Historical Chronology 1700-2000
Below are some of the major historical events that occurred during the lifetimes of those ancestors I have so far researched.
Inevitably this is but the briefest of excursions through the many political, technological and social milestones over the last 300 years. They are likely, however, to have had some impact on the lives of my ancestors, even if only as a topic for heated discussion.
| 1702 |  | Queen Anne ascends to the throne |
|---|---|---|
| 1707 | | The Act of Union unites England and Scotland as one country |
| 1712 |  | The first Newcomen steam engine goes into operation |
| 1714 | | King George I ascends to the throne |
| 1715 |  | The first Jacobite rising |
| 1721 | | Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister of Britain |
| 1727 | | King George II ascends to the throne |
| 1733 | | John Kay invents the flying shuttle |
| 1745 | | The second Jacobite rising |
| 1746 | | The second Jacobite rising fails at the Battle of Culloden |
| 1755 | | Samuel Johnson publishes the first English language dictionary |
| 1760 | | King George III ascends to the throne |
| 1762 | | John Ross, an admiral in the British Royal Navy, initiates land tenure reform which leads to the Highland Clearances |
| 1764 | | James Hargreaves develops an improved spinning jenny |
| 1768 | | James Cook sails for the Pacific |
| 1769 | | James Watt develops the steam engine, improving upon Newcomen's design |
| 1771 | | Richard Arkwright's first water powered spinning-mill opens at Cromford |
| 1773 | | The Boston Tea Party |
| 1775 | | The American war of Independence begins |
| 1776 | | Building of the Bridgewater canal is completed |
| 1779 | | Samuel Crompton invents the spinning mule |
| 1781 | | The first iron bridge in the world opens at Ironbridge in Salop |
| 1783 |  | Great Britain recognises the United States of America as an independent nation with the Treaty of Paris |
| 1785 | | Edmund Cartwright invents the power loom |
| 1786 | | Andrew Meikle invents the threshing machine |
| 1787 | | The first convict ships set sail for Australia |
| 1788 | | The first edition of The Times is published |
| 1793 | | Britain goes to war with France in the Napoleonic wars |
| 1798 | | The Battle of the Nile |
| 1798 |  | the Irish Rebellion |
| 1800 |  | The Act of Union with Ireland is passed |
|---|---|---|
| 1801 |  | Joseph Jacquard invents the Jacquard loom |
| 1805 | | The Battle of Trafalgar |
| 1807 | | Britain abolishes the slave trade |
| 1811 | | The Luddite movement begins |
| 1814 | | Joseph Niepce takes the first photograph |
| 1815 | | The Battle of Waterloo |
| 1820 | | King George IV ascends to the throne |
| 1825 | | The world's first steam locomotive passenger service opens |
| 1829 | | Robert Peel sets up the Metropolitan Police force |
| 1830 | | King William IV ascends to the throne |
| 1832 | | The Great Reform Bill |
| 1833 | | The Factory Act restricts working hours for women and children |
| 1834 | | The Poor Law sets up workhouses |
| 1834 | | The Tolpuddle Martyrs are sentenced to transportation for trade union activities |
| 1835 | | Henry Fox Talbot invents Calotype photography |
| 1837 | | Queen Victoria ascends to the throne |
| 1839 | | Louis Daguerre and Joseph Niepce co-invent Daguerreotype photography |
| 1840 | | Rowland Hill reforms the postal service with the introduction of the first adhesive stamp, the Penny Black |
| 1843 | | Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain is launched |
| 1845 | | The start of the Great Irish Famine |
| 1846 | | The start of the ten-year Highland potato famine |
| 1851 | | Window tax is abolished |
| 1851 | | The Great Exhibition opens at Crystal Palace |
| 1851 |  | Gold is discovered near Ballarat in Australia, triggering one of the largest gold rushes ever seen |
| 1854 | | The Crimean War begins |
| 1857 | | The Indian Mutiny breaks out |
| 1861 | | Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies |
| 1863 | | The London Underground opens |
| 1868 | | The last public hanging in Britain occurs at Newgate Prison |
| 1870 | | The Education Act means school for everyone |
| 1876 | | Primary education is made compulsory |
| 1878 | | The first electric street lighting in Britain is installed along Holborn Viaduct in London |
| 1879 | | Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan produce the first electric light bulbs for domestic use |
| 1883 | | The first electric railway opens in Britain |
| 1884 | | George Eastman introduces flexible photographic film |
| 1885 |  | Karl Benz invents the first petrol-powered automobile |
| 1886 | | The Crofters Act gives lands to individuals and establishes the crofting system |
| 1891 | | The Education Act of 1891 means education is effectively free for every child aged 5-13 |
| 1899 | | The Great Boer War begins |
| 1900 | | Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin invents the zeppelin airship |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | | King Edward VII ascends to the throne |
| 1907 | | Auguste and Louis Lumiere invent colour photography |
| 1910 | | King George V ascends to the throne |
| 1912 | | The Titanic sets sail on it's ill-fated maiden voyage |
| 1914 |  | The start of World War One |
| 1916 | | Conscription is introduced in Britain |
| 1916 | | The Battle of the Somme |
| 1917 | | The Battle of Passchendaele |
| 1918 | | World War One ceases as the Germans and Allies sign the armistice |
| 1919 |  | Ernest Rutherford splits the atom |
| 1926 | | The General Strike |
| 1926 | | John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television |
| 1928 | | Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin |
| 1929 | | The Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression |
| 1936 | | King Edward VIII ascends to the throne |
| 1936 | | King George VI ascends to the throne |
| 1937 | | Frank Whittle invents the jet engine |
| 1939 | | The start of World War Two |
| 1940 | | The Battle of Britain |
| 1940 | | Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the coalition government |
| 1941 | | The Clydebank Blitz |
| 1944 | | D-Day - the Normandy landings |
| 1944 | | The Butler Act creates free secondary education |
| 1945 | | VE Day - the war in Europe ends |
| 1945 |  | VJ Day - World War Two ends |
| 1947 | | The start of polaroid photography as Edwin Land demonstrates the first instant camera |
| 1948 | | The National Health Service is established |
| 1951 | | The Festival of Britain |
| 1952 | | Elizabeth II ascends to the throne |
| 1953 | | Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norkay reach the summit of Mount Everest |
| 1965 | | The death penalty is abolished in Britain |
| 1973 |  | Britain joins the EEC |
| 1978 | | The world's first test-tube baby is born in Oldham |
| 1999 | | The Scottish Parliament sits for the first time since 1707 |
