Here is a list of interesting events in History for our English lessons. So far I could just finished up to June.... I promise I will go on to December as soon as possible. Hope you like it!

1. TODAY IN
HISTORY José A. Alcalde
Some years ago I found an interesting book, “3sixty5” by Vicky
Anderson and Robert Campbell (published in Barcelona by IT's magazine in
1995). It was a compilation of historical facts for the whole year, along with their
didactic exploitation in the classroom. I kept it for a long time until very recently
I found “another” way to make some use of it (we teachers are masters of
creating new and different uses of old stuff, aren't we?).
What I do is really simple: I pick some of the funniest, most shocking or amazing events to tell my
students in Englislh and later, they have to tell it to the rest of the group in Spanish. It is kind of a listening
comprehension exercise but with some interesting and different, unusual content. It is great to practice
dates, past tenses, place-names, question forms, etc. Now it is a routine at the beginning of my lessons
and my students LOVE it! If I forget to do it for any reason, they immediately ask for it with the statement
“Didn't anything important happen today in History, Sir?”.
Over the years I have added more updated facts with a teenage audience in mind. Feel free to
browse the events and add any other of relevance for you or your students (sport, music, cinema,
literature, art, science, local or international events, you name it). Even ask your students to add more
events along the year to keep it updated. In time, if you go on using this document like me, you will realize
that some events (usually related to celebrities) become quickly outdated!
When possible or interesting I have also added website links to make this document more
interactive and informative in this multimedia world where we teach today. The events mentioned could
also be a hint to be expanded, explained, etc., through project work. I am quite confident some teachers
will expand even more the possibilities of this idea.
Don't miss the opportunity of taking the History of the World into your English lesson! You
won't regret!!
NOTE: Below are some useful websites I found when preparing this document. Check out the ones that
suit you most.
• Historical events at http://www.historyorb.com/events
• Celebrities' birthdays at http://www.famousbirthdays.com

2. 1st
January
1927 BBC established
1958 The EC (current EU) came into being
2nd
January
1900 First electric omnibus service in NYC
1920 Isaac Asimov, US biochemist and science fiction
writer, born
3rd
January
1875 Pierre Larousse, French encyclopaedist, died
1888 JRR Tolkien, British author of “Lord of the Rings”,
born
1959 Alaska became the 49th
and largest state of the
USA (bought to the Russians)
4th
January
Sri Lanka National Day
1885 First successful appendix operation performed
5th
January
1855 King Camp Gillette, US inventor of safety razor,
born
1896 Roentgen gave first demonstration of X-rays
1940 FM radio demonstrated for first time in US
6th
January
New Zealand National Day
1838 Samuel Morse first demonstrate his new code
1912 New Mexico became the 47th
state of the USA
7th
January
1610 Galileo discovered the four satellites of Jupiter
1927 First transatlantic phone service began between
London and NYC
8th
January
1935 Elvis Presley, US singer, born
1942 Stephen Hawking, English physicist, born
9th
January
1969 First trial of Concorde, the supersonic airliner
10th
January
1863 The first section of the London Underground
opened
11th
January
1569 The first state lottery was held in England
1963 World's first disco,”Whisky-a-go-go”, opened in
Los Angeles
12th
January
1948 First supermarket opened in Britain
1976 Agatha Christie, detective story writer, died
13th
January
1978 NASA selected first women astronauts 15 years
after USSR
14th
January
1937 First Gallup opinion poll published in Britain
15th
January
Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the USA
1880 First telephone directory in the UK published
1929 Martin Luther King Jr., civil right leader, born
16th
January
1547 Ivan the Terrible crowned first Tsar of Russia
1957 The Cavern Club, the birthplace of The Beatles, opened
17th
January
Feast of St Anthony of Egypt, patron saint of domestic animals
1994 Earthquake (6.6 on Ritcher scale) hits Los Angeles
18th
January
1896 X-Ray machine exhibited for the first time
1904 Cary Grant, real name Archibald Alexander Leach, born
1964 Plans for WTC in NY presented
19th
January
1809 Edgar Allan Poe, US writer, born
1839 Paul Cezanne, French artist, born
1903 First Tour de France announced in Paris
20th
January
Feast of St Sebastian, patron saint of athletes
1892 Basketball first played in Massachusetts
21st
January
1930 BBC made its first word broadcast from London
22nd
January
1775 André Ampére, French physicist who gave us the term
“amp”, born
1902 Marconi's first successful radio transmission
23rd
January
1556 An earthquake in China killed 830,000 people
1832 Edouard Manet, French impressionist painter, born
1941 Nylon was first produced
24th
January
1848 James Marshall discovered gold in California (USA) starting
the Gold Rush
