Scotland: General Provincial Council orders each parish to keep a register of baptisms and banns of marriage
1554-1558
Brief Catholic restoration under Queen Mary Tudor
1557
The First Covenant signed in Scotland (foundation of the Presbyterian Church)
1558
Scottish parish registers start
Chancery Proceedings Indexes begin
1558-1603
Reign of Elizabeth I - Policy of Plantation begins
System of counties adopted
1559
John Knox returns from Continent - strengthens case for Presbyterianism in Scotland
1560
Establishment of Protestantism in Scotland - commissary courts thrown into confusion - some records lost
1562
African slave trade starts
1563
Papal recusants heavily fined for non-attendance at Church
The Test Act excludes Roman Catholics from governmental office
1565
Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Darnley
1566
Murder of Riccio in Holyrood House
1567
Murder of Darnley outside Holyrood House in an explosion - marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and Bothwell
Earliest date in the French Protestant and Walloon registers
1568
Battle of Langside - Mary's flight to England and her imprisonment by Queen Elizabeth I
1571
Beginning of penal legislation against Catholics in England
Opening of the Royal Exchange, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham
1571-1572
Presbyterianism introduced into England by Thomas Cartwright
1574
Colonial State Papers published - continued to 1738
1578
Earliest Quaker registers begin
1579
Act of Uniformity in matters of religion enforced
1580
Colonisation of Ireland
Congregational movement founded by Robert Browne about this time
1582
Gregorian calendar introduced in some countries: Spain and Portugal, France, Low Countries, part of Italy, Denmark
1583
Foundation of Cambridge University Press by Thomas Thomas
University of Edinburgh founded
1585
Foundation of Oxford University Press
Shakespeare started seriously to write about this time
1587
Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, by English at Fotheringay Castle, near Peterborough
Aug 11: Raleigh's second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina - first child born in the New World of English parents, Virginia Dare (Aug 18)
Introduction of potatoes to England
1588
Jul 29: Defeat of Spanish Armada (had set sail from Lisbon May 20)
Invention of shorthand by Dr Timothy Bright
1592
A Congregational (or Independent) Church formed in London
Scotland: Presbyterian Church formally established - all ministers equal - no bishops - secular commissaries appointed by the Crown
1593
British statute mile established by law
1597
Poor Law Act for erection of parish workhouses for the Poor - Poor Rate collection allowed
1598
Bishop's transcripts of English and Welsh parish registers start [some say 1597]
Edict of Nantes gives Huguenots toleration in France
1600
Memoirs of Officers of the Royal Navy begin
1601
Great English Poor Law Act passed
First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
East India Company founded
1603
Mar 24: Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns - under King James VI of Scots and I of England (d. 1625)
1606
Apr 12: Adoption of Union Jack as the flag of "Great Britain"
The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia
Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
1607
Flight of the Earls - leading Ulster families go into exile
1610
James VI established the Episcopal Church in Scotland- Prebyterians persecuted and many of their records lost
1611
Plantation of Ulster with English and Scottish colonists
Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in England
James VI and I created the title of baronet
1616
Apr 23: Death of Shakespeare
Ben Jonson becomes first Poet Laureate
1617
Register of Sasines (land leases) established in Scotland - record of the transfer of land and property
1620
Dec 21 (Dec 16 OS): The Mayflower reaches America - founds Plymouth, New England
Manufacture of coke patented by Dud Dudley
1621
Chimneys to be made of brick and be four and a half feet above the roof
1622
First English newspaper appeared
1624
Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
1625
The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
Death of King James VI and I
1625-1649
Carolean Age
1629
Parliament dissolved by King Charles I - did not meet for another 11 years
1630-1750
Baroque Period (Art & Antiques)
1630-1750
Renaissance Period (Art & Antiques)
1635
Letter Office of England & Scotland started
Flintlock invented around this time
1636
Hackney Carriages in use by now in London
1637
Scottish Prayer Book published
1638
Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason - forced Scots to choose between their church and the King - a "Covenant", swearing to resist these changes to the death, was signed in Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh and was accepted by hundreds of thousands of Scots (revival of Presbyterian Church)
1639
Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
1641
Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland
1642
Aug 22: Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham - First Civil War in England (to 1649)- first engagement at Edgehill - Scottish Covenanters side with the English rebels who take power - the Earl of Montrose sided with King Charles, strife spilled into Scotland
The Civil War interrupted the keeping of parish registers
English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660)
1643
Solemn League and Covenant signed in Scotland
1644
Earliest Independent (Congregational) registers
Earliest Presbyterian registers
1644-5
Montrose's Venture (Montrose executed in 1650)
1645
Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland
Inquisitions Post Mortem end
Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia - population of Scotland estimated at 420,000
Plague made its last appearance in Scotland
1646
Jun 20: Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
1647
Earliest Baptist registers survive from this year
1649
Jan 30: King Charles I executed
May 19: Commonwealth declared
Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland
1649-1660
Commonwealth Period - Oliver Cromwell
1650 George Fox founds Society of Friends (Quakers)
Coffee brought to England about this time
1651-1652
The second English Civil War
Scottish prisoners transported to the English settlements in America
1653
Commonwealth registers start
Commonwealth changed into Cromwell's Protectorate
Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land (in Ireland?)
