Contents
To the best of my knowledge the information is accurate. Any
inaccuracies or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Reformatted for gjots from the original Psion file 20thcentury.s5
from http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/pocketinfo/index.html
by
Bob Hepple bhepple@freeshell.org Nov 2002
9. Thousands hit by flu epidemic, fifty people dying everyday in London.
* The Boer war continues.
27. The British Labour party was founded.
4. Attempt on the Prince of Wales' life in Brussels.
14. The Paris International Exhibition opens.
31. Boxer uprising in China.
1. The airship Zeppelin takes to the skies.
22. Charlotte Cooper the first woman Olympic gold medalist, winning the tennis singles.
30. Italian King shot dead at Monza Italy.
30. Boer war ended.
9. The biggest and most powerful batteship the"Mikasa" was launched in Barrow-in-Furness, built for Japanese navy.
22. Sullivan the composer dies at 58
30. Oscar Wilde the writer died in Paris aged 46.
14. Max Plansk unveils the Quantum Theory.
*
* The Prince of Wales takes delivery of a Coventry built Daimler
* The "La Jamais Contente" electric car held the speed record at 65.75 mph when it was beaten by a steam car at 75 mph. Petrol cars fastest speed was 35.5 mph.
22. Queen Victoria dies at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight aged 81, having reigned for 63 years.
14. Edward VII opened his first parliament.
26. Boxer leaders executed in Peking.
17. Riots breakout in Russian cities.
24. 19 year old Pablo Picasso holds first exhibition in Paris.
7. Boxer rebellion ends.
9. Toulouse-Lautrec the French painter dies at 36.
14. President Mckinley was assassinated, Roosevelt becomes President.
2. Britain launches first submarine.
30. The first hearing aid.
2. The first replaceable razor was announced by Gillette.
10. First Nobel Prizes.
11. The first trans-Atlantic wireless tranmission was made from Cornwall to Newfoundland by Marconi.
* Russian Jews flea to Palastine due to the violence against them in Russia..
* Daimler build the first Mercedes.
* Tarmac was invented.
* Dennis Brothers occupy the first purpose built car factory at Guildford, Surrey.
* In the US, electric vehicle production exceeded all other. Columbia was the main producer
30. Britain signs treaty of alliance with Japan over interests in China and Korea.
31. Number of smallpox victims in Britain rose to 2,273.
26. Cecel Rhodes of Rhodesia died aged 48.
5. Stand collapses at Ibrox Park football ground killing 20 supporters.
16. State of emergency declared in Ireland.
22. Fire sweeps through the Barbican in London destroying many factories and shops.
28. Thomas Eddison announces new nickel-iron battery.
31. Boer leaders finally surrender in Pretoria.
28. America pays $40 million for Panama Canal concession.
29. Renault wins first Paris-Vienna race.
* The Boer war ends.
12. Arthur Balfour becomes Prime Minister.
9. Edward VII is crowned King.
10. The Aswan Dam on the Nile in Egypt was completed.
*
* S. F. Edge won the "Gordon Bennett" race between Paris and Innsbruck in a Napier at an average speed of 31.8 mph.
* Electromobile company made electric vehicles in the UK, many were used as taxis.
1. Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India.
6. Official inquiry into the traffic problems of London.
16. It was announced how porcelain could replace gold as fillings in teeth.
26. Dr Richard Gatling inventor of the Gatling-gun died aged 84.
3. Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton set new record for getting nearest to South Pole.
8. Paul Gauguin the French painter died aged 54
11. King Alexander and Queen Draga of Serbia were shot dead.
16. Henry Ford forms the Ford Motor Company.
17. James Whistler the American painter dies aged 69.
20. Pope Leo XIII died aged 93.
8. Turks massacre 50,000 Bulgarians in the town of Monastir.
10. Emmeline Pankhurst forms new suffragette movement.
12. Camille Pissarro the French painter dies aged 73.
10. The Wright Brothers took to the air, staying up for nearly 1 minute and travelling 850 feet.
10. Marie Curie wins Nobel Prize for her work in radio-activity.
*
* Britain's first motor show held at Crystal Palace.
3. Tidal wave in the English Channel.
5. America ends occupation of Cuba.
10. Japan attacks Russian fleet.
6. Britain fights Tibetans in the Karo Pass.
15. A paddle steamer General Slocum caught fire in New York harbour killing 693 passengers, others unaccounted for.
21. The Trans-Siberian railway was completed.
29. France breaks links with the Vatican.
29. Final day of the Olympics in St. Louis, America
30. Fighting continues between Japan and Russia.
20. Wright Brothers: America believes planes have no military value.
22. Two fishing trawlers were sunk by Russian Fleet in the North Sea.
13. The first electric tube train in London, from Baker Street to Uxbridge.
*
* The first registration plates were introduced in Britain.
* Driving licences become law.
* Speed limit raised from 12 mph to 20 mph.
* C S Rolls and Henry Royce form the motor company Rolls Royce.
