| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1916 | - 1916—1916: Compulsory military service introduced in Britain
- 21 May 1916—21 May 1916: First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK
|
| 2 | 1918 | - 1918—1918: Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons)
- 8 Mar 1918—8 Mar 1918: Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic
- 11 Nov 1918—11 Nov 1918: Armistice signed
|
| 3 | 1919 | - 1919—1919: Britain adopts a 48-hour working week
|
| 4 | 1920 | - Feb 1920—Feb 1920: First roadside petrol filling station in UK - opened by the Automobile Association
at Aldermaston on the Bath Road
|
| 5 | 1921 | - 19 Jun 1921—19 Jun 1921: Census: Population - England and Wales: 37.9 Million; Scotland: 4.9 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million
|
| 6 | 1922 | - 1922—1922: Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended
|
| 7 | 1923 | - 1923—1923: Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
|
| 8 | 1926 | - 1926—1926: Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
- 3 May 1926—3 May 1926: General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
|
| 9 | 1928 | - 1928—1928: Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
|
| 10 | 1929 | - 1929—1929: Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
- 1929—1929: Minimum age for a marriage in Britain now 16 for both sexes, with parental consent (or a licence) needed for anyone under 21
|
| 11 | 1931 | - 26 Apr 1931—26 Apr 1931: Census: Population - England and Wales; 40 Million; Scotland: 4.8 Million; N Ireland: 1.24 Million
|
| 12 | 1932 | - 1932—1932: Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
|
| 13 | 1935 | - 1935—1935: London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme
|
| 14 | 1936 | - 5 Dec 1936—5 Dec 1936: Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10)
|
| 15 | 1937 | - 12 May 1937—12 May 1937: Coronation of King George VI
- 28 May 1937—28 May 1937: Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister - policy of appeasement towards
Hitler
|
| 16 | 1938 | - 1938—1938: Principle of paid holidays established in Britain
- 29 Sep 1938—29 Sep 1938: Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time'
|
| 17 | 1939 | - 1939—1939: Start of evacuation of women and children from London
- 1939—1939: Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
- 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
|
| 18 | 1940 | - 11 May 1940—11 May 1940: National Government formed under Churchill
- 13 May 1940—13 May 1940: Germany invades France
- 25 Jun 1940—25 Jun 1940: Fall of France to Germany
- 7 Sep 1940—7 Sep 1940: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of
bombing
- 15 Sep 1940—15 Sep 1940: Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the
RAF
|
| 19 | 1941 | - 1941—1941: Britain introduces severe rationing
|
| 20 | 1944 | - 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944: D-Day invasion of Normandy
|
| 21 | 1945 | - 8 May 1945—8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe)
- 26 Jul 1945—26 Jul 1945: Labour win UK General Election - Churchill out of office
- 29 Jul 1945—29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts
|
| 22 | 1946 | - 1 Jan 1946—1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
|
| 23 | 1947 | - 1947—1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much
flooding later
- 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
|
| 24 | 1948 | - 1 Jan 1948—1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised
- 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
|
| 25 | 1952 | - 21 Feb 1952—21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
- 2 May 1952—2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOAC Comet between London
and Johannesburg
- 4 Dec 1952—4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
|
| 26 | 1953 | - 24 Apr 1953—24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
- 2 Jun 1953—2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
- 26 Sep 1953—26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain.
|
| 27 | 1954 | - 1954—1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
- 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
- 5 Jul 1954—5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
|
| 28 | 1957 | - 25 Dec 1957—25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
|
| 29 | 1958 | - 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
|
| 30 | 1959 | - 3 Oct 1959—3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
|
| 31 | 1960 | - 17 Mar 1960—17 Mar 1960: New ?1 notes issued by Bank of England
|
| 32 | 1961 | - 1 Jan 1961—1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
|
| 33 | 1962 | - 1962—1962: Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
|
| 34 | 1963 | - 1 Aug 1963—1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age raised to 17
|
| 35 | 1964 | - 9 Apr 1964—9 Apr 1964: First Greater London Council (GLC) election
|
| 36 | 1965 | - 28 Oct 1965—28 Oct 1965: Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then
abolished 18 Dec 1969
|
| 37 | 1967 | - 27 Jun 1967—27 Jun 1967: First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain - at Enfield branch of Barclays
|
| 38 | 1968 | - 18 Feb 1968—18 Feb 1968: British Standard Time introduced
- 23 Apr 1968—23 Apr 1968: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
- 16 Sep 1968—16 Sep 1968: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
|
| 39 | 1969 | - 17 Apr 1969—17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
- 2 May 1969—2 May 1969: Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
- 14 Oct 1969—14 Oct 1969: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
|
| 40 | 1970 | - 20 Nov 1970—20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note goes out of circulation in Britain
|
| 41 | 1971 | - 1971—1971: Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week as UK adopts decision of the (ISO) to call Monday the first day
- 15 Feb 1971—15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
|
| 42 | 1972 | - 28 May 1972—28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
|
| 43 | 1973 | - 26 Sep 1973—26 Sep 1973: Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking
time
|
| 44 | 1974 | - 1974—1974: New counties formed in Britain after re-organisation of some county boundaries
|
1916 - 1991 (74 years)
