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   Date  Event(s)
1687 
  • 4 April 1687—4 April 1687: James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists
  • 5 July 1687—5 July 1687: Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' - written in Latin
1688 
  • 1688—1688: British Army raised to 40,000
  • 1688—1688: Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament
  • 1688—1688: Hearth Tax abolished
  • 1688—1688: Mutiny Act
  • February 1688—February 1688: Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens - later became Lloyd's of London
  • November 1688—November 1688: The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates
  • 5 November 1688—5 November 1688: William of Orange lands at Torbay
  • December 1688—December 1688: Siege of Londonderry (began Dec 1688; ended 28 Jul 1689)
1689 
  • 1689—1689: Devonport naval dockyard established
  • 13 February 1689—13 February 1689: William III and Mary II, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne (only William, however, has regal power)
  • 12 March 1689—12 March 1689: Deposed James VII & II flees to Ireland - defeated at the Battle of the Boyne (1 Jul 1690)
  • 24 May 1689—24 May 1689: Toleration Act passed for Protestant non-conformists
  • 27 July 1689—27 July 1689: Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland - Jacobites defeated Government troops but at high cost
  • 16 December 1689—16 December 1689: Bill of Rights passed by Parliament, ending King's divine right to raise taxes or wage war
1690 
  • 20 May 1690—20 May 1690: England passes Act of Grace, forgiving Roman Catholic followers of James II
1692 
  • 1692—1692: Land Tax introduced - originally designed as an annual tax on personal estate, public offices and land. For practical purposes, however, assessors tended to avoid assessing items of wealth other than landed property so that it became known as the Land Tax.
  • 1692—1692: French intention to invade England came to nothing
  • 13 February 1692—13 February 1692: The massacre of Glencoe - Clan Campbell sides with King William and murders members of Clan McDonald
1693 
  • 4 August 1693—4 August 1693: Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pierre P?rignon 's invention of Champagne
1694 
  • 1694—1694: National Debt came into effect in England
  • 1694—1694: Stamp Duties introduced into Britain from Holland
  • 1694—1694: Mary II death leaves William III as sole ruler
  • 1694—1694: Triennial Act, new Parliamentary elections every three years
  • 1694—1694: Scotland: Poll Tax imposed on all over sixteen, except the destitute and insane (-1699)
  • 27 July 1694—27 July 1694: Bank of England founded by William Paterson (a Scot)
1695 
  • 1695—1695: Freedom of Press in England granted
  • 1695—1695: Bank of Scotland founded
  • 1695—1695: Act of Parliament imposes a fine on all who fail to inform the parish minister of the birth of a child (repealed 1706)
  • 1695—1695: Start of Dissenters' lists in parish registers - children born but not christened in the parish church - some were named 'Papist' and others 'Protestants'
1697 
  • 2 December 1697—2 December 1697: Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
10 1698 
  • 1698—1698: Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery
  • 1698—1698: Darien Expedition: a disastrous attempt to establish a Scots settlement in Panama
  • 1698—1698: Duties (taxes) on entries in parish registers - repealed after five years
  • 4 January 1698—4 January 1698: Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London destroyed by fire
  • 14 November 1698—14 November 1698: Eddystone Lighthouse (Henry Winstanley's) first lit; completed 10 days earlier
11 1700 
  • 1700—1700: Population in England and Scotland approx 7.5 million
12 1701 
  • 1701—1701: Act of Settlement bars Catholics from the British throne
  • 23 May 1701—23 May 1701: After being convicted of piracy and murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd hanged in London
13 1702 
  • 8 March 1702—8 March 1702: Anne Stuart becomes Queen
  • 11 March 1702—11 March 1702: First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
14 1703 
  • 4 August 1703—4 August 1703: British take Gibraltar
  • 24 November 1703—24 November 1703: Climate: Most violent storms of the millennium cause vast damage across southern England - about a third of Britain's merchant fleet lost, and Eddystone lighthouse destroyed on 27 November (Nov 24 - Dec 2)
15 1704 
  • 1704—1704: Penal Code enacted - Catholics barred from voting, education and the military
  • 13 August 1704—13 August 1704: Battle of Blenheim
16 1705 
  • 1705—1705: First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen (some say c1710 or 1711)
  • 1705—1705: Isaac Newton knighted (for his work at the Royal Mint)
17 1706 
  • 1706—1706: First evening newspaper The Evening Post' issued in London
18 1707 
  • 16 January 1707—16 January 1707: Union with Scotland - Scots agree to send 16 peers and 45 MPs to English Parliament in return for full trading privileges - Scottish Parliament meets for the last time in March
  • 1 May 1707—1 May 1707: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament - The Kingdom of Great Britain established - largest free-trade area in Europe at the time
19 1708 
  • 1708—1708: First Jacobite rising in Scotland
  • 1708—1708: Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
20 1709 
  • 1709—1709: Second Eddystone lighthouse completed
  • 1709—1709: First Copyright Act pass
  • 1709—1709: Bad harvests throughout Europe - bread riots in Britain
  • 2 February 1709—2 February 1709: Alexander Selkirk rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe (published in 1719) by Daniel Defoe
21 1710 
  • 1710—1710: Tax on Apprentice Indentures introduced
22 1711 
  • 1711—1711: Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London
  • 11 August 1711—11 August 1711: First race meeting at Ascot
23 1712 
  • 1712—1712: Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853)
  • 1712—1712: Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham)
  • 1712—1712: Toleration Act passed - first relief to non-Anglicans
24 1713 
  • 1713—1713: By this year there are some 3,000 coffee houses in London
25 1714 
  • 1714—1714: Longitude Act: prize of ?20,000 offered to the inventor of a workable method of determining a ship's longitude (won by John Harrison in 1773 for his chronometer).