2. Port Arthur in Korea was Finally taken by the Japanese.
22. Czar of Russia's troops kill 500 strikers in St. Petersburg.
10. Japanese gain victory in Manchuria after a 12 day battle 200,000 Russians die.
24. Jules Verne the writer of science fiction died aged 77.
4. Earthquake hits northern India, many thousands die.
28. Admiral Togo of Japan wipes out Russian Baltic fleet in the Straits of Tsushima.
29. The Automoblie Association was formed.
1. A new theory was published by Albert Einstein, "The theory of relativity".
3. The French separates the church from the state.
20. Lord Curzon resigns as Viceroy of India.
5. Peace between Russia and Japan, after signing a peace treaty, the Treaty of Portsmouth.
7. Fighting broke out between Armenians and Tartars over 1,000 people killed.
21. Dr. Barnardo the man who started over 112 homes for orphans, died.
14. First Sufragettes go to prison
30. Aspirin goes on sale in Britain for the first time.
8. Jews massacred in Russia.
5. The Liberal leader Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman becomes Prime Minister.
30. Revolt in Russia crushed by Czar.
* Internal unrest continues in Russia.
* SMMT holds first Motor Show at Olympia in Febuary and the second in November.
* Austin Motor Co. of Longbridge is registered.
* Vauxhall moves from south London to Luton.
8. Tahiti was hit by a typhoon, thousands die.
10. HMS Dreadnought the biggest and fastest battleship was launched. It took 4 months to build.
7. Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts.
19. Earthquake hits San Francisco killing over 800 people.
27. Olympic Games opens in Athens.
6. August bank holiday heatwave in Britain.
17. First pictures were telegraphed by German professor Arthur Korn.
24. Eleven suffragettes were jailed.
* SOS becomes the international distress signal.
2. Many London buses were banned for being to noisy.
15. New London tube line opened between Finesbury Park and Hammersmith.
American scientist Lee De Forest invented the triode valve which has revolutionised the wireless.
7. England beats France at Rugby at Twickenham.
19. Mohammad Ali is the new Shah of Persia.
22. Earthquake hits Jamaica, hundreds die.
15. Women become MPs in Finland.
15. Manchuria is handed back to the Chinese.
25. Plans for Channel Tunnel were thrown out by Government.
10. Major breakthrough for colour Movies by Auguste and Louis Lumiere.
25. Resentment in Korea over Japanese rule.
25. Lord Baden Powell starts the Boy Scouts.
4. French gunships shell Casablanca.
10. Prince Borghese of Italy won the 8,000 mile Peking to Paris car race which took 62 days.
13 Fighting started in Belfast, killing 4 people.
11. The Lusitania broke the Trans-Atlantic record at 4 days 19 hours 52 minutes.
13. Kaiser on state visit to Britain.
13. First helicopter flight by inventor Paul Cornu.
11. Britain fears Japanese competition with ship building.
The suffragettes fight continues.
* Brooklands the world's first motor racing circuit opens at Weybridge, Surrey.
* The Automobile Car Club changes the name to the Royal Automobile Club.
* The Detroit Electric car went into production in the US.
13. A Frenchman Henri Farman won £5,000 for flying more than one kilometre.
1. King Carlos I the Portugese King and Prince Luiz were assassinated.
11. Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov the Russian composer dies aged 64.
7. The German battleship the Nassau rivals the British Dreadnought.
1. The Liberal war secretary Mr Haldane forms the Territorial Army.
12. Herbert Asquith becomes Prime Minister.
12. Winston Churchill joins the cabinate.
14. The Franco-British exhibition was opened at the White City, London.
9. King Edward VII visits Russia.
* London hosts the Olympic Games.
12. Model T Ford was launched in Detroit.
6. Wilbur Wright breaks new record for staying in the air with a passenger for more than one hour.
24. Emmeline Pankhurst the suffragette was jailed.
10. Ernest Rutherford wins Nobel prize for his work in radio-activity.
26. American Jack Johnson was the first black man to win the boxing heavyweight title.
28. Earthquake hits Sicily, 200,000 people die.
Olymic games held in London.
* Lord Montague opens Rolls Royce's new Derby plant.
1. First old age pension for the over 70's.
9. Edward Shackleton gets the nearest ever to the South Pole.
1. "Prohibition" spreads throughout United States.
15. Selfridge's the first department store comes to London.
6. Robert Peary of the US conquered the North Pole.
25. Louis Bleriot the french aviator flew a 43 minute flight across the English Channel.
26. Prince Ito of Japan was assassinated by Korean nationalist.
14. Plan for Navy base at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii.
Germany builds up it's Navy.
Suffragettes go on hunger strike in prison.
10. Major flooding in Paris.
23. Dalai Lama flees to India.
10. The first film to be made in Hollywood "In Old California" was released.
* Edward VII dies.
20. Halley's comet is viewed.
21. The burial of Edward VII.
31. The start of the Girl Guides.
1. Captain Robert Scott sets out in the ship "Terra Nova" to reach the South Pole.
Florence Nightingale "The Lady of the Lamp" dies at the age of 91.
27. The demonstration of talking pictures by the inventor Thomas Edison.
7. Marie Curie discovers Radium.
4. King Manuel of Portugal is deposed.
30. Jean Henri Dunant the Swiss who founded the Red Cross dies.
20. Dead-heat between Liberals and Tories in General Election.
*
The Moroccan uprising.
31. A maximum of a 60 hour week is proposed for shop workers.
The copyright bill goes through Parliament, giving authors and musicians 50 years on their work.
4. Plans for National Insurance were unveiled.
23. George V was crowned King.
* Shipping strikes, the army is called in.
24. Dr Hiram Bingham the US historian discovers the lost Inca capital of Machu Picchu near Cuzco in Peru.
22. The Mona Lisa is stolen in Paris.
28. Hundreds die in Britains heatwave with temperatures of up to 97 degrees.
9. The worlds first airmail from Hendon to London.
30. The 5 year old Emperor of China Pu Yi surrenders power.
14. Amundsen the Norwegian explorer beats Captain Scott to South Pole.29. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen becomes President of the Chinese Republic.