1653-1660
Provincial probate courts abolished - probates granted only in London
1657
Post Office established by Act of Parliament [others say 1660]
A few Jews permitted to settle in England
1658
Death of Oliver Cromwell
1658-1660
Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector
1659
Feb 6: date of first known cheque to be drawn
1660s
Quaker-Scottish colony was established in East New Jersey
1660-
Restoration Period
1660
May 29: Restoration of British monarchy - 'Oak Apple Day' - theatres reopened
Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
Provincial Probate Courts re-established
Regicides are executed
Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom
Dec 8: First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
Composition of light discovered by Newton
Honourable East India Company founded by British
First British in Japan
Scotland adopts Gregorian calendar
1661
Persecution of Non-conformists in England
Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland
Board of Trade founded in London
Hand-struck postage stamps first used
Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office
1662
Hearth Tax
Poor Relief Act "Act of Settlement" - gave JPs the power to return any wandering poor to the parish of origin
Act of Uniformity - About 2,000 vicars and rectors driven from their parishes as nonconformists (Presbyterians and Independents) - Persecution of all non-conformists - Presbyterianism dis-established - Episcopalian Church of England restored
1663
Earliest Roman Catholic registers
1665
Great Plague of London
1666
Sep 2-6: Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June
Use of semaphore signalling pioneered by Lord Worcester
Act of Parliament - burials to be in woollen
1666-1689
Considerable religious unrest on Scotland (The Covenanters) - Covenanters Rising at St John's Town of Dalry
1669
Earliest Lutheran registers survive from this year
1670
Earliest Synagogue registers - Bevis Marks
1672
High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland
War with Holland - British Army increased to 10,000 men
1673
First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
1675
Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury
Aug 10: Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
1677
Lee's "Collection of Names of Merchants in London" published
1678
Extension of Test Act to peers
1679
May 27: Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England - (later repealed from time to time)
Tories first so named
Battle of Bothwell Brig in Scotland
Burial in Woollen more strictly enforced
1680
William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post
1680-1770
Chinoiserie Period (Art & Antiques)
1681
Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament
Oil lighting first used in London streets
1682
Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
Library of Advocates founded in Edinburgh - later National Library of Scotland
1683
Jun 6: Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford - first museum in Britain
1684
Presbyterian settlement in Stuart's Town in South Carolina
Huguenot registers begin in London
1685
Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland
James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701) - Monmouth rebellion and battle of Sedgemoor - British Army raised to 20,000 men
Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes - 320 executed, 800 transported
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes - drove thousands of Protestants (Huguenots) from France - many settled in England
1686
Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
1688
Feb: Edward Lloyd's Coffee House - later became Lloyd's of London
Nov: The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates - William of Orange lands in England - William of Hanover and Mary, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne - (only William, however, has regal power)
British Army raised to 40,000
Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament
Hearth Tax abolished
Mutiny Act
1689
Deposed James VII and II flees to Ireland - defeated at the Battle of the Boyne (1690)
Earliest Royal Dutch Chapel registers
Siege of Londonderry
Toleration Act for Protestant non-conformists
Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland
1690
Great Synagogue founded
Presbyterianism finally established in Scotland
Battle of the Boyne
1691
Earliest date in known German Lutheran registers
1692
The massacre of Glencoe - Clan Campbell side with the King and murder members of Clan McDonald [1691?]
