 6 Jan 1914—11 Nov 1918: World War I
Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary vs. Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia. The United States joined on the side of the Triple Entente in 1917.
- 28 Jun 1914—28 Jun 1914: Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
- 4 Aug 1914—4 Aug 1914: Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason
- 5 Aug 1914—5 Aug 1914: British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph
links to the outside world
- 15 Aug 1914—15 Aug 1914: Panama Canal opened, the Canal cement boat 'Ancon' making the first official
transit (plans for a grand opening were cancelled due to the start of WW1)
- Oct 1914—Oct 1914: Battle of Ypres - beginning of trench warfare on western front
- 27 Nov 1914—27 Nov 1914: First policewoman goes on duty in Britain
- 16 Dec 1914—16 Dec 1914: German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
- 6 1914—19 Jun 1914: Alberta coal mine disaster
The worst coal mining disaster in Canadian history claims 189 lives in Hillcrest
- 5 1914—30 May 1914: Empress of Ireland sinks
1,014 lives are lost when ship sinks in Gulf of St. Lawrence
|
| 12 | 1915 | - 1915—1915: Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
- 1915—1915: First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
- 1915—1915: A new constitution establishes a two-chamber parliament elected by universal suffrage
- 1915—1915: Eugene Sullivan and William Taylor co-invented Pyrex in New York City
- 19 Jan 1915—19 Jan 1915: First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia - four killed
- Feb 1915—Feb 1915: Submarine blockade of Britain starts
- Apr 1915—Apr 1915: Second Battle of Ypres - poison gas used for first time
- 25 Apr 1915—25 Apr 1915: Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916)
- 7 May 1915—7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland - 1,198 died
- 16 May 1915—16 May 1915: First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll
(aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
|
| 13 | 1916 | - 1916—1916: Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
- 1916—1916: Women get vote in Manitoba
Manitoba is the first province to give women the right to vote
- 1916—1916: Radios tuners invented, that received different stations
- 1916—1916: Stainless steel invented by Henry Brearly
- Feb 1916—Feb 1916: Battle of Verdun - appalling losses on both sides, stalemate continues
- 24 Apr 1916—24 Apr 1916: Easter Rising in Ireland - after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs
independence
- 21 May 1916—21 May 1916: First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
- 31 May 1916—31 May 1916: Battle of Jutland - only major naval battle between the British and
German fleets
- 5 Jun 1916—5 Jun 1916: Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener
- 3 Aug 1916—3 Aug 1916: Sir Roger Casement hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason
- 15 Sep 1916—15 Sep 1916: First use of tanks in battle, but of limited effect (Battle of the Somme 1 July to 18 Nov: over 1 million casualties)
- 7 Dec 1916—7 Dec 1916: Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
- 6 1916—29 Jun 1916: Ontario forest fire
A forest fire in northern Ontario claims 233 lives
|
| 14 | 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
|
| 15 | 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
|
| 16 | 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
|
| 17 | 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
|
| 18 | 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
|
| 19 | 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)
|
| 20 | 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
|
| 21 | 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)
|
| 22 | 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
|
| 23 | 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
|
| 24 | 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
|
| 25 | 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)
|
| 26 | 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
|
| 27 | 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
|
| 28 | 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
|
| 29 | 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
|
| 30 | 1933 | - 1933—1933: ICI scientists discover polythene
- 1933—1933: Only 6 pennies minted in Britain this year
- 1933—1933: Frequency modulation (FM radio) invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong
- 1933—1933: Stereo records invented
- 1933—1933: Richard M. Hollingshead builds a prototype drive-in movie theater in his driveway
- 4 Mar 1933—12 Apr 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt
 Franklin D. Roosevelt U.
- 3 Apr 1933—12 Apr 1945: Franklin Roosevelt
- 12 May 1933—5 Dec 1933: 21st Amendment ratified
- 12 Nov 1933—12 Nov 1933: First known photos of the 'Loch Ness Monster' taken
- 2 1933—20 Feb 1933: 21st Amendment passed by Congress
- 1 1933—23 Jan 1933: 20th Amendment ratified
|
| 31 | 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')
|
| 32 | 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
|
| 33 | 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
|
| 34 | 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
|
| 35 | 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
|
| 36 | 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
|
| 37 | 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
|
| 38 | 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
|
| 39 | 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
|
| 40 | 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
|
| 41 | 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
|
| 42 | 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
|
| 43 | 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
|
| 44 | 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
|
| 45 | 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
|
| 46 | 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
|
| 47 | 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
|
| 48 | 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
|
| 49 | 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
|
| 50 | 1953 | - 1953—1953: Radial tires invented
- 1953—1953: The first musical synthesizer invented by RCA
- 1953—1953: David Warren invented the black box - flight recorder
- 1953—1953: Transistor radio invented by Texas Instruments
- 20 Jan 1953—20 Jan 1961: Dwight D. Eisenhower
 Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S.
