Steam engine invented by Thomas Newcomen

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Power, Mining, Energy

Thomas Newcomen builds the first commercial steam engine to pump water out of mines. Newcomen's engine, unlike Thomas Savery's, uses a piston.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Engine, Mining, Energy

Flying shuttle invented by John Kay

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Textile Industry, Manufacturing

Lewis Paul and John Wyatt invent the first mechanized cotton spinning machine.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Textile Industry, Manufacturing

Marvel's Mill, the first water-powered cotton mill, begins operation in England.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Textile Industry, Manufacturing, Economy

John Roebuck invents the lead chamber process.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Chemistry, Manufacturing, Early Technology

The Treaty of Pondicherry ends the Second Carnatic War and recognizes Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah as Nawab of the Carnatic.

Tags: Treaty, Colonialism, British Empire, French East India Company, Carnatic Wars, Political Settlement

George III becomes King of Britain.

Tags: Monarchy, British Empire, Succession, American Revolution

James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Textile Industry, Manufacturing, Mechanization

James Watt enhances Newcomen's steam engine, allowing new steel technologies

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Engine, James Watt, Steel Production, Manufacturing

James Watt invents the improved steam engine utilizing a separate condenser.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Engine, James Watt, Manufacturing, Energy

The Stamp Act is introduced into the American colonies by the British Parliament.

Tags: Colonialism, Taxation, British Empire, American Revolution, Parliament, Protest, Representation

1779: James Cook mapped the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean and discovered many Pacific Islands

Tags: Exploration, Cartography, Age of Exploration, British Empire, Scientific Revolution, James Cook

1770: James Cook explores and maps New Zealand and Australia.

Tags: Exploration, Mapping, Age of Exploration, British Empire, Maritime History, Colonialism, James Cook, Cartography

Richard Salter invents the earliest known design for a weighing scale.

Tags: Measurement, Industrial Revolution, Trade

James Cook claims the East Coast of Australia (New South Wales) for Great Britain.

Tags: Colonialism, Exploration, British Empire, New South Wales, James Cook, Imperialism, Indigenous Australians

Richard Arkwright and his partners build the world's first water-powered mill at Cromford.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Textile Industry, Manufacturing

John Wilkinson invents his boring machine, considered by some to be the first machine tool.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Machine Tools, Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering

Jesse Ramsden invents the modern screw-cutting lathe.

Tags: Manufacturing, Industrial Revolution, Precision, Machine Tools, Mechanization

First improved steam engines installed by James Watt

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Engine, James Watt, Manufacturing, Energy

John Wilkinson invents a mechanical air compressor that would become the prototype for all later mechanical compressors.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Engineering, Inventions, Mining, Manufacturing

Robert Barron invents the first lever tumbler lock.

Tags: Security, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Revolution

James Cook becomes the first European to land on the Hawaiian Islands.

Tags: Exploration, European Colonization, Indigenous Peoples, British Empire, Hawaii, James Cook, Discovery, Maritime History

Power loom invented by Edmund Cartwright

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Textile Industry, Mechanization, Manufacturing, Economic History

Threshing machine invented by Andrew Meikle

Tags: Agriculture, Industrial Revolution

First permanent European settlement established in Australia by Britain at Sydney.

Tags: Colonialism, British Empire, Exploration, Settlement, New South Wales, Indigenous Australians

Great Britain and Spain dispute the Nootka Sound during the Nootka Crisis.

Tags: Imperialism, Colonialism, Territorial Disputes, Diplomacy, Pacific Northwest, Trade, British Empire, Spanish Empire, Exploration

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano

Tags: Slavery, Transatlantic Slave Trade, Abolitionism, British Empire, African Diaspora, Human Rights

Thomas Saint invents the sewing machine.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Inventions, Textiles, Manufacturing, Patents

Joseph Bramah invents the hydraulic press.

Tags: Manufacturing, Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Engineering

Trinidad put under British rule.

Tags: Colonialism, British Empire, Imperialism, Territorial Expansion, Napoleonic Wars, Geopolitics

Samuel Bentham invents plywood.

Tags: Woodworking, Manufacturing, Industrial Revolution

George Medhurst invents the first motorized air compressor.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing

The Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merge to form the United Kingdom.

Tags: British Empire, Nationalism, Political Consolidation, Irish History, Legislation

Humphry Davy invents the arc lamp (exact date unclear; not practical as a light source until the invention of efficient electric generators).

Tags: Electricity, Lighting, Experimentation, Industrial Revolution

William Symington demonstrates his Charlotte Dundas, the "first practical steamboat".

Tags: Transportation, Industrial Revolution

First steam locomotive begins operation.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Transportation, Steam Power

Richard Trevithick invents the steam locomotive.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Power, Transportation

Cape Colony becomes part of the British Empire.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Expansionism, Imperialism, Napoleonic Wars, Cape Colony, Political Control

Sierra Leone becomes British colony.

