TIME LINE
YEAR INDUSTRIAL NAVAL SOCIAL 1837 Electric telegraph developed (Samuel Morse) Great Western Launched
P&O Founded
Steam ships of Post Office Packet Service transferred to RN
Order in Council establishes Engineers as officers "next below Carpenters"
Victoriaon British throne
Work begins on Barry's Houses of Parliament
1838 Daguerre produces photographs using silver salts Ericsson's Screw Propeller used to propel Archimedes
Great Western Crosses the Atlantic under sustained power in 15 day
Victoria crowned Queen 1839 Nasmyth's Steam Hammer British and North American Steam Packet Company (to carry the Royal Mail to Canada and the USA) founded by Samuel Cornard
First sea-going ship Archimedes driven by propeller
Free Trade League founded 1840 Electroplating invented Cunard Steamship Company formed
'Blue Riband' trophy introduced for the fastest Atlantic crossing
Queen Victoria marries her cousin Albert
Penny Post introduced
Transportation to NSW stopped
First Opium War starts
1841 Witworth standardised screw threads British campaign against slave trade in west Africa
Thomas Cook invents package tour
1842 Crawford Long uses ether in a minor operation. 80 paddlewheel steamships in RN service as auxiliaries Illustrated London News published making extensive use of artists' illustrations
Copyright Act
First Opium War ends
1843 Typewriter invented. Great Britain Launched
Naval Cadets introduced into the Royal Navy
Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol 1844 Witworth gear cutting machine
First Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington).
Greenwich is 0° longitude 1845 Compound steam engine invented
Guncotton (Nitrocellulose) first produced
HMS Rattler Propeller driven won 'tug-of-war' with paddle driven Alecto
Franklin's Arctic expedition sails
Excise duty on glass lifted 1846 Electric Telegraph Company link London to Portsmouth
First telegraph cable laid under the Channel.
Royal Navy conduct secret trials into the effect of shot against iron
Cunard formed first trans-Atlantic steamship line
Repeal of the Corn Laws (which had kept up the price of grain) 1847 Women and children to work only ten hours a day 1848 Stephenson's box-girder bridge over the Conwy Franklin's crews perish in the Arctic Potato crop fails throughout Europe leading to the Irish famine
Public Health Act passed
Communist manifesto published by Marx & Engels
1849 Water hydraulic gear fitted to cranes (Armstrong)
Reinforced concrete developed (Monier)
Gold discovered in California and Australia
Marx settles in London
1850 Petrol (gasoline) refining first used Palmerston's gunboat diplomacy Factory Act and industrial growth 1851 Oil mining starts in West Lovian
First flash photograph is taken
Underwater electric cable laid between Britain and France The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace
The first ten yearly census is taken
1852 Loss of HMS Birkenhead - origin of the cry -women & children first.
Commodore Perry visits Japan
1853 Livingstone slogs west from Zambezi 1854 McClure first to travel through the North-West Passage Crimean War starts 1855 Yale lock invented First use of mines at sea Limited Liabilities Act
First war photographer
1856 Bessemer converter for making steel introduced
Aniline dyes produced, permitting brightly colored cottons (Perkin)
Lignum vitae stern-tube bearings introduced Crimean War ends
Second China war starts
1857 Steam driven generator used to produce electric arc light
Pasteur experiments with fermentation
First attempt to lay transatlantic cable using British Battleship Agamemnon
Brunel's Great Eastern built
HMS ILLUSTRIOUS to Haslar for training of Naval Cadets (age 13+)