1935 Beer for the first time sold in cans
25th
January
Kuwait National Day
1759 Robert Burns, Scottish poet, born
1917 US bought Virgin islands for $25 million
1924 First Winter Olympics in France
26th
January
Australia National Day
1839 Michigan became 26th
state of the USA
27th
January
1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer, born
1880 Thomas Alba Edison patented the electric light bulb
1926 First public demonstration of television by John Logie Baird
28th
January
1896 First speeding fine given in UK
1935 Iceland became the first country to legalise abortion
29th
January
1886 First petrol driven car patented by Karl-Friedrich Benz
30th
January
World Peace Day
1790 First lifeboat launched
31st
January
1867 Nelson's column in London completed
1876 All US native American Indians forced to move into
reservations
1983 Wearing seat belts became compulsory in UK

3. 1st
February
1851 Mary Shelley, English author of Frankenstein,
died
1884 First edition of Oxford English dictionary
published
2nd
February
Groundhog Day
1852 First public flushing toilet opened in London
1882 James Joyce, Irish writer, born
1977 Pompidou Centre opened in Paris
3rd
February
1966 First controlled moon landing made by USSR
Luna IX
4th
February
1976 An earthquake killed over 23,000 people in
Guatemala
5th
February
1945 Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer, born
1985 Cristiano Ronaldo, famous footballer, born in
Madeira (Portugal)
6th
February
1788 Massachusetts became the 6th
state of the USA
1919 Lufthansa, German airline, established
7th
February
1812 Charles Dickens, the English novelist, born
1989 It rained sardines in Ipswich, Australia
1976 Joan Bazely became first woman football referee
8th
February
1828 Jules Verne, French novelist, born
1965 Cigarrette commercials banned from British
television
9th
February
Feast of Apollonia, patron saint of dentists
10th
February
1996 Deep Blue, IBM computer, first wins chess
against a human
11th
February
1847 TA Edison, American inventor, born
1899 First motor cyclist killed in Britain
1928 First traffic lights in Britain tested in
Wolverhampton
12th
February
1804 Immanuel Kant, German pholosopher, died
1954 First established link between cigarettes and
cancer
13th
February
International radio day
1633 Galileo arrested by the Church because of his
revolutionary theories
14th
February
Parinirvana, Mahayana Buddhist Festival
International Book Giving Day
Interational Organ Donor Day
1564 Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, born
15th
February
International Childhood Cancer Day
Hippopotamus Day
16th
February
1659 First British cheque written
1937 Nylon (named after New York and London) patented in the
USA
US National almond day
1983 Tragic forest fires in South Africa left 8,500 homeless
17th
February
1909 Geronimo, North American Indian, died
2003 London Congestion Charge begins
18th
February
1898 Enzo Ferrari, Italian car builder and racer, born
1930 Pluto discovered at the Lowell Observatory in the US
World Whale Day
19th
February
1878 TA Edison patented the phonograph
20th
February
USA Love your pet Day
World Day for social justice
1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth
21st
February
International Mother Language Day
1858 First electric burglar alarm installed in the US
1947 First ever TV soap opera started in the US
22nd
February
1732 George Washington, US 1st
president, born
1819 USA bought Florida from Spain
23rd
February
1455 Gutenberg printed his first Bible
24th
February
1786 Wilhelm Grimm, German storyteller, born
1887 Paris and Brussels became the first two cities to be linked by
telephone
1988 First baby born from an embryo frozen after fertilization of
donated egg
25th
February
1935 Lumiere screened experimental 3D movie
26th
February
1531 Earthquakes killed 200,000 people in Lisbon
1936 Hitler launched the Volkswagen, the people's car
1997 First £1note issued by the Bank of England
27th
February
1892 Louis Vuitton dies
28th
February
1912 Albert Berry made the first parachute jump
29th
February
Leap Year Day

4. 1st
March
St. David's Day, patron saint of Wales
1803 Ohio became the 37th
state of the USA
1867 Nebraska became the 38th
state of the USA
1880 Pennsylvania became first US state to abolish
slavery
2nd
March
1933 King Kong, the film, opened
1949 First round-the-world non-stop flight ever
1960 Earthquake in Morocco killed 20,000
3rd
March
1845 Florida became the 27th
state of the USA
1847 Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor, born
4th
March
1678 Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer, born
1791 Vermont became the 14th
state of the USA
1924 “Happy Birthday to You” was published
5th
March
1907 First radio broadcast of a musical composition
aired
1970 Nuclear non-proliferation treaty
6th
March
1475 Michelangelo, Italian artist, born
2007 The highest lottery jackpot ever $370m
7th
March
1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented first telephone
1897 Corn Flakes served for first time at Battle Creek
Sanatorium
8th
March
International Women's Day
1952 An artificial heart used for the first time
9th
March
1562 Kissing in public banned in Naples (punishable by
death)
1959 Barbie doll launched
10th
March
