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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1795 | - 1795: The 'Speenhamland' system of outdoor relief is adopted, making wages up to equal the cost of subsistence
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| 2 | 1796 | - 1796: Edward Jenner investigated the folk tale that milk maids were immune to small pox, the virus variola major, and in a brief series of experiments confirmed that exposure to cow pox, the virus vaccinia, rendered immunity
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| 3 | 1798 | - 1798: Thomas Robert Malthus, in his Essay on the Principle of Population, contended that population increses by a geometric ratio whereas the means of subsistence increase by an arithmetic ratio.
- 1798: Introduction of a tax of ten percent on incomes over ?200.
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| 4 | 1799 | - 1799: Trade Unions are suppressed. Napoleon is appointed First Consul in France
- 1799: Three-year commercial boom in Britain begins
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| 5 | 1800 | - 1800: Act of Union with Ireland unites Parliaments of England and Ireland
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| 6 | 1801 | - 1801: Close of Pitt the Younger's Ministry. The first British Census is undertaken
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| 7 | 1802 | - 1802: Peace with France is established. Peel introduces the first factory legislation
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| 8 | 1803 | - 1803: Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. Britain declares war on France. Parliament passes the General Enclosure Act, simplifying the process of enclosing common land
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| 9 | 1805 | - 1805: Ludolf Christian Treviranus said that spermatozoa were analogous to pollen
- 1805: Nelson destroys the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar, but is killed in the process
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| 10 | 1806 | - 1806: Louis Nicolas Vauquelin and Pierre Jean Robiquet isolated the first amino acid, 'asparagine,' from asparagus.
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| 11 | 1807 | - 1807: William Bentinck, Duke of Portland Prime Minister to 1809 (Whig)
- 1807: Robert Fulton ushered in the era of self-propelled ships with his construction of a commercially viable paddle-wheel steamboat
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| 12 | 1808 | - 1808: Peninsular War to drive the French out of Spain (until 1814)
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| 13 | 1809 | - 1809: Two-year commercial boom in Britain
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| 14 | 1810 | - 1810: Final illness of George III begins
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| 15 | 1811 | - 1811: Depression caused by Orders of Council. There are Luddite disturbances in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. The King's illness leads to his son, the Prince of Wales, becoming Regent
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| 16 | 1812 | - 1812: Georges Cuvier, in 'Discours sur les r?volutions de la surface du globe', maintained the stratigraphic succession proved that fossils occur in the chronological order of creation: fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.
- 1812: Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated in the House of Commons by a disgruntled bankrupt
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| 17 | 1813 | - 1813: Canned food was invented for the British Navy by Peter Durand. The cans were made of solid iron and usually weighed more than the food inside them
- 1813: Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' is published. The monopolies of the East India Company are abolished
- 1813: Can opener invented
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| 18 | 1815 | - 1815: The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo marks the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Peace is established in Europe at the Congress of Vienna. The Corn Laws are passed by Parliament to protect British agriculture from cheap imports
- 1815: Start of two-year commercial boom in Britain
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| 19 | 1817 | - 1817: Economic slimp in Britain leads to the 'Blanketeers' March' and other disturbances
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| 20 | 1818 | - 1818: Death of the King's wife, Queen Caroline. Mary Shelley's publishes her 'Frankenstein'
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| 21 | 1819 | - 1819: Troops intervene at a mass political reform meeting in Manchester, killing and wounding four hundred people at the 'Peterloo Massacre'
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| 22 | 1820 | - 1820: Death of the blind and deranged King George III. He is succeeded by his son, the Prince Regent, who becomes King George IV. A radical plot to murder the Cabinet, known as the Cato Street Conspiracy, fails. Trial of Queen Caroline, in which George IV attempts to divorce her for adultery
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| 23 | 1821 | - 1821: Jean Fran?ois Champollion, employing the Rosetta Stone, established the principles for deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics.