Indian Mutiny 1858 First Trans-Atlantic Cable completed
Cathode rays discovered
Great Eastern Launched Captain's allowed to grant regular leave
East India Company deprived of powers
London's Great Stink
1859 French physicist Gaston Planté invents the rechargeable lead-acid battery.
Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of the Species
First commercial production of petroleum
Last wooden 1st rate HMS Victoria launched
Armstrong's breach loader adopted by the Royal Navy
First ironclad warship Gloire launched (France)
McClintock discovers the fate of the Franklin expedition
Big Ben chimes for first time
1860 Garibaldi takes Naples; unification of Italy
Second China war ends
New Zealand War starts
1861 Universal milling machine invented HMS Warrior the first Ironclad complete American Civil War starts
Prince Albert dies; Queen Victoria retires into mourning
1862 First steam launch provided for HMS Sylvia
US Ironclads, Merrimac and Monitor fight in Chesapeake Bay
Bismarck becomes Prussian premier 1863 Siemens-Martin open hearth process (along with the Bessemer converter) makes steel available in bulk
World's first underground railway
First submarine Hunley (CSA) to sink a warship
Naval Cadet training in HMS BRITANNIA moved to Dartmouth
RN Engineers adopted purple stripes on sleeves
1864 RN reverts to muzzle-loading Ordnance
Self-propelled torpedo demonstrated (Whitehead)
Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering opened at South Kensington (now Victoria & Albert Museum)
New Zealand War ends
Geneva Convention establishes Red Cross
1865 L Pasteur - germ theory ACW Commodore Jones sunk by electric shore fired mine
Morse Code communication by flashing light introduced to RN
American Civil War ends 1866 Dynamite patented Battle of Lissa
First hospital for women in London
1867 Morse Code introduced for night signalling following the sinking of the Griffon after collision with the Pandora in Oct 1866
Alfred Nobel produces dynamite, the first high explosive which can be safely handled
First use of carbolic antiseptic (Lister)
Second Reform Act
All men over 21 given vote in UK
South African diamond fields discovered
Fenian rising in Ireland
1868 Whitehead locomotive torpedo offer for sale
Engine Room Artificers introduced to RN to do more of the physical work of operation, maintenance & repair in place of Engineers
Foundation of Trades Union Congress
Public executions end in London
1869 Suez Canal opened in November
Periodic Table produced (Mendeléev)
HMS Monarch - first ocean going turret ship designed
Cutty Sark launched
Union Pacific & Central Pacific Railroads linked 1870 Automatic lathe Sandwich Armour introduced Franco-Prussian War starts
The postcard is officially introduced
Rugby Football Union founded
1871 HMS Captain - First turret ship sunk during heavy gales off Cape Finisterre
First Mast less Ship HMS Devastation Launched
Franco-Prussian War ends
Flogging suspended in the RN during peacetime
Trade unions legalized
Newcastle engineers strike for a nine-hour day
Germany unified
1872 Royal Navy adopts Whitehead Locomotive torpedo
Firing guns by electricity introduced into Royal Navy
Universal education started in UK for 5 - 13 year-olds 1873 Belgian engineer Zénobe Gramme develops the first commercially successful DC motor.
First colour photograph is taken
Admiralty Torpedo Committee set up
Royal Naval College opened at Greenwich for training of engineers, constructors and military officers: all messing separately.