1692
French intention to invade England came to naught
1694
National Debt came into effect in England
Bank of England founded by William Paterson (a Scot)
Triennial Act
1694-1699
Scotland: Poll Tax imposed on all over sixteen, except the destitute and insane
1695
Freedom of Press in England
Bank of Scotland founded
Act of Parliament imposes a fine on all who fail to inform the parish minister of the birth of a child (repealed 1706)
Start of "Dissenters" lists in parish registers - children born but not christened in the parish church - some were named "Papist" and others "Protestants"
1696
Act of Parliament establishes Workhouses
Education Act passed by Scottish Parliament
Window Tax (replaced Hearth Tax; increased in 1747; abolished 1851)
1697
Dec 2: Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
1698
Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery
Darien Expedition: a disastrous attempt to establish a Scots settlement in Panama
Duties (taxes) on entries in parish registers - repealed after five years
1701
Act of Settlement bars Catholics from the British throne
1702-1714
Queen Anne Period (Art & Antiques)
1702
Mar 8: Anne Stuart becomes Queen
Mar 11: First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713)
1703
Repeal of Duties on entries in Parish Registers
1704
Battle of Blenheim
Penal Code enacted - Catholics barred from voting, education and the military
1705
First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen
1707
Jan 1: Union with Scotland - Scots agree to send 16 peers and 45 MPs to English Parliament in return for full trading privileges - Scottish Parliament meets for the last time in March
May 1: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament - The Kingdom of Great Britain established
Last use of veto by a British sovereign
1708
First Jacobite rising in Scotland
Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
1709
First Copyright Act passed
1710
Tax on Apprentice Indentures
1711
Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London
1712
Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853)
Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham)
Toleration Act passed - first relief to non-Anglicans
Patronage Act - patronage of ministers restored
1713
Treaty of Utrecht concludes the War of the Spanish Succession
1714
Aug 1: Queen Anne Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727)
Chancery Proceedings filed under Six Clerks
Schism Act
Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism
Quarter Sessions Records from this date often mention Protestant dissenters and Roman Catholic recusants
1715
Riot Act passed
Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen')
1716
The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption - general elections now to be held once every 7 years instead of every 3
1717
First Masonic Lodge opens in London
1719
Third abortive Jacobite rising
1720
South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley
Manufacturing towns start to increase in population - rise of new wealth
1721
Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
Bailey's Northern Directory
1722
Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland
Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
1723
Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate
The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be sentenced to death for theft and poaching
The Workhouse Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse
1725-1726
Treaty of Hanover: France, Prussia, England v. Spain, Austria
1726
First circulating library opened in Edinburgh
Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
1727
Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland
Jun 11: George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
1729
Methodists begin at Oxford
1730
Irish famine
1730-1750
Rococo Period (Art & Antiques)
1731
Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull
Invention of sextant by John Hadley
1732
Earliest Cavalry and Infantry Muster Rolls
1733
Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine - Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax
Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in Latin for a few years
1734
Kent's Directory
1738
Earliest Calvinistic Methodist registers
John Wesley has his conversion experience
1739
Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival
1741
Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
Earliest Scotch Church registers
1742
England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) for the sake of trade
1743
Jun 16: Battle of Dettingen - last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
1744
Church of Scotland split over taking of Burgess' Oath - Burghers and Anti-Burghers
First Methodist Conference
1745
Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five')
Aug: Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands - raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth, Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
1746
Apr 16: Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
1747
Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
Act for Pacification of the Highlands
1748-1756
Countess of Huntington's (Calvinistic) Methodist Connexion founded
1750-1770
Gothic Revival Period (Art & Antiques)
1750-1805
Neo-Classical Period (Art & Antiques)
1752
Sep 3: Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England, making this Sep 14 - "Give us back our 11 days!"
Year standardised to end Dec 31 (previously Mar 24)
1753
Earliest lnghamite registers
1754
Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt
First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India
First printed Annual Army Lists
1755
Publication of Dictionary of the English Language by Dr Johnson
Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827)
1756
The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins
1757
India: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassy - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
Black Hole of Calcutta
The foundation laid for the Empire of India
1758
India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
1759
Jan 15: British Museum opens to the public in London
Mar: First predicted return of Halley's comet
Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels
1760
Oct 25: George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king
The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called "first Industrial Revolution"
Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
May 5: First use of hangman's drop - last nobleman to be executed (Laurence, Earl Ferrers) at Tyburn
1762
Earliest Unitarian registers
France surrenders Canada and Florida
Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
1763
Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland [fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum])
1764
Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared
1765
Stamp Act passed
1767
First iron railroads built for mines by John Wilkinson
Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
1768
The first edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
1769
Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
1770
Hargreaves's jenny invented (textile production)
Apr 28: James Cook discovers New South Wales
Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications
1772
May 14: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
First Navy Lists published
1773-1858
The East India Company governs Hindustan
1773
Dec 16: Boston Tea Party
1775
Apr 19: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775-1783) - Irish unrest
1776
Jul 4: American Declaration of Independence
1779
Crompton's mule invented (textile production)
First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland
1780
May 4: First Derby run at Epsom
Jun 2-8: The Gordon Riots - Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure - for days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
Earliest Wesleyan registers
Male Servants Tax
The English Reform Movement - until now, only landowners and tenants--freeholders with 40 shillings per year or more--allowed to vote, and in open poll books
1782
Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief - the way of life of the poor beginning to alter due to industrialisation - New factories in rapidly expanding towns required a workforce that would adjust to new work patterns
James Watt patents his steam engine
1783
Duty on Parish Register entries (3d per entry - repealed 1794)
Sep 3: Treaty of Versailles (England/U.S.)