- 1821: Queen Caroline is excluded from the coronation
- 1821: Start of two years of famine in Ireland
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| 24 | 1822 | - 1822: First prototype Espresso machine (France)
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| 25 | 1823 | - 1823: The Royal Academy of Music is established in London. The British Museum is extended and extensively rebuilt to house an expanding collection
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| 26 | 1824 | - 1824: The National Gallery is established. Commercial boom in Britain
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| 27 | 1825 | - 1825: Nash reconstructs Buckingham Palace. The World's first railway service, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opens. Trade Unions are legalized. Commercial depression in Britain
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| 28 | 1826 | - 1826: One of the first print references to fondue written by Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in his 'Physiologie du Gout'
- 1826: French physicist Joseph Niepce makes the first known photograph, "View from a Window at Gras," via a "heliograph" process on a metal plate.
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| 29 | 1828 | - 1828: The Duke of Wellington becomes British Prime Minister
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| 30 | 1829 | - 1829: The Metropolitan Police Force is set up by Robert Peel. Parliament passes the Catholic Relief Act, ending most restrictions on Catholic Civil Rights. They are allowed to own property and run for public office, including parliament
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| 31 | 1830 | - 1830: Death of King George IV at Windsor. He is succeeded by his brother, William IV. Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Rise of the Whigs, under Grey
- 1830: First major cholera epidemic in Britain starts and lasts two years.
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| 32 | 1831 | - 1831: Faraday , in the first in a series of Experimental Researches in Electricity, discovered the means of producing electricity from magnetism, i.e., electromagnetic induction, the generation of an electric field by a changing magnetic field. This is the principle of the dynamo
- 1831: Swing' Riots in rural areas against the mechanization of agricultural activities. The new London Bridge is opened over the River Thames
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| 33 | 1832 | - 1832: The first or great Reform Act is passed. This climax of a period of political reform extends the vote to a further 500,000 people and redistributes Parliamentary seats on a more equitable basis
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| 34 | 1833 | - 1833: Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Empire. Parliament passes the Factory Act, prohibiting children aged less than nine from working in factories, and reducing the working hours of women and older children. Start of the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church
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| 35 | 1834 | - 1834: Charles Babbage designed a programmable mechanical calculating machine, or 'analytical engine,' that could carry out arithmetic operations specified on punch cards and choose the sequence of operations. Although the design was never built, Augusta Ada Byron wrote programs to demonstrate its potential power.
- 1834: Parliament passes the Poor Law Act, establishing workhouses for the poor. Robert Owen founds the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union. The government acts against 'illegal oaths' in such unionism, rsulting in the Tolpuddle Martyrs being transported to Australia. Fire destroys the Palace of Westminster
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| 36 | 1835 | - 1835: Parliament passes the Municipal Reform Act, requiring members of town councils to be elected by ratepayers and councils to publish their financial accounts
- 1835: Commercial boom with 'little' railway mania across Britain starts and continues into 1836
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| 37 | 1837 | - 1837: Death of King William IV at Windsor. He is succeeded by his niece, Victoria. Births, deaths and marriages must be registered by law. Charles Dickens publishes 'Oliver Twist,' drawing attention to Britain's poor.
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| 38 | 1838 | - 1838: The Anti-Corn Law League is established. Publication of the People's Charter. The start of Chartism
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| 39 | 1839 | - 1839: Chartist Riots take place
- 1839: First use of 'OK' in print? (in Boston Morning Post)
- 1839: Fox Talbot produces photographs from negatives
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| 40 | 1840 | - 1840: Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The penny post is instituted
- 1840: There are reckoned to be 107 accountants in London
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| 41 | 1841 | - 1841: The first British Census recording the names of the populace is undertaken. The Tories come to power. Sir Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister
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| 42 | 1842 | - 1842: First Christmas card
- 1842: First UK public telegraph lines, from Paddington to Slough and Gosport to London
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| 43 | 1843 | - 1843: Alexander Bain (1818-1903) invented an early fax machine
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| 44 | 1844 | - 1844: Charles Darwin wrote, but didn't publish, an essay presaging the theory of the origin of species.
