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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1839 | - 1839: First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) – Britain captures Hong Kong
- 1839: Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan refines the primitive bicycle, adding a
mechanical crank drive to the rear wheel, thus creating the first true "bicycle" in the modern
sense
- 1839: Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
|
| 2 | 1840 | - 1840: Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
- 1840: Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed
elsewhere)
- 10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
|
| 3 | 1841 | - 1841: Thomas Cook starts package tours
- 10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
- 6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
|
| 4 | 1842 | - 1842: Income Tax reintroduced in Britain
- 30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anaesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America)
- 29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking – End of First Opium War – Britain gains Hong Kong
|
| 5 | 1843 | - 1843: First Christmas card in England
- 27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London
- 19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
|
| 6 | 1844 | - 6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
|
| 7 | 1845 | - 1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
- 17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
|
| 8 | 1846 | - 10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
|
| 9 | 1847 | - 1847: US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre
- Jan 1847: An anaesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
|
| 10 | 1848 | - 1848: First commercial production of chewing gum
- 24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California – starts the California gold rush
- 11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
|
| 11 | 1849 | - 1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation – which finally
occurred in 1971!
|
| 12 | 1851 | - 1851: Gold discovered in Australia
- 1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ("Crystal Palace" exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
|
| 13 | 1852 | - 1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
- 1852: Wells Fargo established in USA
|
| 14 | 1853 | - 1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
|
| 15 | 1854 | - 1854: Cigarettes introduced into Britain
- 27 Mar 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War)
- 25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
|
| 16 | 1856 | - 1856: End of Crimean War
- 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 | - 1857: Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
|
| 18 | 1858 | - 1858: 'The great stink' – smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work
- 1858: Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
|
| 19 | 1859 | - 1859: Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain
- 25 Apr 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869)
- 4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon
and Cornwall
- 24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species"
|
| 20 | 1860 | - 29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
|
| 21 | 1861 | - 25 May 1861: American Civil War begins
|
| 22 | 1862 | - 1862: Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks)
- 20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
|
| 23 | 1863 | - 1863: Football Association founded (UK)
- 1863: Opening of state institution for criminally insane at Broadmoor, England
- 10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
|
1839 - 1863 (24 years)