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Gordon Stephen Bradford

Male 1923 - 1952  (29 years)


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Timeline

1923
1929
1935
1940
1946
1952
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   Date  Event(s)
1 1923 
  • 1923—1923:
    Roads in Great Britain classified with A and B numbers
  • 1923—1923:
    Hubble shows there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way
  • 1923—1923:
    First American broadcasts heard in Britain
  • 1923—1923:
    SA - Platinum discovered in Waterberg district of Transvaal.
  • 1 Jan 1923—1 Jan 1923:
    The majority of the railway companies in Great Britain grouped into four main companies, the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, LMSR - lasted until nationalisation in 1948
  • 16 Feb 1923—16 Feb 1923:
    Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun
  • 28 Apr 1923—28 Apr 1923:
    First Wembley cup final (West Ham 0, Bolton 2) - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles ' popular song of the time became the West Ham anthem
  • 28 Sep 1923—28 Sep 1923:
    First publication of Radio Times
2 1924 
  • 4 Jan 1924—4 Jan 1924:
    First Labour government in Britain, headed by Ramsay MacDonald
  • 5 Feb 1924—5 Feb 1924:
    Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC
  • 31 Mar 1924—31 Mar 1924:
    British Imperial Airways begins operations (formed by merger of four British airline companies - became BOAC in 1940)
  • 17 Jun 1924—1924:
    SA - General elections in South Africa.
3 1925 
  • 1925—1925:
    Britain returns to gold standard
  • 1925—1925:
    SA - South Africa reverts to gold standard. Afrikaans constituted an official language.
  • 18 Jul 1925—18 Jul 1925:
    Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
4 1926 
  • 1926—1926:
    First public demonstration of television (TV) by John Logie Baird
  • 1926—1926:
    Adoption of children is legalised in Britain
  • 1926—1926:
    Kodak produces 16mm movie film
  • 1926—1926:
    Walt Disney arrives in Hollywood
  • 21 Apr 1926—21 Apr 1926:
    Princess Elizabeth born
  • 3 May 1926—3 May 1926:
    General Strike begins. Lasts until May 12 (mine workers for 6 months more)
  • 31 Oct 1926—31 Oct 1926:
    Death of Harry Houdini
5 1927 
  • 1927—1927:
    Release of the first 'talkie' film (The Jazz Singer)
  • 7 Jan 1927—7 Jan 1927:
    First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London
  • 22 Jan 1927—22 Jan 1927:
    First football broadcast by BBC (Arsenal v Sheffield United at Highbury)
  • 1 May 1927—1 May 1927:
    First cooked meals on a scheduled flight introduced by Imperial Airways from London to Paris
  • 20 May 1927—20 May 1927:
    Lindbergh makes solo flight across the Atlantic, in 33? hours
  • 31 May 1927—31 May 1927:
    Last Ford Model T rolls off assembly line
  • 24 Jul 1927—24 Jul 1927:
    The Menin Gate war memorial unveiled at Ypres
6 1928 
  • 1928—1928:
    Women over 21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes
  • 26 Apr 1928—26 Apr 1928:
    Madame Tussauds opens in London
  • 15 Sep 1928—15 Sep 1928:
    Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin (results published 1929)
7 1929 
  • 1929—1929:
    Abolition of Poor Law system in Britain
  • 1929—1929:
    Minimum age for a marriage in Britain (which had been 14 for a boy and 12 for a girl) now 16 for both sexes, with parental consent (or a licence) needed for anyone under 21
  • 1929—1929:
    BBC begins experimental TV transmissions
8 1930 
  • 1930—1930:
    First Nazis elected to the German Reichstag
  • 1930—1930:
    Youth Hostel Association (YHA) founded in Britain
  • 1930—1930:
    SA - White women receive the vote.