Tags: Colonialism, British Empire, Imperialism, Political History, Atlantic Slave Trade, Slavery, Governance, Sierra Leone

William Reid Clanny pioneered the invention of the safety lamp which he improved in later years. Safety lamps based on Clanny's improved design were u...

Tags: Mining, Safety, Industrial Revolution

William Hedley's Puffing Billy demonstrates power of steam locomotives.

Tags: Steam Engine, Transportation, Industrial Revolution, Mining

James Fox invents the modern planing machine, though Matthew Murray of Leeds and Richard Roberts of Manchester have also been credited at times with i...

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Manufacturing

Robert Stirling invents the Stirling engine.

Tags: Engine, Thermodynamics, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Revolution

Marc Isambard Brunel invents the tunnelling shield.

Tags: Construction, Infrastructure, Transportation, Industrial Revolution

The modern city of Singapore is established by the British East India Company.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, East India Company, Trade, Geopolitics

Michael Faraday and James Stoddart discover alloying iron with chromium produces a stainless steel resistant to oxidising elements (rust).

Tags: Metallurgy, Chemistry, Materials Science, Industrial Revolution, Michael Faraday, Steel

Dissolution of the Maratha Empire in India.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Maratha Empire, East India Company, Political Transition, Annexation, Imperialism

Charles Babbage, considered the "father of the computer", begins building the first programmable mechanical computer.

Tags: Computer Science, Mechanical Computer, Industrial Revolution, Algorithms

William Sturgeon invents the electromagnet.

Tags: Electricity, Magnetism, Physics, Industrial Revolution

Joseph Aspdin develops Portland cement (concrete), by heating ground limestone, clay and gypsum, in a kiln.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Construction, Materials Science, Concrete

The Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public railway in the world, opens in England.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Transportation, Railways, Economic Development

John Walker invents the friction match.

Tags: Inventions, Industrial Revolution, Chemistry, Lighting, Consumer Goods

James Sharp invents and goes on to manufacture the first practical gas stove.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Domestic Life

James Beaumont Neilson develops the hot blast process.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Metallurgy

Patrick Bell invents the reaping machine.

Tags: Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Revolution, Agriculture

First electric motor built.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Electricity, Michael Faraday

William Mann invents the compound air compressor.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Steam Power

Henry Robinson Palmer is awarded a patent for corrugated galvanised iron.

Tags: Patent, Industrial Revolution, Metalworking

Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Transportation, Railways, Economic Development

Edwin Budding invents the lawn mower.

Tags: Inventions, Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Engineering, Agriculture

Anglo-Russian rivalry over Afghanistan, the Great Game, commences and concludes in 1895.

Tags: Great Game, Imperialism, Geopolitics, Colonialism, British Empire, Russian Empire, Diplomacy

Slavery Abolition Act 1833 bans slavery throughout the British Empire; owners are reimbursed.

Tags: Abolitionism, Slavery, British Empire, Colonialism, Human Rights, Legislation, Social Reform, Economic Impact

Telegraphy patented.

Tags: Communication, Samuel Morse, Telegraph, Industrial Revolution

1837–1838: Rebellions of 1837 fail in Canada.

Tags: Rebellion, Colonialism, Political Reform, British Empire, Canadian History, Lower Canada, Upper Canada

1837–1901: Queen Victoria reigns during the apex of the British Empire; this is the Victorian era.

Tags: British Empire, Monarchy, Queen Victoria, Imperialism, Colonialism, Global Power

James Nasmyth invents the steam hammer.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Power, Manufacturing, Mechanization

New Zealand is founded, as the Treaty of Waitangi is signed by the Māori and British.

Tags: Colonialism, Treaty, Indigenous Rights, British Empire, Nationalism, Political Agreements, Settler Colonialism

Alexander Bain devises a printing telegraph.

Tags: Telegraph, Communication, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Revolution

John Bennet Lawes invents superphosphate, the first man-made fertilizer.

Tags: Agriculture, Industrial Revolution, Scientific Advancement, Farming

Treaty of Nanking cedes Hong Kong to the British.

Tags: Imperialism, Colonialism, Treaties, British Empire, Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, Trade

Isaac Charles Johnson invents modern Portland cement.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Construction, Materials Science, Infrastructure

Jonathan J. Couch invents the pneumatic drill.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Construction, Mining, Tools

The safety pin and the gas mask are invented.

Tags: Inventions, Industrial Revolution, Safety, Public Health, Military Technology

William Armstrong invents the hydraulic accumulator.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing

Bessemer process enables steel to be mass-produced.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steel, Metallurgy, Manufacturing, Mass Production, Economic Development

Henry Bessemer patents the Bessemer process for making steel, with improvements made by others over the following years.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steel Production, Metallurgy, Manufacturing, Economy

Alexander Parkes invents parkesine, also known as celluloid, the first man-made plastic.