1886 First dog show held in London
1990 US performs nuclear tests at Nevada test site
11th
March
1702 First successful English newspaper, Daily
Courant, published
1904 Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter, born
12th
March
1913 Canberra became federal capital of Australia
1918 Moscow became capital of Russia
1935 30 mph limit introduced
1945 Anne Frank, Jewish Dutch diarist, died
13th
March
1781 Uranus discoverd by Sir William Herschel
1930 Discovery of Pluto announced
1974 Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris opened
14th
March
1879 Albert Einstein, German-born Swiss physicist and
mathematician, born
15th
March
World Consumer Rights Day
16th
March
1888 First recorded sale of a car in Paris
1829 Ohio authorised high school night classes
17th
March
St. Patrick's Day, patron saint of Ireland
1977 CNN begins Spanish broadcasts
18th
March
1662 First public buses ran in Paris
1940 NATO set up
19th
March
Feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of fathers
721BC First eclipse ever recorded
20th
March
Tunicia National Day
1727 Sir Isaac Newton, English scientist, died
1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin, anti-slavery novel, published
1980 The first British pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, first
broadcasting
21st
March
Earth Day
Against Racial Discrimination International Day
The spring equinox, officially the first day of spring
1896 First British cinema opened
22nd
March
World Water Day
1895 First celluloid film presented by Auguste and Louis Lumiere
23rd
March
World Meteorological Day
1891 Goal nets used for first time
24th
March
1911 Denmark abolished capital punishment
2012 China stops taking/selling organs from executed prisoners
25th
March
National Day of Greece
1807 The British parliament abolished the slave trade
1948 London Heathrow Airport opened
26th
March
1885 First person officially cremated in Britain
27th
March
1914 First successful blood transfusion in a Brussels hospital
28th
March
1977 Morning TV started as experiment
29th
March
1886 Coca Cola invented by Dr John Pemberton of Atlanta
1981 First London Marathon
30th
March
1853 Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch painter, born
1867 Alaska bought from the Russians by US for $7.2m
31st
March
1889 Eiffel Tower officially opened
1896 First zipper patented

5. 1st
April
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day
1939 Spanish Civil War ends
1960 US launched first weather satellite
1966 Jean Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor, born
2nd
April
International Children's Book Day
1805 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author of fairy
tales, born
3rd
April
1860 The Pony Express began
4th
April
1581 Francis Drake returned to England after
circumnavigating the world
1934 Cat's Eyes first used on Britain's roads
1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was
created
1968 Martin Luther King Jr., US civil rights leader,
murdered
5th
April
1986 Record for a throw-and-return boomerang toss is
set (121m)
6th
April
1789 George Washington became first president of the
USA
1974 Harry Houdini, American escapologist, born
1992, Isaac Asimov, US science fiction writer, died
7th
April
World Health Day
1827 First box of matches sold in England
1860 William Kellog, inventor of the breakfast cereal,
born
1948 The WHO (World Health Organization) was
formed
8th
April
1973 Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter, died
9th
April
1838 Official opening of the National Gallery in London
10th
April
1633 Bananas sold for the first time in Britain
11th
April
1775 Last execution of witches in Germany
12th
April
1606 The Union Jack was adopted as the official flag of
the UK
13th
April
1970 Explosion in Apollo 13's Service Module on flight
to the Moon
14th
April
1527 Ortelius, Dutch cartographer who produced the
first atlas, born
1828 Webster's American Dictionary of the English
Language first published
1931 The Highway Code first published in Britain
15th
April
1852 First screw-top bottles patented
1912 The Titanic ocean liner hit an iceberg and sank
1955 McDonald's, the world's largest hamburger chain, founded by
Ray Kroc
1970 First pocket electronic calculator announced in Japan
16th
April
1867 Wilbur Wright, US aviation pioneer, born
1889 Charlie Chaplin, British film comedian, born
17th
April
Syria National Day
1421 An estimated 100,000 people drowned in floods in Holland
18th
April
1881 Natural History Museum opened in London
1934 First launderette openen in Fort Worth, Texas
19th
April
1951 First Miss World contest took place in London
1965 First all news radio station
1897 First Boston marathon (the oldest of the new era)
20th
April
1862 First pasteurization test by Louis Pasteur
21st
April
753BC Romulus founded Rome
22nd
April
1500 Brazil was discovered by Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez
de Cabral
23rd
April
Book international Day
1564 William Shakespeare, English playwright, born and died on
the same day in 1616
24th
April
1981 IBM-PC computer introduced
25th
April
1792 The guillotine first used in Paris
1792 La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, written
1874 Marconi, Italian pioneer of radio, born