- 1844: Samuel Finley Breese Morse demonstrates a telegraph, using a code of his own invention
- 1844: Parliament passes the Bank Charter Act. Foundation of the Rochdale Co-Operative Society and the Royal Commission on the Health of Towns
- 1844: Two years of railway mania begins across Britain. Massive investment and speculation leads to the laying of 5,000 miles of track
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| 45 | 1845 | - 1845: Irish Potato Famine kills more than a million people in two years
- 1845: Engels publishes 'The Condition of the Working Class in England'
- 1845: There are reckoned to be 210 accountants in London
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| 46 | 1846 | - 1846: End of Sir Robert Peel's Ministry. Whigs come to Power. Repeal of the Corn Laws
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| 47 | 1847 | - 1847: Flourens discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform
- 1847: Levi Strauss invents denim jeans
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| 48 | 1848 | - 1848: Major Chartist demonstration in London. Revolutions in Europe. Parliament passes the Public Health Act
- 1848: Karl Marx publishes 'The Communist Manifesto' and 'Das Kapital'
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| 49 | 1849 | - 1849: Howe patents the safety-pin
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| 50 | 1850 | - 1850: American Joel Houghton invented the first dishwasher. He made it out of wood, and gave it a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on the dishes inside. It didn't really work, but it did get the first "dishwasher" patent
- 1850: First machine-made paper bag
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| 51 | 1851 | - 1851: The Great Exhibition is staged in Hyde Park. Thanks to Prince Albert, it is a great success
- 1851: Patent for Singer sewing machine issued
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| 52 | 1852 | - 1852: Death of the Duke of Wellington. Derby's first minority Conservative government. Aberdeen's coalition government is established
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| 53 | 1853 | - 1853: Potato crisps invented by a cook named George Crum.
- 1853: Florence Nightingale first recommended the regimen of cleanliness which dramatically reduced the death rate in hospitals
- 1853: Vaccination against smallpox is made compulsory. Queen Victoria uses chloroform during birth of Prince Leopold. Gladstone presents his first budget
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| 54 | 1854 | - 1854: The Northcote-Trevelyan civil service report is published; and The Crimean War begins, as Britain and France attempt to defend European interests in the Middle East against Russia
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| 55 | 1855 | - 1855: John Snow, investigating London's piped water supply, showed graphically that cholera could be transmitted by water from a particular pump.
- 1855: End of Aberdeen's coalition government. Palmerston's first government comes to power
- 1855: Yale lock invented
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| 56 | 1856 | - 1856: Crimean War comes to an end. The Victoria Cross is instituted for military bravery
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| 57 | 1857 | - 1857: Cyrus Field made his first attempt at laying a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. In 1866, his fourth attempt was successful.
- 1857: The Second Opium War opens China to European trade. The Indian Mutiny erupts against British Rule on the sub-continent
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| 58 | 1858 | - 1858: Derby establishes his second minority government. Parliament passes the India Act
- 1858: Eraser fitted to end of pencil
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| 59 | 1859 | - 1859: Darwin in 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life', asserted all life had a common ancestor and that the origin of species was natural selection
- 1859: End of Derby's second minority government. Palmerston brings his second Liberal government to power.
- 1859: Smiles' 'Self-Help' published
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| 60 | 1860 | - 1860: Joseph Wilson Swan invented the light bulb, an incandescent lamp using a carbon filament.