31. Madame Curie wins second Nobel Prize for her work in radium.
*
* Rolls Royce's first Spirit of Ecstacy mascot was cast. Designed by artist Charles Sykes, the model was Eleanor Thompson.
* Motor buses in London start to replace horse drawn buses.
17. Captain Scott reaches the South Pole only to find he was beaten by Amundsen.
1. Suffragettes go on a rampage in the West End causing much damage. Many were jailed.
30. France takes over Morooco.
15. The S.S.Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic killing 1,500 of it's 2,340 passengers.
9. Home Rule bill for Ireland was passed in Commons.
26. Transport strike in Britain.
15. National dock strike ends.
* The Stockholm Olympic games.
12. Irish Unionists oppose home rule.
22. Britain puts it's navy on North Atlantic patrol in response to Germany's naval build up.
20. General William Booth founder of the Salvation Army dies aged 83
* Plans to review divorce laws.
* Fighting continues between the Turks and Bulgarians.
* Triplex safety glass is established in UK. Invented by Frenchman Reginald Delpech.
31. Home Rule is rejected for Ireland.
10. Captain Scott and his party were found dead. They died while attempting to return from their expidition to the South Pole.
18. George I of Greece was assassinated.
* Gideon Sunback the Swedish engineer patents the zip fastener.
30. Peace treaty is signed ending the Balkan war between Turkey and Bulgaria.
6. Germany increases peacetime army.
14. The suffragette Emily Davidson dies when she throws herself under the King's horse at the Derby.
* Henry Brealy cast the world's first stainless steel in Sheffield.
23. The Frenchman, Roland Garros flew 558 miles across the Mediteranean.
7. Henry Ford opens new car assembly line in Michigan.
10. The Panama Canal is opened by President Wilson.
14. 418 miners are lost in mine explosion at Sengenhydd in Aber Valley.
Pilots are now trying new things in thier planes, carrying up to 9 people and doing loop the loop.
* The first Morris Oxford left the factory.
* Worries over the amount of deaths involving motor buses.
* Britain's first roadside petrol pump was installed at Shrewsbury.
* Fears of civil war in Ireland.
18. The British hunter Captain Campbell Besley discovers three lost Inca cities near Cuzco in Peru.
21. US intervenes in Mexican war.
* Parliament passes the Irish Home Rule Bill.
28. The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated.
3. Peace treaty signed in Mexico.
4. Britain declared war on Germany over Germany's invasion of Belgium.
31. A bloody battle was fought at the Belgium town of Mons.
31. The Russian Army was defeated on the eastern front at Tannenberg.
14. Allied forces drive back Germans at the battle of the Marne saving Paris from capture.
23. The war at sea has claimed 3 British cruisers sunk by by German submarines.
19. Ghent, Ostend and Bruges fell to the Germans.
* Aeroplanes are now starting to be used in war.
17. Income tax doubled to pay for war.
* Turkey enters war.
11. Britains gains victory over Germany of the Falklands where 4 German cruisers were sunk.
* A German Taube monoplane drops a bomb on Dover, the first ever air raid on Britain.
The Suffragettes fight continues.
* The Detroit Electric produced 4669 cars in this year. A range of 211.3 miles was reached on a single charge although 80 miles was average.
7. Floods in the Upper Thames Valley, Windsor is under water.
24. British warships sunk Germany's most powerful warship, the "Blucher".
* Zeppelin bombing raids start, first casualities are Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn.
2. Germans threaten to sink neutral shipping in British waters.
1. Britain starts a blockade of German ports.
* Women in Britain go to work in the factories.
22. Germans use mustard gas as a new weapon at Ypres.
24. 5,000 Armenians butchered by the Turks and a further 600 intellectual-professional Armenians deported and killed. The start of genocide.
26. British, French and Anzacs land at Gallipoli.
7. German submarine sinks the "Lusitania" 1,400 passengers were drowned.
* A troop train and passenger train crashed near Gretna Green killing 225 passengers.
8. Zeppelin bombed out of the sky by British plane over Belgium.
* Zeppelins start bombing London.
26. Allies breakthrough German lines.
* Taxes are increased to pay for war.
23. W.G.Grace the famous cricketer died aged 67.
11. Winston Churchill resigned from government.
20. Allies retreat from Gallipoli.
* Albert Einstein Proposes new theory of gravity.
* Rupert Brooke the poet dies.
6. House of Commons agree on national conscription.
9. The carving up of the Otterman Empire begins
25. "Easter Uprising" by Irish rebels in Dublin, 450 killed.
12. Seven rebels involved in the Dublin Uprising were executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Jail.
21. "Daylight saving time" starts in Britain.
31. British and German navies clash at the battle of Jutland.
7. Lord Kitchener died when his boat struck a mine off the Orkneys
21. Arabs declare war on Turkey for Arab independence.
3. The Somme campaign starts with huge casualties
* Italy declares war on Germany.
15. A new British fighting machine, the "Tank" enters the war.
29. John D. Rockefeller becomes the worlds first $ billionaire.
21. Emperor Franz Josef ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire dies.
7. Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister.
30. Gregory Rasputin is murdered in Russia.
*
10. Colonel "Buffalo Bill" Cody dies.
16. Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates. The Russian revolution grows.
20. Red Cross hospital ship torpedoed by German submarine.
27. British defeat the Turks at Gaza.
6. US declares war on Germany.
14. First bombing of London by German planes.
22. King Constantine of Greece forced to abdicate.
* The British Royal family renounced their German titles from Saxe, Coburg and Gotha to Windsor.