Evaporator installed in Crocodil (France)
Ashanti War starts
Eyesight test introduced for officers and ratings
Slave trade ends in Zanzibar
1874 Electric search light introduced on board HMS Comet Ashanti War ends 1875 French decide to readopt Breech-loaders
HMS Alert & Discovery Arctic expedition
Hydraulic gear fitted to fore-turret of Thunderer
Cooper-Key Committee investigated "...the most scientific and practical management of engines and the highest mechanical skill for their maintenance"
Recommended adoption of 1863 regulations including:
- equality of pay, rank and promotion for Engineers
- abolition of separate Engineers' messes
- incorporation of Engineers into the Military Branch (but not Command)Disraeli buys Suez Canal 1876 4-stroke gas engine invented by Otto
First telephone message passed (Bell)
Merchant Shipping Act passed to prevent overloading and use of unseaworthy vessels
Civil Service examinations held nation-wide for officer entry
Victoria named Empress of India
Compulsory school attendance in Great Britain
1877 First shipment of frozen meat from Argentina reached Britain
Edison invents the phonograph
Gilchrist-Thomas basic process permits using wider range of ores for manufacturing steel
Royal Navy introduces cipher N
First British Steel Ship HMS IRIS Completed
Compound Armour introduced
Russo-Turkish war
Cleopatra's Needle is brought to England
Transvaal annexed
1878 First Telephone exchange: Connecticut USA
Microphone invented
Zulu Wars started 1879 Carbon filament incandescent lamp introduced (Edison)
First UK telephone exchange
Resurgam - First British designed submarine takes to the water
RN decides to readopt Breech-loaders
Flogging suspended in wartime the practical abolition of flogging in the RN
Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary
Battle of Rorke's Drift
1880 Triple expansion steam engine designed
First refrigerated cargo ship (Strathleven)
Engineering College opened "without ceremony" at Keyham, Devonport First Boer War Starts
An Act of Parliament decided a single time for Great Britain and chose Greenwich Mean Time
1881 HMS Inflexible - First ship in Royal Navy to have electric lighting First Boer War ends
Cambridge Tripos exams opened to women
1882 Bombardment of Alexandria Britain occupied Egypt
Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
Married Women's Property Act enables women to buy, own, and sell property, and to keep their own earnings
1883 Petrol engine invented by Diesel First skyscraper (ten stories) in Chicago
Mahdi Rebellion in the Sudan
1884 Impulse-reaction steam turbine patented (Parsons)
Use cocaine as a local anesthetic (Carl Kohler)
Machine gun invented (Maxim)
Nile expedition to rescue Gordon
Steam "trawlers" introduced
Newspaper article "The Truth About the Navy" started to ring warning bells regarding the Navy's ability to fulfil its role and brought about public pressure to improve the finances of the Navy and improve the building and training program.
The International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. accepts the Greenwich Meridian as longitude 0° for the World
Third Reform Act extend vote to agricultural workers electorate tripled
1885 Benz invents the motor car Triple expansion steam engine introduced into Royal Navy Correspondents from the National newspapers view Home Fleet annual manoeuvres
Fall of Khartoum
1886 First oil tanker Gluckauf launched
Contra-rotating propellor patented (Ericssson)
Squadron of Evolution formed to test material efficiency of Royal Navy
Death of Gordon naval flotilla operations on Nile
Irish Home Rule Crisis -First (Irish) Home Rule bill rejected
Coca-cola invented by Dr. John Pemberton of Atlanta Georgia USA
1887 Spithead Review Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee 1888 Hertz publishes paper on electro-magnetic waves
Ballpoint pen invented
Kodak box camera patented
Engineer Student made a naval rank. Jack the Ripper
Kaiser Wilhelm II, came to the German throne
1889 Impulse steam turbine patented (Laval) RN Barracks, Devonport opened Eifel Tower Built
London dock workers and match girls strike for 6d./hour
1890 World's first electric underground railway Cordite introduced into Royal Navy Parnell--O'Shea divorce case ends Parnell's influence; no Home Rule for Ireland 1891 Wireless telegraphy begins Labour MP in the House of Commons 1892 Toothpaste in a tube invented by American dentist, Washington Sheffield Falklands made British colony 1893 Henry Ford builds his first car
X-rays discovered.
Prototype Diesel engine produced (Diesel)
Cemented armour introduced on HMS Renown
France builds 2nd class ironclad for Chile with electrically operated turrets
HMS Havock first British Destroyer
Men allocated to a home port, ie Chatham, Portsmouth or Devonport, but allowed to make a choice dependent on where they lived.
Labour Party formed in UK
British Merchant Shipping Act passed
1894 Lead-acid batteries commercially available . Battle of Yalu
Dual Entente of Russia and France.
