Timeline: Past and Present Company

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	Date	Event(s)
1	1936	Jet engine first tested 20 Jan 1936: George V dies 5 May 1936: First flight of a Spitfire 24 Jul 1936: 'Speaking clock' service starts in UK 2 Nov 1936: British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's first public TV transmission 30 Nov 1936: Crystal Palace destroyed by fire 5 Dec 1936: Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10) â€“ popular carol that Christmas: "Hark the Herald Angels sing, Mrs Simpson's got our King"
2	1937	'999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp 12 Apr 1937: Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft 12 May 1937: Coronation of King George VI 28 May 1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister â€“ policy of appeasement towards Hitler 3 Jun 1937: Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson 4 Dec 1937: 'The Dandy' first published
3	1938	Principle of paid holidays established in Britain HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro 12 Mar 1938: Germany invades and annexes Austria 3 Jul 1938: 'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h); still world record for a steam locomotive 27 Sep 1938: Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank 29 Sep 1938: Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich â€“ promises 'peace in our time' 30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
4	1939	Germany annexes Czechoslovakia Start of evacuation of women and children from London Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time 1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland 3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany 6 Sep 1939: First air-raid on Britain 11 Sep 1939: British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France 14 Oct 1939: HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives 7 Dec 1939: 'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain â€“ 7,400 men on 5 ships 17 Dec 1939: 'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
5	1940	1 Apr 1940: BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd 11 May 1940: National Government formed under Churchill 13 May 1940: Germany invades France 27 May 1940: Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun) 25 Jun 1940: Fall of France to Germany 7 Sep 1940: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing 15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF â€“ Hitler postpones invasion of Britain 14 Nov 1940: Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
6	1941	Britain introduces severe rationing First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle Bailey invents his portable military bridge First use of antibiotics 10 May 1941: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland 27 May 1941: 'Bismark' sunk 22 Jun 1941: Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa) 1 Jul 1941: First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain Dec 1941: Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England Dec 1941: 'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America 7 Dec 1941: Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour 8 Dec 1941: USA enters WWII 24 Dec 1941: Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
7	1942	Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann â€“ used to crack German codes Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam 30 May 1942: Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne 4 Jun 1942: Battle of Midway 19 Aug 1942: Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops 6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad 3 Oct 1942: First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany â€“ first man-made object to reach space 23 Oct 1942: Battle of El Alamein â€“ Montgomery defeats Rommel 2 Dec 1942: 'Manhattan Project' â€“ a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
8	1943	Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins 16 May 1943: 'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF 24 Jul 1943: Allies invade Italy â€“ Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator, 24 July
9	1944	6 Apr 1944: PAYE income tax begins 4 Jun 1944: Allies enter Rome 6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy 12 Jun 1944: First V1 flying bombs hit London 8 Sep 1944: First V2 rocket bombs hit London 11 Sep 1944: Allies enter Germany 16 Dec 1944: Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
10	1945	4 Feb 1945: Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin 29 Mar 1945: Last V1 flying bomb attack 25 Apr 1945: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops 30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide 8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe) 9 May 1945: Channel Islands liberated 26 Jun 1945: UN Charter signed in San Francisco 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: Labour win UK General Election â€“ Churchill out of office 29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts 6 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima 9 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki 15 Aug 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan) 2 Sep 1945: Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri 24 Oct 1945: United Nations Organisation comes into existence 4 Nov 1945: UNESCO founded
11	1946	Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948) Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio â€“ until 2004 1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport 1 Mar 1946: Bank of England nationalised
12	1947	Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year â€“ heavy snow and much flooding later First British nuclear reactor developed 1 Jan 1947: Coal Mines nationalised 23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded 1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund begins financial operations 1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain 26 Oct 1947: British military occupation ends in Iraq 20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
13	1948	British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports Transistor radio invented Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark 1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised 5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain 29 Jul 1948: London Olympics begin
14	1949	Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap) De Haviland produces the Comet â€“ first jet airliner 15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing ends in Britain 4 Apr 1949: Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
15	1950	19 May 1950: Points rationing ends in Britain 26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ends in Britain 11 Jul 1950: 'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV 9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing ends in Britain 28 Dec 1950: The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
16	1951	3 May 1951: Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London 28 May 1951: First Goon Show broadcast 20 Dec 1951: Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
17	1952	Contraceptive pill invented Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany 6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies 21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain 2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg 5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross) 16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster 6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed 3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain 1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA â€“ 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: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London 4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
18	1953	31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century â€“ severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives â€“- effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even worse affected with over a thousand deaths] 5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain 5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin 26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine 24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted 25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA 2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II 26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
19	1954	First comprehensive school opens in London Routemaster bus starts operating in London First transistor radios sold 6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs) 3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain 5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin 30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
20	1955	'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons 27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends 22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
21	1956	Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland 1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc) 17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched â€“ first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957 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: Britain and France invade Suez
22	1957	Britain introduces parking meters Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland) 11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister 14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends 15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island 25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg â€“ became operational Jan 1958 4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster â€“ 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them 25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
23	1958	Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND) Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) 13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered 26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as "Prince of Wales" 5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979) 5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens â€“ UK's first stretch of motorway
24	1959	3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' â€“ plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper 17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched â€“ first to measure cloud-cover distribution 24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched 3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain 1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
25	1960	17 Mar 1960: New Â£1 notes issued by Bank of England 18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named 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: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched 12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced 1 Oct 1960: HMS "Dreadnought" nuclear submarine launched 2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the "Lady Chatterley's Lover" case

Michael DANIELS 1936 - 1960

Michael DANIELS
1936 - 1960