20. More fighting at Flanders.
26. Edgar Degas the painter dies aged 83.
30. Czar Nicholas II and his family have been sent to Siberia to get away from the Bolsheviks.
31. Italians were defeated by German troops at Caporetto.
9. Plans for a new Jewish homeland in Palestine.
9. British capture Jerusalem.
* Bolsheviks seize power in St. Petersburg.
22. Peace talks with new Bolshevik government.
* From 1915, 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by the Turks.
* Women over 30 gain the right to vote.Men can vote at 21.
3. Russia signs peace treaty with Germany.
1. The Royal Air Force is formed, merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
21. Manfred von Richthofen the "Red Baron" was shot down and killed at the battle of the Somme.
16. Czar Nicholas II and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks.
8. German troops were forced to retreat when British, French, Australian, American and Canadian troops joining forces at Amiens.
* Police go on strike in London.
30. Allies break through German lines.
* Flu kills 25 million people around the world.
10. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates.
11. Germany signs Armistice. Peace after four and quarter years of war.
21. German fleet surrenders.
28. Women in Britain vote for the first time.
* More than 10 million died in the "Great War".
* Major T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia" led the Arabs to push the Turks out of the Middle East.
3. Professor Ernest Rutherford of Manchester University splits the atom.
9. First passenger air service started between London and Paris.
23. Mussolini starts the Facist party in Italy.
* Famine spreads through Germany.
13. British troops open fire on demonstration in Amritsar in India killing many women and children.
15. Alcock and Brown fly the Atlantic non-stop.
28. The Treaty of Versailles was signed, setting the terms of peace and reparations to be paid by Germany.
13. The first two way crossing of the Atlantic by a British airship.
11. Sinn Fein declared illegal by Britain.
19. US Senate establishes the League of Nations.
28. Viscountess Nancy Astor becomes Britain's first woman MP.
*
* Bentley Motors of Cricklewood, London is registered.
16. Prohibition went into force across the US banning the manufacture and sale of alchohol.
* The League of Nations is formed.
11. Plans for an International Court of Justice were made by the League of Nations.
22. The Red Army gains strength in Russia.
24. A programme was published in Germany for createing a Third Reich, it's spokesman was Adolf Hitler.
26. The "Black and Tans" go to Ireland as the troubles increase.
* Military conscription is abolished.
10. Turkey loses 80% of Otterman Empire.
23. Polish army fights to save Warsaw from the Bolsheviks.
* Olympic Games are held in Antwerp, Belgium.
18. National miners strike in Britain.
27. Hunger striker Tomas MacSwiney dies in Ireland, which leads to to more violence.
16. The Russian civil war is over, the Bolshevics win.
21. Bloody Sunday in Ireland, 14 British soldiers killed in their beds.
5. Scotland votes against prohibition.
11. Martial law declared in Ireland.
* The map of Europe is redrawn as treaties are signed and Empires fall (German, Turkish, Austian and Russian).
* The first petrol station opens in Britain at Aldermaston.
22. British tanks roll into Dublin.
5. Germany's reparation bill for the war was set at £10 billion.
16. Unemployment in Britain goes over 1 million.
18. Etienne Oehmichen a French engineer has acheived real flight in a helicopter.
8. Allies occupy Germany to collect reparations for the war.
17. Dr. Marie Stopes opens first birth control clinic in London.
11. Germany agrees on war reparations.
30. The Communist Party is formed in China.
22. Truce is declared in Ireland.
26. Spanish are defeated in Morocco.
3. Enrico Caruso the Italian singer dies aged 48.
4. Bolsheviks appeal to world for help as famine hits Russia.
5. Crown Prince Hirohito becomes Regent of Japan.
* Mussolini declares himself leader of the Italian Fascist Party.
7. An agreement was signed giving Ireland Independence, the start of the Irish Free State. Six counties in the north will remain British.
* Insulin was discvered.
5. Sir Ernest Shackleton the explorer dies.
21. Ireland accepts the Irish Free State treaty.
22. Pope Benedict XV dies.
28. Britain proclaimed Egypt an independent state, maintaining control over Suez.
18. Mahatma Gandhi is sentenced to 6 years imprisonment.
22. "B Specials" targeted by IRA in Belfast.
22. Field Marshal Henry Wilson was shot dead by IRA gunmen in London.
22. Michael Collins the leader of the Irish Free State was shot dead.
4. William Lyons forms the Swallow Sidecar Company.
25. George Cadbury the chocolate manufacturer died aged 83.
30. Benito Mussolini becomes Dictator of Italy.
* The British Broadcasting Company is formed.
* David Lloyd George resigns as Prime Minister. Andrew Bonar Law takes over.
29. The tomb of Tutankhamun is discovered by Howard Carter.
*
27. First Nazi Party rally in Munich.
13. 10,000 Turks with Greek origin await deportation to Greece by the Turks. One million have already been deported.
9. Vladimir Lenin the Soviet leader quits.
29. Sarah Bernhardt, the actress, died aged 78.
31. Germans clash with French troops occupying the Ruhr in Germany.
26. The Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon were married.
21. Stanley Baldwin becomes British Prime Minister.
* The first Le Mans 24 hour race.
* Ku Klux Klan gains strength in the US.
13. The army seized control of Spain with the approval of the King.
16. 140,000 people die in Japans biggest earthquake. Tokyo and Yokohama were completely destroyed and 2.5 million were made homeless.