  • 30 Jan 1930—30 Jan 1930:
    Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
  • 31 Jan 1930—31 Jan 1930:
    3M begins marketing Scotch Tape
  • 6 Mar 1930—6 Mar 1930:
    Clarence Birdseye first marketed frozen peas
  • 5 Oct 1930—5 Oct 1930:
    R101 airship disaster - British abandons airship construction
9 1931 
  • 1931—1931:
    Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign states
  • 1931—1931:
    Collapse of the German banking system; 3,000 banks there close
  • 14 Apr 1931—14 Apr 1931:
    Highway Code first issued
  • 26 Apr 1931—26 Apr 1931:
    Census: Population - England and Wales; 40 Million; Scotland: 4.8 Million; N Ireland: 1.24 Million (Unfortunately, the census was destroyed by fire in WW2)
  • 21 Oct 1931—21 Oct 1931:
    National Government formed to deal with economic crisis - Britain comes off gold standard
10 1932 
  • 1932—1932:
    Great Hunger March of unemployed to London
  • 1932—1932:
    Moseley founds British Union of Fascists
  • 1932—1932:
    Cockroft and Walton accelerate particles to disintegrate an atomic nucleus
  • 1932—1932:
    Sir Thomas Beecham established the London Philharmonic Orchestra
  • 1932—1932:
    SA - Airmail service between South Africa and Britain started in January. Wireless telephone communication established with Britain in February.
  • 21 May 1932—21 May 1932:
    Amelia Earhart first solo nonstop flight across Atlantic by a female pilot
  • 3 Oct 1932—3 Oct 1932:
    Iraq gains independence from Britain
  • 3 Oct 1932—3 Oct 1932:
    'The Times' introduces 'Times New Roman' typeface
11 1933 
  • 1933—1933:
    ICI scientists discover polythene
  • 1933—1933:
    Only 6 pennies minted in Britain this year
  • 1933—1933:
    SA - South Africa House opened in London. Afrikaans Bible issued.
  • 12 Nov 1933—12 Nov 1933:
    First known photos of the 'Loch Ness Monster' taken
12 1934 
  • 1934—1934:
    Hitler becomes Fuehrer of Germany
  • 1934—1934:
    SA - Union Airways acquired by government on 01 August 1936. South African Broadcasting Corporation established.
  • 18 Jul 1934—18 Jul 1934:
    King George V opens Mersey Tunnel
  • 26 Sep 1934—26 Sep 1934:
    RMS Queen Mary launched
  • 30 Nov 1934—30 Nov 1934:
    First time a steam locomotive travels at 100 mph ('Flying Scotsman')
13 1935 
  • 1935—1935:
    London adopts a 'Green Belt' scheme
  • 1935—1935:
    Land speed record of 301.13 mph by Malcolm Campbell
  • 28 Feb 1935—28 Feb 1935:
    Nylon first produced by Gerard J. Berchet of Wallace Carothers' research group at DuPont (there is no evidence to the widely-supposed story that the name derives from New York-London)
  • 12 Mar 1935—12 Mar 1935:
    Hore-Belisha introduces pedestrian crossings and speed limits for built-up areas in Britain
  • 1 Jun 1935—1 Jun 1935:
    Voluntary driving tests introduced in UK
  • 30 Jul 1935—30 Jul 1935:
    Penguin paperbacks launched
14 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'
15 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
16 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
17 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
18 1940 
  • 1 Apr 1940—1 Apr 1940:
    BOAC starts operations, replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd
  • 11 May 1940—11 May 1940:
    National Government formed under Churchill
  • 13 May 1940—13 May 1940:
    Germany invades France
  • 27 May 1940—27 May 1940:
    Start of the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk (27 May - 4 Jun)
  • 25 Jun 1940—25 Jun 1940:
    Fall of France to Germany
  • 7 Sep 1940—7 Sep 1940:
    Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain, the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing
  • 15 Sep 1940—15 Sep 1940:
    Battle of Britain: massive waves of German air attacks decisively repulsed by the RAF - Hitler postpones invasion of Britain
  • 14 Nov 1940—14 Nov 1940:
    Coventry heavily bombed and the Cathedral almost completely destroyed
19 1941 
  • 1941—1941:
    Britain introduces severe rationing
  • 1941—1941:
    First British jet aircraft flies, based on work of Whittle
  • 1941—1941:
    Bailey invents his portable military bridge
  • 1941—1941:
    First use of antibiotics
  • 1941—1941:
    SA - South African Forces take Mega in Southern Abyssinia. South African Forces arrive in Egypt in April.