  • 1714—1714: Schism Act, prevents Dissenters from being schoolmasters in England
  • 1714—1714: Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism
  • 1 August 1714—1 August 1714: Queen Anne Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727).
26 1715 
  • 1715—1715: Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen')
  • 1 August 1715—1 August 1715: Riot Act passed
27 1716 
  • 1716—1716: The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption - general elections now to be held once every 7 years instead of every 3 (until 1911)
  • 1716—1716: Climate: Thames frozen so solid that a spring tide lifted the ice bodily 13ft without interrupting the frost fair
28 1717 
  • 1717—1717: First Masonic Lodge opens in London
  • 1717—1717: Value of the golden guinea fixed at 21 shillings
29 1719 
  • 1719—1719: Third abortive Jacobite rising
30 1720 
  • 1720—1720: South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley - government assumes control of National Debt
  • 1720—1720: Manufacturing towns start to increase in population - rise of new wealth
  • 1720—1720: Wallpaper becomes fashionable in England
31 1721 
  • 2 April 1721—2 April 1721: Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
32 1722 
  • 1722—1722: Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland
  • 1722—1722: Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
33 1723 
  • 1723—1723: Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate
  • 1723—1723: The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be sentenced to death for theft and poaching - repealed in 1827
  • 1723—1723: The Workhouse Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse
34 1724 
  • 1724—1724: Rapid growth of gin drinking in England
  • 1724—1724: Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
35 1726 
  • 1726—1726: First circulating library opened in Edinburgh
  • 1726—1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
36 1727 
  • 1727—1727: Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland
  • 11 June 1727—11 June 1727: George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
37 1729 
  • 9 November 1729—9 November 1729: Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain - Britain maintained control of Port Mahon and Gibraltar
38 1730 
  • 1730—1730: Irish famine
39 1731 
  • 1731—1731: Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701]
  • 1731—1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
40 1732 
  • 7 December 1732—7 December 1732: Covent Garden Opera House opens
41 1733 
  • 1733—1733: Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine - Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax
  • 1733—1733: Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in Latin for a few years
  • 1733—1733: John Kay invents the flying shuttle, revolutionised the weaving industry
42 1734 
  • 1734—1734: Kent's Directory published
43 1737 
  • 1737—1737: Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
44 1738 
  • 24 May 1738—24 May 1738: John Wesley has his conversion experience
45 1739 
  • 1739—1739: Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival
  • 7 April 1739—7 April 1739: Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York
  • 23 October 1739—23 October 1739: War of Jenkins' Ear starts: Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain
46 1741 
  • 1741—1741: Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
47 1742 
  • 1742—1742: England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) for the sake of trade
48 1743 
  • 16 June 1743—16 June 1743: (June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen - last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
49 1744 
  • 1744—1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
50 1745 
  • 1745—1745: Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five')
  • 19 August 1745—19 August 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands - raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth, Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
51 1746 
  • 16 April 1746—16 April 1746: Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
52 1747 
  • 1747—1747: Act for Pacification of the Highlands
  • 1747—1747: Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
53 1749 
  • 27 April 1749—27 April 1749: First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park, London)
54 1750 
  • February 1750—February 1750: Series of earthquakes in London and the Home Counties cause panic with predictions of an apocalypse (Feb/Mar)
  • 16 November 1750—16 November 1750: Original Westminster Bridge opened (replaced in 1862 due to subsidence)
55 1751 
  • March 1751—March 1751: Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed - royal assent to the bill was given on 22 May 1751 - decision to adopt Gregorian Calendar in 1752: In and throughout all his
56 1752 
  • 1752—1752: Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning conductor
  • 1 January 1752—1 January 1752: Beginning of the year 1752 [Scotland had adopted January as the start of the year in 1600, and some other countries in Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar as early as 1582]
  • 3 September 1752—3 September 1752: Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and Scotland, making this Sep 14
57 1753 
  • 1753—1753: Private collection of Sir Hans Sloane forms the basis of the British Museum
  • 1 May 1753—1 May 1753: Publication of ?Species Plantarum' by Linnaeus and the formal start date of plant taxonomy
58 1754 
  • 1754—1754: Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt
  • 1754—1754: In the General Election, the Cow Inn at Haslemere, Surrey caused a national scandal by subdividing the freehold to create eight votes instead of one