29. Turkey is proclaimed a republic.
12. Adolf Hitler arrested after an attempted coup.
* Inflation continues in Germany and the Mark is valueless.
28. Guatave Eiffal, the French engineer, died aged 91.
*
21. Vladimir Stalin, leader of Soviet Russia died aged 54.
* Ramsay MacDonald becomes Britains first Labour Prime Minister.
31. A merger of 4 small airline companies creates Imperial Airways Britain's first national airline.
6. Plague spreads through India killing 25,000 people.
2. The first wireless conversation from England to Australia.
* The Paris hosts Olympics games.
* The Labour Party ban Communists.
6. Winston Churchill becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer.
* The Labour Party falls and the Conservatives return to power under Stanley Baldwin.
20. Hitler is out of prison on parole.
*
16. Leon Trotsky oested from the Soviet communist party.
14. Ban on the German Nazi party is lifted.
19. Plans for a British Navy base in Singapore.
* Incentives for British people to emmigrate to Australia.
1. Cyprus becomes a British colony.
29. Colour bar becomes legal in South Africa.
* More civil unrest in China.
18. Hitler published the book "Mein Kamf" which he wrote while in prison.
29. White lines to be painted on roads all over Britain.
20. Queen Alexandra wife of King Edward VII, dies.
*
* General Motors gains controlling share of Vauxhall.
30. British troops pull out of the Rhineland.
* Moving pictures by wireless were demonstrated by John Logie Baird.
* First liquid fuel rocket was demonstrated by Robert H Goddard.
24. Riots between Hindus and Muslems hit the streets of Calcutta.
* The Duchess of York gives birth to Princess Elizabeth.
4. First General Strike in British history in support of the miners.
* An Airship and plane fly over the North Pole.
9. Plans were made to convert Southern Railway to electric.
8. Chiang Kai-shek gaining ground in the Chinese civil war.
1. Alan Cobham completed his trip around the world in a sea plane in 58 days.
20. The British Commonwealth was formed.
6. Monet, the French artist, dies.
*
31. British army division was sent to Shanghai to protect the British nationals.
* It becomes possible to telephone from London to New York at a cost of £15 for 3 minutes.
4. Malcolm Campbell broke the world land sea record in his car "Bluebird" at 174.22 mph.
21. Chiang Kai-shek takes over Shanghai.
29. Major Henry Segrave beats Campbell's land speed record at 203.84 mph.
21. Captain Charles Lindbergh flies the Atlantic solo. He flew from New York to Paris non-stop in 33½ hours.
15. Riots break out in Vienna.
6. The first live dialogue was heard in the film "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson.
15. Leon Trotsky expelled from the communist party by Stalin.
*
6. 14 people died and much damage was caused when the river Thames burst it's banks.
16. Thomas Hardy the poet died aged 87.
* Thousands of people starving in China, caused by civil war.
15. Herbert Asquith the Prime Minister died aged 75.
29. The Equal Franchise Bill was passed in the House of Commons giving women over 21 the vote.
1. Flying Scotsman train service between London and Edinburgh starts. Speeds of up to 70 mph were acheived.
15. Flying doctor service starts in Australia.
18. Miss Emelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic.
20. Roald Amundsen the explorer dies in a plane crash.
* Emmeline Pankhurst the suffragette dies.
27. A treaty for the Renunciation of War was signed by 15 countries.
* The Olympic games take place in Amsterdam.
19. Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in the film "Steamboat Willie".
* Alexander Fleming discovers Penicillin.
10. Hirohito is crowned Emperor of Japan.
* Trotskyites exiled in the Soviet Union.
*
* The automatic gearbox was invented.
6. A dictatorship was established in Yugoslavia by King Alexander.
13. Wyatt Earp dies.
11. The Vatican State came into being.
12. Lillie Langtry "The Jersey Lily" died aged 74.
14. 7 men were killed in the Valentine's Day massacre by Al Capone.
11. Major Henry Segrave sets a new land speed record of 231 mph at Daytona beach.
26. Squadron Leader A. G. Jones completed a non-stop flight in his monoplane from UK to India.
16. The Academy Awards for motion pictures is started.
16. Bentleys take the first four places at the Le Mans 24 hour race.
27. Colour television was demonstrated by Bell Laboratories.
29. The airship Graf Zeppelin completed it's 21 day trip around the world.
5. A United States of Europe was proposed by by the French Premier Aristide Briand.
7. Britain won the Schneider Trophy in a Supermarine Rolls Royce S6 flying at speeds of over 300 mph.
13. The R101, the worlds largest airship made her maiden voyage.
24. Wall Street crashes, Black Thursday.
*
* Traffic lights to be standard in UK.
29. Turmoil in Spain as General Primo De Rivera the dictator resigns.
24. Amy Johnson the first woman to fly solo from London to Darwin.
30. The last French troops pull out of the Rhineland.
30. Uruguay win the first World Cup Football in Montevideo.
* Riots in Egypt, Britain gets involved.
14. The Church of England gave the O.K. to birth control.
* The Duchess of york gives birth to a second daughter, Princess Margaret.
15. Nazi party come second in elections.
5. The R101 airship exploded in mid-air over France killing 44 people.
* Nazi supporters start attacking Jews.
* Ras Tafari is crowned King, Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia.
16. A coup by the Spanish Republicans failed.
* Nylon was discovered by Du Pont.