26th
April
1452 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and inventor, born
1986 The nuclear reactor at Chernobyl exploded
27th
April
1791 Samuel Morse, US inventor of the Morse Code, born
1828 The London Zoo opened in Regents Park
28th
April
1919 The UN (United Nations) was created
1770 Australia discovered by Captain Cook
1919 First parachute jump made in the USA
29th
April
National Day of Japan
1930 Inauguration of the UK-Australia telephone service
30th
April
National Day of the Netherlands
1803 USA bought Lousiana and New Orleans from France
1900 Hawaii ceded itself to the USA

6. 1st
May
May Day or Labour Day celebrated in many countries
1927 First hot meals served on an aeroplane
1931 The Empire State Building was opened in NYC
2nd
May
1923 First non-stop flight across the USA
1933 Loch Ness monster sighted
2011 Osama Bin Laden killed by US forces
3rd
May
World Press Freedom Day
1494 Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica
4th
May
Feast of Florian patron saint of firefighters
1655 Bartholomme Cristofori, Italian craftsman who
developed the first piano, died
5th
May
Europe Day
1818 Karl Marx, social philosopher and founder of
Communism, born
1821 Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, died
6th
May
1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island (NY), from
the Indians
1851 Sigmund Freud, pioneer of psychoanalysis, born
7th
May
1994 The famous painting “The Scream” recoverd after
three months stolen
8th
May
Cezch Republic National Day
World Red Cross Day
1828 Jean Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red
Cross, born
9th
May
1927 Camberra inaugurated as the new capital of
Australia replacing Melbourne
1944 First eye bank opened in NYC
1962 The Beatles sign their first record contract
10th
May
1937 Britain's first frozen food (asparagus) went on sale
1994 Nelson Mandela, first black president of South
Africa
11th
May
868 First printed book published in China
1904 Salvador Dalí, Spanish surrealist artist, born
1981 Bob Marley, reggae musician, born
12th
May
1935 AA, Alcoholic Anonymous founded in Ohio (USA)
13th
May
1981 Pope John Paul is shot in Rome
14th
May
1984 Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, born
1991 2 bullet trains crashed in Japan killing 40
15th
May
Feast Day of Dympna, patron saint of the insane
16th
May
1929 The first Oscar film awards ceremony held in Hollywood
(USA)
1975 Japanese woman clibms Mount Everest
17th
May
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
Norway National Day
1620 First merry-go-round appeared in Turkey
1861 First package holiday organized by Thomson Holidays
18th
May
1897 Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published
19th
May
1715 Early years of species protection
1926 Malcolm X, US Black Muslim leader, born
20th
May
Cameron National Day
1939 First regular commercial flights between US and Europe
1959 First person arrested through use of an identikit picture
21st
May
1884 Statue of Liberty finished
1904 FIFA, Football Federation's international body was
established
1916 Clocks in Britain went forward one hour for first daylight-
savind day
22nd
May
1813 Richard Wagner, German composer, born
1859 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish-born novelist, born
23rd
May
1988 First underwater marriage took place in Mauritius
1929 New gold rush starts in Australia
24th
May
1686 Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist, born
1844 First morse code message sent on US telegraph line
25th
May
Geek Pride Day
1850 First hippopotamus arrives in London's Regent Park Zoo
1889 Igor Ivanoch Sikorsky, US inventor of the helicopter, born
26th
May
1994 Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley
27th
May
1923 First Le Mans 24 hours race
1937 The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco opened
28th
May
1908 Ian Fleming, English novelist and writer of 007, born
29th
May
1917 John F Kennedy, 35th
US President, born
1953 Edmund Hillary, first person to climb Mount Everest
30th
May
1911 First ever running of the Indianapolis 500 miles
31st
May
National Day of South Africa
World No Tobacco Day
1859 Big Ben started operating

7. 1st
June
Samoa National Day
1880 First telephone box for public use installed
1926 Marilyn Monroe, US actress, born
2nd
June
1962 Britain's first legal casino opened in Brighton
3rd
June
1946 First bikini presented in Paris
4th
June
1937 First supermarket trolleys in Oklahoma (USA)
5th
June
World Environment Day
6th
June
Sweden National Day
1599 Velázquez, Spanish painter, born
1933 First drive-in cinema opened in New Jersey
1936 Britain's Gatwick airport opened
7th
June
Italy's National Relax Day
1848 Paul Gaugin, French painter, born
1929 Vatican City established in Rome
8th
June
International Oceans Day
1912 Universal Pictures founded
1988 Nippon Airways painted eyes on planes to scare
birds
9th
June
1870 Charles Dickens, English novelist, died
1963 Johnny Deep, US actor, born
10th
June
1793 First public zoo opened in Paris
1943 Ball point pens patented by Lazlo Biró
11th
June
1975 First oil pumped from North Sea oilfield
12th
June
1929 Anne Frank, German diarist, born
13th
June
1956 First European Cup won by Real Madrid
