| 1605/6 | | 31 Jan:
Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and James I of England.PSU UKNA |
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| 1806 | | 7 Oct:
Ralph Wedgwood receives the first patent for carbon paper.W I R E D |
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| 1807 | |
| 1813 | | 26 Oct:
Canadian troops and their Mohawk allies win an important victory over invading American forces in the Battle of the Châteauguay.NPS MC |
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| 1814 | |
| | 13 Sep:
Francis Scott Key writes the Star-Spangled Banner.SIMag LoC |
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| |
| 1815 | | 8 Jan:
An American force of 3000 men defeats a British force of around 8000 men in the Battle of New Orleans - even though the War of 1812 was already over with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.HBoNO LoC |
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| 1816 | |
The previous year, Mt. Tambora erupted producing so much ash and gas the sunlight was blocked from warming the earth causing the "Year Without Summer".USGS |
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| 1819 | | 22 May:
The first steam powered vessel to cross the Atlantic, the S.S. Savannah, "put to sea with steam and sails" on a historic trip that would take her to England, Sweden and Russia with stops in Norway and Denmark before returning home.AAQ NSSavannah |
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| 1820 | | 29 Jan:
George IV. Ruler of England 1820-1830. House of Hanover: Eldest son of George III, Prince Regent, from Feb 1811.HistoricUK |
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| 1824 | |
| 1826 | | 27 Nov:
John Walker invents the modern friction match.TiS BH |
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| 1830 | | 26 Jun:
William IV. Ruler of England 1830-1837. House of Hanover: 3rd son of George III, married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.HistoricUK |
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| | 15 Sep:
The first railroad fatality occurs when a member of Parliament, William Huskisson, steps in front of George Stephenson's Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway.AO tNM |
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| 1831 | | 27 Dec:
The H.M.S. Beagle, with a crew of seventy-three men, sets sail out of Plymouth, England. On board is a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. SA |
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| 1837 | | 20 Jun:
Victoria. Ruler of England 1837-1901. House of Hanover: Daughter of Edward, 4th son of George III; married (1840) her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who became Prince Consort.HistoricUK |
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| 1843 | | 19 Jul:
The SS Great Britain, the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic, is launched in Bristol, England.Nature ASME |
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| 1844 | | 6 Jun:
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.YMCA VCU |
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| 1859 | | 24 Nov:
Charles Darwin publishes his groundbreaking volume, "On the Origin of Species".Literature.org NSF |
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| 1861 | |
| 1863 | |
| 1867 | | 14 Jul:
Alfred Nobel demonstrates dynamite for the first time.GoogleBooks GF&F |
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| 1884 | | 13 Oct:
The Greenwich meridian is officially adopted globally as the prime meridian, the imaginary north-south line where the longitude is 0 degrees.W I R E D MAA |
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| | 1 Nov:
Greenwich Mean Time is adopted universally when the International Meridian Conference meets in Washington, DC.GMT OFA |
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| 1894 | | 14 Aug:
The first wireless transmission of information using Morse code is demonstrated by Oliver Lodge during a meeting of the British Association at Oxford.RSP NS |
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| 1897 | | 20 Aug:
World Mosquito Day marks the discovery of the malaria parasite.Mosquito EM |
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| 1898 | | 30 May:
Superman beware, Krypton is discovered.JLab NIH |
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| 1899 | | 2 Nov:
The Boxer Rebellion, an uprising against foreigners in China, occurs.TW GoogleBooks |
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| 1901 | | 22 Jan:
Edward VII. Ruler of England 1901-1910. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Eldest son of Victoria, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark.HistoricUK |
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| 1903 | | 18 Jan:
The first two-way transatlantic wireless communication occurs.CapeCod TRC |
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| 1909 | | 16 Jan:
Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.W I R E D EarthSky |
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| 1910 | | 6 May:
George V. Ruler of England 1910-1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of Edward VII, married Princess Mary of Teck. Accession, Jan 20, abdication, Dec 10.HistoricUK |
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| 1912 | |
| | 15 Apr:
The RMS Titanic sinks after striking an iceberg. tGLIoAH |
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| | 18 Dec:
Piltdown man, a presumed missing link, is unveiled to the world - proved a fake 40 years later.ClarkU AS |
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| 1914 | |
| 1915 | |
| | 6 Sep:
The first military tank rolls off the assembly line.ACA USArmy |
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| 1916 | | 24 Apr:
Easter Rising - Ireland rises up against British rule and proclaims its independence.B B C IC |
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| 1917 | |
| 1918 | | Feb:
The Spanish Flu pandemic kills at least 3% of the World's population.VLib npr |
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| | 29 Sep:
Allied forces break through the Hindenburg Line.NCDCR AWM |
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| 1919 | |
| 1922 | |
| | 26 Nov:
Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon enter King Tut's tomb.History.com |
