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Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 1785 | |
2 | 1787 | - 1787—1787: MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
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3 | 1788 | - 1788—1788: First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland
- 1788—1788: Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not
enforced)
- 1788—1788: First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade - stipulates
more humane conditions on slave ships
- 1788—1788: King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis - Edmund Burke and
Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt - trying to obtain full regal powers for the
Prince of Wales
- 1788—1788: Gibbon completes Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
- 26 Jan 1788—26 Jan 1788: First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales (left Portsmouth 13
May 1787) ? the 'First Fleet'; eleven ships commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip
|
4 | 1789 | - 28 Apr 1789—28 Apr 1789: Mutiny on HMS Bounty - Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift
and the rebel crew ends up on Pitcairn Island
- 30 Apr 1789—4 Mar 1797:
George Washington U.S. Presidency
|
5 | 1790 | - 1790—1790: Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
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6 | 1791 | - 1791—1791: John Bell, printer, abandons the long s' (the 's' that looks like an 'f')
- 1791—1791: Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
- 4 Dec 1791—4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
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7 | 1792 | - 1792—1792: Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) - Fox gets Libel Act through
Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel
- 1792—1792: Boyle's Street Directory published
- 1792—1792: Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot
- 1 Oct 1792—1 Oct 1792: Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
- 1 Dec 1792—1 Dec 1792: King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
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8 | 1793 | - 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
- 15 Apr 1793—15 Apr 1793: ?5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
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9 | 1794 | - 1794—1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties
- 6 Oct 1794—6 Oct 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High
Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution
to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore
treasonous
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10 | 1795 | - 1795—1795: The Famine Year
- 1795—1795: Foundation of the Orange Order
- 1795—1795: Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's
wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and
unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleonic Wars
(1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises - many small farmers were bankrupted by the move
towards enclosures and became landless labourers - their wages were often pitifully low
- 1795—1795: Pitt and Grenville introduce The Gagging Acts' or 'Two Bills' (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) - outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture.
- 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
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11 | 1796 | - 1796—1796: Pitt's Reign of Terror': More treason trials - leading radicals emigrate
- 1796—1796: Legacy Tax on sums over ?20 excluding those to wives, children, parents and
grandparents
- 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
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12 | 1797 | - 1797—1797: England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments
- 1797—1797: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore
- 1797—1797: Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical
publications
- 1797—1797: The first copper pennies were produced ('cartwheels') by application of steam power to
the coining press
- 22 Feb 1797—22 Feb 1797: French invade Fishguard, Wales; last time UK invaded; all captured 2 days later
- 26 Feb 1797—26 Feb 1797: First ?1 (and ?2) notes issued by Bank of England
- 4 Mar 1797—4 Mar 1801:
John Adams U.S. Presidency
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13 | 1798 | - 1798—1798: First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner
- Feb 1798—Feb 1798: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish
Parliament abolished (Feb-Oct)
- 7 Jul 1798—30 Sep 1800:
Franco-American War
- 1 Aug 1798—1 Aug 1798: Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
|
14 | 1799 | - 1799—1799: Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York
- 1799—1799: Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain
- 9 Jan 1799—9 Jan 1799: Pitt brings in 10% income tax, as a wartime financial measure
- 12 Jul 1799—12 Jul 1799: 'Combination Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations
- 15 Jul 1799—15 Jul 1799: ?Rosetta Stone' discovered in Egypt made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
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15 | 1800 | - 1800—1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
- 1800—1800: Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833)
- 1800—1800: Royal College of Surgeons founded
- 1800—1800: Herschel discovers infra-red light
- 1800—1800: Volta makes first electrical battery
- 2 Jul 1800—2 Jul 1800: Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
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16 | 1801 | - 1801—1801: Grand Union Canal opens in England
- 1801—1801: Elgin Marbles brought from Athens to London
- 1 Jan 1801—1 Jan 1801: Union Jack becomes the official British flag
- 4 Mar 1801—4 Mar 1809:
Thomas Jefferson U.S. Presidency
- 10 Mar 1801—10 Mar 1801: First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000. Population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural)
- 10 May 1801—10 Jun 1805:
First Barbary War
- 24 Dec 1801—24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
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17 | 1802 | - 25 Mar 1802—25 Mar 1802: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands ? the 'Peace of Amiens' as it was known brought a temporary peace of 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars ? one of its most important cultural effects was that travel and correspondence across the English Channel became possible again
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18 | 1803 | - 1803—1803: Poaching made a Capital offense in England if capture resisted
- 1803—1803: Richard Trevithick built another steam carriage and ran it in London as the first
self-propelled vehicle in the capital and the first London bus
- 1803—1803: Semaphore signaling perfected by Admiral Popham
- 30 Apr 1803—30 Apr 1803: Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon sells French possessions in America to United States
- 12 May 1803—12 May 1803: Peace of Amiens ends ? resumption of war with France ? The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5)
- 23 Jul 1803—23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to
Croydon, horse-drawn)
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19 | 1804 | - 1804—1804: Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed 'Australia'
- 21 Feb 1804—21 Feb 1804: Richard Trevithick runs his railway engine on the Penydarren Railway (9.5 miles
from Pen-y-Darren to Abercynon in South Wales) this hauled a train with 10 tons of
iron and 70 passengers. It was commemorated by the Royal Mint in 2004 in the form of
A ?2 coin.