  • 1754—1754: First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India
59 1755 
  • 1755—1755: Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson
  • 1755—1755: Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827)
  • 2 December 1755—2 December 1755: Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
60 1756 
  • 15 May 1756—15 May 1756: The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins
  • June 1756—June 1756: Black Hole of Calcutta - 146 Britons imprisoned, most die according to British sources
61 1757 
  • 1757—1757: The foundation laid for the Empire of India
  • 14 March 1757—14 March 1757: Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca
  • 23 June 1757—23 June 1757: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassey (Palashi, June 23) - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
62 1758 
  • 1758—1758: India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
63 1759 
  • 1759—1759: Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels
  • 15 January 1759—15 January 1759: British Museum opens to the public in London
  • 16 October 1759—16 October 1759: Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
64 1760 
  • 1760—1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
  • 5 May 1760—5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop
  • 25 October 1760—25 October 1760: George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called first Industrial Revolution'
65 1761 
  • 16 January 1761—16 January 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
66 1762 
  • 1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
67 1763 
  • 1763—1763: Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland [fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum]) - but English displaces French as the international language
68 1764 
  • 1764—1764: Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared
  • 1764—1764: Practice of numbering houses introduced to London
  • 1764—1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768)
  • 1764—1764: Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
69 1765 
  • 1765—1765: The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe
  • 22 March 1765—22 March 1765: Stamp Act passed - imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the American colonies (repealed the following year)
70 1766 
  • 1766—1766: Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK
  • 5 December 1766—5 December 1766: Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
71 1767 
  • 1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
72 1768 
  • 9 January 1768—9 January 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London
  • 6 December 1768—6 December 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
73 1769 
  • 1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
  • 1769—1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand
  • 6 September 1769—6 September 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
74 1770 
  • 1770—1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications
  • 28 April 1770—28 April 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims Australia for Britain
75 1771 
  • 1771—1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
76 1772 
  • 1772—1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company
  • 1772—1772: Morning Post' first published (until 1937)
  • 14 May 1772—14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
77 1774 
  • 13 September 1774—13 September 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
78 1775 
  • 19 April 1775—19 April 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775- 1783)
79 1776 
  • 1776—1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population
  • 1776—1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine
  • 4 July 1776—4 July 1776: American Declaration of Independence
  • 7 September 1776—7 September 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine - David Bushnell's ?Turtle' attacked HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did detonate beneath the ship) but was nevertheless unsuccessful. 'Turtle' was a one man Affair man-powered [Les Moore]
80 1777 
  • 1777—1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
81 1779 
  • 1779—1779: Marc Isambard Brunel opens the first steamdriven sawmill at Chatham Dockyard in Kent
  • 1779—1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
  • 1779—1779: First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland
  • 14 February 1779—14 February 1779: Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii
  • 23 September 1779—23 September 1779: Naval engagement between Britain and USA off Flamborough Head
82 1780 
  • 1780—1780: Male Servants Tax
  • 1780—1780: The English Reform Movement - until now, only landowners and tenants (freeholders with 40 shillings per year or more) allowed to vote, and in open poll books
  • 1780—1780: Fountain pen invented
  • 1780—1780: About this time the word 'Quiz' entered the language, said to have been invented as a wager by Mr Daly, a Dublin theatre manager
  • 4 May 1780—4 May 1780: First Derby run at Epsom (some say 2nd June)
  • 2 June 1780—2 June 1780: Jun 2- 8: The Gordon Riots - Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure - for days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
83 1782 
  • 1782—1782: Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief - the way of life of the poor beginning to alter due to industrialisation - New factories in rapidly expanding towns required a workforce that would adjust to new work patterns
  • 1782—1782: James Watt patents his steam engine
84 1783 
  • 1783—1783: Duty payable on Parish Register entries (3d per entry - repealed 1794) - led to a fall in entries!