  • 1941—1941:
    SA - Heroic stand by South African Forces at Sidi Resegh in November 1944. The black-out in Cape Town is suspended. 6th South African Armoured Division leads 8th Army offensive in Italy, South Africans were the first to enter Florence.
  • 10 May 1941—10 May 1941:
    Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland
  • 27 May 1941—27 May 1941:
    'Bismark' sunk
  • 22 Jun 1941—22 Jun 1941:
    Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
  • 1 Jul 1941—1 Jul 1941:
    First Canadian armoured regiments arrive in Britain
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941:
    Canadian forces given operation role in defending south coast of England
  • Dec 1941—Dec 1941:
    'Manhattan Project' of nuclear research begins in America
  • 7 Dec 1941—7 Dec 1941:
    Japan attackes US fleet at Pearl Harbour
  • 8 Dec 1941—8 Dec 1941:
    USA enters WWII
  • 24 Dec 1941—24 Dec 1941:
    Hong Kong falls to the Japanese
20 1942 
  • 1942—1942:
    Invention of world's first programmable computer by Alan Turing in co-operation with Max Neumann - used to crack German codes
  • 1942—1942:
    Gilbert Murray founds Oxfam
  • 30 May 1942—30 May 1942:
    Over 1,000 allied bombers raid Cologne
  • 4 Jun 1942—4 Jun 1942:
    Battle of Midway
  • 19 Aug 1942—19 Aug 1942:
    Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops
  • 6 Sep 1942—6 Sep 1942:
    Germans defeated at Stalingrad
  • 3 Oct 1942—3 Oct 1942:
    First successful launch of V2 rocket in Germany - first man-made object to reach space
  • 23 Oct 1942—23 Oct 1942:
    Battle of El Alamein - Montgomery defeats Rommel
  • 2 Dec 1942—2 Dec 1942:
    'Manhattan Project' - a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
21 1943 
  • 1943—1943:
    Round-the-clock bombing of Germany begins
  • 16 May 1943—16 May 1943:
    'Dam Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF
  • 24 Jul 1943—24 Jul 1943:
    Allies invade Italy - Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator, 24 July
22 1944 
  • 6 Apr 1944—6 Apr 1944:
    PAYE income tax begins
  • 4 Jun 1944—4 Jun 1944:
    Allies enter Rome
  • 6 Jun 1944—6 Jun 1944:
    D-Day invasion of Normandy
  • 12 Jun 1944—12 Jun 1944:
    First V1 flying bombs hit London
  • 8 Sep 1944—8 Sep 1944:
    First V2 rocket bombs hit London
  • 11 Sep 1944—11 Sep 1944:
    Allies enter Germany
  • 16 Dec 1944—16 Dec 1944:
    Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive
23 1945 
  • 1945—1945:
    SA - 34 people killed and 90 injured in explosion of the Grand Magazine in Pretoria.
  • 1945—1945:
    SA - Announcement made that as from the beginning of the war until 05 March 1945, more than 1500 South African soldiers were decorated, 2386 were mentioned in despatches and 330 were commended.
  • 1945—1945:
    SA - Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuked
  • 4 Feb 1945—4 Feb 1945:
    Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
  • 17 Mar 1945—1945:
    SA - South African Forces capture Monte Sole and Monte Caprara, which were barring entering into Bologna.