- 3 Mar 1804—3 Mar 1804: John Wedgwood (eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood) founds The Royal
Horticultural Society
- 2 Dec 1804—2 Dec 1804: Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French
- 12 Dec 1804—12 Dec 1804: Spain declares war on Britain
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20 | 1805 | - 1805—1805: London docks opened
- 21 Oct 1805—21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
- 2 Dec 1805—2 Dec 1805: Battle of Austerlitz; Napoleon defeats Austrians and Russians
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21 | 1806 | - 1806—1806: Dartmoor Prison opened (built by French prisoners)
- 9 Jan 1806—9 Jan 1806: Nelson buried in St Paul's cathedral, London
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22 | 1807 | - 1807:
Fulton's First Steamboat Voyage
- 25 Mar 1807—25 Mar 1807: Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 ? but does not prohibit colonial slavery
|
23 | 1808 | - 1808—1808: Gas lighting in London streets
- 13 Jul 1808—13 Jul 1808: 'Hot Wednesday' ? temperature of 101?F in the shade recorded in London
- 20 Dec 1808—20 Dec 1808: Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy together in Vienna
|
24 | 1809 | - 12 Feb 1809—12 Feb 1809: Birth of Charles Darwin
- 4 Mar 1809—4 Mar 1817:
James Madison U.S. Presidency
- 18 Sep 1809—18 Sep 1809: Royal Opera House opens in London
|
25 | 1810 | - 1810—1810: John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of
road metalling
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26 | 1811 | - 5 Feb 1811—5 Feb 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
|
27 | 1812 | - 11 May 1812—11 May 1812: Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, assassinated ? shot as he entered the House of Commons by a bankrupt Liverpool broker, John Bellingham, who was subsequently hanged
- 18 Jun 1812—18 Jun 1812: Start of American 'War of 1812' (to 1814) against England and Canada
- 18 Jun 1812—17 Feb 1815:
War of 1812
- Oct 1812—Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
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28 | 1813 | - 1813—1813: Ireland: First recorded '12th of July' sectarian riots in Belfast
- 1813—1813: Jane Austen wrote 'Pride and Prejudice'
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29 | 1814 | - 1 Jan 1814—1 Jan 1814: Invasion of France by Allies
- 6 Apr 1814—6 Apr 1814: Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
- 13 Aug 1814—13 Aug 1814: Convention of London signed, a treaty between the UK and the Dutch
- 24 Aug 1814—24 Aug 1814: The British burn the White House
- 29 Nov 1814—29 Nov 1814: 'The Times' first printed by a 'mechanical apparatus' (at 1100 sheets per hour)
- 24 Dec 1814—24 Dec 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the 1812 war between Britain and the US
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30 | 1815 | - 1815—1815: Trial by Jury established in Scotland
- 1815—1815: Davy develops the safety lamp for miners
- 3 Mar 1815—5 Dec 1815:
Second Barbary War
- 18 Jun 1815—18 Jun 1815: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
- 18 Jun 1815:
The Battle of Waterloo
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31 | 1816 | - 1816—1816: Income tax abolished
- 1816—1816: For the first time British silver coins were produced with an intrinsic value substantially
below their face value ? the first official 'token' coinage
- 1816—1816: Climate: the 'year without a summer' ? followed a volcanic explosion of the mountain 'Tambora in Indonesia the previous year the biggest volcanic explosion in 10000 years
- 1816—1816: Large scale emigration to North America
- 1816—1816: Trans-Atlantic packet service begins
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32 | 1817 | - 1817—1817: March of the Manchester Blanketeers; Habeas Corpus suspended
- 1817—1817: Constable painted 'Flatford Mill'
- 4 Mar 1817—4 Mar 1825:
James Monroe U.S. Presidency
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33 | 1818 | - 1818—1818: Manchester cotton spinners' strike
- 20 Oct 1818—20 Oct 1818: 'Convention of 1818' signed between the United States and the United Kingdom
which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its