1895 Lumiere Brothers introduce cinema
X-rays discovered (Roentgen)
Wireless message first sent between ships in harbour U.S. equals the U.K.'s industrial output 1896 Thomas Edison invents motion picture
Radio transmission demonstrated (Marconi).
Krupp cemented armour introduced on Canopus class
Decision taken to build BRNC Dartmouth
1897 Marconi establishes radio mast at Alum Bay Isle of Wight
Compression ignition engine invented by Diesel
Charles Parsons turbine powered Turbinia causes a stir at the Fleet Review Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review
Klondike gold rush starts
1898 Steam "drifters" introduced Russian Battleship Rostislav first major warship to burn oil fuel exclusively
HMS Viper Royal Navy's first turbine driven vessel ordered
Powerful & Terrible pioneer electrically laid 9.2" guns
German naval expansion under Tirpitz
Nile flotilla in action at Omdurman
First (gasoline/electric) submarine (Holland)
Spanish-American War
Russia took over Port Arthur on the Yellow Sea.
1899 Radio message sent across English Channel
Aspirin invented
Marconi Radios embarked in Alexandria, Europa and Juno for trials
US Navy integrated Executive and Engineer Officers
The Boer War starts
Klondike gold rush ends
1900 Airship introduced - Von Zeppelin
Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams
Contract signed for BRNC Dartmouth Chinese Boxer Rebellion.
Relief of Mafeking
1901 Marconi sends message across Atlantic
Electric car lamps introduced
First operational use of radio during South African War
Launch of HM Submarine No. 1
Queen Victoria Dies; Edward Prince of Wales succeeds
President McKinley USA assassinated
1902 First RN submarines arrived at Portsmouth
Selborne-Fisher Scheme announced: "One system of supply, entry and training...Homogenous training of Executive, Engineer and Marine Officers. . To enter the service as Naval Cadets between ages of 12 & 13... specialization to be definite and final"
i.e. to remain (N), (G), (T), and (E) specialists for whole careerThe Boer War ends
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Alliance
1903 Orville Wright powered flight Kitty Hawk Royal Navy introduces wireless broadcast
Military-style titles introduced for RN Engineers e.g." Engineer Lieutenant" with purple stripe inserted between gold.
Royal Naval College Osborne, I.O.W.opened
Illustrated London News now only illustrates with photographs
U.S. acquires Canal Zone from Panama
1904 All large Royal Navy vessels designed to carry and burn oil fuel
Fisher becomes First Sea Lord
Russo-Japanese War
'Entente Cordiale' of France and Britain
1905 Albert Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity
First marine Diesel engine built Germany
Wireless fitted to most Royal Navy Battleships and Cruisers
Fire Control System introduced
BRNC Dartmouth opened
Russo-Japanese War ends
First Moroccan Crisis
Revolution in Russia
1906 International Radio Telegraphic conference held HMS Dreadnought enters service
First Diesel / electric submarine (German)
1907 Royal Navy standardises on two wireless sets Triple Entente of Russia, France and Britain
First Isle of Man TT motorcycle race
1908 Henry Ford mass-produces the Model T Bosnia Crisis 1909 First Cross-Channel flight (Bleriot) 1910 Royal Navy introduce first wireless set for submarines
First aircraft launch from warship
1911 First experiment on director firing using mechanical wires - a failure Amundsen reaches the South Pole
Second Moroccan (Agadir) Crisis
Italian-Turkish War
1912 Royal Navy introduces wireless set for sea planes
Successful electrical director firing on board HMS Thunderer
The Titanic sinks on her Maiden Voyage
Royal Flying Corps formed - Military & Naval Wings.
Special Entry Scheme started for 18year-old Naval Cadet entry from schools, due to shortage of junior officers from RNCs
First Balkan Wars 1913 Second Balkan War 1914 Panama Canal opened Royal Naval Air Service formed.
BRNC Dartmouth emptied
2 Aug Churchill mobilizes Navy
4 Aug Hostilities commence against Germany
The Great War begins