- 31 Jan 1953—31 Jan 1953: 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
- 5 Feb 1953—5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain
- 5 Mar 1953—5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
- 26 Mar 1953—26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
- 24 Apr 1953—24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
- 25 Apr 1953—25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
- 2 Jun 1953—2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
- 26 Sep 1953—26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
- 1 1953—20 Jan 1961: Dwight Eisenhower
|
| 51 | 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
|
| 52 | 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
|
| 53 | 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
|
| 54 | 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
|
| 55 | 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
|
| 56 | 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
|
| 57 | 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
|
| 58 | 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
|
| 59 | 1962 | - 1962—1962: Britain and France agree to construct 'Concorde'
- 1962—1962: Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies
- 1962—1962: Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
- 1962—1962: The audio cassette invented
- 1962—1962: The fiber-tip pen invented by Yukio Horie
- 1962—1962: Spacewar, the first computer video game invented
- 1962—1962: Dow Corp invents silicone breast implants
- 7 Jan 1962—1 Jul 1962: Medicare introduced in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan sets medicare prototype for all provinces
- 9 Mar 1962—3 Sep 1962: Trans-Canada Highway officially opens
- 25 May 1962—25 May 1962: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
- 15 Jun 1962—15 Jun 1962: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley Glos)
- Jul 1962—Jul 1962: First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast from Moreton to Rhyl
- 10 Jul 1962—10 Jul 1962: First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar) - first live broadcast on 23 Jul
- 24 Oct 1962—24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
- 8 1962—27 Aug 1962: 24th Amendment passed by Congress
|
| 60 | 1963 | - 1963—1963: France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC
- 1963—1963: The first videodisc invented
- Jan 1963—Jan 1963: Cold weather forces cancellation of most football matches (only 4 English First Division matches in the month) - the first 'pools panel' created
- 27 Mar 1963—27 Mar 1963: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe')
- 1 Aug 1963—1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age raised to 17
- 8 Aug 1963—8 Aug 1963: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
- 17 Sep 1963—17 Sep 1963: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational
- 18 Nov 1963—18 Nov 1963: Dartford Tunnel opens
- 20 Nov 1963—20 Jan 1969: Lyndon B. Johnson
 Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Presidency
- 23 Nov 1963—23 Nov 1963: First episode of 'Dr Who' on BBC TV
- 11 1963—20 Jan 1969: Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson, vice president under John F. Kennedy, sworn in as president aboard Air Force One upon death of Kennedy.
|
| 61 | 1964 | - 1964—1964: Acrylic paint invented
- 1964—1964: Permanent-press fabric invented
- 1964—1964: BASIC (an early computer language) is invented by John George Kemeny and Tom Kurtz
- 4 1964—Apr 1964: Social Insurance cards first issued
Social Insurance cards issued to all Canadian adults -- privacy concerns limit their use for genealogy puposes
- 1 Jan 1964—1 Jan 1964: First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV
- 9 Apr 1964—9 Apr 1964: First Greater London Council (GLC) election
- 21 Apr 1964—21 Apr 1964: BBC2 TV launched
- 22 Aug 1964—22 Aug 1964: 'Match of the Day' starts on BBC2
- 4 Sep 1964—4 Sep 1964: Forth road bridge opens
- 3 1964—1993: Canadian troops in Cyprus
Canadian troops serve in Cyprus as part of the UN peace-keeping force
- 1 1964—23 Jan 1964: 24th Amendment ratified
|
| 62 | 1965 | - 1965—1965: Britain enacts first Race Relations Act
- 1965—1965: Astroturf invented
- 1965—1965: Soft contact lenses invented
- 1965—1965: NutraSweet invented
- 1965—1965: The compact disk invented by James Russell
- 1965—1965: Kevlar invented by Stephanie Louise Kwolek
- 7 Feb 1965—7 Feb 1965: First US raids against North Vietnam
- 7 Apr 1965—7 Apr 1965: Winston Churchill dies
- 7 Jun 1965—6 Jul 1965: 25th Amendment passed by Congress
- 1 Aug 1965—1 Aug 1965: TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain
- 8 Oct 1965—8 Oct 1965: Post Office Tower operational in London
- 28 Oct 1965—28 Oct 1965: Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then
abolished 18 Dec 1969
- 22 Dec 1965—22 Dec 1965: 70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
- 2 1965—15 Feb 1965: Canadian Flag changed
Maple Leaf flag is adopted by Parliament as the official flag of Canada. It replaces the "Canadian" (modified) Red Ensign
|
| 63 | 1966 | - 1966—1966: Electronic Fuel injection for cars invented
