| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1939 | - 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
|
| 2 | 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
|
| 3 | 1941 | - 1941—1941: First use of antibiotics
|
| 4 | 1942 | - 6 Sep 1942—6 Sep 1942: Germans defeated at Stalingrad
|
| 5 | 1944 | - 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy
|
| 6 | 1945 | - 8 May 1945—8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe). Atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
|
| 7 | 1947 | - 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
|
| 8 | 1948 | - 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
|
| 9 | 1952 | - 2 May 1952—2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London
and Johannesburg
|
| 10 | 1953 | - 25 Apr 1953—25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
|
| 11 | 1954 | - 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
|
| 12 | 1955 | - 22 Sep 1955—22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
|
| 13 | 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
|
| 14 | 1959 | - 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
|
| 15 | 1962 | - 24 Oct 1962—24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
|
| 16 | 1966 | - 30 Jul 1966—30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
|
| 17 | 1968 | - 29 May 1968—29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
|
| 18 | 1969 | - 17 Apr 1969—17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
|
| 19 | 1971 | - 15 Feb 1971—15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
|
| 20 | 1973 | - 1 Jan 1973—1 Jan 1973: Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
|
| 21 | 1978 | - 25 Jul 1978—25 Jul 1978: World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham
|
| 22 | 1979 | - 4 May 1979—4 May 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman UK Prime Minister
|
| 23 | 1980 | - 8 Dec 1980—8 Dec 1980: John Lennon assassinated in New York
|
| 24 | 1981 | - 29 Jul 1981—29 Jul 1981: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (divorced 28 Aug 1996)
|
| 25 | 1982 | - 28 May 1982—28 May 1982: First land battle in Falklands (Goose Green)
|
| 26 | 1986 | - 26 Apr 1986—26 Apr 1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident - radiation reached Britain on 2 Ma
|
| 27 | 1988 | - 21 Dec 1988—21 Dec 1988: Lockerbie disaster - Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland
|
| 28 | 1989 | - 9 Nov 1989—9 Nov 1989: Berlin Wall torn down
|
| 29 | 1990 | - 25 Apr 1990—25 Apr 1990: Hubble space telescope launched
|
| 30 | 1991 | - 1991—1991: The 'Internet' comes into existence
|
| 31 | 1993 | - Jul 1993—Jul 1993: Ratification of Maastricht Treaty, established the European Union (EU)
|
| 32 | 1994 | - 6 May 1994—6 May 1994: Channel Tunnel open to traffic
|
| 33 | 1996 | - 5 Jul 1996—5 Jul 1996: Scientists in Scotland clone a sheep (Dolly)
|
| 34 | 1997 | - 11 May 1997—11 May 1997: First time a computer beats a master at chess (IBM's Deep Blue v Garry
Kasparov)
|
| 35 | 1998 | - 27 Sep 1998—27 Sep 1998: 'Google' search engine founded
|
| 36 | 1999 | - 1 Jan 1999—1 Jan 1999: European Monetary Union begins - UK opts out - by the end of the year the
Euro has approximately the same value as the US Dollar
|
| 37 | 2002 | - 1 Jan 2002—1 Jan 2002: Twelve major countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Holland, Irish Republic,
Italy, Luxembourg, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal) and their
dependents start using the Euro instead of their old national currencies; the UK stays
out - the Euro worth 62?p at this time
|
| 38 | 2004 | - 1 May 2004—1 May 2004: Enlargement of the European Union to include 25 members by the entry of 10
new states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus
|
| 39 | 2007 | - 1 Jul 2007—1 Jul 2007: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in England (thus completing
cover of the entire UK)
|
1939 - 2020 (81 years)
