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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1662 | - 1662—1662: Tea introduced to Britain
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| 2 | 1664 | - 27 Aug 1664—27 Aug 1664: Nieuw Amsterdam becomes New York as 300 English soldiers under Col.
Mathias Nicolls take the town from the Dutch under orders from Charles II. The town is
renamed after the King's brother James, Duke of York
|
| 3 | 1665 | - 1665—1665: Great Plague of London (July-October) kills over 60,000
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| 4 | 1666 | - 2 Sep 1666—2 Sep 1666: Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June (2-6 Sep)
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| 5 | 1668 | - 1668—1668: Newton constructs reflecting telescope
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| 6 | 1679 | - 27 May 1679—27 May 1679: Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England - (later repealed from time to
time)
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| 7 | 1681 | - 1681—1681: Oil lighting first used in London streets
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| 8 | 1682 | - 1682—1682: Halley observes the comet which bears his name
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| 9 | 1687 | - 5 Jul 1687—5 Jul 1687: Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' - written
in Latin
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| 10 | 1688 | - Feb 1688—Feb 1688: Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens - later became Lloyd's of London
|
| 11 | 1692 | - 13 Feb 1692—13 Feb 1692: The massacre of Glencoe - Clan Campbell sides with King William and
murders members of Clan McDonald
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| 12 | 1697 | - 2 Dec 1697—2 Dec 1697: Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
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| 13 | 1698 | - 1698—1698: Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery
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| 14 | 1702 | - 11 Mar 1702—11 Mar 1702: First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
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| 15 | 1703 | - 4 Aug 1703—4 Aug 1703: British take Gibraltar
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| 16 | 1705 | - 1705—1705: First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen (some say c1710
or 1711)
|
| 17 | 1707 | - 16 Jan 1707—16 Jan 1707: 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
|
| 18 | 1712 | - 1712—1712: Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham)
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| 19 | 1714 | - 1714—1714: Longitude Act: prize of ?20,000 offered to the inventor of a workable method of
determining a ship's longitude (won by John Harrison in 1773 for his chronometer).
|
| 20 | 1726 | - 1726—1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
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| 21 | 1731 | - 1731—1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
|
| 22 | 1733 | - 1733—1733: Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in
Latin for a few years
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| 23 | 1739 | - 7 Apr 1739—7 Apr 1739: Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York
|
| 24 | 1744 | - 1744—1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
|
| 25 | 1746 | - 16 Apr 1746—16 Apr 1746: 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
|
| 26 | 1752 | - 3 Sep 1752—3 Sep 1752: Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and
Scotland, making this Sep 14
|
| 27 | 1754 | - 1754—1754: Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be
used - Quakers & Jews exempt
|
| 28 | 1755 | - 1755—1755: Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson
|
| 29 | 1762 | - 1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
|
| 30 | 1764 | - 1764—1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768)
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| 31 | 1767 | - 1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
|
| 32 | 1768 | - 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by
William Smellie
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| 33 | 1769 | - 1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
|
| 34 | 1770 | - 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims
Australia for Britain
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| 35 | 1776 | - 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence
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| 36 | 1779 | - 1779—1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
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| 37 | 1782 | - 1782—1782: James Watt patents his steam engine
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| 38 | 1783 | - 3 Nov 1783—3 Nov 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
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| 39 | 1784 | - 2 Aug 1784—2 Aug 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
|
| 40 | 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
|
| 41 | 1791 | - 4 Dec 1791—4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
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| 42 | 1793 | - 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
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| 43 | 1795 | - 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
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| 44 | 1796 | - 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
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| 45 | 1800 | - 1800—1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
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| 46 | 1801 | - 24 Dec 1801—24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
|
| 47 | 1803 | - 23 Jul 1803—23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to
Croydon, horse-drawn)
|
| 48 | 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.
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| 49 | 1805 | - 21 Oct 1805—21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
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| 50 | 1812 | - Oct 1812—Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
|
| 51 | 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
|
| 52 | 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
|
| 53 | 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!
|
| 54 | 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
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| 55 | 1836 | - 1836—1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
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| 56 | 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
|
| 57 | 1840 | - 10 Jan 1840—10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
|
| 58 | 1841 | - 6 Jun 1841—6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
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| 59 | 1843 | - 1843—1843: First Christmas card in England
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| 60 | 1851 | - 1 May 1851—1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ('Crystal Palace' exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
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| 61 | 1853 | - 1853—1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
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| 62 | 1854 | - 1854—1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
- 25 Oct 1854—25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
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