26. Winston Churchill resigned from the cabinet.
23. Anna Pavlova the ballet dancer died aged 49.
5. Malcolm Campbell breaks the land speed record at Daytona with a speed of 245 mph.
28. Sir Oswald Mosely forms "The New Party".
14. King Alfonso of Spain was forced to abdicate and Spain becomes a Republic.
1. The Empire State Building the worlds tallest building was opened.
* Trolley buses were introduced in London.
24. A coalition government is formed as Britains economy slumps.
* Mahatma Gandhi demands independance for India.
18. Thomas Edison the inventor died aged 84.
28. A temporary truce is called in the Manchurian war.
10. Senor Niceto Alacara Zamora becomes Spain's republican President.
*
* Rolls Royce buys Bentley Motors for £125,175.
31. Japanese capture Shanghai.
10. Edgar Wallace the author dies aged 56.
19. Japanese set up puppet state of Manchuria.
* Eamon De Valera becomes President of the Irish Free State.
10. Paul von Hindenburg beats Adolf Hitler to the Presidency.
10. President Paul Doumer of France was assassinated.
29. Monarchy ends in Siam (Thailand) after a coup by the Siamese army.
* Opening of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
3. Iraq becomes independent.
* Rioting broke out across Britain with the jobless
8. Franklin D Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States.
*
* Martial law is imposed in Spain as uprisings break out between the Communists and the Anarcho-Syndicalists.
30. Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of the German Reich.
15. Attempted assassination on President D. Roosevelt.
25. Japan leaves the League of Nations over being condemned for causing the war in Manchuria.
28. The German Reichstag goes up in flames.
22. Sir Malcolm Campbell breaks the land speed record at Daytona Beach at 272 mph.
23. Hitler rules by decree in Germany.
* Franklin D Roosevelt is inaugerated as President of the US.
23. Adolf Hitler bans opposition parties to become a one party state.
* Germany starts the sterilisation program, sterilising people who have any disability.
* Nazis start rounding up Jews and putting them in concerntration camps. The largest camp being Dachau.
* Forest fires breakout in Britain due to heatwave, with temperatures up to 90 degrees.
14. Hitler leaves the League of Nations.
27. Rioting broke out in Jaffa over the immigration of Jews to Palastine.
5. "Prohibition" ends in the US after 14 years.
9. A Communist uprising starts in Spain, many people are killed. Churches are set on fire in Granada.
* Anti Semitism becomes widespread throughout Germany. Jews are beaten up in the streets by Nazi thugs and their business's vandalised.
24. Sir Edward Elgar the composer died.
1. Pu Yi the once boy Emperor of China is appointed Emperor of Manchuria by the Japanese.
28. A Road Traffic Bill was passed to bring in a test for all new drivers.
30. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss becomes Dictator of Austria.
23. Bonnie and Clyde were shot dead in Louisiana
13. Heinrich Himmler appointed head of Germany's concerntration camps.
25. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss of Austria was assassinated by Nazis.
* King George opens the Mersey Tunnel.
19. President Hindenberg of Germany died. Hitler proclaimed himself Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor doing away with the Presidency.
26. The Queen launches the Queen Mary the biggest and most powerful ship to date.
9. King Alexander of Yugoslavia was assassinated in Marseilles.
* Fighting broke out through Spain over Catalonia's attempt to make an independent state.
* Winston Churchill warns of weak defence in Britain as Germany builds up it's war machine.
*
* Robert Watson Watt invents Radar.
6. King George and Queen Mary celebrate their Silver Jubilee.
19. Colonel T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) died.
7. Stanley Baldwin becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
* Hitler bans German-Jewish marriages.
3. Malcolm Campbell exceeds 300 mph on the Bonneville Flats in Utah.
19. Jews banned from all forms of public life.
3. The invasion of Abyssinia began when Mussolini marched in with thousands of troops.
25. Monarchy is restored in Greece with King George II 's return from 12 years in exile.
* Armed forces in Britain increase their size so as not to get behind Germany's war machine.
* Radar is invented by Robert Watson-Watt.
* Jaguar launches the SS Jaguar.
* The 30 mph speed limit is introduced in built up areas in Britain.
19. Rudyard Kipling the writer died aged 70.
20. King George V dies.
21. Edward VIII is proclaimed King.
21. Amnesty was ordered by the left-wing government in Spain for 30,000 political prisoners. Fighting is still going on throughout Spain.
7. Hitler's troops enter the Rhineland.
8. Condemnation over Italy's use of mustard gas in Abyssinia against civilians and troops, violating the Geneva convention of 1925.
28. Prince Farouk is proclaimed King of Egypt.
9. Italy proclaims Abyssinia as part of it's Empire.
21. RAF go to war against Arabs in Palastine for raids on British troops and Jewish settlements.
* Civil war breaks out in Spain. General Francisco Franco leads the Nationalists in an attempt to bring order to Spain. Anarchy and Communism is rife.
* Berlin hosts Olympic Games. Jesse Owen wins 100, 200 metres and long jump. Hitler refused to shake hands because he was black.
30. Liner Queen Mary wins the Blue Riband taking 3 days 23 hrs. and 57 mins.
* The BBC introduces talking TV.
* The Nationalists in Spain hold the south west and part of the northwest, while the Republicans hold the other part of the north east, north west and central region.
30. Franco captures Toledo and continues the fight for the Alcazar palace.
5. Thousands of jobless people marchd from Jarrow to London.
12. First train ferry between Dover and Dunkirk.
* The battle for Madrid continues.
