Born in the reign of Queen Victoria
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Birth
1883
Born at Hayle, Cornwall
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Age c. 1
Dec 1884
Third Reform Act
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Age c. 5
17 Apr 1888
The Football League is founded
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Age c. 5
7 Dec 1888
John Dunlop patents the pneumatic tyre
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Age c. 13
2 Jun 1896
Marconi patents wireless telegraphy
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Age c. 16
1899–1902
Second Boer War
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Age c. 18
22 Jan 1901
Accession of Edward VII
Reigned 1901–1910
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Age c. 18
22 Jan 1901
Queen Victoria dies
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Age c. 20
17 Dec 1903
The Wright brothers make the first powered flight
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Age c. 24
17 Jun 1907
Brooklands motor circuit opens
At Weybridge, Surrey.
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Age c. 25
13 Jul 1908
London hosts the Olympic Games
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Age c. 26
1 Jan 1909
First old age pensions paid
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Age c. 26
25 Jul 1909
Blériot makes the first flight across the Channel
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Age c. 27
6 May 1910
Accession of George V
Reigned 1910–1936
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Age c. 27
13 Aug 1910
Florence Nightingale dies
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Age c. 28
18 Aug 1911
Parliament Act limits the power of the House of Lords
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Age c. 28
16 Dec 1911
National Insurance Act
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Age c. 29
Mar 1912
Captain Scott dies returning from the South Pole
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Age c. 29
15 Apr 1912
Titanic sinks
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Age c. 30
8 Jun 1913
Suffragette Emily Davison dies at the Derby
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Age c. 31
1914–1918
Britain declares war on Germany: First World War begins
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Age c. 32
25 Apr 1915
Gallipoli landings
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Age c. 32
7 May 1915
Lusitania sunk
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Age c. 33
24 Apr 1916
Easter Rising in Dublin
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Age c. 33
5 Jun 1916
Lord Kitchener lost at sea
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Age c. 33
1 Jul 1916
Battle of the Somme begins
About 57,000 British casualties on the first day.
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Age c. 34
31 Jul 1917
Battle of Passchendaele begins
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Age c. 35
6 Feb 1918
Some women get the vote
Representation of the People Act.
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Age c. 35
1918–1919
Spanish flu pandemic
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Age c. 35
11 Nov 1918
Armistice ends the First World War
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Age c. 36
14 Jun 1919
Alcock and Brown make the first non-stop transatlantic flight
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Age c. 40
28 Apr 1923
First FA Cup final at Wembley
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Age c. 41
22 Jan 1924
First Labour government
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Age c. 43
26 Jan 1926
John Logie Baird demonstrates television
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Age c. 43
3 May 1926
General Strike begins
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Age c. 45
2 Jul 1928
Women get the vote on equal terms with men
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Age c. 45
Sep 1928
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
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Age c. 46
19 Apr 1929
Mother Ellen Maria died
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Age c. 46
Oct 1929
Wall Street Crash begins the Great Depression
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Age c. 47
5 Oct 1930
R101 airship disaster
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Age c. 53
20 Jan 1936
Accession of Edward VIII
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Age c. 53
2 Nov 1936
BBC begins the world's first regular television service
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Age c. 53
11 Dec 1936
Accession of George VI
Reigned 1936–1952
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Age c. 53
11 Dec 1936
Edward VIII abdicates
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Age c. 54
12 Apr 1937
Frank Whittle runs the first jet engine
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Age c. 56
1939–1945
Britain declares war on Germany: Second World War begins
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Age c. 57
26 May 1940
Dunkirk evacuation begins
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Age c. 57
10 Jul 1940
Battle of Britain begins
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Age c. 57
1940–1941
The Blitz
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Age c. 59
23 Oct 1942
Battle of El Alamein
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Age c. 59
1 Dec 1942
Beveridge Report published
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Age c. 61
6 Jun 1944
D-Day landings
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Age c. 61
3 Aug 1944
Education Act creates free secondary schooling
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Age c. 62
8 May 1945
VE Day
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Age c. 62
15 Aug 1945
VJ Day
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Age c. 64
15 Aug 1947
India and Pakistan become independent
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Age c. 65
22 Jun 1948
HMT Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury
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Age c. 65
5 Jul 1948
National Health Service launched
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Age c. 65
29 Jul 1948
London hosts the Olympic Games
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Age c. 67
1950–1953
Korean War begins
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Age c. 69
6 Feb 1952
Accession of Queen Elizabeth II
Reigned 1952–2022
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Age c. 69
5 Dec 1952
Great Smog of London
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Age c. 70
31 Jan 1953
North Sea flood
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Age c. 70
28 Feb 1953
Crick and Watson announce the structure of DNA
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Age c. 70
29 May 1953
Hillary and Tenzing reach the summit of Everest
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Age c. 70
2 Jun 1953
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
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Age c. 71
6 May 1954
Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four-minute mile
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Age c. 71
4 Jul 1954
Food rationing ends
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Age c. 72
22 Sep 1955
ITV launches
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Age c. 73
5 Jul 1956
Clean Air Act
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Age c. 73
29 Oct 1956
Suez Crisis
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Age c. 74
4 Oct 1957
Sputnik 1 launched: the Space Age begins
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Age c. 75
6 Feb 1958
Munich air disaster
Eight Manchester United players among the dead.
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Age c. 75
9 Jun 1958
Gatwick Airport officially opened
In Sussex.
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Age c. 76
25 Jul 1959
First hovercraft crosses the Channel
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Age c. 79
5 Oct 1962
The Beatles release their first single
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Age c. 79
1962–1963
The Big Freeze
One of the coldest winters on record.
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Age c. 80
22 Nov 1963
President Kennedy assassinated