Tags: Plastic, Materials Science, Industrial Revolution, Manufacturing, Chemical Engineering

William Henry Perkin invents mauveine, the first synthetic dye.

Tags: Chemistry, Textiles, Industrial Revolution, Manufacturing

Robert Forester Mushet develops a process for the decarbonisation, and re-carbonisation of iron, through the addition of a calculated quantity of spie...

Tags: Steel, Industrial Revolution, Metallurgy, Manufacturing, Economy

1857–1858: Indian Rebellion of 1857: The British Empire assumes control of India from the East India Company.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Rebellion, East India Company, Governance, Imperialism, Political Transition

1858–1947: British Empire in India lasts for 90 years.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Imperialism, Political History, Decolonization, East India Company

First section of the London Underground opens.

Tags: Transportation, Urbanization, Infrastructure, Industrial Revolution

Canadian Confederation formed.

Tags: Confederation, British Empire, Political Development, Self-Government, Canadian History, Federalism

Safety bicycle invented.

Tags: Transportation, Industrial Revolution, Cycling, Social Change

Robert Forester Mushet discovers that alloying steel with tungsten produces a harder, more durable alloy.

Tags: Steel, Metallurgy, Industrial Revolution, Manufacturing, Materials Science

J.E.T. Woods and J. Clark invented stainless steel. Harry Brearley was the first to commercialize it.

Tags: Metallurgy, Material Science, Industrial Revolution, Steel, Manufacturing

Frederick Ransome invents the rotary kiln.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Manufacturing, Construction, Materials Science

HMS Challenger surveys the deepest point in the Earth's oceans, the Challenger Deep.

Tags: Oceanography, Exploration, Scientific Expedition, Mapping, Geography, British Empire

Queen Victoria becomes Empress of India.

Tags: British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Queen Victoria, Governance, Political Power, Monarchy

Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison independently patented functional incandescent light bulbs, ending decades of unsuccessful experimentation. Edison's hig...

Tags: Electricity, Lighting, Industrial Revolution, Thomas Edison, Global Impact

First electrical power plant and grid in Godalming, Britain.

Tags: Electricity, Power Generation, Industrial Revolution

First electric car produced by Thomas Parker in Wolverhampton.

Tags: Automobile, Transportation, Industrial Revolution

Sir Charles Parsons invents the modern steam turbine.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Steam Power, Energy, Manufacturing, Transportation

John Kemp Starley invents the modern safety bicycle.

Tags: Transportation, Industrial Revolution, Urbanization

Britain establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland (modern Botswana).

Tags: Colonialism, British Empire, Protectorate, Imperialism, Diplomacy, Territorial Expansion

Burma is presented to Queen Victoria as a birthday gift.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Imperialism, Queen Victoria, Annexation, Expansionism, Political History

James Blyth invents the first wind turbine used for generating electricity.

Tags: Renewable Energy, Wind Power, Industrial Revolution, Energy

The British Empire takes over Balochistan.

Tags: British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Geopolitics, Annexation, Great Game

The first practical pneumatic tire was made by Scotsman John Boyd Dunlop, the patent was from 1847 by Robert William Thomson

Tags: Transportation, Automobile, Rubber, Industrial Revolution, Patent

First gramophone record.

Tags: Sound Recording, Communication, Music, Entertainment, Industrial Revolution, Mass Media

The first motorized cleaner using suction, a powered "vacuum cleaner", is patented independently by Hubert Cecil Booth and David T. Kenney.

Tags: Industrial Revolution, Patent, Consumerism

January 22: Edward VII became King of England and India after Queen Victoria's death.

Tags: Monarchy, British Empire, Succession, Imperialism, Governance

July 12: Arthur Balfour becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Tags: Prime Minister, Edwardian Era, British Empire, Political Leadership

August 31: The Anglo-Russian Convention bring an end to the Great Game in Central Asia.

Tags: Imperialism, Great Game, Geopolitics, British Empire, Russian Empire, Diplomacy, Colonialism

April 8: Liberal H. H. Asquith becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Tags: Prime Minister, Liberal Party, Edwardian Era, British Empire, Government

March 10: Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 signed (effective on July 9).

Tags: Treaty, Colonialism, British Empire, Thailand, Imperialism, Political Agreements

March 12: Indian Councils Act passed.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Political Reform, Indian Independence Movement, Representation

May 6: George V becomes King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India upon the death of Edward VII.

Tags: British Empire, Monarchy, Succession, Imperialism, World War I

May 31: Union of South Africa is created.

Tags: Colonialism, Apartheid, British Empire, South African History, Political Union, Self-governance

December 12: New Delhi becomes the capital of British India.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Governance, Political History, Imperialism

December 19: The United Kingdom establishes the Sultanate of Egypt as a protectorate.