- 14 Feb 1966—14 Feb 1966: Australia converts from ? to $
- 3 May 1966—3 May 1966: 'The Times' begins to print news on its front page in place of classified
Advertisements
- 30 Jul 1966—30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
- 8 Sep 1966—8 Sep 1966: First Severn road bridge opens
- 21 Oct 1966—21 Oct 1966: Aberfan disaster - slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children
- 1 Dec 1966—1 Dec 1966: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
|
| 64 | 1967 | - 1967—1967: The first handheld calculator invented
- 4 Jan 1967—4 Jan 1967: Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on
Conniston Water - his body and Bluebird recovered in 2002
- 18 Mar 1967—18 Mar 1967: 'Torrey Canyon' oil tanker runs aground off Lands End first major oil spill
- 28 May 1967—28 May 1967: 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
- 27 Jun 1967—27 Jun 1967: First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain - at Enfield branch of Barclays
- 1 Jul 1967—1 Jul 1967: First colour TV in Britain
- 14 Aug 1967—14 Aug 1967: Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK
- 20 Sep 1967—20 Sep 1967: 'QE2' launched on Clydebank
- 27 Sep 1967—27 Sep 1967: 'Queen Mary' arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage
- 30 Sep 1967—30 Sep 1967: BBC Radios 1 2 3 & 4 open first record played on Radio 1 was the controversial 'Flowers in the Rain' by 'The Move'
- 2 Oct 1967—10 Feb 1967: 25th Amendment ratified
- 5 Oct 1967—5 Oct 1967: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
- 4 1967—25 Apr 1967: Canadian Armed Forces established
The Canadian Army, Navy and Air Force unite into one combined military force -- a world first
|
| 65 | 1968 | - 1968—1968: The computer mouse invented by Douglas Engelbart
- 1968—1968: The first computer with integrated circuits made
- 1968—1968: Robert Dennard invented RAM (random access memory)
- 18 Feb 1968—18 Feb 1968: British Standard Time introduced - Summer Time became permanent but arguments prevailed and Britain reverted to GMT in October 1971
- 18 Apr 1968—18 Apr 1968: London Bridge sold (and eventually moved to Arizona) - modern London Bridge, built around it as it was demolished, was opened in Mar 1973
- 20 Apr 1968—20 Apr 1968: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
- 23 Apr 1968—23 Apr 1968: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
- 29 May 1968—29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
- 11 Aug 1968—11 Aug 1968: Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle- Liverpool)
- 16 Sep 1968—16 Sep 1968: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
- 5 Oct 1968—5 Oct 1968: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
|
| 66 | 1969 | - 1969—1969: The arpanet (first internet) invented
- 1969—1969: The artificial heart invented
- 1969—1969: The ATM invented
- 1969—1969: The bar-code scanner is invented
- 20 Jan 1969—9 Aug 1974: Richard Nixon
 Richard Nixon U.S. Presidency
- 2 Mar 1969—2 Mar 1969: Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse
- 7 Mar 1969—7 Mar 1969: Victoria Line tube opens in London
- 17 Apr 1969—17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
- 2 May 1969—2 May 1969: Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
- 31 Jul 1969—31 Jul 1969: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain
- 14 Aug 1969—14 Aug 1969: Civil disturbances in Ulster - Britain sends troops to support civil authorities
- 7 Sep 1969—7 Sep 1969: First episode of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' recorded
- 14 Oct 1969—14 Oct 1969: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
- 1 1969—9 Aug 1974: Richard Nixon
Richard M Nixon first president to resign from office. His decision was announced 8 Aug 1974
|
| 67 | 1970 | - 1970—1970: Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service
- 1970—1970: The daisy-wheel printer invented
- 1970—1970: The floppy disk invented by Alan Shugart
- 17 Jun 1970—17 Jun 1970: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
- 19 Jun 1970—19 Jun 1970: Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
- 30 Jul 1970—30 Jul 1970: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
- 19 Sep 1970—19 Sep 1970: First Glastonbury Festival held
- 20 Nov 1970—20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
- 10 1970—16 Oct 1970: War Measures Act Proclaimed in Quebec
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act to counteract FLQ terrorism
|
| 68 | 1971 | - 1971—1971: Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt
- 1971—1971: 'Greenpeace' founded
- 1971—1971: Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week as UK adopts decision of the International
Standardisation Organisation (ISO) to call Monday the first day
- 1971—1971: Banking and Financial Dealings Act - replaced the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
- 1971—1971: Census of Canada
1971 census is the first completed by the householder
- 1971—1971: Multiculturalism/Bilingualism Policy adopted
Canada gives equal status to both english and french languages
- 1971—1971: The dot-matrix printer invented
- 1971—1971: The food processor invented
