Born in the reign of George V
-
Birth
1916
Born
-
Year of birth
24 Apr 1916
Easter Rising in Dublin
-
Year of birth
5 Jun 1916
Lord Kitchener lost at sea
-
Year of birth
1 Jul 1916
Battle of the Somme begins
About 57,000 British casualties on the first day.
-
Age c. 1
31 Jul 1917
Battle of Passchendaele begins
-
Age c. 2
6 Feb 1918
Some women get the vote
Representation of the People Act.
-
Age c. 2
1918–1919
Spanish flu pandemic
-
Age c. 2
11 Nov 1918
Armistice ends the First World War
-
Age c. 3
14 Jun 1919
Alcock and Brown make the first non-stop transatlantic flight
-
Age c. 4
1 May 1920
Mother Margaret Victoria died
-
Age c. 7
28 Apr 1923
First FA Cup final at Wembley
-
Age c. 8
22 Jan 1924
First Labour government
-
Age c. 10
26 Jan 1926
John Logie Baird demonstrates television
-
Age c. 10
3 May 1926
General Strike begins
-
Age c. 12
2 Jul 1928
Women get the vote on equal terms with men
-
Age c. 12
Sep 1928
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
-
Age c. 13
Oct 1929
Wall Street Crash begins the Great Depression
-
Age c. 14
5 Oct 1930
R101 airship disaster
-
Age c. 20
20 Jan 1936
Accession of Edward VIII
-
Age c. 20
2 Nov 1936
BBC begins the world's first regular television service
-
Age c. 20
11 Dec 1936
Accession of George VI
Reigned 1936–1952
-
Age c. 20
11 Dec 1936
Edward VIII abdicates
-
Age c. 21
12 Apr 1937
Frank Whittle runs the first jet engine
-
Age c. 23
1939–1945
Britain declares war on Germany: Second World War begins
-
Age c. 24
26 May 1940
Dunkirk evacuation begins
-
Age c. 24
10 Jul 1940
Battle of Britain begins
-
Age c. 24
1940–1941
The Blitz
-
Age c. 26
23 Oct 1942
Battle of El Alamein
-
Age c. 26
1 Dec 1942
Beveridge Report published
-
Age c. 28
6 Jun 1944
D-Day landings
-
Age c. 28
3 Aug 1944
Education Act creates free secondary schooling
-
Age c. 29
8 May 1945
VE Day
-
Age c. 29
15 Aug 1945
VJ Day
-
Age c. 31
15 Aug 1947
India and Pakistan become independent
-
Age c. 32
22 Jun 1948
HMT Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury
-
Age c. 32
5 Jul 1948
National Health Service launched
-
Age c. 32
29 Jul 1948
London hosts the Olympic Games
-
Age c. 34
1950–1953
Korean War begins
-
Age c. 36
6 Feb 1952
Accession of Queen Elizabeth II
Reigned 1952–2022
-
Age c. 36
5 Dec 1952
Great Smog of London
-
Age c. 37
31 Jan 1953
North Sea flood
-
Age c. 37
28 Feb 1953
Crick and Watson announce the structure of DNA
-
Age c. 37
29 May 1953
Hillary and Tenzing reach the summit of Everest
-
Age c. 37
2 Jun 1953
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
-
Age c. 38
6 May 1954
Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four-minute mile
-
Age c. 38
4 Jul 1954
Food rationing ends
-
Age c. 39
22 Sep 1955
ITV launches
-
Age c. 40
5 Jul 1956
Clean Air Act
-
Age c. 40
29 Oct 1956
Suez Crisis
-
Age c. 41
4 Oct 1957
Sputnik 1 launched: the Space Age begins
-
Age c. 42
6 Feb 1958
Munich air disaster
Eight Manchester United players among the dead.
-
Age c. 42
9 Jun 1958
Gatwick Airport officially opened
In Sussex.
-
Age c. 43
25 Jul 1959
First hovercraft crosses the Channel
-
Age c. 46
5 Oct 1962
The Beatles release their first single
-
Age c. 46
1962–1963
The Big Freeze
One of the coldest winters on record.
-
Age c. 47
22 Nov 1963
President Kennedy assassinated
-
Age c. 49
24 Jan 1965
Sir Winston Churchill dies
-
Age c. 49
8 Nov 1965
Death penalty for murder suspended
-
Age c. 50
30 Jul 1966
England win the World Cup
-
Age c. 50
21 Oct 1966
Aberfan disaster
-
Age c. 51
27 Oct 1967
Abortion Act
-
Age c. 53
2 Mar 1969
First flight of Concorde
-
Age c. 53
20 Jul 1969
First Moon landing
-
Age c. 55
15 Feb 1971
Decimal Day
-
Age c. 57
1 Jan 1973
Britain joins the European Economic Community
-
Age c. 60
21 Jan 1976
Concorde enters passenger service
-
Age c. 60
Jun 1976
The heatwave and drought of summer 1976
-
Age c. 61
7 Jun 1977
Queen's Silver Jubilee
-
Age c. 62
25 Jul 1978
Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, is born
-
Age c. 63
4 May 1979
Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister
-
Age c. 64
8 Dec 1980
John Lennon shot dead
-
Age c. 65
29 Jul 1981
Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
-
Age c. 66
2 Apr 1982
Falklands War
-
Age c. 68
1984–1985
Miners' strike
-
Age c. 69
13 Jul 1985
Live Aid
-
Age c. 70
26 Apr 1986
Chernobyl disaster
-
Age c. 70
29 Oct 1986
M25 motorway completed
It circles London through Surrey.
-
Age c. 71
6 Mar 1987
Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster
-
Age c. 71
16 Oct 1987
The Great Storm
Hurricane-force winds hit Surrey and Sussex especially hard.
-
Age c. 71
18 Nov 1987
King's Cross fire
-
Age c. 72
6 Jul 1988
Piper Alpha oil platform disaster
-
Age c. 72
21 Dec 1988
Lockerbie bombing
-
Age c. 73
Mar 1989
Tim Berners-Lee proposes the World Wide Web
-
Age c. 73
15 Apr 1989
Hillsborough disaster
-
Age c. 73
9 Nov 1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall
-
Age c. 74
22 Nov 1990
Margaret Thatcher resigns
-
Age c. 75
17 Jan 1991
Gulf War begins
-
Age c. 76
20 Feb 1992
The Premier League is formed
-
Age c. 77
24 Feb 1993
Bobby Moore dies
-
Age c. 78
6 May 1994
Channel Tunnel opens
-
Age c. 80
8 Jun 1996
Euro 96 begins in England
-
Age c. 80
5 Jul 1996
Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, is born