1784
Pitt's India Act - the Crown (as opposed to officers of the East India Company) has power to guide Indian politics
Wesley breaks with the Church of England
First edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal Register for 3 years)
Aug 2: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol/8am London)
First golf club founded at St Andrews
Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle
1785
Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2 million)
1787
Earliest known Swedenborgian (Church of the New Jerusalem or Jerusalemite) registers
1788
Jan 26: First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales
First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland [but see 1802]
Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not enforced)
First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade - stipulates more humane conditions on slave ships
King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis - Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt - trying to obtain full regal powers for the Prince of Wales
1789
Jul 14: The French Revolution begins - storming of the Bastille
Publication of Gilbert White's 'Natural History of Selborne'
1790
Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
1791
Sugar prices rise steeply
John Bell, printer, abandons the "long s" (the "s" that looks like an "f")
Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
Dec 4: First publication of The Observer - oldest Sunday newspaper
1792
Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) - Fox gets Libel Act through Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel
Boyle's Street Directory published
Oct 1: Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot
Dec 1: King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
1793
Feb 11: England declares war on France (1793-1802)
Execution of Louis XVI
Apr 15: £5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
1794
Abolition of Parish Register duties
Battle of Glorious First of June
Oct 6: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore treasonous
1795
The Famine Year
Foundation of the Orange Order
Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises - many small farmers were bankrupted by the move towards enclosures and became landless labourers - their wages were often pitifully low
Pitt and Grenville introduce "The Gagging Acts" or "Two Bills" (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) - outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture
Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
1796
Holden's Triennial Directory published
Pitt's "Reign of Terror": More treason trials - leading radicals emigrate
1797
England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments
Feb 26: First £1 note issued by Bank of England
Apr-Jun: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore
Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical publications
1798
Feb-Oct: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish Parliament abolished
First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner
1799
Jan 9: Pitt brings in 10% income tax
Jul 12: Repressive legislation in Britain against political associations and combinations
Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York
Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain
Post Office New Annual Directory
1800
Jul 2: Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick
Earliest Bible Christian registers
Royal College of Surgeons founded
1801
Union Jack official British flag
Jun 29: First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000 - population of Britain nearly 11 million (75 per cent rural)
1802
Mar 27: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands - the "Peace of Amiens," as it was known, brought a temporary peace of 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars - one of its most important cultural effects was that travel and correspondence across the English Channel became possible again
Charlotte Dundas on Clyde, first practical steamship, built by William Symington
First British Factory Act
1803
Invention of paper-making machine (Foudrinier)
Peace of Amiens ends on 12 May - resumption of war with France - The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5)
William Cobbett began unofficial publication of Parliamentary reports (taken over by Hansard report in 1811)
First publication of Debrett's Peerage by John Debrett
Early locomotive constructed by Richard Trevithick
First public railway opens (Wandsworth to Croydon)
Semaphore signalling perfected by Admiral Popham
Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges created in Scotland
1804
Dec 12: Spain declares war on Britain
1805
Oct 21: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
1806
Earliest Primitive Methodist registers
1807
Mar 25: Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 - but does not prohibit colonial slavery
Gas lighting in London streets
1808
Peninsular War (1808-1814)
1810
Bible Christians denomination formed by schism in Wesleyan Methodists
1811
Feb 5: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
Nov: Luddite uprisings (machine breaking) in the Midlands against weaving frames started - went on until 1815 - groups of workmen rebelled against the increased mechanisation of textile production by destroying the new machinery - government fears revolutionary conspiracy - damaging property or taking Luddite oaths become capital offences
1812
Prime Minister Perceval assassinated
Jun 18: Start of American "War of 1812" against England and Canada
Oct-Dec: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
Comet steamship launched in Scotland
1813
'Policy for the Improvement of the Highlands' approved by British Parliament
Ireland: First recorded "12th of July" sectarian riots in Belfast
Rose's Act (1812) established a printed format for baptism & burial registers
1814
"Year of the Burning" in Sutherland and Ross
Act of Burial in Woollen repealed
First Pigot's Commercial Directory printed
Jan 1: Invasion of France by Allies
Apr 6: Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
Sugar prices reach record heights
1815
Jun 18: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
Corn Bill passed with enormous benefit to landlords
1816
Economic depression
Income tax abolished
1817
Johnstone's London Directory printed
1818
First steamship (Savannah) to cross Atlantic (26 days)
1819
Aug 16: Peterloo Massacre at Manchester - a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester - demand Parliamentary Reform - mounted troops charge on the meeting, killing and maiming many people
Dec: Six Acts passed against radical political Unions - prohibits assemblies similar to St. Peter's Fields and imposes press censorship
1820
Jan 29: Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
Cato Street Conspiracy
Aug 17: Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her - George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her - Caroline is virtually acquitted because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
1822
Caledonian canal opened
1823
New laws concerning marriage by licence
Scottish testaments prior to 1823 transferred to S.R.O.