- 1971—1971: The liquid-crystal display (LCD) invented by James Fergason
- 1971—1971: The microprocessor invented by Faggin, Hoff and Mazor
- 1971—1971: VCR or videocassette recorder invented
- 3 Jan 1971—3 Jan 1971: Open University starts
- 7 Jan 1971—1 Jul 1971: 26th Amendment ratified
- 15 Feb 1971—15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
- 9 Aug 1971—9 Aug 1971: Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
- 28 Oct 1971—28 Oct 1971: UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero
- 28 Oct 1971—28 Oct 1971: Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973)
- 3 1971—23 Mar 1971: 26th Amendment passed by Congress
|
| 69 | 1972 | - 1972—1972: Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK
- 1972—1972: Domestic video cassette recorders introduced
- 1972—1972: Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports
- 1972—1972: Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland
- 1972—1972: The word processor invented
- 1972—1972: Pong (first video game) invented by Nolan Bushnell
- 1972—1972: Hacky Sack® invented by John Stalberger and Mike Marshall
- 30 Jan 1972—30 Jan 1972: 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland
- 28 May 1972—28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
|
| 70 | 1973 | - 1973—1973: Gene splicing invented
- 1973—1973: The ethernet (local computer network) invented by Robert Metcalfe and Xerox
- 1973—1973: Bic invents the disposable lighter
- 1 Jan 1973—1 Jan 1973: Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
- 17 Mar 1973—17 Mar 1973: Modern London Bridge opened by the Queen
- 1 Apr 1973—1 Apr 1973: VAT introduced in Britain
- 26 Sep 1973—26 Sep 1973: Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking
time
- 14 Oct 1973—14 Oct 1973: Marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey
- 31 Dec 1973—31 Dec 1973: Miners strike and oil crisis precipitate 'three-day week' (till 9 Mar 1974) to
conserve power
|
| 71 | 1974 | - 1974—1974: New counties formed in Britain after re-organisation of some county boundaries
- 1974—1974: Quebec makes french the official language
French language priority causes hundreds of businesses and non-french-speaking families to move out of Quebec
- 1974—1974: The post-it note invented by Arthur Fry
- 1974—1974: Giorgio Fischer, a gynecologist from Rome, Italy, invents liposuction
- 1 Jun 1974—1 Jun 1974: Flixborough disaster: explosion at chemical plant kills 28 people
- 9 Aug 1974—20 Jan 1977: Gerald Ford
 Gerald Ford U.S. Presidency
- 8 Sep 1974—20 Jan 1977: Gerald Ford
- 7 Nov 1974—7 Nov 1974: Lord Lucan disappears
- 21 Nov 1974—21 Nov 1974: Birmingham pub bombings by the IRA
|
| 72 | 1975 | - 1975—1975: Unemployment in Britain rises above 1M for first time since before WW2
- 1975—1975: The laser printer invented
- 1975—1975: The push-through tab on a drink can invented
- 11 Feb 1975—11 Feb 1975: Margaret Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative party (in opposition)
- 28 Feb 1975—28 Feb 1975: 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
- 4 Mar 1975—4 Mar 1975: Charlie Chaplin knighted
- 5 Jun 1975—5 Jun 1975: UK votes in a referendum to stay in the European Community
- 29 Oct 1975—29 Oct 1975: 'Yorkshire Ripper' commits his first murder
- 3 Nov 1975—3 Nov 1975: First North Sea oil comes ashore
- 29 Nov 1975—29 Nov 1975: The name 'Micro-soft' coined by Bill Gates (Microsoft' became a Trademark the
following year)
- 27 Dec 1975—27 Dec 1975: Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force
|
| 73 | 1976 | - 1976—1976: National Theatre opens in London
- 1976—1976: James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister
- 1976—1976: Deaths exceeded live births in E&W for first time since records began in 1837
- 1976—1976: 'Cod War' between Britain and Iceland
- 1976—1976: The ink-jet printer invented
- 21 Jan 1976—21 Jan 1976: Concorde enters supersonic passenger service
- 1 Apr 1976—1 Apr 1976: Apple Computer formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
- 6 Aug 1976—6 Aug 1976: Drought Act 1976 comes into force ? the long, hot summer
- 7 1976—14 Jul 1976: Canada abolishes death penalty
|
| 74 | 1977 | - 1977—1977: Magnetic resonance imaging invented by Raymond V. Damadian
- 20 Jan 1977—20 Jan 1981: Jimmy Carter
 Jimmy Carter U.S. Presidency
- 2 Mar 1977—2 Mar 1977: 'Red Rum' wins a third Grand National
- 25 May 1977—25 May 1977: George Lucas' film Star Wars' released
- 5 Jun 1977—5 Jun 1977: Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale
- 7 Jun 1977—7 Jun 1977: Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in London
- 22 Nov 1977—22 Nov 1977: Regular supersonic Concorde service between London and NY inaugurated
- 1 1977—20 Jan 1981: Jimmy Carter
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| 75 | 1978 | - 1978—1978: Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston invented the VisiCalc spreadsheet
- 1978—1978: The artificial heart Jarvik-7 invented by Robert K. Jarvik
- 8 Apr 1978—8 Apr 1978: Regular broadcast of proceedings in Parliament starts
- 1 May 1978—1 May 1978: First May Day holiday in Britain