  • 3 September 1783—3 September 1783: Treaty of Versailles (Britain/US)
  • 3 November 1783—3 November 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
85 1784 
  • 1784—1784: Pitt's India Act - the Crown (as opposed to officers of the East India Company) has power to guide Indian politics
  • 1784—1784: Wesley breaks with the Church of England
  • 1784—1784: First golf club founded at St Andrews
  • 1784—1784: Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle
  • 2 August 1784—2 August 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
86 1785 
  • 1785—1785: Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2 million)
  • 1 January 1785—1 January 1785: John Walter publishes first edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal Register for 3 years)
87 1787 
  • 1787—1787: MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
88 1788 
  • 1788—1788: First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland
  • 1788—1788: Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not enforced)
  • 1788—1788: First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade - stipulates more humane conditions on slave ships
  • 1788—1788: King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis - Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt - trying to obtain full regal powers for the Prince of Wales
  • 1788—1788: Gibbon completes Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
  • 26 January 1788—26 January 1788: First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales (left Portsmouth 13 May 1787) ? the 'First Fleet'; eleven ships commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip
89 1789 
  • 28 April 1789—28 April 1789: Mutiny on HMS Bounty - Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew ends up on Pitcairn Island
90 1790 
  • 1790—1790: Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
91 1791 
  • 1791—1791: John Bell, printer, abandons the long s' (the 's' that looks like an 'f')
  • 1791—1791: Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
  • 4 December 1791—4 December 1791: First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
92 1792 
  • 1792—1792: Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) - Fox gets Libel Act through Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel
  • 1792—1792: Boyle's Street Directory published
  • 1792—1792: Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot
  • 1 October 1792—1 October 1792: Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
  • 1 December 1792—1 December 1792: King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
93 1793 
  • 11 February 1793—11 February 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
  • 15 April 1793—15 April 1793: ?5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
94 1794 
  • 1794—1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties
  • 6 October 1794—6 October 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore treasonous
95 1795 
  • 1795—1795: The Famine Year
  • 1795—1795: Foundation of the Orange Order
  • 1795—1795: Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises - many small farmers were bankrupted by the move towards enclosures and became landless labourers - their wages were often pitifully low
  • 1795—1795: Pitt and Grenville introduce The Gagging Acts' or 'Two Bills' (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) - outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture.
  • 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
96 1796 
  • 1796—1796: Pitt's Reign of Terror': More treason trials - leading radicals emigrate
  • 1796—1796: Legacy Tax on sums over ?20 excluding those to wives, children, parents and grandparents
  • 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
97 1797 
  • 1797—1797: England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments
  • 1797—1797: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore
  • 1797—1797: Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical publications
  • 1797—1797: The first copper pennies were produced ('cartwheels') by application of steam power to the coining press
  • 22 February 1797—22 February 1797: French invade Fishguard, Wales; last time UK invaded; all captured 2 days later
  • 26 February 1797—26 February 1797: First ?1 (and ?2) notes issued by Bank of England
98 1798 
  • 1798—1798: First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner
  • February 1798—February 1798: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish Parliament abolished (Feb-Oct)
  • 1 August 1798—1 August 1798: Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
99 1799 
  • 1799—1799: Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York
  • 1799—1799: Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain
  • 9 January 1799—9 January 1799: Pitt brings in 10% income tax, as a wartime financial measure
  • 12 July 1799—12 July 1799: 'Combination Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations
  • 15 July 1799—15 July 1799: ?Rosetta Stone' discovered in Egypt made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
100 1800 
  • 1800—1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
  • 1800—1800: Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833)
  • 1800—1800: Royal College of Surgeons founded
  • 1800—1800: Herschel discovers infra-red light
  • 1800—1800: Volta makes first electrical battery
  • 2 July 1800—2 July 1800: Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
101 1801 
  • 1801—1801: Grand Union Canal opens in England
  • 1801—1801: Elgin Marbles brought from Athens to London
  • 1 January 1801—1 January 1801: Union Jack becomes the official British flag
  • 10 March 1801—10 March 1801: First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000. Population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural)
  • 24 December 1801—24 December 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
102 1802 
  • 25 March 1802—25 March 1802: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands ? the 'Peace of Amiens' as it was known brought a temporary peace of 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars ? one of its most important cultural effects was that travel and correspondence across the English Channel became possible again
103 1803 
  • 1803—1803: Poaching made a Capital offense in England if capture resisted
  • 1803—1803: Richard Trevithick built another steam carriage and ran it in London as the first self-propelled vehicle in the capital and the first London bus
  • 1803—1803: Semaphore signaling perfected by Admiral Popham
  • 30 April 1803—30 April 1803: Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon sells French possessions in America to United States
  • 12 May 1803—12 May 1803: Peace of Amiens ends ? resumption of war with France ? The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5)
  • 23 July 1803—23 July 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to Croydon, horse-drawn)
104 1804 
  • 1804—1804: Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed 'Australia'
  • 21 February 1804—21 February 1804: Richard Trevithick runs his railway engine on the Penydarren Railway (9.5 miles from Pen-y-Darren to Abercynon in South Wales) this hauled a train with 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers. It was commemorated by the Royal Mint in 2004 in the form of A ?2 coin.