length
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34 | 1819 | - 1819—1819: Primitive bicycle, the Dandy Horse, becomes popular
- 1819—1819: Britain returns to gold standard
- 1819—1819: Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles
- May 1819—May 1819: SS 'Savannah' first steamship to cross Atlantic reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26
Days reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26
Days mostly under sail)
- 16 Aug 1819—16 Aug 1819: Peterloo Massacre at Manchester ? a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St.
Peter's Fields, Manchester ? demand Parliamentary Reform ? mounted troops charge on the
meeting, killing 11 people and and maiming many others
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35 | 1820 | - 1820—1820: Cato Street Conspiracy ? plot to assissinate British cabinet
- 1820—1820: Abolition of the Spanish Inquisition
- 29 Jan 1820—29 Jan 1820: Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
- 1 Aug 1820—1 Aug 1820: Regent's Canal in London opens
- 17 Aug 1820—17 Aug 1820: Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her ?
George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her ? Caroline is virtually acquitted
because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
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36 | 1821 | - 1821—1821: Faraday publishes 'Principles of electro-magnetic rotation'
- 1821—1821: Constable paints 'The Hay Wain'
- 5 May 1821—5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
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37 | 1822 | - 14 Jun 1822—14 Jun 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
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38 | 1823 | - 1823—1823: New laws concerning marriage by license ? 'very troublesome' according to some the Act was repealed all in a hurry at the beginning of the next session
- 1823—1823: Peel begins penal reforms ? death penalty abolished for over 100 crimes
- 1823—1823: Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School
- 1823—1823: Rubberised waterproof material produced by MacIntosh
- 2 Dec 1823—2 Dec 1823: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in
future European conflicts (the 'Monroe Doctrine')
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39 | 1824 | - 1824—1824: RSPCA established
- 1824—1824: Portland cement patented
- 4 Mar 1824—4 Mar 1824: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded (called the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' until 1854)
- 10 May 1824—10 May 1824: National Gallery in London opens to the public
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40 | 1825 | - 4 Mar 1825—4 Mar 1829:
John Quincy Adams U.S. Presidency
- 27 Sep 1825—27 Sep 1825: Stockton to Darlington Railway opens ? world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains
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41 | 1827 | - 1827—1827: Ohm's Law published
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42 | 1828 | - 25 Oct 1828—25 Oct 1828: St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
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43 | 1829 | - 1829—1829: London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed 'Bobbies' after Sir Robert Peel
- 1829—1829: Louis Braille invents his system of finger-reading for the blind
- 4 Mar 1829—4 Mar 1837:
Andrew Jackson U.S. Presidency
- 10 Jun 1829—10 Jun 1829: First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race
- 6 Oct 1829—6 Oct 1829: George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to
complete the trial!)
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44 | 1830 | - 1830—1830: Uprisings and agitation across Europe: the Netherlands are split into Holland and
Belgium
- 1830:
America's First Steam Locomotive
- Jul 1830—Jul 1830: Revolution in France, fall of Charles X and the Bourbons ? Louis Philippe (the
Citizen King) on the throne
- 15 Sep 1830—15 Sep 1830: George Stephenson's Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened by the Duke of
Wellington ? first mail carried by rail, and first death on the railway as William Huskisson, a
leading politician, is run over!