- 25 Jul 1978—25 Jul 1978: World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham
- 30 Nov 1978—30 Nov 1978: Publication of The Times suspended - industrial relations problems (until 13
Nov 1979)
|
| 76 | 1979 | - 1979—1979: Cellular phones invented
- 1979—1979: Cray supercomputer invented by Seymour Cray
- 1979—1979: Walkman invented
- 1979—1979: Scott Olson invents roller blades
- 1 Mar 1979—1 Mar 1979: 32.5% of Scots vote in favor of devolution (40% needed) - Welsh vote overwhelmingly against
- 30 Mar 1979—30 Mar 1979: Airey Neave killed by a car bomb at Westminster
- 31 Mar 1979—31 Mar 1979: Withdrawal of the Royal Navy from Malta
- 4 May 1979—4 May 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman UK Prime Minister
- 1 Jul 1979—1 Jul 1979: Sony introduces the Walkman
- 27 Aug 1979—27 Aug 1979: Lord Mountbatten and 3 others killed in bomb blast off coast of Sligo, Ireland
- 18 Sep 1979—18 Sep 1979: ILEA votes to abolish corporal punishment in its schools
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| 77 | 1980 | - 1980—1980: The hepatitis-B vaccine invented
- 5 May 1980—5 May 1980: SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages
- 8 Dec 1980—8 Dec 1980: John Lennon assassinated in New York
|
| 78 | 1981 | - 1981—1981: MS-DOS invented
- 1981—1981: The first IBM-PC invented
- 1981—1981: The scanning tunneling microscope invented by Gerd Karl Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer
- 20 Jan 1981—20 Jan 1989: Ronald Reagan
 Ronald Reagan U.S. Presidency
- 25 Jan 1981—25 Jan 1981: Launch of SDP by 'Gang of Four' in Britain
- 29 Mar 1981—29 Mar 1981: First London marathon run
- 11 Apr 1981—11 Apr 1981: Brixton riots in South London - 30 other British cities also experience riots
- 25 Apr 1981—25 Apr 1981: Worst April blizzards this century in Britain
- 27 Apr 1981—27 Apr 1981: First use of computer mouse (by Xerox PARC system)
- 29 Jul 1981—29 Jul 1981: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (divorced 28 Aug 1996)
- 12 Aug 1981—12 Aug 1981: IBM launches its PC ? starts the general use of personal computers
- 12 Aug 1981—12 Aug 1981: First IBM PC
IBM launches the first PC
- 1 1981—20 Jan 1989: Ronald Reagan
|
| 79 | 1982 | - 1982—1982: Human growth hormone genetically engineered
- 26 Jan 1982—26 Jan 1982: Unemployment reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population)
- 5 Feb 1982—5 Feb 1982: Laker Airways collapses
- 19 Feb 1982—19 Feb 1982: DeLorean Car factory in Belfast goes into receivership
- 18 Mar 1982—18 Mar 1982: Argentinians raised flag in South Georgia
- 2 Apr 1982—2 Apr 1982: Argentina invades Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
- 5 Apr 1982—5 Apr 1982: Royal Navy fleet sails from Portsmouth for Falklands
- 2 May 1982—2 May 1982: British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General
Belgrano
- 28 May 1982—28 May 1982: First land battle in Falklands (Goose Green)
- 14 Jun 1982—14 Jun 1982: Ceasefire in Falklands
- 21 Jun 1982—21 Jun 1982: Prince William is born
- 20 Jul 1982—20 Jul 1982: IRA bombings in London (Hyde Park and Regents Park)
- 19 Sep 1982—19 Sep 1982: Smiley emoticon :-) said to have been used for the first time
- 11 Oct 1982—11 Oct 1982: Mary Rose' raised in the Solent (sank in 1545)
- 31 Oct 1982—31 Oct 1982: Thames Barrier raised for first time (some say first public demonstration Nov 7)
- 2 Nov 1982—2 Nov 1982: Channel 4 TV station launched - first programme 'Countdown'
- 4 Nov 1982—4 Nov 1982: Lorries up to 38 tonnes allowed on Britain's roads
- 12 Dec 1982—12 Dec 1982: Women's peace protest at Greenham Common (Cruise missiles arrived 14 Nov
1983)
- 4 1982—17 Apr 1982: Canadian Constitution Act replaces British North America Act of 1867
Royal assent given to 'patriate the Constitution' and to create the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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| 80 | 1983 | - 1983—1983: First female Lord Mayor of London elected (Dame Mary Donaldson)
- 1983—1983: The Apple Lisa invented
- 1983—1983: Soft bifocal contact lens invented
- 1983—1983: First Cabbage Patch Kids sold
- 1983—1983: Programmer Jaron Lanier first coins the term "virtual reality"
- 17 Jan 1983—17 Jan 1983: Start of breakfast TV in Britain
- 31 Jan 1983—31 Jan 1983: Seat belt law comes into force
- 21 Apr 1983—21 Apr 1983: ?1 coin into circulation in Britain
- 7 Oct 1983—7 Oct 1983: Plans to abolish GLC announced
- 26 Nov 1983—26 Nov 1983: Brinks Mat robbery: 6,800 gold bars worth nearly ?26 million are stolen from a
vault at Heathrow Airport
- 10 1983—31 Oct 1983: Grenada
United States Intervention
|
| 81 | 1984 | - 1984—1984: The CD-ROM invented
- 1984—1984: The Apple Macintosh invented
- 6 Mar 1984—6 Mar 1984: Miners strike begins
- 17 Apr 1984—17 Apr 1984: Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher killed by gunfire from the Libyan Embassy in
London
- 22 Jun 1984—22 Jun 1984: Inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic
- 9 Jul 1984—9 Jul 1984: York Minster struck by lightning - the resulting fire damaged much of the building
but the Rose Window' not affected