  • 29 Mar 1945—29 Mar 1945:
    Last V1 flying bomb attack
  • 25 Apr 1945—25 Apr 1945:
    Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
  • 30 Apr 1945—30 Apr 1945:
    Hitler commits suicide
  • 8 May 1945—8 May 1945:
    VE Day (Victory in Europe)
  • 9 May 1945—9 May 1945:
    Channel Islands liberated
  • 26 Jun 1945—26 Jun 1945:
    UN Charter signed in San Francisco
  • 16 Jul 1945—16 Jul 1945:
    First ever atomic bomb exploded in a test in New Mexico (although there were other forms of atomic device before that, such as the Pile at Stagg Field, first critical on 2nd Dec 1942)
  • 26 Jul 1945—26 Jul 1945:
    Labour win UK General Election - Churchill out of office
  • 29 Jul 1945—29 Jul 1945:
    BBC Light Programme starts
  • 6 Aug 1945—6 Aug 1945:
    Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
  • 9 Aug 1945—9 Aug 1945:
    Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
  • 15 Aug 1945—15 Aug 1945:
    VJ Day (Victory in Japan)
  • 2 Sep 1945—2 Sep 1945:
    Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri
  • 24 Oct 1945—24 Oct 1945:
    United Nations Organisation comes into existence
  • 4 Nov 1945—4 Nov 1945:
    UNESCO founded
24 1946 
  • 1946—1946:
    Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948)
  • 1946—1946:
    Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio - until 2004
  • 1 Jan 1946—1 Jan 1946:
    First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
  • 1 Mar 1946—1 Mar 1946:
    Bank of England nationalised
25 1947 
  • 1947—1947:
    Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much flooding later
  • 1947—1947:
    First British nuclear reactor developed
  • 1 Jan 1947—1 Jan 1947:
    Coal Mines nationalised
  • 23 Feb 1947—23 Feb 1947:
    International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
  • 1 Mar 1947—1 Mar 1947:
    International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
  • 1 Apr 1947—1 Apr 1947:
    School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
  • 26 Oct 1947—26 Oct 1947:
    British military occupation ends in Iraq
  • 20 Nov 1947—20 Nov 1947:
    Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
26 1948 
  • 1948—1948:
    British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
  • 1948—1948:
    Transistor radio invented
  • 1948—1948:
    Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
  • 1948—1948:
    SA - Known as the beginning of apartheid era.
  • 1948—1948:
    SA - Nationalist Government come to power in SA
  • 1 Jan 1948—1 Jan 1948:
    British Railways nationalised
  • 5 Jul 1948—5 Jul 1948:
    National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
  • 29 Jul 1948—29 Jul 1948:
    London Olympics begin
27 1949 
  • 1949—1949:
    Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
  • 1949—1949:
    De Haviland produces the Comet - first jet airliner
  • 15 Mar 1949—15 Mar 1949:
    Clothes rationing ends in Britain
  • 4 Apr 1949—4 Apr 1949:
    Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
28 1950 
  • 1950—1950:
    SA - Korean War
  • 19 May 1950—19 May 1950:
    Points rationing ends in Britain
  • 26 May 1950—26 May 1950:
    Petrol rationing ends in Britain
  • 11 Jul 1950—11 Jul 1950:
    'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
  • 9 Sep 1950—9 Sep 1950:
    Soap rationing ends in Britain
  • 28 Dec 1950—28 Dec 1950:
    The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
29 1951 
  • 3 May 1951—3 May 1951:
    Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
  • 28 May 1951—28 May 1951:
    First Goon Show broadcast
  • 20 Dec 1951—20 Dec 1951:
    Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
30 1952 
  • 1952—1952:
    Contraceptive pill invented
  • 1952—1952:
    Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
  • 1952—1952:
    Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
  • 1952—1952:
    Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
  • 6 Feb 1952—6 Feb 1952:
    King George VI dies
  • 21 Feb 1952—21 Feb 1952:
    Identity Cards abolished in Britain
  • 2 May 1952—2 May 1952:
    First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg
  • 5 Jul 1952—5 Jul 1952:
    Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
  • 16 Aug 1952—16 Aug 1952:
    Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
  • 6 Sep 1952—6 Sep 1952:
    DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
  • 3 Oct 1952—3 Oct 1952:
    End of tea rationing in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1952—1 Nov 1952:
    The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA - the mushroom cloud was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised.
  • 25 Nov 1952—25 Nov 1952:
    Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
  • 4 Dec 1952—4 Dec 1952:
    Great smog hits London

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