14th
June
1777 Stars and Stripes adopted as official US flag
1928 Che Guevara, Cuban revolutionary, born
15th
June
1869 Celluloid patented
16th
June
1963 Valentina Tereshkova became first woman in space
17th
June
World Day to Combat Desertification
1944 Iceland became an independent republic
18th
June
1822 US-Canada border determined
1908 Japanese massive migration to Brazil begins
19th
June
1623 Blaise Pascal, French inventor of calculating machine, born
20th
June
1963 The White House and the Kremlin agreed to set up the hot
line for emergencies in the Cold War
21st
June
The Summer Solstice
1876 First gorilla arrived in Britain
22nd
June
1676 Royal Greenwich Observatory established by King Charles II
1847 Game of lawn tennis introduced
23rd
June
Luxemborg National Day
1848 Adolphe Sax patented saxophone
24th
June
Midsummer Day
25th
June
1630 Forks introduced to American dining habits
1788 Virginia became the 10th
state of the USA
1835 First building in San Francisco (The Yerbabuena)
26th
June
1945 United Nations Charter signed
27th
June
1693 First magazine for women, “Ladies' Mercury” published
1967 First cash dispenser in UK started operating
28th
June
LGBT Pride Day
1498 Toothbrushed invented in China using boar bristles
1577 Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish artist, born
1896 First movie theatre in the USA opens in New Orleans (10c a
movie)
29th
June
Feast Day of St. Peter, patron saint of fishermen
1829 First policeman was murdered in Britain
1900 Antoine de SaintExupery, French writer, born
1966 The Barclaycard, Britain's first credit card, introduced
30th
June
1966 First pop-up toasters went on sale in the US
1966 Mike Tyson, US boxing champion, born
1985 Michael Phelps, US Olympic swimmer, born

8. 1st
July
Canada National Day
1916 Coca Cola created its distinctive bottle
1929 Popeye, the cartoon character, is born
1941 First TV commercial shown in the US
2nd
July
1566 Nostradamus, French astrologer and physician,
died
3rd
July
1890 Idaho became 43rd
state of the US
1962 Tom Cruise, US actor, born
4th
July
US Independence Day
1848 The Communist Manifesto published
1884 Statue of Liberty presented
1946 US gave Phillipine islands their independence
5th
July
Venezuela National Day
1865 First speed limit (2 mph) imposed in Britain
1946 Bikini fist modelled
6th
July
1946 Sylvester Stallone, US actor, born
7th
July
1988 Eleven-year-old boy became youngest person to
fly the Atlantic
8th
July
1839 John D Rockefeller, US multimillionaire, born
1892 First person convicted on evidence of fingerprints
9th
July
Argentina National Day
1877 First Wimbledon Lawn Tennis championship
staged
1956 Tom Hanks, US actor, born
10th
July
1099 El Cid, Castillian knight, died
1890 Wyoming became 40th
state of the US
1900 Paris metro opened
1958 Parking meters came into operation in the UK
11th
July
1974 World Football League plays 1st games
12th
July
1884 Amadeo Modigliani, Italian painter, born
13th
July
1930 World Cup football competition instituted
14th
July
Bastille Day, National Day of France
Iraq National Day
1867 Alfred Nobel demonstrated dynamite
15th
July
1606 Rembrandt, Dutch painter, born
1881 Billy the Kid, US outlaw, killed
1948 British branch of Alcoholic Anonymous founded
1965 First close-up pictures of Mars
16th
July
1661 First banknotes in Europe issued by the Bank of Stockholm
1872 Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer of the North Pole, born
17th
July
1995 Bill Gates is the richest man in world, worth $12.9 billion
dollars
18th
July
1877 Edison carried out first successful recording of voice
1892 Thomas Cook, English travel agent, died
1918 Nelson Mandela, South African leader, born
19th
July
1903 Maurice Garin became first winner of the Tour de France
1961 First ever in-flight movies
20th
July
Colombia National Day
1837 First railway station in London (Euston) opened
21st
July
Belgium National Day
1984 James F Fixx, the man who popularized jogging, died while
jogging
22nd
July
Poland National Day
23rd
July
Ethiopia and United Arab Republic National Day
24th
July
1775 Eugéne Francois Vidoq, founder of first detective agency,
born
25th
July
1917 Mata Hari, famous spy, sentenced to death
1978 Lousie Brown, first test tube baby, born
26th
July
Liberia National Day
1788 New York became 11th
state of the USA
1908 FBI established in Washington DC
27th
July
1949 World's first jet airliner made its maiden flight
28th
July
Peru National Day
1586 First potatoes arrived in Britain from Columbia
1858 Fingerprints first used for identification
1959 Post codes introduced in Britain
29th
July
Feast Day of Martha, patron saint of housewives
1890 Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter, died
30th
July
1947 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born actor, born
31st
July
1950 Britain's first self-service store, Sainsburys, opened

9. 1st
August
Switzerland National Day
1774 Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen
1778 First savings bank opened in Hamburg (Germany)
1876 Colorado became 38th
state of the Union
2nd
August
1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland first published
3rd
August
1778 La Scala Opera House opened in Milan