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| 1927 | | 7 Jan:
The first commercial transoceanic telephone service begins, using radio, between New York and London.EDN USNA |
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| 1928 | | 28 Sep:
Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.NIH PBS |
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| 1933 | | 12 Nov:
Hugh Gray takes the first photograph of the Loch Ness Monster.Nessie Hoaxes |
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| 1936 | | 20 Jan:
Edward VIII. Ruler of England 1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Eldest son of George V.HistoricUK |
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| | 5 Mar:
The prototype of the British Supermarine Spitfire flies for the first time.SI Bonhams |
|
| | 11 Dec:
George VI. Ruler of England 1936-1952. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of George V, Duke of York; married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.HistoricUK |
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| 1939 | |
| 1940 | |
| | 10 Jul:
The Battle of Britain begins.FWR |
|
| | 26 Oct:
The P-51 Mustang takes its maiden flight with test pilot Vance Breese.MM DW |
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| 1941 | | 12 Feb:
The first human trials of penicillin begin.Forbes NIH |
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| |
| | 30 Oct:
FDR approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid for the USSR.USState JVL |
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| 1944 | | 6 Jun:
D-Day - allied forces begin the invasion of continental Europe.USArmy IWM |
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| | 25 Oct:
Kamikaze are used en masse for the first time against Allied forces in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.NNAM AFMag |
|
| | 12 Nov:
Avro Lancasters of the British Royal Air Force sink the German battleship Tirpitz off Håkøya Island near Tromsø, Norway.KBismarck BCM |
|
| | 16 Dec:
The Battle of the Bulge, a surprise offensive by the German Army pushes Allied forces back through Belgium and Luxembourg.USArmy PBS |
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| 1945 | |
| |
| | 24 Oct:
The United Nations is established.UN USState |
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| |
| 1949 | | 4 Apr:
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is founded.USNA Avalon |
|
| | 27 Jul:
The world's first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden test-flight in England.AFMag CoF |
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| 1950 | | 24 Sep:
Black Sunday occurs when smoke from forest fires in western Canada makes its way east, darkening the skies in the eastern United States and Canada and as far away as western Europe.BLM WR |
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| 1952 | | 6 Feb:
Elizabeth II. Ruler of England 1952-present.House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Elder daughter of George VI, acceded Feb 6, 1956.HistoricUK |
|
| | 15 Jul:
The first transatlantic helicopter flight begins.RH PP |
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| 1953 | | 28 Feb:
At Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA.NIH GO |
|
| | 20 Nov:
Piltdown Man is reported to be a hoax in the bulletin of the British Natural History Museum.PBS |
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| 1954 | | 29 Sep:
The CERN Convention is entered into force.CERN SA |
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| 1956 | | 25 Sep:
The first transatlantic telephone is opened for business.CBC A-C |
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| 1963 | |
| 1964 | | 7 Feb:
The Beatles invade America.PHD TIME |
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| 1967 | | 17 Sep:
The Who appear on American television for the first time.IMDb RollingStone |
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| 1969 | | 2 Mar:
The Concorde takes off on its maiden flight.B B C PHYS |
|
| | 5 Oct:
Monty Python's Flying Circus is aired for the first time.B B C MontyPython |
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| 1970 | | 22 Jan:
Pan Am airlines makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 747.PanAm PM |
|
| | 13 Feb:
Black Sabbath releases their self-titled, first album, what many consider to be the first heavy metal band.DisCogs PE |
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| 1971 | |
| 1973 | |
| | 17 Oct:
OPEC oil embargo begins.C-SPAN MW |
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| 1977 | | 23 Aug:
The Kremer Prize for the first sustained (mile-long) human-powered flight is claimed by the Gossamer Condor.SI CAOHP |
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| 1979 | | 12 Jun:
The Gossamer Albatross becomes the first fully human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel.AVInc SI |
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| 1982 | | 17 Apr:
Canada becomes fully independent from Britain.CMoH CA |
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| 1988 | | 21 Dec:
Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.SUA FBI |
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| 1996 | | 5 Jul:
Dolly the sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal, is born.SA G&S |
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| 1997 | | 1 Jul:
Britain's 99 year lease of Hong Kong ends.HKFP HRW |
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| 2001 | | 15 Feb:
The Human Genome Project publishes its results to date in the journal Nature.Genome Nature |
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| |
| 2003 | | 19 Mar:
The U. S., along with coalition forces, begins its "shock and awe" campaign against Saddam Hussein and Iraq.npr NT |
|
| | 24 Oct:
Concorde completes its last commercial passenger flight, ending three decades of supersonic travel.B B C GIZMODO |
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| 2005 | | 14 Jan:
The Huygens probe successfully lands on Saturn's largest moon Titan - the only landing to take place in the outer Solar System and the furthest from Earth.esa NASA |
|
| | 18 Jan:
The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is unveiled in France.Airbus AW |
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