1824
Combination Acts repealed (Trades Unions allowed)
1825
Horse-drawn buses in London [but see 1829]
Stockton to Darlington Railway opens
Hobhouse makes amendments to Acts to protect Child Labour in cotton factories
1826
Scotland's first commercial railway was opened, Edinburgh to Dalkeith
White's first Commercial Directory - Hull
1828
Apr 28: Repeal of Test and Corporation Acts - had kept non-Anglicans (Catholics and Dissenters) from holding public office and deprived them of other rights
1829
Apr 4: Catholic Emancipation Act restores civil liberties to Roman Catholics
Earliest Irvingite registers
First two omnibuses (pulled by three horses) introduced by George Schillibeer
London Metropolitan police force formed
George Stephenson's Rocket
Lucifer matches first manufactured
1830
Jun 26: George IV dies - his brother, William IV, accedes to the throne
First mail carried by rail between Liverpool & Manchester
Agricultural 'Swing' Riots in southern England, repressed with many transportations
1830-1880
Eclectic Period (Art & Antiques)
1831
First Reform Bill introduced by Lord George Russell
A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
British Association founded
Faraday discovers electro-magnetic induction
1832
Jun 7: Reform Bill passed - Representation of the People Act - dramatic effects for grossly underrepresented places like Scotland (the number of Scottish people allowed to vote increased from 4,000 to 65,000 out of 2.5 million people) - changed voting from an aristocratic privilege to a middle class right, but by later standards not much was accomplished - approximately doubled the electorate to about 800,000 voters out of a total population in Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales of around 24 million (1831 census), and increasing by 1 million a year
Electoral Registers introduced
Electric telegraph invented by Morse
1833
Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
1834
Slavery abolished in British possessions
Poor Law amendment, tightening up relief
'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported for Trades Union activities
Dec 23: Hansom Cab patented by Joseph Hansom
1835
Christmas becomes a national holiday
Earliest Universalist registers
Municipal Corporations Act
Word 'socialism' first used
First surviving photograph taken by William Fox Talbot
1836
First Potato famine in Ireland
Economic downturn that lasts until 1842
Newspaper tax reduced from 4 pence to one penny
1837
Mar 14: Wheatstone & Cooke send first British telegraph message
Jun 20: William IV dies - accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
Jul 1: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales
Jul 20: Euston Railway station opens - first in London
1838
First Ocean Steamers to the U.S.
Chartism, a working-class movement for the extension of the franchise, comes into existence - 6-point charter: universal suffrage, secret ballot, annual elections, payment of Members, no property qualification for MPs, equal electoral districts
1838-1849
The Chartist Movement
1839
Bicycle invented
Chartist riots
1840
Jan 10: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849)
Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
1841
Feb 10: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded
1842
Mail steamship to India
Civil Registration in Channel Islands started
Government report 'The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population'
Laws outlawing women and children in the mines
1843
First Christmas card in England
Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
Disruption of the Church of Scotland - 474 ministers signed the Deed of Demission and formed the Free Church of Scotland (the "Wee Free")
Factory safety regulations enacted
1844
Outdoor Relief Prohibition Order - parish relief received only in a workhouse
1845
Excise tax on glass production repealed
Potato famine in Ireland (to 1848) - temporary repeal of the Corn Laws
Kelly's Directories
Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
First voyage of 'Great Britain' - to America
Royal Naval Biographical Dictionary published
1846
Free Church of Scotland formed
An anaesthetic used for the first time in England
1847
United Succession becomes the United Presbyterian Church
Ten Hours Act shortens factory work day to ten hours for women and children
1848
General revolutionary movement throughout the Continent
Rotary press first introduced
Public Health Act
1849
Civil Registration of Births in Isle of Man started
1850
Telegraph cable Dover to Calais [others say 1851]
1851
Mar 30: Second full British Census - improvements in data compared with the first
May 1: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ("Crystal Palace" exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
Photography is popularised by introduction of "wet collodion" process
Gold discovered in Australia
1852
First voyage of 'Great Britain' to Australia
1854
Sep 14: Allied armies land in Crimea
Cigarettes introduced into Britain
1855
Jan 1: Registration of births, marriages & deaths made compulsory in Scotland
First London pillar boxes
Cellulose nitrate, first synthetic plastic material, invented by Alexander Parkes
1857
Transatlantic cable laid
London postal districts introduced
1857-8
Indian Mutiny
1858
Jan: Legally proved Wills start to be entered into an index (Eng & W) - taken out of ecclesiastical jurisdiction
Jan 31: 'Great Eastern' launched
East India Company dissolved
1859
Darwin publishes Origin of Species
1861
American Civil War begins
Apr 7: Third full British Census
Dec 15: Prince Albert dies
1863
Football Association founded
London's first Underground Railway opens
1864
Civil Registration in Ireland starts
Civil Registration of marriages in Isle of Man starts
