| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1926 | - 1926—1926: Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
|
| 2 | 1927 | - 1927—1927: Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer)
|
| 3 | 1928 | - 1928—1928: Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
- 15 Sep 1928—15 Sep 1928: Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
|
| 4 | 1929 | - 1929—1929: Minimum age for a marriage in Britain (which had been 14 for a boy and 12 for a girl)
now 16 for both sexes, with parental consent (or a licence) needed for anyone under 21
|
| 5 | 1934 | - 1934—1934: Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany
- 18 Jul 1934—18 Jul 1934: King George V opens Mersey Tunnel
|
| 6 | 1936 | - 5 May 1936—5 May 1936: First flight of a Spitfire
|
| 7 | 1938 | - 30 Oct 1938—30 Oct 1938: Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
|
| 8 | 1939 | - 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
|
| 9 | 1940 | - 15 Sep 1940—15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the
RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
|
| 10 | 1941 | - 1941—1941: First use of antibiotics
|
| 11 | 1942 | - 6 Sep 1942—6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad
|
| 12 | 1944 | - 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy
|
| 13 | 1945 | - 8 May 1945—8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe). Atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
|
| 14 | 1947 | - 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
|
| 15 | 1948 | - 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
|
| 16 | 1952 | - 2 May 1952—2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London
and Johannesburg
|
| 17 | 1953 | - 25 Apr 1953—25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
|
| 18 | 1954 | - 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
|
| 19 | 1955 | - 22 Sep 1955—22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
|
| 20 | 1957 | - 25 May 1957—25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six
countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became
operational Jan 1958
|
| 21 | 1959 | - 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
|
| 22 | 1962 | - 24 Oct 1962—24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
|
| 23 | 1966 | - 30 Jul 1966—30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
|
| 24 | 1968 | - 29 May 1968—29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
|
| 25 | 1969 | - 17 Apr 1969—17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
|
| 26 | 1971 | - 15 Feb 1971—15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
|
| 27 | 1973 | - 1 Jan 1973—1 Jan 1973: Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
|
1926 - 1976 (50 years)