- 12 Oct 1984—12 Oct 1984: IRA bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton - 4 killed
- 24 Oct 1984—24 Oct 1984: Miners' strike ? High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets
- 3 Dec 1984—3 Dec 1984: British Telecom privatised - shares make massive gains on first day's trading
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| 82 | 1985 | - 1985—1985: Windows program invented by Microsoft
- 3 Mar 1985—3 Mar 1985: Miners agree to call off strike
- 11 Mar 1985—11 Mar 1985: Al Fayed buys Harrods
- 13 Jul 1985—13 Jul 1985: Live Aid' pop concert raises over ?50M for famine relief
- 1 Sep 1985—1 Sep 1985: Wreck of Titanic' found (sank 1912)
- 12 Dec 1985—12 Dec 1985: Plane crash in Gander, Newfoundland
A DC-8 crashes just after take-off killing 256
|
| 83 | 1986 | - 1986—1986: Census of Canada
1986 census asks about activity limitations
- 1986—1986: A high-temperature super-conductor invented by J. Georg Bednorz and Karl A. Muller
- 1986—1986: Synthetic skin invented by G. Gregory Gallico, III
- 1986—1986: Fuji introduced the disposable camera
- 31 Mar 1986—31 Mar 1986: GLC and 6 metropolitan councils abolished
- 26 Apr 1986—26 Apr 1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident - radiation reached Britain on 2 Ma
- 26 May 1986—26 May 1986: The European Community adopts the European flag
- 23 Jul 1986—23 Jul 1986: Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey
- 27 Oct 1986—27 Oct 1986: 'Big Bang' (deregulation) of the London Stock Market
- 29 Oct 1986—29 Oct 1986: M25 motorway ring around London completed
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| 84 | 1987 | - 1987—1987: World population crossed the 5 billion mark
- 1987—1987: The first 3-D video game invented
- 1987—1987: Disposable contact lenses invented
- 2 Feb 1987—2 Feb 1987: Terry Waite kidnapped in Beirut (released 17 Nov 1991)
- 6 Mar 1987—6 Mar 1987: Car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise' capsizes off Zeebrugge - 188 die
- 1 Jul 1987—1 Jul 1987: Excavation begins on the Channel Tunnel
- 19 Aug 1987—19 Aug 1987: Hungerford Massacre - Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a rifle
- 16 Oct 1987—16 Oct 1987: The 'Hurricane' sweeps southern England
- 19 Oct 1987—19 Oct 1987: 'Black Monday' in the City of London - Stock Market crash
- 8 Nov 1987—8 Nov 1987: Enniskillen bombing at a Remembrance Day ceremony
- 18 Nov 1987—18 Nov 1987: King's Cross fire in London - 31 people die
|
| 85 | 1988 | - 1988—1988: Digital cellular phones invented
- 1988—1988: The RU-486 (abortion pill) invented
- 1988—1988: Doppler radar invented by Christian Andreas Doppler
- 1988—1988: Prozac® invented at the Eli Lilly Company by inventor Ray Fuller
- 1988—1988: The first patent for a genetically engineered animal is issued to Harvard University researchers Philip Leder and Timothy Stewar
- 1988—1988: Ralph Alessio and Fredrik Olsen received a patent for the Indiglo ® nightlight
- 5 Feb 1988—5 Feb 1988: First 'Red Nose Day' in UK, raising money for charity
- 6 Jul 1988—6 Jul 1988: Piper Alpha disaster - North Sea oil platform destroyed by explosion and fire
killing 167 men
- 15 Nov 1988—15 Nov 1988: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act - reformulated the statutory basis of
copyright law (including performing rights) in the UK
- 12 Dec 1988—12 Dec 1988: Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures hundreds after two collisions of
three commuter trains
- 21 Dec 1988—21 Dec 1988: Lockerbie disaster - Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland
|
| 86 | 1989 | - 1989—1989: Poll Tax implemented in Scotland
- 1989—1989: High-definition television invented
- 1 Jan 1989—1 Jan 1989: Free Trade Agreement with U.S.
- 20 Jan 1989—20 Jan 1993: George H. W. Bush
 George H. W. Bush U.S. Presidency
- 14 Feb 1989—14 Feb 1989: The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit
- 2 Mar 1989—2 Mar 1989: EU decision to ban production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of
the century
- 9 Nov 1989—9 Nov 1989: Berlin Wall torn down
- 21 Nov 1989—21 Nov 1989: Proceedings of House of Commons first televised live
- 1 1989—20 Jan 1993: George H.W. Bush
- 12 1989—3 Jan 1990: US Invasion of Panama
United States vs Panama
|
| 87 | 1990 | - 1990—1990: The World Wide Web/Internet protocol (HTTP) and WWW language (HTML) created by Tim Berners-Lee
- 8 Feb 1990—28 Feb 1991: Persian Gulf War
United States and Coalition Forces vs Iraq
- 11 Feb 1990—11 Feb 1990: Nelson Mandela released in South Africa
- 31 Mar 1990—31 Mar 1990: Riots in London against Poll Tax which had been implemented in England &
Wales
- 25 Apr 1990—25 Apr 1990: Hubble space telescope launched
- 2 Aug 1990—28 Feb 1991: Gulf War
 Gulf War
- 22 Nov 1990—22 Nov 1990: Margaret Thatcher resigns as Conservative party leader (and Prime Minister)
- 1 Dec 1990—1 Dec 1990: Channel Tunnel excavation teams meet in the middle
|
| 88 | 1991 | - 1991—1991: The 'Internet' comes into existence
- 1991—1991: Poll Tax replaced (by Council Tax)
- 1991—1991: Census of Canada
1991 census asks about common-law status for the first time
- 1991—1991: The digital answering machine invented
