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Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 1906 | - 1906—1906:
Introduction of free school meals for poor children
- 10 Feb 1906—10 Feb 1906:
Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship
- 15 Mar 1906—15 Mar 1906:
Rolls-Royce Ltd registered
- 26 May 1906—26 May 1906:
Vauxhall Bridge opened in London
- 20 Sep 1906—20 Sep 1906:
Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
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2 | 1907 | - 1907—1907:
New Zealand becomes a Dominion
- 1907—1907:
Imperial College, London, is established
- 1907—1907:
First airship flies over London
- 1907—1907:
Lumiere develops a process for colour photography
- 1907—1907:
SA - Asiatic Registration Act passed in Transvaal, Indians oppose it.
- Jul 1907—Jul 1907:
Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its
shape after being heated
- 1 Aug 1907—1 Aug 1907:
Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island
- 9 Nov 1907—9 Nov 1907:
The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
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3 | 1908 | - 1908—1908:
Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day
- 1908—1908:
Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain
- 1908—1908:
Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement
- 1908—1908:
SA - Second Asiatic Registration Act passed in Transvaal, beginning of passive resistance campaigns.
- 1 Jul 1908—1 Jul 1908:
SOS became effective as an international signal of distress
- 12 Aug 1908—12 Aug 1908:
First 'Model T' Ford made
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4 | 1909 | - 1909—1909:
Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
- 1909—1909:
Peary reaches the north pole
- 1909—1909:
First commercial manufacture of Bakelite - start of the plastic age
- 1909—1909:
SA - S.S. Waratah lost between Durban and Cape Town.
- 1 Jan 1909—1 Jan 1909:
Old Age Pensions Act came into force
- 16 Jan 1909—16 Jan 1909:
Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
- 15 Mar 1909—15 Mar 1909:
Selfridges department store opens in London
- 25 Jul 1909—25 Jul 1909:
Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to Dover)
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5 | 1910 | - 1910—1910:
Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain
- 1910—1910:
Constitutional crisis in Britain
- 1910—1910:
Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville
- 1910—1910:
Madame Curie isolates radium
- 1910—1910:
Halley's comet reappears
- 1910—1910:
Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe
- 1910—1910:
SA - Laying of foundation stone of Union Buildings in Pretoria.
- 1910—1910:
SA - Union of South Africa established
- 6 May 1910—6 May 1910:
Edward VII dies - George V becomes King
- 31 May 1910—1910:
SA - Union of South Africa established by joining the British colonies and the Boer republics
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6 | 1911 | - 1911—1911:
Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords
- 1911—1911:
British MPs receive a salary
- 1911—1911:
First British Official Secrets Act
- 1911—1911:
Rutherford: theory of atomic structures
- 1911—1911:
Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912)
- 2 Apr 1911—2 Apr 1911:
Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
- 17 May 1911—1911:
SA - Census of population taken.
- 22 Jun 1911—22 Jun 1911:
Coronation of George V
- 14 Dec 1911—14 Dec 1911:
National Insurance introduced in Britain
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7 | 1912 | - 1912—1912:
Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain
- 1912—1912:
Britain nationalises the telephone system
- 1912—1912:
Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' - hoax, exposed in 1953
- 1912—1912:
The Titanic sinks
- 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
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8 | 1913 | - 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:
Suffragette demonstrations in London - Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned
- 1913—1913:
Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political
purposes
- 1913—1913:
Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield
- 1913—1913:
Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity
- 1913—1913:
SA - Miners' strikes and riots on Witwatersrand. Indian riots in Natal. March of Natal Indians into Transvaal. Natives Land Act restricts black ownership of land.
- 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
|
9 | 1914 | - 1914—1914:
Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster
to be decided after the War
- 1914—1914:
Chaplin and De Mille make their first films
- 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
|
10 | 1915 | - 1915—1915:
Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane
- 1915—1915:
First automatic telephone exchange in Britain
- 1915—1915:
SA - Afrikaans becomes the second official language, after English. South West Africa and South Africa linked by railway line.
- 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
|
11 | 1916 | - 1916—1916:
Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
- 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
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12 | 1917 | - 1917—1917:
Battle of Cambrai - first use of massed tanks, but effect more psychological than actual
- 1917—1917:
Ministry of Labour is established in Britain
- Feb 1917—Feb 1917:
February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
- 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)
- Jul 1917—Jul 1917:
Battle of Passchendaele - little gained by either side (Jul-Nov)
- 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
|
13 | 1918 | - 1918—1918:
Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
- 1918—1918:
War of Independence in Ireland
- 1918—1918:
SA - Influenza epidemic with pneumonia.
- 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
|
14 | 1919 | - 1919—1919:
Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
- 1919—1919:
Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
- 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
|
15 | 1920 | - 1920—1920:
Regular cross-channel air service starts
- 1920—1920:
Marconi opens a radio broadcasting station in Britain
- 1920—1920:
Thompson patents his machine gun (Tommy gun)
- Feb 1920—Feb 1920:
First roadside petrol filling station in UK - opened by the Automobile Association
at Aldermaston on the Bath Road
|
16 | 1921 | - 1921—1921:
Railway Act in Britain amalgamates companies - only four remained
- 1921—1921:
Insulin discovery announced
- 1921—1921:
First birth control clinic
- 1921—1921:
SA - Diamond mines closed down in Kimberley, economic depression.
- 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
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17 | 1922 | - 1922—1922:
Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended
- 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)
- 4 Oct 1922—1922:
SA - Inauguration of Witwatersrand University.
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18 | 1923 | - 1923—1923:
Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
- 1923—1923:
Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way
- 1923—1923:
First American broadcasts heard in Britain
- 1923—1923:
SA - Platinum discovered in Waterberg district of Transvaal.
- 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
- 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
- 28 Sep 1923—28 Sep 1923:
First publication of Radio Times
|
19 | 1924 | - 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)
- 17 Jun 1924—1924:
SA - General elections in South Africa.
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20 | 1925 | - 1925—1925:
Britain returns to gold standard
- 1925—1925:
SA - South Africa reverts to gold standard. Afrikaans constituted an official language.
- 18 Jul 1925—18 Jul 1925:
Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
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21 | 1926 | - 1926—1926:
First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird
- 1926—1926:
Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
- 1926—1926:
Kodak produces 16mm movie film
- 1926—1926:
Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood
- 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
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