  • 3 March 1804—3 March 1804: John Wedgwood (eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood) founds The Royal Horticultural Society
  • 2 December 1804—2 December 1804: Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French
  • 12 December 1804—12 December 1804: Spain declares war on Britain
105 1805 
  • 1805—1805: London docks opened
  • 21 October 1805—21 October 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
  • 2 December 1805—2 December 1805: Battle of Austerlitz; Napoleon defeats Austrians and Russians
106 1806 
  • 1806—1806: Dartmoor Prison opened (built by French prisoners)
  • 9 January 1806—9 January 1806: Nelson buried in St Paul's cathedral, London
107 1807 
  • 25 March 1807—25 March 1807: Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 ? but does not prohibit colonial slavery
108 1808 
  • 1808—1808: Gas lighting in London streets
  • 13 July 1808—13 July 1808: 'Hot Wednesday' ? temperature of 101?F in the shade recorded in London
  • 20 December 1808—20 December 1808: Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy together in Vienna
109 1809 
  • 12 February 1809—12 February 1809: Birth of Charles Darwin
  • 18 September 1809—18 September 1809: Royal Opera House opens in London
110 1810 
  • 1810—1810: John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of road metalling
111 1811 
  • 5 February 1811—5 February 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
112 1812 
  • 11 May 1812—11 May 1812: Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, assassinated ? shot as he entered the House of Commons by a bankrupt Liverpool broker, John Bellingham, who was subsequently hanged
  • 18 June 1812—18 June 1812: Start of American 'War of 1812' (to 1814) against England and Canada
  • October 1812—October 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
113 1813 
  • 1813—1813: Ireland: First recorded '12th of July' sectarian riots in Belfast
  • 1813—1813: Jane Austen wrote 'Pride and Prejudice'
114 1814 
  • 1 January 1814—1 January 1814: Invasion of France by Allies
  • 6 April 1814—6 April 1814: Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
  • 13 August 1814—13 August 1814: Convention of London signed, a treaty between the UK and the Dutch
  • 24 August 1814—24 August 1814: The British burn the White House
  • 29 November 1814—29 November 1814: 'The Times' first printed by a 'mechanical apparatus' (at 1100 sheets per hour)
  • 24 December 1814—24 December 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the 1812 war between Britain and the US
115 1815 
  • 1815—1815: Trial by Jury established in Scotland
  • 1815—1815: Davy develops the safety lamp for miners
  • 18 June 1815—18 June 1815: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
116 1816 
  • 1816—1816: Income tax abolished
  • 1816—1816: For the first time British silver coins were produced with an intrinsic value substantially below their face value ? the first official 'token' coinage
  • 1816—1816: Climate: the 'year without a summer' ? followed a volcanic explosion of the mountain 'Tambora in Indonesia the previous year the biggest volcanic explosion in 10000 years
  • 1816—1816: Large scale emigration to North America
  • 1816—1816: Trans-Atlantic packet service begins
117 1817 
  • 1817—1817: March of the Manchester Blanketeers; Habeas Corpus suspended
  • 1817—1817: Constable painted 'Flatford Mill'
118 1818 
  • 1818—1818: Manchester cotton spinners' strike
  • 20 October 1818—20 October 1818: 'Convention of 1818' signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length
119 1819 
  • 1819—1819: Primitive bicycle, the Dandy Horse, becomes popular
  • 1819—1819: Britain returns to gold standard
  • 1819—1819: Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles
  • May 1819—May 1819: SS 'Savannah' first steamship to cross Atlantic reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 Days reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 Days mostly under sail)
  • 16 August 1819—16 August 1819: Peterloo Massacre at Manchester ? a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester ? demand Parliamentary Reform ? mounted troops charge on the meeting, killing 11 people and and maiming many others
120 1820 
  • 1820—1820: Cato Street Conspiracy ? plot to assissinate British cabinet
  • 1820—1820: Abolition of the Spanish Inquisition
  • 29 January 1820—29 January 1820: Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
  • 1 August 1820—1 August 1820: Regent's Canal in London opens
  • 17 August 1820—17 August 1820: Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her ? George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her ? Caroline is virtually acquitted because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
121 1821 
  • 1821—1821: Faraday publishes 'Principles of electro-magnetic rotation'
  • 1821—1821: Constable paints 'The Hay Wain'
  • 5 May 1821—5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
122 1822 
  • 14 June 1822—14 June 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
123 1823 
  • 1823—1823: New laws concerning marriage by license ? 'very troublesome' according to some the Act was repealed all in a hurry at the beginning of the next session
  • 1823—1823: Peel begins penal reforms ? death penalty abolished for over 100 crimes
  • 1823—1823: Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School
  • 1823—1823: Rubberised waterproof material produced by MacIntosh
  • 2 December 1823—2 December 1823: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts (the 'Monroe Doctrine')
124 1824 
  • 1824—1824: RSPCA established
  • 1824—1824: Portland cement patented
  • 4 March 1824—4 March 1824: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded (called the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' until 1854)
  • 10 May 1824—10 May 1824: National Gallery in London opens to the public
125 1825 
  • 27 September 1825—27 September 1825: Stockton to Darlington Railway opens ? world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains
126 1827 
  • 1827—1827: Ohm's Law published
127 1828 
  • 25 October 1828—25 October 1828: St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
128 1829 
  • 1829—1829: London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed 'Bobbies' after Sir Robert Peel
  • 1829—1829: Louis Braille invents his system of finger-reading for the blind
  • 10 June 1829—10 June 1829: First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race
  • 6 October 1829—6 October 1829: George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to complete the trial!)