- 18 May 1991—18 May 1991: Helen Sharman is first British Astronaut in Space
- Aug 1991—Aug 1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union
- 6 Sep 1991—6 Sep 1991: Leningrad renamed St Petersburg
- 5 Nov 1991—5 Nov 1991: Robert Maxwell drowns at sea
|
| 89 | 1992 | - 1992—1992: The smart pill invented
- 7 Feb 1992—7 Feb 1992: European Union formed by The Maastricht Treaty
- 22 Apr 1992—22 Apr 1992: Betty Boothroyd elected as first female Speaker of the House of Commons
- 5 Jul 1992—7 May 1992: 27th Amendment ratified
- 15 Aug 1992—15 Aug 1992: Football Premier League kicks off in England
- 16 Sep 1992—16 Sep 1992: 'Black Wednesday' as Pound leaves the ERM
- 20 Nov 1992—20 Nov 1992: Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle causing over ?50 million worth of damage
- 24 Nov 1992—24 Nov 1992: The Queen describes this year as an 'Annus Horribilis'
|
| 90 | 1993 | - 1993—1993: Elizabeth II becomes first British Monarch to pay Income Tax
- 1993—1993: Betty Boothroyd first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (to 2000)
- 1993—1993: The pentium processor invented
- 20 Jan 1993—20 Jan 2001: Bill Clinton
 Bill Clinton U.S. Presidency
- Jul 1993—Jul 1993: Ratification of Maastricht Treaty, established the European Union (EU)
- 1 1993—20 Jan 2001: William Jefferson Clinton
|
| 91 | 1994 | - 1994—1994: 15 million people now connected to the Internet
- 1994—1994: HIV protease inhibitor invented
- 12 Mar 1994—12 Mar 1994: Church of England ordains its first female priests
- 6 May 1994—6 May 1994: Channel Tunnel open to traffic
- 19 Nov 1994—19 Nov 1994: National Lottery starts
|
| 92 | 1995 | - 1995—1996: Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
United States as part of NATO acted peacekeepers in former Yugoslavia
- 1995—1995: The Java computer language invented
- 1995—1995: DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) invented
- 26 Feb 1995—26 Feb 1995: Nick Leeson brings down Barings Bank
- 15 Jul 1995—15 Jul 1995: First item sold on Amazon.com
- 16 Nov 1995—16 Nov 1995: The Queen Mother has a hip replacement operation at 95 years old
- 22 Nov 1995—22 Nov 1995: Toy Story' released - first feature-length film created completely using
computer-generated imagery
|
| 93 | 1996 | - 1996—1996: Web TV invented
- 9 Feb 1996—9 Feb 1996: IRA bomb explodes in London Docklands - ends 17 month ceasefire
- 13 Mar 1996—13 Mar 1996: Dunblane massacre
- 15 Jun 1996—15 Jun 1996: IRA bomb explodes in Manchester
- 5 Jul 1996—5 Jul 1996: Scientists in Scotland clone a sheep (Dolly)
- 28 Aug 1996—28 Aug 1996: Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales are divorced
- 5 1996—15 May 1996: Census of Canada
1996 census counts 28,846,761 individuals. Asks about unpaid housework and mode of transportation to work
|
| 94 | 1997 | - 1997—1997: The gas-powered fuel cell invented
- 30 Mar 1997—30 Mar 1997: Channel 5 TV begins in UK (launched by the Spice Girls)
- 1 May 1997—1 May 1997: 'New' Labour landslide victory in Britain (Tony Blair replaces John Major as
Prime Minister)
- 6 May 1997—6 May 1997: Announcement that Bank of England to be made independent of Government
control
- 11 May 1997—11 May 1997: First time a computer beats a master at chess (IBM's Deep Blue v Garry
Kasparov)
- 1 Jul 1997—1 Jul 1997: Hong Kong returned to China
- 19 Jul 1997—19 Jul 1997: IRA declares a ceasefire
- 31 Aug 1997—31 Aug 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales killed in car crash in Paris
- 25 Sep 1997—25 Sep 1997: Land speed record breaks sound barrier for first time
|
| 95 | 1998 | - 1998—1998: Viagra® invented
- 10 Apr 1998—10 Apr 1998: Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland - effectively implemented in
May 2007
- 14 Aug 1998—14 Aug 1998: Car bomb explodes in Omagh killing 29 people
- 27 Sep 1998—27 Sep 1998: 'Google' search engine founded
|
| 96 | 1999 | - 1999—1999: World population reaches 6 billion
- 1999—1999: Scientists measure the fastest wind speed ever recorded on earth, 509 km/h(318 mph)
- 1999—1999: Tekno Bubbles patented
- 1 Jan 1999—1 Jan 1999: European Monetary Union begins - UK opts out - by the end of the year the
Euro has approximately the same value as the US Dollar
- 4 Jan 1999—1 Apr 1999: Nunavut created in the Arctic
Canada's third territory, Nunavut, formed from part of the Northwest Territories to give the Inuit people more autonomy
- 1 Jul 1999—1 Jul 1999: 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
- 11 Aug 1999—11 Aug 1999: Total eclipse of the sun visible in Devon and Cornwall
- 11 Nov 1999—11 Nov 1999: Hereditary Peers no longer have right to sit in House of Lords
|
| 97 | 2000 | - 1 Jan 2000—1 Jan 2000: The year in Britain started with a 'flu bug rather than a millennium bug
- Mar 2000—Mar 2000: London Eye opens, late but popular
- 22 Apr 2000—22 Apr 2000: The Big Number Change takes place in the UK - affected telephone dialling
codes assigned to Cardiff, Coventry, London, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth and Southampton
- 4 May 2000—4 May 2000: Ken Livingstone elected first Mayor of London (not to be confused with Lord
Mayor of London!)