1811 Elisha Graves Otis, US safety lift inventor, born
1924 Joseph Conrad, British novelist, died
4th
August
1870 Red Cross founded in Britain
1875 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer, died
5th
August
1962 Marylin Monroe, US actress, died
6th
August
Bolivia National Day
7th
August
1876 Mata Hari, Dutch spy, born
8th
August
1900 The Davis Cup played for first time
1937 Dustin Hoffman, US actor, born
9th
August
Aborigin tribes International Day
1979 First British nudist beach established in Brighton
10th
August
1675 Foundation stone of the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich, laid
1821 Missouri became 24th
sate of the USA
11th
August
1897 Enyd Blyton, English writer, born
12th
August
1925 Norris and Ross McWhirter, creators fo Guinnes
Book of Records, born
13th
August
1899 Alfred Hitchcok, English film director, born
1961 Berlin Wall began to go up
14th
August
1893 First car registration plates introduced in France
1908 First International Beauty Contest staged in Britain
15th
August
1769 Napoleon Bonaparte, French leader, born
16th
August
1958 Madonna (Louise Veronica Ciccone), US singer, born
1977 Elvis Presley, US rock star, died
17th
August
Indonesia National Day
1896 First pedestrian killed by motor vehicle in Britain
1943 Robert de Niro, US actor, born
18th
August
1743 First rules of boxing introduced in Britain
19th
August
1883 Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, born
20th
August
1956 First nuclear power generated
21st
August
1911 Leonardo's Mona Lisa stolen from Louvre Museum
1959 Hawain became the 50th
state of the USA
1976 Mary Langdon became Britain's first woman firefighter
22nd
August
1908 Henri Cartier, French photojournalist, born
23rd
August
1305 William Wallace, Scottish patriot, is executed for high treason
by Edward I of England
24th
August
79 Vesubius volcano erupted and buried Pompeii
25th
August
Uruguay National Day
1530 Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of Russia, born
1970 Claudia Schiffer, German model, born
26th
August
580 Chinese invented toilet paper
1498 Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pietà
27th
August
1910 Mother Theresa, Yugoslavian-born missionary, born
28th
August
476 West Roman Empire formally disbands/emperor Romulus
August ousted
1963 Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" at Lincoln
Memorial
29th
August
1958 Michael Jackson, US rock star, born
1918 British policemen went on strike for the first time
30th
August
1797 Mary Shelley, English novelist, born
1881 First stereo system patented in Germany
31st
August
1900 Coca Cola first went on sale in UK

10. 1st
September
Lybia National Day
1951 Britain's first supermarket opened in London
2nd
September
1666 The Great Fire of London started
1964 Keanu Reeves, US actor, born
1987 Phillips launched the CD-video
3rd
September
1967 Sweden switched to driving on the right
4th
September
1981 Beyoncé, American singer, born
1927 John McCarthy coined the term “artificial
intelligence”
5th
September
1946 Freddie Mercury, rock singer, born
6th
September
1852 First free lending library in Britain opened in
Manchester
7th
September
Brazil National Day
8th
September
International Literacy Day
1157 Richard the Lion Heart, King of England, born
9th
September
1087 William the Conqueror died after his horse fell
1850 California became 31st
state of the USA
10th
September
1894 First person ever charged with drunk driving in UK
11th
September
2001 Terrorist attack on Twin Towers in NYC (USA)
1965 Moby, talented American electronic muscian, born
12th
September
1910 Los Angeles appointed first ever policewoman
1970 Concorde landed at Heathrow airport for first time
13th
September
490BC Greeks defeated Persians at Battle of Marathon
1902 First conviction on fingerpirnt evidence in UK
1916 Roald Dahl, British author, born
14th
September
1759 First recorded English board game sold
15th
September
1891 Agatha Christie, English crime novelist, born
16th
September
Mexico National Day
Ozone Layer International Day
1620 The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth with the
Pilgrim Fathers
1953 Cinemascope demonstrated by 20th
Century Fox
17th
September
1787 US Constitution was approved
18th
September
Chile National Day
1851 New York Times published for first time
1970 Jimi Hendrix, US rock guitarist, died
1981 France abolished the guillotine
19th
September
1783 First manned hot air ballon ascent
1839 George Cadbury, English chocolate manufacturer, born
1888 First ever beauty contest held (in Belgium)
20th
September
Yom Kippur Jewish celebration
1863 Jakob Grimm, German collector of folk tales, died
1946 First Cannes Film Festival
21st
September
International Day of Peace
Alzheimer International Day
Malta National Day
22nd
September
1791 Michael Faraday, British scientist, born
23rd
September
Saudi Arabia National Day
1846 Johan Galle discovered Neptune
1848 Chewing gum first commercially produced
1949 Bruce Springteen, US singer-songwriter, born
24th
September
1896 F S Fiztgerald, US novelist, born
25th
September
1690 First newspaper in the US published in Boston
1818 First blood transfusion using human blood
1897 First motor bus service in Britain
1992 12-year-old boy won divorce from biological parents