129 1830 
  • 1830—1830: Uprisings and agitation across Europe: the Netherlands are split into Holland and Belgium
  • July 1830—July 1830: Revolution in France, fall of Charles X and the Bourbons ? Louis Philippe (the Citizen King) on the throne
  • 15 September 1830—15 September 1830: George Stephenson's Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened by the Duke of Wellington ? first mail carried by rail, and first death on the railway as William Huskisson, a leading politician, is run over!
130 1831 
  • 1831—1831: A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
  • 1 June 1831—1 June 1831: James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole
  • 1 August 1831—1 August 1831: 'New' London Bridge opens (replaced 1973) ? old bridge (which had existed for over 600 years) then demolished
131 1832 
  • 1832—1832: Electoral Registers introduced
  • 1832—1832: Electric telegraph invented by Morse
  • 7 June 1832—7 June 1832: Reform Bill passed ? Representation of the People Act
132 1833 
  • January 1833—January 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands
  • 29 August 1833—29 August 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
133 1834 
  • 1834—1834: Babbage invents forerunner of the computer
  • 18 March 1834—18 March 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities
  • 1 May 1834—1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
134 1835 
  • 1835—1835: Christmas becomes a national holiday
  • 1835—1835: First railway boom period starts in Britain construction of Great Western Railway
135 1836 
  • 1836—1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
  • 30 January 1836—30 January 1836: Telford's Menai Straits Bridge opened ? considered the world's first modern suspension bridge
  • 25 February 1836—25 February 1836: Samuel Colt patented the 'revolver'
  • 6 March 1836—6 March 1836: The Alamo falls to Mexican troops - death of Davy Crockett
  • July 1836—July 1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
136 1837 
  • 1837—1837: Pitman introduces his shorthand system
  • 1837—1837: P&O Founded
  • 20 June 1837—20 June 1837: William IV dies - accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
  • 1 July 1837—1 July 1837: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales - Registration Districts were formed covering several parishes; initially they had the same boundaries as the Poor Law boundaries set up in 1834
  • 13 July 1837—13 July 1837: Queen Victoria moves into the first Buckingham Palace
  • 20 July 1837—20 July 1837: Euston Railway station opens - first in London
137 1838 
  • 28 June 1838—28 June 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey
138 1839 
  • 1839—1839: First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) - Britain captures Hong Kong
  • 1839—1839: Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan refines the primitive bicycle adding a mechanical crank drive to the rear wheel,thus creating the first true 'bicycle' in the modern Sense
  • 1839—1839: Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
139 1840 
  • 1840—1840: Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
  • 1840—1840: Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed elsewhere)
  • 10 January 1840—10 January 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
140 1841 
  • 1841—1841: Thomas Cook starts package tours
  • 10 February 1841—10 February 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
  • 6 June 1841—6 June 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
141 1842 
  • 1842—1842: Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
  • 30 March 1842—30 March 1842: Ether used as an anesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
  • 29 August 1842—29 August 1842: Treaty of Nanking - End of First Opium War - Britain gains Hong Kong
142 1843 
  • 1843—1843: First Christmas card in England
  • 27 May 1843—27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
  • 19 July 1843—19 July 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
143 1844 
  • 6 June 1844—6 June 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
144 1845 
  • 1845—1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
  • 17 March 1845—17 March 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
145 1846 
  • 10 September 1846—10 September 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
146 1847 
  • 1847—1847: US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
  • January 1847—January 1847: An anesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
147 1848 
  • 1848—1848: First commercial production of chewing gum
  • 24 January 1848—24 January 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California - starts the California gold rush
  • 11 July 1848—11 July 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
148 1849 
  • 1849—1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation - which finally occurred in 1971!