- 10 Jun 2000—10 Jun 2000: Millennium footbridge over the Thames opens, but wobbles and is quickly
declared dangerous and closed - finally reopened Feb 2002
- 25 Jul 2000—25 Jul 2000: A chartered Air France Concorde crashes on take-off at Paris with the loss of all lives
- Sep 2000—Sep 2000: '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
- Oct 2000—Oct 2000: Heavy rains cause worst flooding since records began (1850s) in many
parts of Britain (Oct-Dec)
- 17 Oct 2000—17 Oct 2000: Derailment at speed on the main London-North eastern line at Hatfield caused
by a broken rail
|
| 98 | 2001 | - 20 Jan 2001—20 Jan 2009: George W. Bush
 George W. Bush U.S. Presidency
- Feb 2001—Feb 2001: Outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease in UK - lasted until October - caused
postponement of local and general elections from May to June
- 12 May 2001—12 May 2001: FA Cup Final played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - first time away from Wembley since 1922
- 7 Jun 2001—7 Jun 2001: General Election - Labour returned again with a large majority, the first time
they had succeeded in gaining a second term
- 1 Sep 2001—1 Sep 2001: New-style number plates on road vehicles in UK [eg. AB 51 ABC]
- 7 Oct 2001—28 Dec 2014: War in Afghanistan
 War in Afghanistan
- 7 Nov 2001—7 Nov 2001: Concorde flights resume after modifications to tyres and fuel tanks
- Dec 2001—Dec 2001: UK Christmas stamps self-adhesive for the first time (self-adhesive 1st & 2nd class
definitives already on sale)
- 5 2001—15 May 2001: Census of Canada
2001 census counts 30,007,094 individuals
- 1 2001—20 Jan 2009: George W. Bush
|
| 99 | 2002 | - 1 Jan 2002—1 Jan 2002: 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
- 22 Feb 2002—22 Feb 2002: Millennium Bridge over the Thames in London finally opens
- 30 Mar 2002—30 Mar 2002: The Queen Mother dies, aged 101 years
- 2 Jul 2002—2 Jul 2002: Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a
balloon
|
| 100 | 2003 | - 2003—1 May 2003: Invasion of Iraq
United States and Coalition Forces vs. Iraq
- 17 Feb 2003—17 Feb 2003: Start of Congestion Charge for traffic entering central London
- 20 Mar 2003—18 Dec 2011: Iraq War
 Iraq War
- 10 Aug 2003—10 Aug 2003: Temperatures reach record high of 101 F (38.3 C) in Kent
- 24 Oct 2003—24 Oct 2003: Last commercial flight of Concorde
- 22 Nov 2003—22 Nov 2003: England wins Rugby World Cup in nail-biting final in Australia - first northern
hemisphere team to do this
- 13 Dec 2003—13 Dec 2003: Saddam Hussein captured near his home town of Tikrit (executed 30 Dec 2006)
- 26 Dec 2003—26 Dec 2003: Queen Mary 2 arrives in Southampton from the builder's yard in France 2004
|
| 101 | 2004 | - 29 Mar 2004—29 Mar 2004: 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
- 29 Mar 2004—29 Mar 2004: Ireland becomes first country in the world to ban smoking in public places
- 1 May 2004—1 May 2004: 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
|
| 102 | 2005 | - 16 Feb 2005—16 Feb 2005: Kyoto Protocol on climate change came into force
- 18 Feb 2005—18 Feb 2005: Ban on hunting with dogs came into force in England & Wales (had already
been a similar law for about two years in Scotland)
- 6 Jul 2005—6 Jul 2005: London chosen as venue for the 2012 Olympic Games
- 7 Jul 2005—7 Jul 2005: Suicide bombers attack London for the first time
- 28 Jul 2005—28 Jul 2005: IRA declare an end to their 'armed struggle'
- 12 Sep 2005—12 Sep 2005: England regain the 'Ashes' after a gripping Test series (but are whitewashed 5-0
in the return series in Australia 2007)
- 9 Dec 2005—9 Dec 2005: Last Routemaster bus runs on regular service in London
- 11 Dec 2005—11 Dec 2005: Explosions at the Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead
- 21 Dec 2005—21 Dec 2005: Same-sex civil partnerships begin
- famously, on this day, between Elton John and David Furnish
|
| 103 | 2006 | - 1 Mar 2006—1 Mar 2006: Welsh Assembly Building opened by the Queen
- 26 Mar 2006—26 Mar 2006: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland
- 21 Apr 2006—21 Apr 2006: 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
- 21 Aug 2006—21 Aug 2006: UK postage rates start to be measured by size as well as by weight
|
| 104 | 2007 | - 1 Jan 2007—1 Jan 2007: Further enlargement of the European Union to include Bulgaria and Romania
- 19 Feb 2007—19 Feb 2007: Extension of Congestion Charge zone for London, westwards
- 8 May 2007—8 May 2007: A Northern Ireland Executive formed under the leadership of Ian Paisley (DUP)
and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein)
- 1 Jul 2007—1 Jul 2007: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in England (thus completing
cover of the entire UK)
- 14 Nov 2007—14 Nov 2007: First rail service direct from St Pancras to France (replacing that from Waterloo)
|
Abt 1070 - Yes, date unknown
William Howard Taft U.S. Presidency