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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1837 | |
| 2 | 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)
|
| 3 | 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
|
| 4 | 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
|
| 5 | 1844 | - 6 Jun 1844—6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
|
| 6 | 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
|
| 7 | 1846 | - 25 Apr 1846—2 Feb 1848:
 Mexican-American War
- 10 Sep 1846—10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
|
| 8 | 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)
|
| 9 | 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
|
| 10 | 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
|
| 11 | 1850 | |
| 12 | 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
|
| 13 | 1852 | - 1852—1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
- 1852—1852: Wells Fargo established in USA
|
| 14 | 1853 | |
| 15 | 1854 | - 1854—1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
- 27 Mar 1854—27 Mar 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
- 25 Oct 1854—25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
|
| 16 | 1856 | - 1856—1856: End of Crimean War
- 29 Jan 1856—29 Jan 1856: Victoria Cross created by Royal Warrant, backdated to 1854 to recognise acts
during the Crimean War (first award ceremony 26 June 1857)
|
| 17 | 1857 | |
| 18 | 1858 | - 1858—1858: 'The great stink' - smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work
- 1858—1858: Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
|
| 19 | 1859 | - 1859—1859: Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain
- 25 Apr 1859—25 Apr 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869)
- 4 May 1859—4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon
and Cornwall
- 24 Nov 1859—24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes 'The Origin of Species'
|
| 20 | 1860 | - 29 Aug 1860—29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
|
| 21 | 1861 | |
| 22 | 1862 | - 1862—1862: Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks)
- 20 Apr 1862—20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
|
| 23 | 1863 | - 1863—1863: Football Association founded (UK)
- 1863—1863: Opening of state institution for criminally insane at Broadmoor, England
- 10 Jan 1863—10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
|
| 24 | 1864 | - 1864—1864: A man-powered submarine, 'Hunley' sank a Federal steam ship USS Housatonic at the entrance to Charleston harbour in 1864 - the first recorded successful attack by a submarine on a surface ship
- 11 Mar 1864—11 Mar 1864: The Great Sheffield Flood - over 250 died when a new dam broke while it was being filled for the first time
- 20 Aug 1864—20 Aug 1864: Red Cross established - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention
- 8 Dec 1864—8 Dec 1864: Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon officially opened
|
| 25 | 1865 | - 1865—1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917) becomes first woman doctor in England [she later became the first woman mayor in England, in Aldeburgh 1908]
- 1865—1865: First concrete roads built in Britain
- 14 Apr 1865—14 Apr 1865: End of American Civil War - slavery abolished in USA
- 14 Apr 1865—14 Apr 1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth
- 15 Apr 1865—4 Mar 1869:
 Andrew Johnson U.S. Presidency
- 5 Jul 1865—5 Jul 1865: William Booth (1829-1912) founds Salvation Army, in London
|
| 26 | 1867 | - 1 Jul 1867—1 Jul 1867: The British North America Act takes effect, creating the Canadian Confederation
|
| 27 | 1868 | - 1868—1868: Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
|
| 28 | 1869 | - 1869—1869: Ball bearings, celluloid, margarine, and washing machines, all invented
- 4 Mar 1869—4 Mar 1877:
 Ulysses S. Grant U.S. Presidency
- 23 Nov 1869—23 Nov 1869: Cutty Sark launched in Dumbarton
|
| 29 | 1870 | - 1870—1870: GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies (nationalised)
- 1870—1870: Dr Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
- 1870—1870: Water closets come into wide use
- 1870—1870: Diamonds discovered in Kimberley, South Africa
- 1 Oct 1870—1 Oct 1870: First British postcard - halfpenny post
|
| 30 | 1871 | - 27 Mar 1871—27 Mar 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh
- 29 Mar 1871—29 Mar 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London
- 29 Jun 1871—29 Jun 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
|
| 31 | 1872 | - 1872—1872: Licensing hours introduced
- 1872—1872: Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
- 4 Dec 1872—4 Dec 1872: American ship 'Mary Celeste' is found abandoned by the British brig 'Dei Gratia' in the Atlantic Ocean
|
| 32 | 1874 | - 1874—1874: Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
- 5 Apr 1874—5 Apr 1874: Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world - features of it later copied in Central Park, New York
|
| 33 | 1875 | - 1875—1875: London's main sewage system completed
- 1 Jan 1875—1 Jan 1875: Midland Railway abolishes Second Class passenger facilities, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies followed during the rest of the year. (Third Class was renamed Second Class in 1956)
|
| 34 | 1876 | - 14 Feb 1876—14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone - Bell awarded the rights
|
| 35 | 1877 | |
| 36 | 1878 | - 1878—1878: Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
- 1878—1878: Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph
- 1878—1878: CID established at New Scotland Yard
|
| 37 | 1879 | - 18 Sep 1879—18 Sep 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
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| 38 | 1880 | - 1880—1880: Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
- 1880—1880: Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria
- 2 Aug 1880—2 Aug 1880: Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
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| 39 | 1881 | - 1881—1881: Postal Orders introduced
- 1881—1881: Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy
- 4 Mar 1881—19 Sep 1881:
 James A. Garfield U.S. Presidency
- Sep 1881—Sep 1881: Godalming in Surrey became the first town in England to have a public electricity
supply installed (but in 1884 it reverted to gas lighting until 1904)
- 19 Sep 1881—4 Mar 1885:
 Chester A. Arthur U.S. Presidency
- 26 Oct 1881—26 Oct 1881: Gunfight at OK Corral
|
1841 - 1881 (39 years) 
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Martin Van Buren U.S. Presidency
Millard Fillmore U.S. Presidency
Franklin Pierce U.S. Presidency
James Buchanan U.S. Presidency
Abraham Lincoln U.S. Presidency
American Civil War
Rutherford B. Hayes U.S. Presidency