This tread is for the UK events. There are no British events at the moment so there is a lot of work to do here. Suggested events:
UK:
And in case Ireland breaks free, here are Irish events:
UK:
Code:
1919 Jan 2, There was an anti-British uprising in Ireland.
(MC, 1/2/02)
1919 Jan 5, British ships shelled the Bolshevik headquarters in Riga.
(HN, 1/5/99)
1919 Apr 4, Antony Tudor, choreographer (Metropolitan Opera 1957), was born in England.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1919 Apr 13, In the Amritsar Massacre British forces under the command of General Reginald Dyer killed hundreds of Indian nationalists in the thickly crowded plaza at Jallianwala Bagh.
(HN, 4/13/98)(EWH, 4th ed., p.1101)
1919 May 9, Arthur English, comedian, actor (Malachi's Cove), was born.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1919 May 18, Margot Fonteyn, ballet dancer, was born in Surrey, England.
(HN, 5/18/01)
1919 Jul 15, Iris Murdoch (d.1999), author of 28 novels (A Severed Head, The Black Prince), was born in Dublin.
(SFC, 2/9/99, p.A20)(HN, 7/15/01)
1919 Jul 21, The British House of Lords ratified the Versailles Treaty.
(HN, 7/21/98)
1919 Aug 28, Godfrey Hounsfield, British inventor of the EMI-scanner, was born.
(RTH, 8/28/99)
1919 Sep 27, British troops withdrew from Archangel.
(MC, 9/27/01)
1919 Oct 26, Elgar's Cello Concerto premiered in Queen's Hall London.
(MC, 10/26/01)
1919 Nov 11, The first 2-minutes’ silence was observed in Britain to commemorate those who died in the Great War.
(HN, 11/11/98)
1919 Nov 28, American-born Lady Astor was elected the first female member of the British Parliament.
(DTnet 11/28/97)(HN, 11/28/98)
1919 Dec 1, AA Milne's "Mr. Pim Passes By," premiered in Manchester.
(MC, 12/1/01)
1919 Dec 1, Lady Astor was sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament.
(AP, 12/1/00)
1919 Dec 10, Captain Ross Smith became the first person to fly 11,500 miles from England to Australia.
(HN, 12/10/98)
1919 Dec 23, Britain instituted a new constitution for India.
(HN, 12/23/98)
1919-1921 The 3rd Anglo-Afghan war began. The British were defeated, and Afghanistan gained full control of her foreign affairs.
([url]www.afghan[/url], 5/25/98)(WSJ, 8/25/98, p.A14)
1920 Feb 4, The 1st flight from London to South Africa took off and lasted 1 month.
(MC, 2/4/02)
1920 Mar 23, Britain denounced the U.S. because of their delay in joining the League of Nations.
(HN, 3/23/98)
1920 Mar 28, Dirk Bogarde, actor (Death in Venice, Servant), was born in London, England.
(MC, 3/28/02)
1920 Mar 31, British parliament accepted Irish "Home Rule" law.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1920 Apr 20, Balfour Declaration was recognized. This made Palestine a British Mandate.
(MC, 4/20/02)
1920 Apr 24, British Mandate over Palestine went into effect and lasted for 28 years.
(MC, 4/24/02)
1920 May 10, Richard Adams, English novelist (Watership Down), was born.
(HN, 5/10/02)
1920 Aug 3, P.D. James (Phyllis Dorothy James), British mystery writer, was born.
(HN, 8/3/00)
1920 Aug 13, George Shearing, blind pianist, composer (Lullaby of Byrdland), was born in London.
(MC, 8/13/02)
1920 Sep 2, W. Somerset Maugham's "East of Suez," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1920 England passed a Firearms Bill to regulate private use.
(WSJ, 8/6/02, p.D6)
1920 Another Government of Ireland Act was passed by the British government. This act had a proviso that the reunification of Ireland was an ultimate goal.
(WSJ,3/13/95, p.A-15)
1920 Adm. John Fisher, former First Sea Lord, died. In 1969 Richard Hough authored "Admiral of the Fleet: The Life of John Fisher."
(ON, 3/02, p.11)
1921 Feb 5, John M. Pritchard, conductor, was born in London, England.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1921 Feb 12, Winston Churchill of London was appointed colonial secretary.
(HN, 2/12/97)
1921 Feb 18, British troops occupied Dublin.
(MC, 2/18/02)
1921 Mar 1, The Allies rejected a $7.5 billion reparations offer in London. German delegations decided to quit all talks.
(HN, 3/1/98)
1921 Mar 1, Rwanda was ceded to England.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1921 Mar 16, Britain signed a bilateral trade agreement with Russia.
(HN, 3/16/98)
1921 Mar 17, Dr Marie Stopes opened Britain's 1st birth control clinic in London.
(MC, 3/17/02)
1921 Mar 28, Dirk Niven Van den Bogaerde (d.1999) was born in London. He later achieved fame as an actor with the title Sir Dirk Borgarde.
