Japanese feudal caste system abolished, 1869
For over six-hundred years a series of Shogun dynasties had dominated Japanese politics, with the Emperor reduced to a largely symbolic role. Yet, in 1866, the leaders of two feudal…
Sir Richard Arkwright died, 1792
Richard Arkwright, pioneer of industrialisation, was born on 23rd December 1732 in Preston, Lancashire. The son of a poor tailor, Richard had no formal education and became an apprentice barber.…
First English colony in North America founded, 1583
In June 1578, Sir Humphrey Gilbert – soldier, Member of Parliament, and explorer – secured letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I, which entitled him to claim any lands not already…
Kon Tiki expedition ended, 1947
In the early 1940s, a Norwegian ethnographer called Thor Heyerdahl proposed that the peoples of Polynesia originated in the Americas rather than Asia. In order to test his theory, he…
First ascent of Mont Blanc, 1786
In the mid-eighteenth century the Swiss aristocrat and naturalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure became a regular visitor the French town of Chamonix, which sits at the foot of Mont Blanc, the…
First Scouting camp ended, 1907
In 1899 Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Baden-Powell published Aids to Scouting, a manual of reconnaissance skills based on his military experiences in South Africa. That same year, Baden-Powell commanded a force of…
Foundation stone of Royal Greenwich Observatory laid, 1675
On 4th March 1675, King Charles II issued a royal warrant appointing John Flamsteed as his ‘astronomical observator’ – a position later known as Astronomer Royal. The warrant detailed his…
Last steam-hauled mainline passenger train on British Railways, 1968
On 11th August 1968 a special train set off from Liverpool Lime Street station on a return trip to Carlisle. The train, known as the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ because of…
The quagga became extinct, 1883
The quagga were an equine species, similar to the zebra but with stripes only on the head, neck and shoulders. They roamed the drier parts of South Africa between the…
First Jefferson Airplane gig, 1965
In the early 1960s, the singer Marty Buchwald signed to Challenge Records, which promoted him as a teen idol under the name of Marty Balin. Having failed to achieve any…