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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1936 | - 1936—1936:
Jet engine first tested
- 20 Jan 1936—20 Jan 1936:
George V dies
- 5 May 1936—5 May 1936:
First flight of a Spitfire
- 24 Jul 1936—24 Jul 1936:
'Speaking clock' service starts in UK
- 2 Nov 1936—2 Nov 1936:
British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, world's
first public TV transmission
- 30 Nov 1936—30 Nov 1936:
Crystal Palace destroyed by fire
- 5 Dec 1936—5 Dec 1936:
Edward VIII abdicates (announced Dec 10) - popular carol that Christmas:
'Hark the Herald Angels sing Mrs Simpson's got our King'
|
| 2 | 1937 | - 1937—1937:
'999' emergency telephone call facility starts in London
- 1937—1937:
Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp
- 12 Apr 1937—12 Apr 1937:
Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft
- 12 May 1937—12 May 1937:
Coronation of King George VI
- 28 May 1937—28 May 1937:
Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister - policy of appeasement towards
Hitler
- 3 Jun 1937—3 Jun 1937:
Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
- 4 Dec 1937—4 Dec 1937:
'The Dandy' first published
|
| 3 | 1938 | - 1938—1938:
SA - Great Trek Centenary celebrations.
- 1938—1938:
Principle of paid holidays established in Britain
- 1938—1938:
HMS Rodney first ship to be equipped with radar
- 1938—1938:
First practical ball-point pen produced by Hungarian journalist, Lajos Biro
- 12 Mar 1938—12 Mar 1938:
Germany invades and annexes Austria
- 3 Jul 1938—3 Jul 1938:
'Mallard' reaches 126 mph (203 km/h); still world record for a steam locomotive
- 27 Sep 1938—27 Sep 1938:
Largest ocean liner ever built, Queen Elizabeth launched on Clydebank
- 29 Sep 1938—29 Sep 1938:
Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time'
- 30 Oct 1938—30 Oct 1938:
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', causing panic in the USA
|
| 4 | 1939 | - 1939—1939:
Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
- 1939—1939:
Start of evacuation of women and children from London
- 1939—1939:
Coldest winter in Britain since 1894, though this could not be publicised at the time
- 1 Sep 1939—1 Sep 1939:
Germany invades Poland
- 3 Sep 1939—3 Sep 1939:
Britain and France declare war on Germany
- 6 Sep 1939—6 Sep 1939:
First air-raid on Britain
- 11 Sep 1939—11 Sep 1939:
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France
- 14 Oct 1939—14 Oct 1939:
HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives
- 7 Dec 1939—7 Dec 1939:
'First flight' of Canadian troops sail for Britain - 7,400 men on 5 ships
- 17 Dec 1939—17 Dec 1939:
'Admiral Graf Spee' scuttled outside Montevideo
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The original data on this website was compiled by
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