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Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 1767 | - 1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
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2 | 1768 | - 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by
William Smellie
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3 | 1769 | - 1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
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4 | 1770 | - 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims
Australia for Britain
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5 | 1776 | - 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence
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6 | 1779 | - 1779—1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
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7 | 1782 | - 1782—1782: James Watt patents his steam engine
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8 | 1783 | - 3 Nov 1783—3 Nov 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
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9 | 1784 | - 2 Aug 1784—2 Aug 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
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10 | 1789 | - 28 Apr 1789—28 Apr 1789: Mutiny on HMS Bounty - Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift
and the rebel crew ends up on Pitcairn Island
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11 | 1791 | - 4 Dec 1791—4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
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12 | 1793 | - 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
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13 | 1795 | - 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
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14 | 1796 | - 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
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15 | 1800 | - 1800—1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
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16 | 1801 | - 24 Dec 1801—24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
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17 | 1803 | - 23 Jul 1803—23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to
Croydon, horse-drawn)
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18 | 1804 | - 21 Feb 1804—21 Feb 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.
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19 | 1805 | - 21 Oct 1805—21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
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20 | 1812 | - Oct 1812—Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
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21 | 1815 | - 1815—1815: Davy develops the safety lamp for miners
- 18 Jun 1815—18 Jun 1815: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
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22 | 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
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23 | 1830 | - 15 Sep 1830—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!
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24 | 1834 | - 18 Mar 1834—18 Mar 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities
- 1 May 1834—1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
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25 | 1836 | - 1836—1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
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26 | 1837 | - 1 Jul 1837—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
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27 | 1840 | - 10 Jan 1840—10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
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28 | 1841 | - 6 Jun 1841—6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
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29 | 1843 | - 1843—1843: First Christmas card in England
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30 | 1851 | - 1 May 1851—1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ('Crystal Palace' exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
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31 | 1853 | - 1853—1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
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32 | 1854 | - 1854—1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
- 25 Oct 1854—25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
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33 | 1859 | - 24 Nov 1859—24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes 'The Origin of Species'
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34 | 1862 | - 20 Apr 1862—20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
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35 | 1863 | - 10 Jan 1863—10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
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36 | 1865 | - 14 Apr 1865—14 Apr 1865: End of American Civil War - slavery abolished in USA
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37 | 1868 | - 1868—1868: Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
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38 | 1869 | - 1869—1869: Ball bearings, celluloid, margarine, and washing machines, all invented
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39 | 1870 | - 1870—1870: Water closets come into wide use
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40 | 1872 | - 1872—1872: Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
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41 | 1874 | - 5 Apr 1874—5 Apr 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
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42 | 1876 | - 14 Feb 1876—14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
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