The General Strike following cuts in the coal-mining industry lasts just nine days Scottish inventor and engineer John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television, leading to the historic trans-Atlantic transmissions of television from London to New York in 1928. Ramsay MacDonald becomes Britain’s first Labour prime minister, but the party loses the election to the Conservatives later in the year James Joyce’s Ulysses and T S Eliot’s The Waste Land are published Women at Oxford University are allowed to receive degrees Lady Astor becomes the first woman to sit as a British MP. Sinn Fein sets up the Dail Eireann (Irish Constituent Assembly) in Dublin proclaiming Ireland’s independence the British government outlaws the assembly, sparking a two-year war with the IRA

The Treaty of Versailles establishes peace in Europe. The First World War – Major battles and casualties include Ypres (1914, 1915),the Somme, during which the British employed tanks for the first time (1916), Jutland (1916) and Passchendaele (1917).Other key dates include the German U-boat sinking of the Lusitania (1915), Zeppelin raids on British cities(from 1915), conscription (from 1916), entry into the war of the USA (1917), and Armistice on the Western Front 11am, 11 November 1918 Irish Nationalists of the Easter Rising seize key buildings in Dublin, but the rising is crushed Suffragette Emily Davidson is killed after throwing herself in front of the King’s horse at the Derby The White Liner Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York with the loss of more than 1500 lives The Ulster Volunteer Force is formed in opposition to Liberal proposals for Home Rule for Ireland for the third time The Parliament Act means the House of Lords cannot veto legislation passed by the House of Commons in three successive sessions it also establishes five-yearly parliamentary elections

Parliament approves the introduction of means-tested old age pensions of up to five shillings a week for people over 70 years old The most powerful battleship afloat, it raises the bar in the Anglo-German naval arms race The first Dreadnought class battleship is launched at Portsmouth. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst soon become the most prominent members.īritain and France sign the Entente Cordiale, ending centuries of sporadic conflict and paving the way to future diplomatic and military co-operation The Women’s Social and Political Union is formed to campaign for women’s suffrage. Tracing the history of Britain from 1901-2012…

20th century inventions timeline