1865
End of American Civil War - slavery abolished in USA
William Booth founds Salvation Army
1867
Dominion of Canada founded
The Second Reform Bill - vote given to town householders
Fanny Adams murdered in Alton
1868
Last British election for which Poll Books available
Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
1869
Nov 18: Suez Canal opens
Cutty Sark launched
Ballbearings, celluloid, margarine, washing machine all invented
1870
GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies
Oct 1: First British postcard - halfpenny post
Board Schools start attempting to impose consistent spelling
Dr. Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
1870-1900
Art & Crafts Period (Art & Antiques)
1871
Apr 2: Fourth full British census
Jun 29: Trades Unions legalised in Britain
1872
Secret Ballot introduced in Britain (no further Poll Books produced)
Licensing hours introduced
Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
1874
Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
1875
London's main sewage system completed
Captain Webb swims channel
Submarine invented
Artisan's Dwellings Act
Climbing Boys Act passed
1876
Bell invents telephone
Annual centralised list of Scottish Wills from now (and most from 1823 also)
Civil Registration of deaths in Isle of Man started
Victoria proclaimed Empress of India
1877
Edison invents microphone and phonograph
First tennis championships at Wimbledon
1878
Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
1879
First telephone exchanges opened in London & Manchester
Tay Bridge Disaster - bridge collapsed in storm taking train with it - enquiry revealed corners had been cut during construction to reduce costs
1880
Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
1881
Apr 3: Fifth full British Census
Postal Orders introduced
1883
Parcel post starts in Britain
1884
The Third Reform Bill - vote given to agricultural workers
1884-1918
Art Noveau Period (Art & Antiques)
1885
Carl Benz builds single-cylinder motor car
Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
Secretary for Scotland appointed
1886
Crofters Act
1887
Jun 21: Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
1888
County Councils set up in Britain
1889
Celluloid film produced
Dock Strike - docker's won their "Docker's Tanner", 6 old pennies
1890
London's first electric Underground
Mar 4: Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
1891
Mar 18: First telephone link between London & Paris
Apr 5: Sixth full British Census
Primary education made free and compulsory
1892
Electric oven invented
Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18s
May 20: Last broad-gauge train leaves Paddington for Plymouth
Married Women's Property Act
1893
Keir Hardy founds Independent Labour Party
Henry Ford's first car
Zip fastener invented
1894
Jan 1: Manchester Ship Canal opens
Local Government Act passed (start of civil parish councils, etc)
Picture postcard introduced in Britain
Jun 30: Tower Bridge opens
1895
Jan 12: The National Trust founded in England
Mar 22: First public showing of film on screen in Paris by LumiËres
Rˆntgen discovers x-rays
Gugliemo Marconi invents wireless telegraphy - message over a mile
Safety razor invented by King C Gillette
Jul 12: First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
Oct 17: First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
1896
Opening of the Underground Railway (the "shooglie") in Glasgow - remains the only underground in Scotland
1897
Jun 22: Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
1898
First photograph using artificial light
Zeppelin builds airship
The Curies discover Radium
1899-1902
Boer War
1899
Oct: Start of Boer War
Valdemar Poulsen invents tape recorder
Aspirin invented
1900
Commonwealth of Australia founded
1901
Jan 22: Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
Mar 31: Seventh full British Census (available for inspection Jan 2002)
Britain's first submarine launched
Dec 12: First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi
1902
Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
1905
Einstein publishes theory of relativity
1906
Labour Party formed
Free school meals for poor children
1907
School medical system begins
1909
Jan 1: Old Age Pensions Act came into force
Bleriot flies across the Channel
Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
1910
Union of South Africa formed
May 6: Edward VII dies - George V king
1911
Census: Pop. E&W 36M, Scot 4.6M, NI 1.25M
Dec 14: National Insurance in Britain
1911-1912
Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers
1912
Apr 14: The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage
Captain Scott's last expedition
1914-1918
First World War (the "Great War")
1914
Aug 4: war declared
1916
Easter Rising in Ireland - after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs independence
1917
First use of massed tanks (Cambrai)
George V adopts Windsor as surname
Mar 12: USA enters the war
1918
Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
Nov 11: Peace treaty signed at Versailles
1918-1939
Art Deco Period (Art & Antiques)
1919
First woman in House of Commons (Viscountess Astor)
Alcock and Brown fly Atlantic
Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of splitting the atom
1920
Regular cross-channel air service starts
1921
Census: Pop. E&W 37.9M, Scot 4.9M, NI 1.25M
Dec 6: Irish Free State and Northern Ireland formed
Irish Regiments of British Army disbanded
1922
BBC begins transmissions
1923
Mussolini becomes dictator of Italy
First Wembley cup final (West Ham 0, Bolton 2) - "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" popular song of the time, became West Ham anthem
1924
First Labour government, headed by Ramsey MacDonald