(SFEC, 5/9/99, p.C8)
1921 Mar 30, Countess of Sutherland, English great land owner, multi-millionaire, was born.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1921 Mar 31, Great Britain declared a state of emergency because of the thousands of coal miners on strike.
(HN, 3/31/98)
1921 Apr 16, Peter Ustinov, actor (Death on Nile, Logan's Run, Billy Budd), was born in London.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1921 May 27, Afghanistan achieved sovereignty after 84 years of British control.
(MC, 5/27/02)
1921 Jun 10, Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince, Consort of Elizabeth II, was born in Greece.
(MC, 6/10/02)
1921 Jun 28, A coal strike in Great Britain was settled after three months.
(HN, 6/28/98)
1921 Jul 8, Great Britain and Ireland agreed to end hostilities after centuries of strife. Southern Ireland was granted independence and 6 counties in Northern Ireland remained part of the UK.
(SFC, 10/14/99, p.C5)
1921 Oct 21, Malcolm Arnold, composer (Bridge over River Kwai), was born in Northampton, England.
(MC, 10/21/01)
1921 Dec 5, The British Empire reached an accord with Sinn Fein; Ireland was to become a free state.
(HN, 12/5/98)
1921 Dec 6, Ireland’s 26 southern counties became independent from Britain forming the Irish Free State.
(HN, 12/6/00)
1921 Sir Alfred Munnings painted a portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales, astride his mare Forest Witch. It sold for $2.3 million in 1998.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A2)
1921 The M16 intelligence agency was formed.
(SFC, 9/21/00, p.A12)
1921 Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence promoted "the sherifian solution," under which the Hashemite family-- Hussein, the sherif of Mecca, and his sons, would rule over the region under Britain's eye.
(Econ, 7/19/03, p.69)
1921 At the Cairo Conference Britain and France carved up Arabia and created Jordan under Emir Abdullah; his brother Faisal became King of Iraq. France was given influence over Syria and Jewish immigration was allowed into Palestine. Faisal I died one year after independence and his son, Ghazi I succeeded him.
(HNQ, 6/20/99)(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.D3)
c1921 The unknown soldier of Great Britain was buried in Westminster Abbey.
(SFC, 5/27/96, p.B8)
1921 In India Mohandas Gandhi began peaceful the noncooperation movement against British rule.
(SFEC, 8/3/97, p.A15)
1922 Feb 2, James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" was published in Paris with 1,000 copies.
(SFC, 10/15/99, p.C12)(MC, 2/2/02)
1922 Feb 6, The Washington Disarmament Conference came to an end with signature of final treaty forbidding fortification of the Aleutian Islands for 14 years. The US, UK, France, Italy & Japan signed the Washington naval arms limitation.
(HN, 2/6/99)(MC, 2/6/02)
1922 Feb 15, Marconi began regular broadcasting transmissions from Essex.
(MC, 2/15/02)
1922 Feb 28, Britain declared Egypt a sovereign state, but British troops remained.
(HN, 2/28/98)(MC, 2/28/02)
1922 Mar 16, Sultan Fuad I was crowned king of Egypt. England recognized Egypt.
(MC, 3/16/02)
1922 Mar 18, Mohandas K. Gandhi was sentenced in India to six years' imprisonment for civil disobedience. He was released after serving two years. [see Mar 22]
(AP, 3/18/97)(HN, 3/18/98)
1922 Mar 22, A British court sentenced Mahatma Gandhi to 6 years in prison. [see Mar 18]
(MC, 3/22/02)
1922 Apr 13, John Gerard Braine, British novelist (Room at the Top), was born.
(HN, 4/13/01)
1922 Apr 15, Neville Mariner, conductor, was born. [see Apr 15,1924]
(HN, 4/15/01)
1922 Apr 16, Kingsley Amis (d.1995), novelist and poet, was born. He wrote more than 20 novels and 6 volumes of verse. His work included "The King’s English: A Guide to Modern Usage." In 1998 Eric Jacobs published the biography "Kingsley Amis."
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-1)(SFEC, 7/19/98, BR p.3)(HN, 4/16/01)
1922 Jun 30, Irish rebels in London assassinated Sir Henry Wilson, the British deputy for Northern Ireland.
(HN, 6/30/98)
1922 Jul 17, Donald Davie, English poet and literary critic, was born.
(HN, 7/17/01)
1922 Sep 11, The British mandate of Palestine began.
(MC, 9/11/01)
1922 Nov 6, King George V proclaimed Irish Free state.
(MC, 11/6/01)
1922 Nov 14, The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, began the first daily radio broadcasts from Marconi House.
(AP, 11/14/97)(HN, 11/14/98)
1922 Harley Granville Barker, English playwright, wrote "The Secret Life," a romantic melodrama set in England’s countryside after WW I.
(WSJ, 8/29/97, p.A9)
1922 T.S. Eliot wrote his long poem "The Waste Land."
(WSJ, 9/12/96, p.A14)
1922 Scotland joined the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
(WSJ, 4/16/97, p.A13)
1923 Jan 4, The Paris Conference on war reparations hit a deadlock as the French insisted on the hard line and the British insisted on Reconstruction.
(HN, 1/4/99)
1923 Apr 6, Lord Carnarvon died in Egypt from an infected mosquito bite.
(ON, 5/00, p.8)
1923 Apr 21, John Mortimor, British barrister and playwright, was born. He created Rumpole of the Bailey.
(HN, 4/21/99)
1923 Apr 23, Lady Elizabeth (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1900-2002) married Prince Albert, Duke of York (d.1952) in Westminster Abbey. Albert was crowned King of England in 1937. [see Apr 26]
(SFC, 8/5/00, p.A12)(WSJ, 8/10/00, p.A16)(SSFC, 3/31/02, p.A3)
1923 Apr 26, English prince Albert (George VI) married lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. [see Apr 23]
(MC, 4/26/02)
1923 May 25, Britain recognized Transjordan with Abdullah as its leader.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1923 Aug 12, Enrico Tiraboschi became the 1st to swim English Channel westward.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1923 Aug 29, Richard Attenborough, actor, director (Gandhi, Young Winston), was born in England.
(MC, 8/29/01)
1923 Sep 4, Noel Coward's revue "London Calling," premiered in London.
(MC, 9/4/01)
1923 Nov 25, Transatlantic broadcasting from England to America for the first time.
(HN, 11/25/98)
1923 Dec 21, Nepal changed from British protectorate to independent nation.
(MC, 12/21/01)
1923 Dec 31, BBC began using the Big Ben chime ID.
(MC, 12/31/01)
1923 P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) authored "Leave It to Psmith."
(NW, 8/20/01, p.56)
1923 King George V chose Stanley Baldwin for the premiership instead of George Curzon.
(WSJ, 6/11/03, p.D10)
1924 Jan 3, British Egyptologist Howard Carter found the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1924 Feb 1, Soviet Union was formally recognized by Britain.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1924 Mar 26, Premiere of Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan" in London.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1924 Apr 1, Imperial Airways was formed in Britain.
(OTD)
1924 Apr 15, Neville Mariner, conductor, was born in Lincoln, England. [see Apr 15,1922]
(MC, 4/15/02)
1924 Jun 23, Cecil [James] Sharp (64), English folk musician, died.
(MC, 6/23/02)
1924 Aug 15, Robert Oxton Bolt, English screenwriter and playwright, was born. He is best known for "A Man for all Seasons."
(HN, 8/15/00)(MC, 8/15/02)
1924 Nov 2, Sunday Express published the 1st British crossword puzzle.
(MC, 11/2/01)
1924 Nov 22, England ordered the Egyptians out of Sudan.
(MC, 11/22/01)
1924 Edward Dene Morel, Congo activist, was elected to Parliament.
(SFEM, 8/16/98, p.12)
1924 Edward Dene Morel, Congo activist, died of a heart attack at age 51.
(SFEM, 8/16/98, p.12)
1925 Jan 21, Benny Hill, British comedian who hosted his own comedy show, was born in Southampton, England. 1924 also given as birth date.
(HN, 1/21/99)(MC, 1/21/02)
1925 Feb 15, The London Zoo announced it would install lights to cheer up fogged in animals.
(HN, 2/15/98)
1925 Mar 21, Peter Brook, director (1776), TV writer, was born in London.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1925 Apr 3, Tony Benn, British minister of technology (1968), was born.
(MC, 4/3/02)
1925 Apr 23, The 1st London performance of operetta "Fasquita" was staged.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1925 May 1, Cyprus became a British Crown Colony.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1925 May 14, Henry Rider Haggard, English writer (Dawn, She), died.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1925 Jun 15, Richard Baker, English broadcaster, was born.
(HT, 6/15/00)
1925 Jul 31, An Unemployment Insurance Act was passed in England.
(MC, 7/31/02)
1925 Sep 8, Peter Sellers, English comic actor, was born. He became famous for his role as Inspector Clouseau.
(HN, 9/8/00)
1925 Oct 13, Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain’s first female Prime Minister (1979-90), was born in Grantham, England.
(HN, 10/13/98)(MC, 10/13/01)
1925 Oct 16, Angela Lansbury, actress (Jessica-Murder She Wrote), was born in London, England.
(MC, 10/16/01)
1925 Dec 1, After a seven year occupation, 7,000 British troops evacuated Cologne, Germany.
(HN, 12/1/98)
1925 The Locarno Treaty was signed between Britain, Belgium, Germany, Italy and France. It was a treaty of non-aggression by Germany, France and Belgium and a mutual guarantee and promise of assistance by Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy to maintain the demilitarization of the Rhineland. It was not a true guarantee against a German invasion, only a promise by Britain to send troops after an invasion.
(WSJ, 10/28/97, p.A22)
1925 Lord George Curzon (b.1859), British former Viceroy over India, died. In 2003 David Gilmour authored the biography "Curzon: Imperial Statesman."
(WUD, 1994, p.357)(WSJ, 6/11/03, p.D10)(SSFC, 7/6/03, p.M6)
1926 Jan 31, Jean Simmons, actress (Thorn Birds, Guys and Dolls), was born in London, England.
(MC, 1/31/02)
1926 Mar 7, The first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place, between New York City and London.
(AP, 3/7/98)
1926 Apr 21, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor II, later queen of England, was born.
(HN, 4/21/98)(WSJ, 8/10/00, p.A16)
1926 May 3, There was a British general strike and 3 million workers supported the miners.
(MC, 5/3/02)
1926 Jun 5, David Wagoner, poet and novelist (The Escape Artist), was born.
(HN, 6/5/01)
1926 Aug 6, Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle (1905-2003), American Olympic gold medalist, became the first woman to swim the English Channel. Before setting out from Cap Griz-Nez, France, at 7:09 a.m., Ederle coated her body with layers of lard and petroleum jelly to insulate her from the cold waters. On that day, the sea was so rough that steamship crossings had been cancelled, but Ederle swam on in spite of being buffeted by waves and plagued by seasickness. She reached Dover at 9:40 p.m., after swimming the Channel in 14 hours and 39 minutes. This time broke the existing world record of 21 hours and 45 minutes set by British Navy Captain Matthew Webb in 1875. Ederle died Nov 30, 2003. [see Sep 11,1951]
(AP, 8/6/97)(HNQ, 7/31/98)(HNPD, 8/30/98)(SFC, 12/1/03, p.A23)
1926 Oct 14, The book "Winnie-the-Pooh" by Alan Alexander Milne (d.1956) was released. Milne wrote this and other stories, centering the tales around his little son, Christopher Robin, and Christopher's stuffed animals, like the honey-loving Pooh Bear, Eeyore (the donkey), Piglet and Tigger. The geography was based on real places in 14,000 acres of Ashdown Forest, in the northwest corner of East Sussex, England.
(Hem., 8/96, p.107)(MC, 10/14/01)
1926 Samuel Ryder of Lancashire (d.1935), England, came up with the idea of biannual golf matches between the English and Americans. He made a lot of money selling penny-a-pack seeds. The Ryder Cup of golf is named after him.
(SFC, 9/26/98, p.E4)
1926 A general strike was crushed by British authorities under PM Stanley Baldwin.
(SFC, 11/29/99, p.A26)
1926 Agatha Christie (d.1976), mystery writer, disappeared from her native Devon. Scotland Yard undertook a massive search and found her registered at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate. She had checked in as Nancy Neel, the name of her husband’s mistress, and was thought to be suffering from hysterical amnesia.
(SFEC,10/26/97, p.T5)
1926 Four chemical companies merged to form Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).
(Hem., 1/97, p.27)
1927 Jan 7, Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.
(AP, 1/7/98)
1927 Jan 19, British government decided to send troops to China.
(MC, 1/19/02)
1927 Jan 24, British expeditionary force of 12,000 was sent to China to protect concessions at Shanghai.
(HN, 1/24/99)
1927 Mar 21, Kuomintang Army conquered Shanghai as British marines fled.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1927 Mar 26, Gaumont-British Film Corporation formed.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1927 Apr 12, The British Cabinet came out in favor of women voting rights.
(HN, 4/12/98)
1927 Apr 19, Rudolf Friml's "Vagabond King" opened in London.
(MC, 4/19/02)
1927 May 20, Saudi Arabia became independent of Great Britain with the Treaty of Jedda.
(MC, 5/20/02)
1927 Jul 7, Christopher Stone became the first British ‘disc jockey’ when he played records for the BBC.
(HN, 7/7/98)
1927 Aug 9, Robert Shaw, actor and writer, was born in England.
(HN, 8/9/00)(MC, 8/9/02)
1927 Aug 11, Raymond Leppard, conductor (St Louis Symphony Orch), was born in London, England.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1927 Oct 14, Roger Moore, actor (Alaskans, Maverick, Saint, 007), was born in London, England.
(MC, 10/14/01)
1927 Oct 28, Cleo Laine, actress and singer (Flesh to a Tiger), was born in Middlesex, England.
(MC, 10/28/01)
1927 Dec 14, Iraq gained independence from Britain, but British troops remained.
(MC, 12/14/01)
1927 Elsie Wagg thought of getting private gardeners to open up their gardens to visitors for a small contribution to a nursing charity. By 2003 Britain's National Garden Scheme had over 3,500 gardens open to visitors at least 1 day a year.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.119)
1928 Jan 11, Thomas Hardy (87), novelist (Maddening Crowd), died near Dorchester.
(MC, 1/11/02)
1928 Jan 17, Vidal Sassoon, hair stylist/CEO (Vidal Sassoon), was born in London.
(MC, 1/17/02)
1928 Feb 3, Frankie Vaughn (d.1999), later singer, was born as Frank Abelson in Liverpool. His songs included "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."
(SFC, 9/18/99, p.A21)
1928 Feb 7, Australian Bert Hinkler took off from London in a two-seat Avro 581E Avian biplane on the first leg of his solo flight from England to Australia. The unassuming Hinkler's grueling flight was little noted by the press until he reached India, then the world press got caught up in the drama of another "Lone Eagle" performance so soon after Charles A. Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. As he plotted a course across Asia and the Timor Sea using a London Times atlas as his navigational chart, a newspaper editor dubbed him "Hustling Hinkler," a nickname later immortalized by the American Tin Pan Alley hit song, "Hustling Hinkler Up in the Sky." On February 22, after flying 128 hours in less than 16 days, Hinkler's 11,250-mile adventure ended in Darwin, Australia.
(HNPD, 2/7/99)
1928 Mar 22, Noel Coward's musical "This Year of Grace," premiered in London.
(MC, 3/22/02)
1928 Apr 26, Madame Tussaud's waxwork exhibition opened in London.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1828 May 12, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter, was born.
(HN, 5/12/01)
1928 Nov 22, British King George was confined to bed with congested lung; the queen was to take over duties.
(HN, 11/22/98)
1928 The Oxford English Dictionary (O.E.D.) was first published. It was begun in 1879 and edited by Prof. James Murray (d.1915) with assistance from William Minor, an American ex-army surgeon. In 1998 Simon Winchester authored "The Professor and the Madman," the story behind the creation of the dictionary.
(WSJ, 9/14/98, p.A30)(SFEC, 10/17/98, BR p.7)
1929 Feb 18, Leonard Cyril Deighton, English spy author (Ipcress File, Fighter), was born.
(AP, 2/18/01)(MC, 2/18/02)
1929 Mar 23, Roger Bannister England, 1st to run a 4 minute mile (May 6, 1954), was born.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1929 Apr 4, Sigmund Romberg's "New Moon" musical opened in London.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1929 Apr 26, First non-stop flight from England to India was completed.
(HN, 4/26/98)
1929 Jun 7, John Turner, (L) 17th Canadian PM (1984), was born in Richmond, England.
(SC, 6/7/02)
1929 Oct 11, Sean O'Casey's "Silver Tassle," premiered in London.
(MC, 10/11/01)
1929 The labor party emerged from the general election as the largest party in Parliament. It had been founded 3 decades earlier.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1930 Jan 21, An international arms meeting opened in London. The London Naval Conference, hosted by Britain, sought to establish naval disarmament and review the Washington Treaty of 1922, which limited tonnage of new battleships. After three months of meetings, representatives from Britain, the United States and Japan signed a treaty limiting battleship tonnage based on ratios between the nations. Italy and France declined to sign. A second naval conference in December 1935 did little to promote further disarmament and, by the beginning of World War II, Germany, Japan and the United States had all begun building battleships well over the limit of 35,000 tons stipulated by the original Washington Treaty. [see Apr 22]
(HN, 1/21/99)(HNQ, 1/1/01)
1930 Mar 7, Lord Snowdon, [Anthony Armstrong-Jones], photographer, was born in London.
(MC, 3/7/02)
1930 Mar 12, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi began a 200-mile march to the sea to protest a British tax on salt. The march symbolized his defiance of British Rule over India.
(HN, 3/12/98)(AP, 3/12/98)
1930 Mar 19, Arthur J. Balfour (81), British theologist, premier (1902-05), died.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1930 Mar 30, David Staple, joint president of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland, was born.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1930 Apr 5, Mahatma Ghandi defied British law by making salt in India.
(HN, 5/5/97)
1930 Apr 21, Margaret Rose, Princess of York, was born in London, England.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1930 Apr 22, The United States, Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
(AP, 4/22/97)
1930 Apr 29, Telephone connection England-Australia went into service.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1930 Apr 30, The Soviet Union proposed military alliance with France and Great Britain.
(HN, 4/30/98)
1930 Apr, In India Gandhi called for peaceful civil disobedience and the Indian National Congress issued a declaration of grievances against Britain.
(SFEC, 8/3/97, p.A15)
1930 May 4, Mahatma Gandhi was arrested by the British.
(HN, 5/4/98)
1930 May 24, Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
(HN, 5/24/98)
1930 Jun 28, More than 1,000 communists were routed during an assault on the British consulate in London.
(HN, 6/28/98)
1930 Jul 7, Arthur Conan Doyle (71), British novelist and author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery novels, died. Doyle was an eye doctor. In 1999 Daniel Stashower published "Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle."
(PacDisc. Spring/’96, p.33)(SFEC, 7/5/98, Z1 p.8)(SFEC, 6/13/99, Par p.12)(MC, 7/7/02)
1930 Jul 27, David Hughes, English novelist (The Horsehair Sofa, The Man Who Invented Tomorrow), was born.
(HN, 7/27/01)
1930 Aug 16, Ted Hughes, English poet, was born.
(HN, 8/16/00)
1930 Aug 21, Princess Margaret Rose (d.2002) was born to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Glamis Castle, Scotland.
(WSJ, 8/10/00, p.A16)(SSFC, 2/10/02, p.A12)
1930 Sep 24, Noel Coward's comedy "Private Lives" opened in London starring Gertrude Lawrence and Coward himself.
(HN, 9/24/00)
1930 Oct 10, Harold Pinter, British playwright (Homecoming, Servant), was born.
(HN, 10/10/98)(MC, 10/10/01)
1930 Oct 20, A British White Paper restricted Jews from buying Arab land.
(MC, 10/20/01)
1930 Oct 22, The 1st concert of BBC Symphony Orchestra was led by Adrian Boult.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1930 Nov 22, Peter Hall, British stage, film and opera director (Pedestrian), was born.
(MC, 11/22/01)
1930 Winston Churchill authored his autobiography "My Early Life."
(WSJ, 12/29/99, p.A12)
1930 Pioneer aviator Errol Boyd flew to London, becoming the first pilot to cross the North Atlantic outside the summer season. Erroll Boyd, born in Toronto in 1891, flew for the first time in 1912 as a passenger with American barnstormer Lincoln Beachey. Boyd enjoyed the experience so much that he decided on a career in aviation. Taught by aviator John Alcock during World War I, Boyd went on to a variety of jobs after the war including songwriting and managing a car rental business. However, Charles Lindbergh’s successful solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927 inspired Boyd to return to flying as a career.
(HNQ, 12/14/00)
1930s During the 1930s, the Handley Page H.P.42 was the mainstay of government-subsidized Imperial Airways, linking commercial air routes throughout the British Empire. The prototype H.P.42, dubbed Hannibal, took off on its maiden flight on November 17, 1930 and soon had several variations to reach British possessions in Africa, the Middle East and India. Even when the sturdy, four-engine biplane was easily surpassed in speed by the 1930s, its luxuriousness rivaled ocean liners of the day. Despite its safety record and public affection, the H.P. 42 became more obsolete with the approach of World War II.
(HNQ, 1/11/01)
1931 Jan 29, Winston Churchill resigned as Stanley Baldwin's aide.
(HN, 1/29/99)
1931 Feb 11, Charles Algernon Parsons (76), British inventor (steam turbine), died.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1931 Feb 15, [Patricia] Claire Bloom, actress (Charly, Look Back in Anger), was born in London.
(MC, 2/15/02)
1931 Mar 5, Gandhi and British viceroy Lord Irwin signed a pact.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1931 Mar 10, British Labour party removed fascist Sir Oswald Mosley.
(MC, 3/10/02)
1931 Apr 20, British House of Commons agreed to sports play on Sunday.
(MC, 4/20/02)
1931 May 8, Franz Lehar's operetta, "Land of Smiles," premiered in London.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1931 Jun 17, British authorities in China arrested Indochinese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
(HN, 6/17/98)
1931 Jun 26, Colin Henry Wilson, British author (The Outsider) , was born.
(HN, 6/26/01)
1931 Jul 4, James Joyce (22) married Nora Barnacle (20) in London. They legalized their 26-year common-law marriage at the Kensington Registry Office in London.
(SFEM, 1/25/98, p.69)
1931 Aug 28, John Shirley-Quirk, baritone (Death in Venice), was born in Liverpool, England.
(MC, 8/28/01)
1931 Sep 12, Ian Holm, actor (Henry V), was born in Ilford, Essex, England.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1931 Sep 15, The British naval fleet mutinied at Invergordon over pay cuts.
(MC, 9/15/01)
1931 Sep 21, Britain went off the gold standard. The pound devalued 20%.
(AP, 9/21/97)(MC, 9/21/01)
1931 Sep 24, Anthony Newley, actor (Dr Doolittle, Garbage Pail Kids, Stop the World) and composer, was born in England.
(MC, 9/24/01)
1931 Oct 10, William Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast," premiered in Leeds.
(MC, 10/10/01)
1931 Oct 13, Noel Coward's "Cavalcade," premiered in London.
(MC, 10/13/01)
1931 Oct 19, John Le Carré, British novelist who wrote The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
(HN, 10/19/99)
1931 Nov 12, The Sibelius-Ashton ballet "Lady of Shalott," premiered in London.
(MC, 11/12/01)
1931 In London the Abbey Road recording studio was established at the former residence of an English nobleman.
(Sky, 9/97, p.53)
1931 Francis Ingall (d.1998 at 89) led his Lancers in a charge on horseback at the Battle of Karawal near the Khyber Pass against Afridi tribesmen. It was the final such attack by a regiment of the British Army. He later authored "The Last of the Bengal Lancers."
(SFC, 9/25/98, p.D4)
1931 There was a mass trespass in the northern Peak District.
(SFC, 6/21/99, p.A7)
1932 Jan 22, British Anglicans merged with the Old-Catholic church.
(MC, 1/22/02)
1932 Apr 23, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened at Stratford-on-Avon.
(MC, 4/23/02)
1932 Apr 25, William Roache, actor (Ken Barlow-Coronation Street), was born in England.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1932 May 7, Jenny Joseph, English poet and novelist (The Thinking Heart, The Inland Sea), was born.
(HN, 5/7/02)
1932 May 9, Piccadilly Circus was lit by electricity.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1932 Mar 23, Britain warned Ireland that the loyalty oath was mandatory.
(HN, 3/23/98)
1932 Aug 27, In England 200,000 textile workers went on strike.
(MC, 8/27/01)
1932 Oct 1, Oswald Mosley formed the British Union of Fascists.
(MC, 10/1/01)
1932 Dec 19, The British Broadcasting Corp. began transmitting overseas with its "Empire Service" to Australia.
(AP, 12/19/97)
1932 Sir Oswald Mosley founded the British fascist party. In 1936 he married Diana, one of the 5 Mitford daughters. In 2000 Jan Dalley authored "Diana Mosley."
(WSJ, 5/16/00, p.A24)
1932 A British team at Cambridge Univ. split the atom. Mark Oliphant (d.2000 at 98) was a member of the team at Cavendish Laboratory.
(SFC, 7/18/00, p.A22)
1933 Feb 9, The Oxford Union, Oxford University's debating society, endorsed, 275-153, a motion stating "that this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country," a pacifist stand widely denounced by Britons. [see Feb 9, 1983]
(AP, 2/9/00)
1933 Feb 26, Sir James Goldsmith (d.7/18/97), later financier and corporate raider (Referendum Party), was born in Paris to a Catholic French mother and a German Jewish father who later moved to Britain and served as a Conservative member of parliament.
(SFEC, 7/20/97, p.B6)(SC, 2/26/02)
1933 Mar 14, Michael Caine, [Maurice J. Micklewhite Jr.], actor (Alfie), was born in London.
(MC, 3/14/02)(SSFC, 2/9/03, Par p.4)
1933 Mar 14, Winston Churchill wanted to boost air defense.
(MC, 3/14/02)
1933 Apr 8, Manchester Guardian warned of unknown Nazi terror.
(MC, 4/8/02)
1933 Jul 13, David Storey, English novelist (The Sporting Life), was born.
(HN, 7/13/01)
1933 Aug 28, For the first time, a BBC-broadcasted appeal was used by the police in tracking down a wanted man.
(HTnet, 8/28/99)
1933 Oct 9, Bill Tidy, English cartoonist (Fosdyke Saga), was born.
(MC, 10/9/01)
1933 Writer Eric Blair changed his name to George Orwell.
(SFEC, 10/1/00, BR p.5)
1933 Britain was still operating under the Ten Year Rule which imposed the assumption that the country would not be engaged in any great war for the next ten years and that no Expeditionary Force was required.
(WSJ, 10/28/97, p.A22)And in case Ireland breaks free, here are Irish events:
Code:
1919 Jan 2, There was an anti-British uprising in Ireland.
(MC, 1/2/02)
1919 Apr 5, Eamon de Valera became Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland (Dail Eireann).
(HN, 5/5/97)(MC, 4/5/02)
1919 May 1, Dan O'Herlihy, actor (Fail Safe, Last Starfighter, Robocop), was born in Ireland.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1919 Jun 11, Richard Todd, actor (Dorian Gray, Assassin Yangtze Incident), was born in Ireland.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1919 Iris Murdoch, philosopher-novelist, was born in Dublin. She wrote some 26 novels and in 1998 published “Existentialists and Mystics,” a collection of writings from 1950 to the 1980s. Herein she tries to “recover the moral dimension of art.”
(WSJ, 2/17/98, p.A20)
1920 Mar 31, British parliament accepted Irish "Home Rule" law.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1920 Dec 23, Ireland was divided into 2 parts, each with its own parliament. An act of British Parliament split Northern Ireland from Ireland.
(SFC, 6/18/96, p.A8)(MC, 12/23/01)
1920 Another Government of Ireland Act was passed by the British government. This act had a proviso that the reunification of Ireland was an ultimate goal.
(WSJ,3/13/95, p.A-15)
1921 Feb 18, British troops occupied Dublin.
(MC, 2/18/02)
1921 Jul 8, Great Britain and Ireland agreed to end hostilities after centuries of strife. Southern Ireland was granted independence and 6 counties in Northern Ireland remained part of the UK.
(SFC, 10/14/99, p.C5)
1921 Dec 5, The British Empire reached an accord with Sinn Fein; Ireland was to become a free state.
(HN, 12/5/98)
1921 Dec 6, Ireland’s 26 southern counties became independent from Britain forming the Irish Free State. The partition created Northern Ireland. [see Jul 8]
(HN, 12/6/00)(MC, 12/6/01)
1921 Dec 8, Eamon de Valera publicly repudiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
(MC, 12/8/01)
1921 Seamus MacManus authored “The Story of the Irish Race.”
(SFEC, 10/8/00, p.T5)
1921 Michael Collins and statesman Arthur Griffith set up the Irish Free State (the Republic of Ireland). Several northern counties went over to Britain.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, Z1 p.6)
c1921 Michael Collins, founder of the Irish Volunteers (precursor to the IRA), lost a political fight to Eamon de Valera, who went on to run the country for 50 years.
(SFC, 9/22/96, Parade p.31)
1922 Apr 14, Irish Republic rebels occupied 4 government courts in Dublin.
(MC, 4/14/02)
1922 Jun 30, Irish rebels in London assassinated Sir Henry Wilson, the British deputy for Northern Ireland.
(HN, 6/30/98)
1922 Aug 7, The Irish Republican Army cut the cable link between the United States and Europe at Waterville landing station.
(HN, 8/7/98)
1922 Aug 22, Michael Collins, Irish politician, was killed in an ambush.
(HN, 8/22/98)
1922 Sep 9, William T. Cosgrave replaced assassinated Irish leader Michael Collins.
(MC, 9/9/01)
1922 Oct 24, Irish Parliament adopted a constitution for an Irish Free State.
(MC, 10/24/01)
1922 Nov 6, King George V proclaimed Irish Free state.
(MC, 11/6/01)
1922 The Irish Republican Army refused to accept a separate Northern Ireland under British rule.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, Z1 p.7)
1922 A cease-fire was established.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, p.C4)
1922 Revolutionary Erskine Childers was killed by Irish Free State forces. His son later became president, and his grandson a UN official.
(SFC, 4/9/96, p.A17)
1923 Feb 9, Brendan Behan, Irish playwright and poet, was born in Dublin, Ireland. His work included “The Hostage” and “The Quare Fellow.”
(HN, 2/9/01)(MC, 2/9/02)
1923 Sep 10, The Irish Free state joined the League of Nations.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1923 W.B. Yeats wrote his poem "Leda and the Swan."
(SFEC, 10/31/99, BR p.7)
1923 William Butler Yeats, Irish poet, won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.T6)
1924 Mar 3, Sean O'Casey's "Juno and the Paycock" premiered in Dublin.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1924 Mar 19, Charles Villiers Stanford (71), Irish composer, author, died.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1924 Mar 29, Charles Villiers Stanford (71), Irish composer, writer, died.
(MC, 3/29/02)
1926 Feb 8, Sean O'Casey's "Plough & Stars" opened at Abbey Theater Dublin.
(MC, 2/8/02)
1926 Apr 7, Mussolini's Irish wife broke his Italian nose.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1928 May 4, Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, was born.
(HN, 5/4/01)
1928 May 24, William Trevor, Irish short story writer and novelist (The Old Boys, The Boarding House), was born.
(HN, 5/24/01)
1928 Jul 4, Stephen Boyd, [William Millar], actor (Fantastic Voyage, Ben-Hur), was born in Ireland.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1928 In Dublin, Ireland, the Gate Theater playhouse was founded by Micheal MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards.
(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10)(SFEM, 9/10/00, p.26)
1930 Mar 30, David Staple, joint president of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland, was born.
(MC, 3/30/02)
1932 Mar 9, Eamon De Valera was elected Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland and pledged to abolished all loyalty to the British Crown.
(HN, 3/9/98)([url]http://www.clarelibrary.ie/[/url])
1932 Mar 23, Britain warned Ireland that the loyalty oath was mandatory.
(HN, 3/23/98)
1932 Jun 5, Christy Brown, Irish novelist and poet (My Left Foot), was born.
(HN, 6/5/01)
1932 Aug 2, Peter O'Toole, actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia), was born in Ireland.
(HN, 8/2/00)(MC, 8/2/02)
Last edited:
