January  

1        1801.  The Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland became law. England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland unify.

2        1727.  James Wolfe, the conqueror of Quebec and Canada, was born.

3        1924.  Howard Carter, the English explorer, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of Kings, Egypt.

4        1944. The British 5^th Army launched the attack on Monte Cassino, Italy.

5        1066. King Edward the Confessor died starting a chain of events leading to the end of Anglo-Saxon rule in England.

6        871. King Alfred the Great defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown.

7        1785. The first ever crossing of the English Channel in a hot air balloon by Jean Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries.

8        1886. Britain's longest tunnel, the Severn Railway Tunnel, was opened.

9        1799. Income Tax at two shillings (10p) in the pound was introduced to fund the Napoleonic Wars.

10    1840. The penny post was introduced in Britain. The cost of posting a letter would now be the responsibility of the sender instead of the recipient.

11    1569. England's fist state lottery was held with tickets being sold at St. Paul's Cathedral.

12    1866. The Royal Aeronautical Society was founded.

13    1964. The first Beatles single to be released in the USA ("I wanna hold your hand") sold one million copies in the first three weeks.

14    1943. British P.M. Winston Churchill met U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Casablanca for summit talks.

15    1559. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth the first took place.

16    1809. British forces defeated the French at the Battle of Corunna in the Peninsular War.

17    1912. Robert Scott reached the South Pole only to discover that Roald Amundsen of Norway had beaten him by one month.

18    1778. Captain Cook discovered the Sandwich Islands now known as Hawaii.

19    1915. German zeppelins bombed England for the first time killing over 20 people in Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn.

20    1265. The first English Parliament met at Westminster Hall.

21    1846. The first edition of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens, was published.

22    1879. British troops massacred by the Zulus at Isandhlwana.

23    1924. The first ever Labour Government was formed under Ramsay Mac Donald.

24    1965. Sir Winston Churchill died.

25    1627. Scottish poet Robert Burns was born. Burns night now held every January 25^th.

26    1950. India became a republic within the Commonwealth.

27    1926. The first public demonstration of the television made by John Logie Baird in London.

28    1807. London became the first city in the world to be illuminated by gaslight (in Pall Mall).

29    1856. The Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military decoration, founded by Queen Victoria.

30    1649. The Commonwealth of England was established following the execution of King Charles the first on the same day.

31    1606. Guy Fawkes was executed along with his fellow conspirators following the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot the previous year.

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