- 1860: Gladstone's budget and the Anglo-French Cobden Treaty codifies and extends the principles of free trade
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| 61 | 1861 | - 1861: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis published his deduction that childbirth fever was transmitted on the hands of doctors during their examinations
- 1861: Death of Prince Albert, Prince Consort
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| 62 | 1862 | - 1862: Pasteur published the 'germ theory:': Infection is caused by self-replicating microorganisms, and that attenuated viral cultures granted immunity. These beneficent antigens he named 'vaccines' in honor of Jenner and his vaccinia virus
- 1862: Parliament passes the Limited Liability Act in order to provide vital stimulus to accumulation of capital in shares
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| 63 | 1863 | - 1863: Edward, Prince of Wales, marries Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The Salvation Army is founded
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| 64 | 1865 | - 1865: Lister, using carbolic acid as antiseptic and sterilizing his instrument, proved the efficacy of antiseptic surgery
- 1865: Death of Palmerston. Russell establishes his second Liberal government
- 1865: Lewis Carroll publishes 'Alice's Adventure in Wonderland'
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| 65 | 1866 | - 1866: Gregor Mendel, in "Versuche ?ber Pflantenhybriden," interpreted heredity in terms of a pairing of dominant and/or recessive unit characters; that is, ones that could in practice be treated as indivisible and independent particles
- 1866: Alfred Nobel patented dynamite
- 1866: Russell and Gladstone fail to have their moderate Reform Bill passed in parliament. Derby takes power in his third minority Conservative government
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| 66 | 1867 | - 1867: Karl Marx, in Das Kapital, maintained the value, or exchange relation, of commodities is characterized by its alienation from its use-value, and thus its value as the product of human labor, which the capitalist treats as a variable and against which he accounts his surplus.
- 1867: Derby and Disraeli's Second Reform Bill doubles the franchise to two million. Canada becomes the first independent dominion in the British Empire under the Dominion of Canada Act
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| 67 | 1868 | - 1868: Disraeli succeeds Derby as Prime Minister. Gladstone becomes Prime Minister for the first time
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| 68 | 1869 | - 1869: George M. Beard distinguished 'neurasthenia,' a nervous disease of men, from hysteria, a women's disease, as, in an earlier time, men's 'hypochondriasis' had been distinguished from women's ' vapeurs.' Subforms of neurasthenia came to be called phobias.
- 1869: The Irish Church is disestablished. The Suez Canal is opened
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| 69 | 1870 | - 1870: Primary education becomes compulsory in Britain through the Forster-Ripon English Elementary Education Act. Parliament also passes the Women's Property Act, extending the rights of married women, and the Irish Land Act
- 1870: First British postcard devised by Anthony Trollope
- 1870: Wheeler introduces toilet paper roll in US
- 1870: Inauguration of London to Calcutta telegraph line, first electronic link between Europe and India
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| 70 | 1871 | - 1871: Trade Unions are legalized
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| 71 | 1872 | - 1872: Secret voting is introduced for elections. Parliament passes the Scottish Education Act
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| 72 | 1873 | - 1873: Gladstone's government resigns after the defeat of their Irish Universities Bill. Disraeli declines to take up office instead
- 1873: Parmalee invents automatic fire sprinklers
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| 73 | 1874 | - 1874: Disraeli becomes Conservative Prime Minister for the second time
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| 74 | 1875 | - 1875: Disraeli purchases a controlling interest for Britain in the Suez Canal. Agricultural depression increases
- 1875: Parliament passes R.A. Cross's Conservative social reforms
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| 75 | 1876 | - 1876: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
- 1876: Nikolas August Otto designed the first four-stroke piston engine
- 1876: Queen Victoria becomes Empress of India. The massacre of Christians in Turkish Bulgaria leads to anti-Turkish campaigns in Britain, led by Gladstone
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| 76 | 1877 | - 1877: Confederation of British and Boer states established in South Africa
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| 77 | 1878 | - 1878: The Congress of Berlin is held. Disraeli announces 'peace with honour'
- 1878: Edweard Muybridge photographs horse in motion
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| 78 | 1879 | - 1879: A trade depression emerges in Britain. The Zulu War is fought in South Africa. The British are defeated at Isandhlwana, but are victorious at Ulundi
- 1879: Gladstone's Midlothian campaign denounces imperialism in South Africa and Afghanistan
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| 79 | 1880 | - 1880: Gladstone establishes his second Liberal government
- 1880: The first Anglo-Boer War begins
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| 80 | 1881 | - 1881: Savoy Theatre introduces electric lighting
- 1881: Parliament passes the Irish Land and Coercion Acts
- 1881: Death of Billy the Kid
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| 81 | 1882 | - 1882: Britain occupies Egypt. A triple alliance is established between Germany, Austria and Italy
- 1882: Standard Oil controls 95% of the U.S. oil refining capacity
- 1882: Stillwell invents brown paper bag
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