26th
September
1769 First recorded cremation in Britain
1887 Emile Berliner's gramophone granted a patent
27th
September
1984 Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer, born
1972 Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress, born
28th
September
1987 Hillary Duff, American singer, born
1968 Naomi Watts, American actress, born
29th
September
1916 John Rockefeller became worl's first billionaire
1950 First automatic telephone answering machine tested in US
30th
September
Botswana National Day

11. 1st
October
International Day of Older People
Music International Day
National Day of China and Nigeria
1974 First McDonalds opened in London
2nd
October
1608 First telescope demonstrated
1925 First double-decker buses ran in London
3rd
October
1906 SOS became first international distress signal
1922 First facsimile picture transmitted over phone
4th
October
1976 First fast trains in Britain
5th
October
1880 First ball pen patented
6th
October
1883 First Orient Express journey
7th
October
1919 KLM, the oldest airline, was established
1959 Russian stellite transmitted first photograph of the
far side of the moon
8th
October
1967 First breathalyser test on a driver in UK
9th
October
World Post Day
1940 John Lennon, English singer-song-writer, born
1947 First phone call made between car and plane
10th
October
1813 Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer, born
11th
October
1854 Bill White became the first bespectacled baseball
player
12th
October
1935 Pavarotti, Italian opera star, born
1901 US President Theodore Roosevelt gave The
White House its name
13th
October
1884 Greenwich adopted as universal time meridian
1904 Freud's “The Interpretation of Dreams” published
14th
October
1979 Usher, American rap singer, born
1939 Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer, born
15th
October
1962 Amnesty International formed in London
1993 Nelson Mandela and President de Klerk awarded
Nobel Peace Prize
16th
October
World Food Day
17th
October
Against Poverty International Day
1860 First professional golf championship in Scotland
18th
October
Feast Day of Luke, patron saint of doctors and painters
1887 Russia transferred Alaska to the USA
1922 The BBC was formed
19th
October
1862 Auguste Lumiere, French photographic pioneer, born
1931 John le Carré, English novelist, born
20th
October
1973 Sydney Opera House opened by Queen Elizabeth II
21st
October
1833 Alfred Nobel, Swedish industrialist and founder of the Nobel
Prizes, born
1879 Thomas Alba Edison invented the electric light bulb
1911 First UK fan magazine published
22nd
October
1797 First successful parachute jump made from ballon over Paris
1811 Franz Liszt, Hungarian-born composer, born
23rd
October
1940 Pelé, Brazilian footballer, born
1946 First meeting of General Assembly of the UN
24th
October
United Nations Day
1857 First football club formed in Sheffield,UK
25th
October
1881 Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist, born
26th
October
Austria National Day
1863 English Football Association formed in London
27th
October
1901 First “gateway” car used when thieves robbed as shop in
Paris
28th
October
1492 Columbus discovered Cuba
1929 First baby born on a plane (above Florida)
1965 Death Penalty for murder abolished in Britain
29th
October
1863 The Red Corss was founded
1929 The Wall Street Crash
30th
October
1925 Logie Baird tested first TV pictures
1960 Maradona,Argentinian footballer, born
31st
October
Halloween
1864 Nevada became 36th
state of the USA
1926 Houdini, escapist and magician, dies after drowning
1951 First zebra crossing introduced in UK

12. 1st
November
1848 WH Smith opened first railway bookstall in London
2nd
November
1755 Marie Antoinette born
1889 North Dakota became the 39th
state of the USA
1889 South Dakota became the 40th
state of the USA
1953 Samaritans phone counselling service founded
3rd
November
1718 Lord Sandwich, inventor of sandwiches, born
1957 Sputnik II orbits the earth with dog Laika, the first
living creature in space
4th
November
1914 First fashion show held in NYC
1946 UNESCO established
5th
November
Guy Fawkes Night in Britain
1927 Britain's first automatic traffic lights installed
6th
November
1861 James A. Naismith, inventor of basketball, born
1988 Virus crippled 6,000 US Defence Department
computers
7th
November
1783 Last public hanging in UK
1876 Marie Curie, scientist and discoverer of radium,
born
8th
November
1656 Edmund Halley, astronomber who discovered
Halley's Comet, born
1847 Bram Stoker, Dracula's author, born
1889 Montana became the 41st
of the USA
1896 Willima Roentgen, German scientist, discovered
X-rays
9th
November
1985 Sales of cassettes exceded for first time vynil
records
1989 Berlin Wall falls
10th
November
1483 Martin Luther, founder of Protestantism, born
11th
November
Feast Day of Saint Menas who had power to find lost
objects
1889 Washington became the 42nd
state of the USA
1952 First video recorder demonstrated
12th
November
1859 Flying trapeze act first performed by Jules Leotard
at a circus in Paris
13th
November
1850 Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island's author,
born
1914 The bra was patented
14th
November