30. Crystal Palace burns down.
12. Edward VII abdicates to marry Mrs Simpson.
* The first transmision of sound with television pictures
* Volkswagon the "peoples car" is launched in Germany by Adolf Hitler.
* Men from around the world go to fight in the Spanish Civil War, joining up on both sides.
20. The aircraft carrier Ark Royal was launched at Birkenhead.
27. The town of Guernica, in the Basque country, was destroyed by the German air force fighting for Franco.
6. The airship Hindeburg exploded on landing at New Jersey US.
12. The Coronation took place of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
* Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister.
3. Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson.
7. Jean Harlow the hollywood actress died aged 26.
11. George Gershwin the composer died aged 38.
29. Japanese bomb Shanghai
2. Sir Malcolm Campbell breaks the water speed record at 129 mph.
27. Maurice Ravel the French composer died aged 62.
*
10. Hitler appoints himself Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
* Franco gains strength in the Spanish Civil War.
15. Eighteen high ranking Soviets were executed in Lubyanka prison for treason.
19. General Franco gains victory in Catalonia.
8. Japanese bomb Canton.
3. The steam locmotive "Mallard" broke a speed record of 126 mph.
15. Howard Hughes sets new record for around the world flight in 3 days 19 hours 17 minutes.
27. The liner Queen Elizabeth was launched.
5. Hitler invades Czechoslovakia
* Jews in Germany have their property confiscated.
*
26. Franco captures Barcelona.
* IRA has bombing campaign in Britain.
* RAF takes on more pilots and aircraft.
10. Pope Pius XI died aged 81.
28. The Spanish civil war ends with a victory to General Franco's Nationalist forces. Madrid was finally taken after a 3 year battle.
2. Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli becomes Pope Pius XII.
22. Italy joins forces with Germany. The "Pact of Steel" was signed.
* IRA bomb explodes in London.
23. Germany and Russia sign the Non-Agggression Pact.
25. Five people were killed in Coventry by an IRA bomb.
27. The first jet plane the Heinkel HE-178 flies.
3. Britain declares war on Germany at 11am and France declares war at 5pm.
30. Germany and Russia invade Poland.
* Red Army attacks Finland.
* Red Army is defeated in Finland.
*
* Brooklands race track closes.
20. Hitler orders U-boat blockade of Britain.
9. Germany invades Denmark.
* Allied Forces are defeated in Norway.
10. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister.
* Germany invades France, Belgium and Netherlands.
28. Belgium and Holland surrender.
* British forces in France are driven back to the coast.
4. The evacuation of British troops at Dunkirk, Operation Dynamo.
11. Italy declares war on France and Britain.
14. Paris falls to the Germans.
16. France surrenders to Germany.
1. Germany invades Channel Islands
3. Britain sinks French fleet in Algeria to stop it getting into the hands of the Germans, 1000 lives are lost.
18. Battle of Britain begins.
26. RAF bomb Berlin.
7. The Blitz of British cities begin.
24. Hitler tried to get support from Spain but General Franco refused to go to war against the England. Later giving token support on Russian front.
* The battle for the Atlantic begins.
22. Greeks defeat Italians at Koritza.
9. Britain launches North Africa attack.
* London suffers major bombing raids.
*
* British Army push back Italian army in North Africa and gain victory at Tobruk.
* Amy Johnson goes missing.
14. The German "Afrika Korps" landed in Tripoli under the command of General Rommel
25. Empire troops took Italian held Mogadishu, Somaliland.
4. British forces sank 11 German ships off Norway.
* Germans march into Bulgaria.
11. America gives support to Britain under the Lend-Lease agreement
* Rommel launches an offensive in North Africa.
* Hitler takesYugoslavia.
27. Athens falls to Germans.
10. Rudolph Hess Parachutes into Scotland with an offer of peace. It is rejected and he is imprisoned.
20. Germans invade Crete.
27. German warship the Bismarck is sunk by British navy.
16. Italian forces surrender in Abyssinia.
30. Germany invades Russia
* Germany bombs Moscow.
25. Britain and Russia invade Iran to expel the Germans
* Britain and America sign the Atlantic Charter which set out their war aims.
* German forces encircle Leningrad.
* German forces attempt to take over Moscow.
30. US battleship sunk by U-boat in the Atlantic.
13. HMS Ark Royal was sunk by Italian U-boat.
* German forces are driven back from Moscow by Russian army.
7. Japan bombs Pearl Harbour bringing the US into the war. 360 Japanese planes destroyed 5 battleships, 14 smaller ships, 200 aircraft and over 2,400 people were killed.
12. Allied forces invade Norway.
* Russians defeat Hitler's Panzers.
*
* Japan takes Indonesia, Philippines, Malaya and Singapore.
26. US troops land in Europe.
* Rommel pushes back the 8th Army in the Western Dessert.
15. Singapore surrenders to the Japanese.
28. RAF bomb the Baltic port of Lubeck
5. Japanese attack Ceylon.
18. US planes bomb Tokyo.
31. More than 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Cologne in one night, detroying more than 200 factories.
* Germans close in on Cairo
* US navy forces Japanese to withdraw at the Battle of Midway.
1. Russia's Black Sea fortress of Sebastoplol falls to the Germans.
* US begins recapture of Pacific Islands.
6. Montgomery takes command of the 8th Army.
* Germans Lay seige to Stalingrad.
12. The ship Laconia carrying Italian prisoners of war was sunk by German U-boat killing 1800.
* General Montgomery launches offensive against Rommel at El Alemein.