1926
Apr 26: General Strike begins, till May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
1928
Women over 21 get vote - same qualification for both sexes
1929
Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
Wall Street crash
1930
Oct 5: R101 airship disaster
1931
Census: Pop. E&W 40M, Scot 4.8M, NI 1.24M
Oct 21: National Government formed to deal with economic crisis
1933
Jan 30: Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
Oxford Union: "This House will in no circumstances fight for King and Country"
1936
Jan 20: George V dies; Edward VIII king
First public TV transmission
Jet engine first tested
Jul 18: Spanish Civil War starts
Dec 5: Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10) - carol that Xmas: "Hark the Herald Angels sing, Mrs Simpson's got our King"
Duke of York becomes George VI
1937
Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth, launched on Clydebank
1939-45
Second World War (the "Peoples War")
1939
Sep 3: War declared
1941
No census - total pop. estimated at 48.2M
1944
Jun 6: D-Day invasion of Normandy
1945
May 8: VE Day
Jun 26: UN Charter signed
Sep 2: VJ Day
1947
Jan 1: Coal Mines nationalised
Apr 1: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
1948
Jan 1: British Railways nationalised
Jul 1: Berlin airlift starts (to 12 May 1949)
1949
Mar 15: Clothes rationing ends
1950
May 19: Points rationing ends
May 26: Petrol rationing ends
Jun 25: Korean War starts ( to 27 Jul 1953)
Sep 9: Soap rationing ends
1951
Census: Pop. E&W 43.7M, Scot 5M. NI 1.37M
May 3: Festival of Britain opens on South Bank, London
1952
Feb 6: George VI dies; Elizabeth II queen, returns from Kenya
Feb 21: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
Nov: Hydrogen Bomb detonated
1953
Feb 4: Sweet rationing ends
May 29: Everest conquered
Jun 2: Coronation of Elizabeth II
Sep 26: Sugar rationing ends (after nearly 14 years)
1954
May 6: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister)
Jul 3: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
1956
Jun3: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways
Sep 25: Submarine telephone cable across the Atlantic opened
Oct 31: Britain and France invade Suez
Nov 16: Suez canal blocked (till 5 Jun 1975)
1957
Jun 1: Premiun Bonds first prizes drawn
Oct 4: Sputnik launched
1958
Feb 25: CND launched
Jul 26: Charles created Prince of Wales
1959
May 24: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
Aug: BMC Mini car launched
Sep 5: Introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain
Oct 3: Postcodes introduced in Britain
Nov 1: First section of M1 motorway opened
1960
Feb 3: Macmillan 'wind of change' speech in S. Africa
Mar 17: New ú1 notes issued by Bank of England
Mar 18: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
Sep 12: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
Oct 1: HMS Dreadnought (nuclear submarine) launched
1961
Jan 1: Farthing ceases to be legal tender
Mar 8: First US Polaris submarines arrive at Holy Loch
Mar 13: Black & White £5 notes cease to be legal tender
Mar 14: New English Bible (New Testament) published
Apr 12: Yuri Gagarin flight into space and back
Apr 23: Census: Pop. E&W 46M, Scot 5.1M, NI 1.4M
May 1: Betting shops legal in Britain
Oct 10: Volcanic eruption on Tristan da Cunha - whole population evacuated to Britain
1962
May 25: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
Jun 15: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley, Glos)
Jul 10: First live TV between US and Europe (Telstar)
Oct 24: Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
Dec 22: No frost-free nights in Britain till 5 Mar 1963
1963
Mar 27: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe')
Aug 1: Minimum prison age raised to 17
Aug 8: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
Sep 17: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational
Sep 25: Denning Report on Profumo affair
Nov 18: Dartford Tunnel opens
Nov 22: President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1964
Apr 9: First Greater London Council (GLC) election
Apr 21: BBC2 TV starts
Sep 4: Forth road bridge opens
'Beatlemania' begins
1965
Feb 7: First US raids against N Vietnam
Apr 6: Launch of Early Bird commercial communications satellite
Aug 1: TV ban on cigarette advertising in Britain
Sep 21: Oil strike by BP in North Sea
Oct 28: Death penalty abolished in Britain for murder [some say 18 Dec 1969]
Nov 11: Declaration of UDI in Rhodesia
Dec 22: 70mph speed limit on British roads
1966
Feb 3: Soft landing on moon by unmanned Luna 9
Mar 23: Archbishop of Canterbury meets Pope in Rome
May 16: Seamen's strike (ended 1 Jul)
Jul 30: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
Sep 8: First Severn road bridge opens
Oct 21: Aberfan disaster - slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children
Dec 1: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
1967
Jan 27: Three US astronauts killed in fire during launch pad test
Mar 18: Torrey Canyon oil tanker runs aground off Lands End
May 28: Francis Chichester arrives in Plymouth after solo non-stop circumnavigation (knighted 7 Jul)
Jul 1: First colour TV in Britain
Jul 13: Public Record Act - records now closed for only 30 years (but census still closed for 100 years)
Jul 18: Withdrawal from East of Suez by mid-70s announced
Sep 3: Sweden changes rule of road to drive on right
Sep 20: QE2 launched on Clydebank
Sep 27: Queen Mary arrives Southampton at end of last transatlantic voyage
Oct 5: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
Dec 3: First human heart transplant (in S Africa)
1968
Feb 18: British Standard Time introduced
Apr 23: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins
May 6: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