149 1851 
  • 1851—1851: Gold discovered in Australia
  • 1 May 1851—1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ('Crystal Palace' exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
150 1852 
  • 1852—1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
  • 1852—1852: Wells Fargo established in USA
151 1853 
  • 1853—1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
152 1854 
  • 1854—1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
  • 27 March 1854—27 March 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
  • 25 October 1854—25 October 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
153 1856 
  • 1856—1856: End of Crimean War
  • 29 January 1856—29 January 1856: Victoria Cross created by Royal Warrant, backdated to 1854 to recognise acts during the Crimean War (first award ceremony 26 June 1857)
154 1857 
  • 1857—1857: Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
155 1858 
  • 1858—1858: 'The great stink' - smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work
  • 1858—1858: Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
156 1859 
  • 1859—1859: Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain
  • 25 April 1859—25 April 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869)
  • 4 May 1859—4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon and Cornwall
  • 24 November 1859—24 November 1859: Charles Darwin publishes 'The Origin of Species'
157 1860 
  • 29 August 1860—29 August 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
158 1861 
  • 25 May 1861—25 May 1861: American Civil War begins
159 1862 
  • 1862—1862: Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks)
  • 20 April 1862—20 April 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
160 1863 
  • 1863—1863: Football Association founded (UK)
  • 1863—1863: Opening of state institution for criminally insane at Broadmoor, England
  • 10 January 1863—10 January 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
161 1864 
  • 1864—1864: A man-powered submarine, 'Hunley' sank a Federal steam ship USS Housatonic at the entrance to Charleston harbour in 1864 - the first recorded successful attack by a submarine on a surface ship
  • 11 March 1864—11 March 1864: The Great Sheffield Flood - over 250 died when a new dam broke while it was being filled for the first time
  • 20 August 1864—20 August 1864: Red Cross established - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention
  • 8 December 1864—8 December 1864: Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon officially opened
162 1865 
  • 1865—1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917) becomes first woman doctor in England [she later became the first woman mayor in England, in Aldeburgh 1908]
  • 1865—1865: First concrete roads built in Britain
  • 14 April 1865—14 April 1865: End of American Civil War - slavery abolished in USA
  • 14 April 1865—14 April 1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth
  • 5 July 1865—5 July 1865: William Booth (1829-1912) founds Salvation Army, in London
163 1867 
  • 1 July 1867—1 July 1867: The British North America Act takes effect, creating the Canadian Confederation
164 1868 
  • 1868—1868: Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
165 1869 
  • 1869—1869: Ball bearings, celluloid, margarine, and washing machines, all invented
  • 23 November 1869—23 November 1869: Cutty Sark launched in Dumbarton
166 1870 
  • 1870—1870: GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies (nationalised)
  • 1870—1870: Dr Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
  • 1870—1870: Water closets come into wide use
  • 1870—1870: Diamonds discovered in Kimberley, South Africa
  • 1 October 1870—1 October 1870: First British postcard - halfpenny post
167 1871 
  • 27 March 1871—27 March 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
  • 29 March 1871—29 March 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
  • 29 June 1871—29 June 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
168 1872 
  • 1872—1872: Licensing hours introduced
  • 1872—1872: Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
  • 4 December 1872—4 December 1872: American ship 'Mary Celeste' is found abandoned by the British brig 'Dei Gratia' in the Atlantic Ocean
169 1874 
  • 1874—1874: Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
  • 5 April 1874—5 April 1874: Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world - features of it later copied in Central Park, New York
170 1875 
  • 1875—1875: London's main sewage system completed
  • 1 January 1875—1 January 1875: Midland Railway abolishes Second Class passenger facilities, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies followed during the rest of the year. (Third Class was renamed Second Class in 1956)
171 1876 
  • 14 February 1876—14 February 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
172 1877 
  • 1877—1877: Edison invents microphone and phonograph
173 1878 
  • 1878—1878: Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
  • 1878—1878: Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph
  • 1878—1878: CID established at New Scotland Yard
174 1879 
  • 18 September 1879—18 September 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
175 1880 
  • 1880—1880: Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
  • 1880—1880: Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria
  • 2 August 1880—2 August 1880: Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
176 1881 
  • 1881—1881: Postal Orders introduced
  • 1881—1881: Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy
  • September 1881—September 1881: Godalming in Surrey became the first town in England to have a public electricity supply installed (but in 1884 it reverted to gas lighting until 1904)
  • 26 October 1881—26 October 1881: Gunfight at OK Corral
177 1882 
  • 1882—1882: Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
178 1883 
  • 1883—1883: Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France
  • 24 May 1883—24 May 1883: Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River)
  • 1 August 1883—1 August 1883: Parcel post starts in Britain
  • 27 August 1883—27 August 1883: Eruption of Krakatoa near Java - 30,000 killed by tidal wave
179 1884 
  • 31 May 1884—31 May 1884: John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes
