December  

1        1925. The Locarno Pact was signed in London guaranteeing European frontiers.

2        1697. St. Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, was opened.

3        1810. The British captured Mauritius from the French.

4        1798. William Pitt the Younger introduced income tax to Britain to finance the wars with France.

5        1766. James Christie, founder of Christie's auctioneers, held his first sale in London.

6        1921. The Irish Free State was created removing Southern Ireland from United Kingdom.

7        1431. Henry 6^th of England was crowned King of France.

8        1863. Englishman Tom King defeated American John Heenan to become the first heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

9        1868. Gladstone became British prime minister for the first of his four terms.

10    1941. The Royal Navy battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk by the Japanese.

11    1769. Venetian blinds were patented by Englishman Edward Beran.

12    1955. British engineer Christopher Cockerell patented the hovercraft.

13    1577. Francis Drake set off in the Golden Hind from Plymouth on his round the world voyage.

14    1918. Women (over 30) voted for the first time in Britain in a General Election.

15    1982. Gibraltar's frontier with Spain was opened for pedestrian use after a gap of 13 years.

16    1653. Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England.

17    1986. The world's first heart, lung and liver transplant took place at Papworth, Cambridge.

18    1912. The discovery of Piltdown Man in East Sussex was announced. It was proved to be a hoax in 1953.

19    1984. Agreement was reached in Beijing between Britain and China over the transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

20    1915. British, Australian and New Zealand troops were evacuated from Gallipoli after the failure of the expedition.

21    1988. A Pan Am jet was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground.

22    1715. James Stuart, the Old Pretender, landed in Scotland after exile in France.

23    1922. The BBC began daily news broadcasts.

24    1914. The first ever air raid on Britain took place when a German aeroplane dropped a bomb on Dover.

25    1066. William the Conqueror was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey.

26    1943. The German battlecruiser Scharnhost was sunk in the North Sea.

27    1831. Charles Darwin set sail in the Beagle on his voyage of scientific discovery.

28    1950. The Peak District became the first National Park in Britain.

29    1170. St. Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered in his cathedral by four knights acting on King Henry 2nd's orders.

30    1460. The duke of York was killed and his army defeated by the Lancastrians at the battle of Wakefield  in the War of the Roses.

31    1695. The Window Tax was imposed in Britain resulting in the bricking up of many windows throughout the country.

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