Thomas Watts

Male Bef 1754 -


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Timeline



 
 



 




   Date  Event(s)
1754 
  • 1754—1754: Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt
1755 
  • 1755—1755: Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson
1762 
  • 1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
1764 
  • 1764—1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768)
1767 
  • 1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
1768 
  • 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
1769 
  • 1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
1770 
  • 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims Australia for Britain
1776 
  • 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence
10 1779 
  • 1779—1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
11 1782 
  • 1782—1782: James Watt patents his steam engine
12 1783 
  • 3 Nov 1783—3 Nov 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
13 1784 
  • 2 Aug 1784—2 Aug 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
14 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
15 1791 
  • 4 Dec 1791—4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
16 1793 
  • 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
17 1795 
  • 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
18 1796 
  • 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
19 1800 
  • 1800—1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
20 1801 
  • 24 Dec 1801—24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
21 1803 
  • 23 Jul 1803—23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to Croydon, horse-drawn)
22 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.
23 1805 
  • 21 Oct 1805—21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
24 1812 
  • Oct 1812—Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
25 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
26 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
27 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!
28 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
29 1836 
  • 1836—1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
30 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
31 1840 
  • 10 Jan 1840—10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
32 1841 
  • 6 Jun 1841—6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
33 1843 
  • 1843—1843: First Christmas card in England
34 1851 
  • 1 May 1851—1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ('Crystal Palace' exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
35 1853 
  • 1853—1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
36 1854 
  • 1854—1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
  • 25 Oct 1854—25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
37 1859 
  • 24 Nov 1859—24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes 'The Origin of Species'
38 1862 
  • 20 Apr 1862—20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
39 1863 
  • 10 Jan 1863—10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens