QUEEN VICTORIA
24 May 1819
Victoria is born at Kensington Palace and
christened Alexandrina Victoria
20 June 1837
Victoria ascends to the throne
After the death of King William IV on 20
June 1837, his 18-year-old niece was
given the title the Queen of England.
August 1838
Slavery While slavery was abolished, only children
under the age of six were freed immediately
abolished in under the terms of the 1833 Emancipation
Act.
the British
Empire
All other former slaves were bound as
'apprentices' and then they were freed in the
British Caribbean.
Plantation owners received compensation for
the loss of their slaves. The former slaves
received nothing.
31 March 1838
The SS Great Western was the first ship
designed (1806 - 1859).
It was the longest steamship in the
world, built with the express purpose of
crossing the Atlantic.
17
The London to Birmingham Railway
September connected the capital with the cities of
1838 Manchester and Liverpool.
The took a journey time of 12 hours and 30
minutes.
London to The experience gained from the railway
Birmingham formed the foundations of civil engineering in
Britain and established the construction
line opened technology of the railway age.
10 January 1840 | The 'penny post'
was implemented
The Penny Black (1840) was the
world's first adhesive postage stamp
used in a public postal system.
10 February 1840
Queen Victoria
married Prince Albert
At the age of 21,
Victoria married her
cousin, Albert of
Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha, a German
Prince
Over the years of
their marriage,
Victoria had nine
children.
September 1845
Irish potato famine
began
In 1845, Ireland's potato crop was destroyed by infestation with the fungal
disease known as potato blight.
The disease rotted the potatoes in the ground, ruining the principal food source
for millions of people.
The blight lasted for another four years, causing illness and mass starvation
across Ireland and killing a million people out of a population of eight million.
Following the blight, the tenants were expected to still pay rent despite having
no income from their crops. This led to the mass migration of a million people.
1 May 1851
Great Exhibition opens
The Great Exhibition was the first of a series of
World's Fairs - an international exhibition
showcasing the achievements of nations, and
present the latest discoveries in science and
technology.
The show took place in a temporary built structure,
known as the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.
July 1848
Public health act passed
As a result of a severe cholera outbreak across
the world, the Public Health Act of 1848 was
passed.
This legislation placed the supply and
treatment of water and waste under single local
authorities who could raise funds for
improvements to tackle unsanitary conditions.
28 March 1854
Crimean war began
The Crimean War was a conflict between the
Russian Empire and an alliance of French,
British, Ottoman and Sardinian troops.
The main intention of the British, French and
Ottoman alliance was to hinder Russian
expansion into the Turkish empire.
Religious tensions also played a part with
Russia taking issue that the holiest sites in
Christianity.
The war came to a conclusion with the Treaty
of Paris and the part-surrender of Russia.
24 August 1856
In 1856, Henry Bessemer discovered a method
of converting iron into steel, which was both
Henry stronger and lighter.
Bessemer This production technique became known as
the Bessemer Converter.
developed a
new process The process revolutionised the construction
industries, enabling Britain to build large-scale
for structures such as bridges, trains and boats.
manufacturing
steel
10 May 1857
In 1857, Bengal Light Cavalry soldiers
Outbreak of rebelled against their British commanders.
mutiny in
The uprising was the largest threat to
India Britain's colonial rule.
This violent struggle led to the dismantling
of the East India Company.
Communications also improved with
government and legislative councils now
containing an Indian-nominated element.
The foundation of evolutionary theory, On
the Origin of Species, was published by
Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 - 19
April 1882), a leading British biologist and
naturalist.
November 1859 “On the
Origin of Species was
published
9 January 1863
Opening of the London Underground
The world's first underground railway, the
Metropolitan Railway opened in London
running 6 km between Paddington Station
and Farringdon Street.
The railway system was operated by steam
trains until its electrification in 1890.
18 October 1871
Death of Charles Babbage,
creator of the modern
computer
"The father of the computer" due to
his designs of the Analytical Engine.
Half of Babbage's brain is preserved
at the Hunterian Museum at the
Royal College of Surgeons in
London; the other half is on display
in the Science Museum in London.
17 November 1869
The Suez Canal Opens
The Suez Canal, a 100-mile
waterway in Egypt that
connects the Mediterranean
and Red Seas was opened to
improve trade links with India,
South East Asia and the Far
East.
The canal opened initially
under French control, which
was then shared with the
British
March 1876
Alexander Graham Bell patented the
telephone.
In March, 29-year-old Scotsman,
Alexander Graham Bell received a
patent for his revolutionary new
invention, the telephone.
2 August 1880
Education compulsory for children under
10.
The Elementary Education Act 1880 made
school attendance mandatory from ages
five to ten.
This bill overrode the Factory Acts,
reducing the amount of time young children
spent in mill and factory work.
Founding of the Women's
Franchise League
Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's
Franchise League, a political organisation that
campaigned to allow women the right to vote in
local elections.
The success of mobilising this campaign group led
to the creation of the Women's Social and Political
Union (WSPU) in 1903 and the rise of the
suffragette movement.
22 January
1901 Queen Victoria died at the age of 81.
Her 63-year reign was, at the time, the
longest in British history (then surpassed
by Elizabeth II) and had seen the growth of
Queen an empire.
Victoria died She was succeeded by her son, Prince
Albert Edward Wettin, who took the throne
as King Edward VII.
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