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Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 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
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2 | 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
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3 | 1844 | - 6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
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4 | 1845 | - 1845: Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
- 17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
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5 | 1846 | - 10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
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6 | 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)
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7 | 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
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8 | 1849 | - 1849: Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation – which finally
occurred in 1971!
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9 | 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
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10 | 1852 | - 1852: Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement
- 1852: Wells Fargo established in USA
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11 | 1853 | - 1853: Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
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12 | 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)
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13 | 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)
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14 | 1857 | - 1857: Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
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15 | 1858 | - 1858: 'The great stink' – smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work
- 1858: Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
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