National and International Keydates

This section gives keydates for national and international events to stand alongside the main TBC Multimedia History.

Before 1850

5 BC	(approx) Jesus born in Nazareth
28 AD	(approx) Jesus crucified and rose again
1848	Karl Marx published Communist Manifesto

1850

1851	Great Exhibition held in London
1859	Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species

1860

1861	Prince Albert died
1863	First underground railway opened in London
1865	Lewis Carroll published Alice in Wonderland

1870

1870	Dr Barnado opened first Children's Home
1874	Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone
1879	Edison invented electric light

1880

1885	Benz built first motor car

1890

1890	First Tube line opened in London
1893	James Keir Hardie founded Independent Labour Party
1895	Marconi made first long distance radio broadcast
1896	Invention of moving films (cinema)
1897	Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
1899	Boer War began (ended 1902)

1900

1901	Queen Victoria died, succeeded by King Edward VII
1903	Wright brothers made first heavier than air flight
1905	Einstein published first Theory of Relativity First motorbuses used in London First commercial cinema opened (in USA)
1907	Boy Scouts founded by Lord Baden-Powell

1910

1910	King Edward VII died, succeeded by King George V Girl Guides founded by Lady Baden-Powell
1911	Amundsen reached South Pole (Scott follows in 1912)
1912	Titanic sank on maiden voyage
1913	Einstein published General Theory of Relativity
1914	First World War started
1917	Russian revolution
1918	Women granted (limited) right to vote First World War finished League of Nations formed

1920

1921	Irish Free State established (Eire in 1937)
1922	BBC began radio broadcasting
1924	Ramsay MacDonald became first Labour Prime Minister
1926	General Strike
1928	Talkies introduced (films with sound) Women granted same voting rights as men
1929	Wall Street Crash

1930

1933	Hitler came to power in Germany
1936	King George V died, succeeded by King Edward VIII King Edward VIII abdicated, succeeded by King George VI BBC began tv broadcasting
1938	Munich crisis
1939	First jet aircraft flown (in Germany) Second World War started

1940

1942	Oxfam founded
1945	First atomic bomb exploded Second World War ended Labour Party landslide win in General Election United Nations replaced League of Nations
1946	Coal mines nationalised
1947	India and Pakistan became independent
1948	West Indian immigrants arrived in UK on MS Windrush National Health Service established Railways nationalised George Orwell published 1984

1950

1951	Festival of Britain King George VI died, succeeded by Queen Elizabeth II
1952	Hillary and Tensing made first ascent of Everest
1953	Stalin died
1954	Transistor radio introduced
1955	Independent Television Authority began broadcasts
1956	Suez crisis First British nuclear power station opened
1957	European Economic Community (EEC) founded Sputnik launched (first satellite)

1960

1960	Nigeria became independent
1961	Berlin Wall built
1962	Cuban missile crisis Satellite transmission of tv and telephone
1963	John F Kennedy assassinated Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
1966	England won World Cup (soccer)
1967	Conversion of homes to natural gas First heart transplant (in South Africa) BBC started colour tv broadcasting BBC started local radio stations
1968	Martin Luther King Jnr assassinated
1969	Apollo 11 - first Moon landing Origins of the Internet

1970

1971	Pound decimalised
1972
1973	UK joined European Economic Community (EEC)
1974
1975
1976
1977	Elvis Presley died
1978	First test-tube baby born
1979	Conservative Party won General Election

1980

1980
1981
1982	Falklands War
1983	Conservatives won General Election IBM PC launched Mobiles phones launched in London
1984	British Telecom privatised
1985
1986	British Gas privatised
1987	Conservatives won General Election
1988
1989	Berlin Wall demolished Tiananmen Square demonstration Water companies privatised (England and Wales)

1990

1990	Germany reunified John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister
1990-91	British electricity companies privatised (non-nuclear) Gulf War
1992	Conservatives won General Election Tim Berners-Lee invented WWW Rio Earth Summit
1993
1994	Coal mines privatised
1995-97	Railways privatised
1996	Nuclear electricity generation privatised
1997	Labour Party landslide victory in General Election Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister Kyoto Climate Change Summit
1998	Digital television launched in the UK Hottest year of the Millennium
1999	Euro launched

2000

2000	Millennium Celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ
2001	Labour Party won the General Election World Trade Centre destruction (9 September)
2002	World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg
2003	Iraq War
2004	South East Asia Tsunami (26 December)
2005	Make Poverty History Campaign launched Labour Party won the General Election Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans London Tube bombings
2007	Apple launches iPhone Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister
2007-9	Global financial crisis
2008	Barak Obama elected President of USA

2010

2010	Conservative Party won General Election David Cameron becomes Prime Minister Haiti earthquake
2011	Japanese earthquake
2012	Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee London Olympic and Paralympic Games
2015	Conservative Party won General Election Paris Agreement on Climate Change
2016	Brexit Referendum Theresa May becomes Prime Minister