Tags: British Empire, Imperialism, Protectorate, Colonialism, World War I

Harry Brearley invents a process to create Martensitic stainless steel, initially labelled Rustless Steel, later marketed as Staybrite, and AISI Type ...

Tags: Metallurgy, Materials Science, Industrial Revolution, World War I

December 6: Liberal David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Tags: Prime Minister, World War I, Liberal Party, Government, British Empire

Paris Peace Conference writes Treaty of Versailles that punishes Germany.

Tags: World War I, Treaty, Peace Treaty, Post-War, League of Nations, Interwar Period

July: The 1919 Egyptian revolution erupts.

Tags: Anti-Colonialism, Nationalism, British Empire, Independence Movements

April 25: Mandatory Palestine established.

Tags: Mandate System, British Empire, Zionism, World War I, Ottoman Empire, Colonialism, League of Nations

February 28: Egypt gains independence from the United Kingdom, though British forces still occupy the Suez Canal.

Tags: Independence, Decolonization, British Empire, Nationalism, Suez Canal, Political Transition, Mandate System, Interwar Period

October 23: Conservative Bonar Law becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Tags: Prime Minister, Conservative Party, British Empire, Interwar Period, Government

Harry Ferguson, patents the Three-point hitch equipment linkage system for tractors.

Tags: Agriculture, Farming, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Revolution

May 13: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland officially becomes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Tags: Northern Ireland, British Empire, Political Geography, Government

Frank Whittle formally submitted his ideas for a turbo-jet engine. In October 1929, he developed his ideas further. On 16 January 1930, Whittle submit...

Tags: Aviation, World War II, Patent

Malta becomes a British Dominion.

Tags: British Empire, Colonialism, Self-governance, Malta, World War II

November: First Round Table Conference between India and Great Britain, which goes until January 1931.

Tags: British Empire, Indian Independence Movement, Colonialism, Self-Government, Gandhi, Imperialism

December 11: Statute of Westminster creates the British Commonwealth of Nations. Independence of South Africa.

Tags: Decolonization, Commonwealth, British Empire, Independence, Self-governance, International Relations, Diplomacy, Imperialism

Independence of South Africa.

Tags: Independence, Decolonization, British Empire, Commonwealth, Imperialism, Nationalism, South African History

The neutron is discovered by James Chadwick.

Tags: Physics, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, World War II, Global Impact

December 19: BBC World Service starts broadcasting.

Tags: Media, Communication, World War II, Propaganda, International Relations

Third Round Table Conference.

Tags: British Empire, Indian Independence Movement, Colonialism, Self-Government, Gandhi, Indian National Congress

October 14: Germany announces its withdrawal from the League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference, after the U.S., the U.K. and France deny...

Tags: World War II, League of Nations, Weimar Republic, International Relations, Diplomacy, Political Tensions

January 20: Edward VIII becomes King of the British Commonwealth and Emperor of India.

Tags: British Empire, Monarchy, Succession, Commonwealth, World War II, Imperialism

December 11: After a reign shorter than one year, Edward VIII abdicates and hands the throne to his brother, George VI.

Tags: Monarchy, Abdication, British Empire

May 28: Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Tags: Prime Minister, Appeasement, World War II, Parliament

Nuclear fission discovered in experiment by chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch. The German nuc...

Tags: Nuclear Physics, World War II, Cold War, Manhattan Project, Scientific Breakthrough

June 15: Hungarian newspaper editor László Bíró fills a British patent of the first commercially successful ballpoint pen. This would popularize the i...

Tags: Patent, Design, World War II, Post-War, Consumer Goods

September 30: Munich Agreement hands Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany.

Tags: Appeasement, Nazi Germany, World War II, Czechoslovakia, Adolf Hitler, Treaty, Diplomacy

John Randall and Harry Boot would develop the high power, microwave generating, cavity magnetron, later applied to commercial Radar and Microwave oven...

Tags: World War II, Radio Technology, Physics, Electromagnetism

May 10: Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Tags: World War II, Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, British Empire, Allies

Polyester is invented by John Rex Whinfield and James Dickson.

Tags: Textiles, Synthetic Materials, Chemistry, Industrial Revolution

June 1: First operational electronic computer, Colossus, comes online.

Tags: World War II, Cryptography, Computer Science, Information Technology, Military Technology

Howard Florey Mass production of penicillin

Tags: Medicine, Antibiotics, World War II, Alexander Fleming, Public Health

February 4 – 11: Yalta Conference.

Tags: World War II, Diplomacy, Allied Powers, Soviet Union, Cold War, Divided Germany, International Relations

June 26: United Nations founded (UN Charter).

Tags: United Nations, Post-World War II, Diplomacy, Global Governance, Multilateralism, Peacekeeping, World War II, Allied Powers, San Francisco