15. British gain victory at El Alemein.
* US troops land in North Africa.
*
* A French CGE Tudor electric car designed by Jean Gregoire, a stylish car for it's day, covered 158 miles between Paris and Tours on a single charge.
23. Allies take Tripoli.
31. Germans surrender at Stalingrad.
* The Jewish uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto.
31. Britain carries out daylight bombing campaign on Berlin.
9. US win the battle in the Solomon Islands.
26. US troops push Rommel back in Tunisia.
28. Rachmaninov the composer died aged 69.
26. A grave containing 4,000 Polish officers was found said to be murdered by the Russians.
17. The 617 Squadron "Dambusters" destroyed the Mohne dam and the Eder dam.
* German U-boats withdraw in North Atlantic.
* Allied forces land in Italy.
8. Jean Moulin "Max" leader of the French Resistance died after being tortured.
13. Red Army tanks defeat the Germans at Kursk in the biggest Mechanical battle in history.
25. Mussolini is deposed.
3. 10,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Hamburg in 2 days by RAF and USAF.
12. Mussolini flees Rome.
* Italy surrenders as the Allies invade Italy.
13. Italy declares war on Germany.
26. The Royal Navy sunk Germany's last great warship the Scharnhorst.
*
19. The 1000 day seige of Leningrad ends with victory for Russia.
22. Thousands of American and British troops land at Anzio, Italy.
* PAYE begins in Britain.
8. Welsh miners go on strike.
12. A travel ban between Ireland and Britain was enforced.
19. British land behind Japanese lines in Burma.
* Allies bomb Nuremberg
9. General De Gaulle becomes Commander of the French forces
* The Red Army liberates the Crimea and Romania.
28. Forty seven POWs shot by Gestapo after escaping from Stalag Luft III.
* Forces gather in Britain for the invasion of Europe.
6 The Allied Forces launch the biggest ever seaborne invasion against German occupied France.
4. Amercian troops enter Rome.
15. US B-29s bomb Japan.
* Britain is bombarded with German V-1 rockets.
20. An assassination attempt on Hitler fails
20. Nazi tanks shell Warsaw.
* German troops leave Channel Islands.
* Allied troops liberate Paris.
14. Rommel commits suicide.
* General Tito of Yugoslavia Liberates Belgrade.
* The Jewish uprising in Warsaw is crushed.
12. RAF sink the warship Tirpitz.
* German army retreats as the Invasion of Europe continues. French and Belgian towns are liberated.
16. Glen Miller the band leader, goes missing over the English Channel.
* Germany makes counter attack in the Ardennes
*
* The Red Army liberates Warsaw.
14. More than 100,000 people are thought to have been killed after heavy night and day bombing, which reduced Dresden to a ruin
23. Americans capture Iwo Jima
26. David Lloyd George died aged 82.
* Allies cross Rhine into Germany.
* Mussolini is captured by Italian Partisans and shot.
30. Hitler shot himself.
* Franklin D Roosevelt the american President dies.
7. Peace was declared in Europe at 2.41 am.
8. VE Day is declared.
21. Worst day of fighting in the battle for Okinawa. A total of 12,000 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed
* Berlin is divided into four sectors Russian, British, French and American.
* US test atomic bomb in New Mexico.
6. Hiroshima, Japan 8.15 am, the first atomic bomb was dropped, killing 140,000 people, 200,000 to date as a result of the bomb.
9. The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki Japan killing more than 70,000 people
14. Japan surrenders.
* The Lend-Lease programme ends.
* The United Nations comes into existance with 29 countries.
* The Nuremberg war trials begin.
* The People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
* From 1939, 6 million Jews were killed in German concentration camps. A further 6 million people were also killed in the death camps.
* A total of 55 million were killed in the second World war
* SS Cars becomes Jaguar Cars.
1. Heathrow becomes a civil airport.
* The Bank of England is nationalised.
* An electronic calculator called ENIAC was introduced by IBM.
9. 33 people die as a barrier collapses at Bolton Wanderer's football ground.
4. Juan Peron bocomes President of Argentina.
13. King Umberto II of Italy steps down. The end of monarchy in Italy.
14. John Logie Baird the inventor television died aged 58.
* US carries out nuclear testing off Bikini Atol in the Pacific.
22. British HQ in Jerusalem blown up by Jewish terrorists killing more than 40 people.
* 12 Nazis are sentenced to death for war crimes and Rudolf Hess is sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg trials.
17. Jewish terrorists kill 8 British servicemen in Jerusalem.
28. Martial law is proclaimed in Indo-China by the French Government.
* War time rations continue in Britain.
* The link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is discovered.
* Divorce rate reaches an all time high.
* Austin buys out Vanden Plas.
1. Britains coal industry is nationalised.
* British are evacuated from Palastine.
20. Lord Mountbatten is appointed Viceroy of India.
* Violence increases in India.
7. Henry Ford the car manufacturer died aged 83.
19. Texas City in the US is destroyed by fire killing 714 people.
* The school leaving age in Britain is raised to 15.
* The Marshall plan is unveiled pledging financial aid by the US to help rebuild Europe.
15. British rule in India ends. Two new states are formed, India and Parkistan.
14. Charles Yeager breaks the sound barrier in a Bell X-I jet.
20. Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten.
14. Stanley Baldwin the Prime Miniister died aged 80.
*
* David Brown Buys Aston Martin for £20,500 and Lagonda (excl. the Staines factory) for 52,000.
4. Burma gains independence.
30. Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in India.
* Fighting continues between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem.
* British