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45 | 1831 | - 1831—1831: A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
- 1 Jun 1831—1 Jun 1831: James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole
- 1 Aug 1831—1 Aug 1831: 'New' London Bridge opens (replaced 1973) ? old bridge (which had existed for over 600 years) then demolished
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46 | 1832 | - 1832—1832: Electoral Registers introduced
- 1832—1832: Electric telegraph invented by Morse
- 6 Apr 1832—27 Aug 1832:
Black Hawk War
- 7 Jun 1832—7 Jun 1832: Reform Bill passed ? Representation of the People Act
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47 | 1833 | - Jan 1833—Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands
- 29 Aug 1833—29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
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48 | 1834 | - 1834—1834: Babbage invents forerunner of the computer
- 18 Mar 1834—18 Mar 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities
- 1 May 1834—1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
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49 | 1835 | - 1835—1835: Christmas becomes a national holiday
- 1835—1835: First railway boom period starts in Britain construction of Great Western Railway
- 2 Oct 1835—21 Apr 1836:
Texas War of Independence
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50 | 1836 | - 1836—1836: First Potato famine in Ireland
- 30 Jan 1836—30 Jan 1836: Telford's Menai Straits Bridge opened ? considered the world's first modern suspension bridge
- 25 Feb 1836—25 Feb 1836: Samuel Colt patented the 'revolver'
- 6 Mar 1836—6 Mar 1836: The Alamo falls to Mexican troops - death of Davy Crockett
- Jul 1836—Jul 1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
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51 | 1837 | - 1837—1837: Pitman introduces his shorthand system
- 1837—1837: P&O Founded
- 1837:
Victoria Becomes Queen
- 4 Mar 1837—4 Mar 1841:
Martin Van Buren U.S. Presidency
- 20 Jun 1837—20 Jun 1837: William IV dies - accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
- 1 Jul 1837—1 Jul 1837: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales -
Registration Districts were formed covering several parishes; initially they had the same
boundaries as the Poor Law boundaries set up in 1834
- 13 Jul 1837—13 Jul 1837: Queen Victoria moves into the first Buckingham Palace
- 20 Jul 1837—20 Jul 1837: Euston Railway station opens - first in London
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52 | 1838 | - 28 Jun 1838—28 Jun 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey
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53 | 1839 | - 1839—1839: First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) - Britain captures Hong Kong
- 1839—1839: Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan refines the primitive bicycle adding a
mechanical crank drive to the rear wheel,thus creating the first true 'bicycle' in the modern
Sense
- 1839—1839: Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
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54 | 1840 | - 1840—1840: Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
- 1840—1840: Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed
elsewhere)
- 10 Jan 1840—10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
|
55 | 1841 | - 1841—1841: Thomas Cook starts package tours
- 10 Feb 1841—10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
- 4 Mar 1841—4 Apr 1841:
William Henry Harrison U.S. Presidency
- 4 Apr 1841—4 Mar 1845:
John Tyler U.S. Presidency
- 6 Jun 1841—6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
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56 | 1842 | - 1842—1842: Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
- 30 Mar 1842—30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
- 29 Aug 1842—29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking - End of First Opium War - Britain gains Hong Kong
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57 | 1843 | - 1843—1843: First Christmas card in England
- 27 May 1843—27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
- 19 Jul 1843—19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
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58 | 1844 | - 6 Jun 1844—6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
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59 | 1845 | - 1845—1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
- 4 Mar 1845—4 Mar 1849:
James K. Polk U.S. Presidency
- 17 Mar 1845—17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
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60 | 1846 | - 25 Apr 1846—2 Feb 1848:
Mexican-American War
- 10 Sep 1846—10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
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61 | 1847 | - 1847—1847: US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
- Jan 1847—Jan 1847: An anesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
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62 | 1848 | - 1848—1848: First commercial production of chewing gum
- 24 Jan 1848—24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California - starts the California gold rush
- 11 Jul 1848—11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
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63 | 1849 | - 1849—1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation - which finally
occurred in 1971!
- 4 Mar 1849—9 Jul 1850:
Zachary Taylor U.S. Presidency
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64 | 1850 | |
65 | 1851 | - 1851—1851: Gold discovered in Australia
- 1 May 1851—1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ('Crystal Palace' exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
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