| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1662 | - Poor Relief Act or "Act of Settlement" gave JPs the power to return any wandering
poor to the parish of origin (repealed 1834)
|
| 2 | 1827 | |
| 3 | 1828 | - 25 Oct 1828: St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
|
| 4 | 1829 | - London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed "Bobbies" after Sir Robert Peel
- Louis Braille invents his sytem of finger-reading for the blind
- 10 Jun 1829: First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race
- 6 Oct 1829: George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to
complete the trial!)
|
| 5 | 1830 | - Uprisings and agitation across Europe: the Netherlands are split into Holland and
Belgium
- Jul 1830: Revolution in France, fall of Charles X and the Bourbons Louis Philippe (the
Citizen King) on the throne
- 15 Sep 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!
|
| 6 | 1831 | - A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
- 1 Jun 1831: James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole
- 1 Aug 1831: 'New' London Bridge opens (replaced 1973) – old bridge (which had existed for over 600 years) then demolished
|
| 7 | 1832 | - Electoral Registers introduced
- Electric telegraph invented by Morse
- 7 Jun 1832: Reform Bill passed – Representation of the People Act
|
| 8 | 1833 | - Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands
- 29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
|
| 9 | 1834 | - Babbage invents forerunner of the computer
- 18 Mar 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities
- 1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
|
| 10 | 1835 | - Christmas becomes a national holiday
- First railway boom period starts in Britain – construction of Great Western Railway
|
| 11 | 1836 | - First Potato famine in Ireland
- 30 Jan 1836: Telford's Menai Straits Bridge opened - considered the world's first modern suspension bridge
- 25 Feb 1836: Samuel Colt patented the 'revolver'
- 6 Mar 1836: The Alamo falls to Mexican troops – death of Davy Crockett
- Jul 1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
|
| 12 | 1837 | - Pitman introduces his shorthand system
- P&O Founded
- 20 Jun 1837: William IV dies – accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
- 1 Jul 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 Jul 1837: Queen Victoria moves into the first Buckingham Palace
- 20 Jul 1837: Euston Railway station opens – first in London
|
| 13 | 1838 | - 28 Jun 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey
|
| 14 | 1839 | - First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) – Britain captures Hong Kong
- 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
- Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
|
| 15 | 1840 | - Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
- Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed
elsewhere)
- 10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
|
| 16 | 1841 | - Thomas Cook starts package tours
- 10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
- 6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
|
| 17 | 1842 | - Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
- 30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anaesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
- 29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking – End of First Opium War – Britain gains Hong Kong
|
| 18 | 1843 | - First Christmas card in England
- 27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
- 19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
|
| 19 | 1844 | - 6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
|
| 20 | 1845 | - Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
- 17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
|
| 21 | 1846 | - 10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
|
| 22 | 1847 | - US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
- Jan 1847: An anaesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
|
| 23 | 1848 | - First commercial production of chewing gum
- 24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California – starts the California gold rush
- 11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
|
| 24 | 1849 | - Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation – which finally
occurred in 1971!
|
| 25 | 1851 | - Gold discovered in Australia
- 1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ("Crystal Palace" exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
|
| 26 | 1852 | - Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
- Wells Fargo established in USA
|
| 27 | 1853 | - Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
|
| 28 | 1854 | - Cigarettes introduced into Britain
- 27 Mar 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
- 25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
|
| 29 | 1856 | - End of Crimean War
- 29 Jan 1856: Victoria Cross created by Royal Warrant, backdated to 1854 to recognise acts
during the Crimean War (first award ceremony 26 June 1857)
|
| 30 | 1857 | - Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
|
| 31 | 1858 | - 'The great stink' – smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work
- Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
|
| 32 | 1859 | - Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain
- 25 Apr 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869)
- 4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon
and Cornwall
- 24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species"
|
| 33 | 1860 | - 29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
|
| 34 | 1861 | - 25 May 1861: American Civil War begins
|
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