1942 Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, born
15th
November
1901 First electrical hearing aid patented
1969 First colour TV commercial (fro frozen peas)
shown in Britain
16th
November
Tolerance International Day
1907 Oklahoma became the 46th
state of the USA
17th
November
Feast Day of Hilda, patron saint of business and professional
women
1869 The world's first cycle Road Race from Paris to Rouen
18th
November
1477 First book published in Britain by William Claxton
19th
November
1893 First colour supplement published with Sunday paper
1942 Calvin Klein, US fashion designer, born
20th
November
Universal Children's Day
1963 The oldest dog in the world died aged 27 years and 3 months
21st
November
World TV Day
1789 North Carolina became 12th
state of the USA
1898 René Magritte, Belgian painter, born
22nd
November
Feast of St Cecilia, patron saint of music, singers and poets
1906 SOS was adopted as the international distress signal
1963 J F Kennedy, US president, assassinated in Dallas
23rd
November
1859 Billy the Kid, US outlaw, born
1889 First jukebox installed in San Francisco (USA)
24th
November
1859 Charles Darwin published Origin of the Species
25th
November
1844 Karl Benz, German inventor of the motor car, born
26th
November
1789 First Thanksgiving Day in the USA
1987 Court case began to decide if drawings of English bank notes
were art or forgery
27th
November
1701 Anders Celcius, Swedish inventor of centigrade thermometer,
born
1914 First two policewomen in UK
1942 Jimi Hendrix, US guitarist, born
28th
November
1948 First Polaroid cameras went on sale
1968 Enid Blyton, children's author, died
29th
November
1864 Massacre of Indians in the USA
1898 C S Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia's author, born
30th
November
St Andrews Day, patron saint of Scotland
1835 Mark Twain, US writer, born
1965 Ben Stiller, US actor, born

13. 1st
December
AIDS Day
1887 Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance
1990 Completion of the Channel Tunnes linking France
and England
2nd
December
Against slavery International Day
1697 St Paul´s Cathedral opened
1901 King Camp Gillete marketed a safety razor
1942 First nuclear chain reaction at University of
Chicago
3rd
December
1818 Illimois became 21st
state of the USA
1894 R L Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, died
1926 Agatha Christie disappeared and wasn't found
until the 14th
1982 First heart transplant performed in South Africa
4th
December
1791 The Observer, Britain's oldest Sunday newspaper,
first published
1935 Monopoly, the board game, launched
5th
December
1766 James Christie held his first auction
1901 Walt Disney, US pioneer of cartoons, bonr
6th
December
Feast of St Nicholas, the original Father Christmas
1774 Austria became the first nation to introduce a state
education system
1877 Edison made the first recording of voice
7th
December
1787 Delaware became the first state of the USA
8th
December
1934 London to Australia airmail service inaugurated
1980 John Lennon shot and killed by Mark Chapman
9th
December
International Anti-corruption Day
1931 Spain becomes a Republic
10th
December
Human Rights Day (First Declaration in 1848)
Nobel Prize Day (First awarded in 1901)
1817 Mississippi became the 20th
state of the USA
1845 Pneumatic tyres patented by Robert Thomson
11th
December
1816 Indiana became the 19th
state of the USA
1894 First motor show opened in Paris
12th
December
1787 Pennsylvania became the 2nd
state of the USA
1925 First motel opened in California (USA)
13th
December
1884 Jehovah's witnesses, religions sect, founded
1989 Deaf choir gave the first ever sign language
concert
14th
December
1503 Nostradamus, French astrologer and physician,
born
1819 Alabama became the 22nd
state of the USA
15th
December
1832 Gustave Eiffel, French engineer, born
1979 Two Canadians created the game Trivial Pursuit
16th
December
1985 London's Heathrow airport became the busiest in the world
17th
December
Aviation Day
1770 Beethoven, German composer, born
1903 The Wright Brothers made first successful aeroplane flight in
North Carolina (USA)
18th
December
1787 New Jersey became the 3rd
state of the USA
1865 USA officially abolished slavery
19th
December
1989 First “The Simpsons” episode aired
20th
December
1879 Edison demonstrated electric light at his home
21st
December
Winter Solstice (or 22 or 23 December)
Feast Day of St Thomas the Apostle, patron saint of architects
22nd
December
1858 Giacomo Puccini, Italian opera composer, born
23rd
December
1888 Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear
24th
December
Christmas Eve
25th
December
Christmas Day
1800 First Christmas tree in UK
26th
December
Boxing Day in Britain
Feast Day of Saint Stephen
1898 Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium
27th
December
1822 Louis Pasteur, French scientist, born
1945 International Monetary Fund formed
28th
December
Feast of the Holy Innocents
1846 Iowa became the 29th
state of the USA
1895 First cinema opened in Paris
1908 Earthquake in Sicily killed over 75,000
29th
December
1845 Texas became the 28th
state of the USA
30th
December
1913 Paramount Studios opened in Hollywood (USA)
31st
December
New Year's Eve
1869 Henri Matisse, French painter, born