May 10: Student riots in Paris
Jul 29: Pope encyclical condemns all artificial forms of birth control
Sep 15: Severe flooding in England
Sep 16: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
Oct 5: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
1969
Mar 2: Maiden flight of Concorde
Mar 7: Victoria Line tube opens in London
Apr 17: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
Jul 1: Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle
Jul 21: First men land on the moon
Jul 31: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender
Oct 14: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
1970
Mar 16: Publication of complete New English Bible
Jun 17: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
Jul 30: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
Nov 20: Ten shilling note goes out of circulation in Britain
1971
Jan 1: Divorce Reform Act (1969) comes into force
Jan 3: Open University starts
Feb 15: Decimalisation of coinage in Britain
Aug 9: Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
Oct 28: Parliament votes to join Common Market
1972
Feb 9: Power workers crisis
Oct 5: United Reformed Church founded out of Congregational and Presbyterian Churches in E&W
1973
Jan 1: Britain enters Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
Jan 27: Vietnam ceasefire agreement signed
Apr 1: VAT introduced in Britain
Dec 31: Energy crisis - Three-day week (till 9 Mar 1974) to conserve power
1974
Aug 8: President Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal
Several new 'counties' formed
1975
Feb 11: Margaret Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative party (in opposition)
Apr 30: End of Vietnam war
Jun 5: Suez canal reopens (after 8 years closure)
Nov 3: First North Sea oil comes ashore [some say 11 June]
Dec 27: Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force
1976
Jan 21: Concorde enters supersonic passenger service
Aug 6: Drought Act 1976 comes into force
Deaths exceeded live births in E&W for first time since records began in 1837
1977
Mar 23: Lib-Lab pact
Jun 1: Road speed limits: 70mph dual roads; 60mph single
Jun 7: Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in London
1978
Apr 8: Regular broadcast of proceedings in Parliament starts
May 1: First May Day holiday in Britain
Jul 25: World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham
Oct 15: Pope John Paul II, first non-Italian for 450 years
Nov 30: Publication of The Times suspended - industrial relations problems (until 13 Nov 1979)
1979
Feb 1: Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran
Mar 1: 32.5% of Scots vote in favour of devolution (40% needed) - Welsh vote overwhelmingly against
Mar 31: Withdrawal of Royal Navy from Malta
May 4: Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman Prime Minister
Aug 27: Lord Mountbatten killed in bomb blast of coast of Sligo
Sep 18: ILEA voted to abolish corporal punishment in its schools
Nov 13: The Times returns to circulation
1980
May 5: SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages
Dec 8: John Lennon assassinated in New York
1981
Jan 25: Launch of SDP by 'Gang of Four'
Mar 29: First London marathon run
Apr 5: Census day in Britain
Apr 12: US Shuttle launched
Apr 25: Worst April blizzards this century in Britain
Jul 29: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
1982
Jan 26: Unemployment reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population)
Mar 18: Argentinians raised flag in South Georgia
Apr 2: Argentina invades Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
Apr 5: Royal Navy fleet sails from Portsmouth for Falklands
Jun 14: Ceasefire in Falklands
Jun 21: Birth of Prince William of Wales
Oct 11: Mary Rose raised (sank 1545)
Oct 31: Thames Barrier raised for first time
Nov 4: Lorries up to 38 tonnes allowed on Britain's roads
Dec 12: Women's peace protest at Greenham Common (Cruise missiles arrived 14 Nov 1983)
1983
Jan 17: Start of breakfast TV in Britain
Jan 31: Seat belt law came into force
Apr 21: £1 coin into circulation in Britain
Oct 7: Plans to abolish GLC announced
1984
Jan 9: FTSE index exceeded 800
Jun 22: Inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic
Oct 12: Bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton - 4 killed
Oct 24: High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets
Dec 3: British Telecom privatised - shares make massive gains on first day's trading
George Orwell got it wrong (his book '1984', written in 1948)
1985
Mar 3: Miners agree to call off strike
Mar 11: Al Fayed buys Harrods
Jul 13: Live Aid pop concert raises over £50M for famine relief
Sep: Wreck of Titanic found (sank 1912)
1986
Mar 31: GLC and 6 metropolitan councils abolished
Apr 28: Chernobyl nuclear accident - radiation reached Britain 2 May
May 7: Mannie Shinwell, veteran politician, dies aged 101
1987
Terry Waight kidnapped in Beirut (released Nov 1991)
Car ferry "Herald of Free Enterprise" capsizes off Zeebrugge - 188 die
Order of the Garter opened to women
Oct: The 'Hurricane' sweeps southern England
'Black Monday' in the City of London - Stock Market crash
1988
Copyright Act
Dec 21: Lockerbie disaster - Pan Am flight 103 blows up over Scotland
1989
Poll Tax implemented in Scotland
House of Commons proceedings first televised
1990
Margaret Thatcher resigns as Conservative party leader (and Prime Minister)
Poll Tax implemented in England & Wales - riots
Aug 2: Iraq invades Kuwait
Channel Tunnel excavation teams meet in the middle
1991
Poll Tax replaced (by Council Tax)
Robert Maxwell drowns at sea
1992
Coal industry privatised
1993
Jul: Ratification of Maastricht Treaty
Betty Boothroyd first woman Speaker of the House of Commons
1994
Nov: National Lottery starts
Channel Tunnel open to traffic