  • 13 October 1884—13 October 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
180 1885 
  • 1885—1885: Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car
  • 1885—1885: Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle
  • 1885—1885: Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
  • 1885—1885: Canadian Pacific Railway completed
  • March 1885—March 1885: First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking
  • 5 September 1885—5 September 1885: The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel
  • 29 September 1885—29 September 1885: First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
181 1886 
  • 20 January 1886—20 January 1886: Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales
  • May 1886—May 1886: Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named 'Coca-Cola'
  • 29 May 1886—29 May 1886: Putney Bridge opens in London
182 1887 
  • 1887—1887: Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
183 1888 
  • 1888—1888: Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez Canal in war and peace
  • 1888—1888: Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year
  • 1888—1888: County Councils set up in Britain
  • 1888—1888: Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre
  • 1888—1888: First box camera - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film
  • 20 March 1888—20 March 1888: Football League formed
184 1889 
  • 1889—1889: Celluloid film produced
  • 1889—1889: Dock Strike - docker's won their 'Docker's Tanner' 6 old pennies
  • 31 March 1889—31 March 1889: Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution)
  • 14 May 1889—14 May 1889: Children's charity NSPCC launched in London
  • 3 June 1889—3 June 1889: Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast
  • 28 September 1889—28 September 1889: Length of a metre defined
185 1890 
  • 4 March 1890—4 March 1890: Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
  • 4 November 1890—4 November 1890: City & South London Railway opens - London's first deep-level tube railway and first major railway in the world to use electric traction
186 1891 
  • 1891—1891: Primary education made free and compulsory
  • 18 March 1891—18 March 1891: First telephone link between London & Paris
  • 4 May 1891—4 May 1891: Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893)
  • 24 August 1891—24 August 1891: Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
187 1892 
  • 1892—1892: Electric oven invented
  • 1892—1892: Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18's
  • 6 October 1892—6 October 1892: Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
188 1893 
  • 1893—1893: Henry Ford's first car
  • 1893—1893: Zip fastener invented
189 1894 
  • 1894—1894: Picture postcard introduced in Britain
  • 1 January 1894—1 January 1894: Manchester Ship Canal opens
  • 1 March 1894—1 March 1894: Blackpool Tower opens
  • 30 June 1894—30 June 1894: Tower Bridge first opens
  • 2 August 1894—2 August 1894: Death duties first introduced in Britain
190 1895 
  • 1895—1895: Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London
  • 12 January 1895—12 January 1895: The National Trust founded in England
  • 24 May 1895—24 May 1895: Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted
  • 28 May 1895—28 May 1895: Oscar Wilde sent to prison
  • 12 July 1895—12 July 1895: First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
  • 17 October 1895—17 October 1895: First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
  • November 1895—November 1895: X-rays discovered
191 1896 
  • 5 April 1896—5 April 1896: First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
  • 2 June 1896—2 June 1896: Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
192 1897 
  • 1897—1897: Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
193 1898 
  • 1898—1898: First photograph using artificial light
  • 1898—1898: Zeppelin builds airship
  • 1898—1898: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founded
  • 17 March 1898—17 March 1898: USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine
  • 27 June 1898—27 June 1898: The first solo circumnavigation of the globe completed at Rhode island by Joshua Slocum in Spray (started from Boston, Mass on Apr 24, 1895)
194 1899 
  • 6 March 1899—6 March 1899: Aspirin first marketed by Bayer
  • 11 October 1899—11 October 1899: Start of Second Boer War
195 1900 
  • 1900—1900: School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years
  • 1900—1900: Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified
  • 1900—1900: Escalator shown at Paris exhibition
  • 9 February 1900—9 February 1900: Davis Cup tennis competition established
  • 27 February 1900—27 February 1900: Labour Party formed
196 1901 
  • 1901—1901: Commonwealth of Australia founded
  • 1901—1901: Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner
  • 22 January 1901—22 January 1901: Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
  • 2 February 1901—2 February 1901: Queen Victoria's funeral - interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park
  • June 1901—June 1901: Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in Boer War
  • 2 October 1901—2 October 1901: Britain's first submarine launched
  • 12 December 1901—12 December 1901: First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi - Morse code from Cornwall to Newfoundland
197 1902 
  • 1902—1902: Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
  • 1902—1902: Cremation Act - cremation can only take place at officially recognised establishments, and with two death certificates issued
  • 1902—1902: Marie Curie discovers radioactivity
  • 24 May 1902—24 May 1902: Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated
  • 31 May 1902—31 May 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War
  • 9 August 1902—9 August 1902: Coronation of Edward VII
198 1903 
  • 1903—1903: Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain
  • 1903—1903: Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst
  • 1903—1903: Henry Ford sets up his motor company
  • 14 December 1903—14 December 1903: First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
199 1904 
  • 1904—1904: Leeds University established
  • 8 April 1904—8 April 1904: France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale
  • 4 May 1904—4 May 1904: America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French (completed 1914)