This page provides daily updates on past events and anniversaries during the First week of January. The events included are those that either happened in London or had an effect, one way or another, on the lives of Londoners.
Daily updates on Events during the First week |
Below are the events and anniversaries for this week both about London and Londoners and Outside London. The archive for these pages has been arranged in a series of monthly Digests. To speed up navigation, these have been further divided into four weekly instalments. These pages are all comprehensively interlinked. Each Section has its own background page which provides additional and in-depth information about many of the events and people in the daily listings. They are intended to both amuse and inform and can be found at Gazette Briefings and Historical Anecdotes . Links to the anniversaries and events in the other weeks of the month are given in the following table whilst links to the other months of the year can be found at the bottom of the page. 1st 1538, Tuesday January 1, Bermondsey Abbey was suppressed and its properties seized by the Crown
1651, Wednesday January 1, Deptford was flooded when at 2 p.m. during a violent storm the surging river destroyed embankments and entered the dockyards and the town. People had to be rescued from the rooftops and more than 200 cattle were drowned in the meadows.
1660, Sunday January 1, Samuel Pepys made the first entry in his Diary.
1716, Sunday January 1, Death of the dramatist William Wycherley.
1731, Friday January 1, The Gentleman's Magazine, one of the most famous and enduring of London's journals was first published. It was the first to use the term magazine for a journal.
1785, Saturday January 1, The Daily Universal Register was founded by John Walter. It became the Times on 1 January 1788 and is Britain's oldest surviving newspaper with continuous daily publication.
1801, Thursday January 1, The Act of Union of Britain and Ireland came into force.
1802, Friday January 1, Cobbett's Annual Register was founded, it later became Cobbett's Weekly Political Register. It ceased publication in 1836.
1815, Sunday January 1, One of the first people to be buried in the new St John's Wood churchyard was the religious fanatic and prophetess Joanna Southcott.
1833, Tuesday January 1, The London Fire Engine Establishment, the forerunner of the Fire Brigade, was formed by the insurance companies.
1864, Friday January 1, Southwark Street, linking London Bridge Station and Blackfriars, was formally opened. The first formed by the Metropolitan Board of works, it boasted the unusual feature of an underground subway to carry utilities.
1866, Monday January 1, The Metropolitan Fire Brigade came formally into existence. It was administered by the Metropolitan Board of works.
1870, Saturday January 1, London Cab fares were deregulated. Each cab could set its own tariff of fares so long as these were legibly printed on the door panels.
1879, Wednesday January 1, Birth of the novelist E M Forster.
1887, Saturday January 1, Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India.
1890, Wednesday January 1, Fire broke out at the Forest Gate Industrial School. The 26 children who died were buried in a mass grave five days later at West Ham cemetery.
1909, Friday January 1, The first payments of old-age pensions were made.
1913, Wednesday January 1, London's motorized cabmen went on strike against the price of petrol. The strike lasted for more than 3 months.
1930, Wednesday January 1, The Daily Worker was launched. It became the Morning Star in 1966.
1933, Sunday January 1, Birth of the dramatist Joe Orton .
1944, Saturday January 1, Death of the architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens. 2nd 1860, Monday January 2, The first stage of the North London Line opened as the Hampstead Junction railway. It ran between Kentish Town and Willesden.
1866, Tuesday January 2, Birth of the classical scholar George Murray.
1892, Saturday January 2, Death of the Astronomer Royal George Airy.
1893, Monday January 2, The Financial Times first appeared on pink paper.
1905, Monday January 2, Birth of the composer Michael Tippett.
1938, Sunday January 2, Birth of the photographer David Bailey.
1983, Saturday January 2, Death of the comedian Dick Emery . 3rd 1641, Sunday January 3, Death of the astronomical prodigy Jeremiah Horrocks at age 22.
1661, Thursday 3 January, Pepys' diary noted that women appeared on the London stage.
1670, Monday January 3, Death of general George Monck.
1803, Monday January 3, Birth of the author and wit Douglas William Jerrold.
1808, Monday January 3, The Examiner was launched. The Editor, Leigh Hunt, was imprisoned in 1813 for publishing criticism of the Prince Regent. The newsapaer ceased publication in 1881.
1883, Wednesday January 3, Birth of the statesman Clement Attlee.
1942, Saturday January 3, Birth of the actor John Thaw.
1988, Sunday January 3, Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving Prime Minister in the 20th century. 4th 1698, Tuesday January 4, Whitehall was destroyed by fire. The palace was not rebuilt and the court moved to St James'.
1650, Friday January 4, At seven in the evening, 27 barrels of gunpowder stored against the wall of All Hallows Barking by the Tower exploded. The force was so great that fifty houses were destroyed and at least 67 people, 24 unidentified, were killed.
1805, Friday January 4, John Cunningham Saunders convened a meeting to found the Dispensary for the Relief of the Poor Afflicted with Dieseases of the Eye and Ear. It became the Moorfields Eye Hospital.
1884, Wednesday January 4, The socialist Fabian Society was founded in London.
1890, Saturday January 4, The Daily Graphic was launched. It was the first daily illustrated paper. It merged with the Daily Sketch in 1926.
1890, Saturday January 4, Daily Graphic, first fully-illustrated English newspaper was published.
1958, Saturday January 4, Death of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
1972, Tuesday January 4, At the Old Bailey, Rose Heilbron became the first woman judge in Britain.
1986, Saturday January 4, Death of the novelist and dramatist Christopher Isherwood. 5th 1066, Thursday January 5, Death of Edward the Confessor.
1596, Monday January 5, Birth of the composer Henry Lawes.
1806, Sunday January 5, Nelson's body was brought to Greenwich to lie in state in the Painted Hall. Over the next three days 60,000 people filed past the hero's coffin.
1884, Sunday January 5, Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida, ultimately based on Tennyson's The Princess, premiered at the Savoy.
1889, Saturday January 5, The word Hamburger first appeared in print.
1895, Saturday January 5, Henry James' play Guy Domville opened in London.
1964, Sunday January 5, The Underground's first automatic ticket barrier was installed, at Stamford Brook. 6th 1066, Friday January 6, Coronation of Harald.
1367, Wednesday January 6, Birth of Richard II.
1540, Tuesday January 6, Henry VIII was married to Anne of Cleves.
1616, Saturday 6 January, Death of the theatrical manager and businessman Philip Henslowe.
1661, Sunday January 6, Die-hard Republicans, the fanatical Fifth Monarchy Men, in an attempt to restore the Commonwealth, began an insurrection in the City under the leadership of Thomas Venner. They eluded the trained bands and killed a number of people before escaping to set up camp at Highgate. When they attacked the City again after a few days they were arrested.
1720, Wednesday January 6, The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble published its findings.
1725, Wednesday January 6, The first patients were admitted to Guy's Hospital.
1840, Monday January 6, Death of the novelist and diarist Fanny Burney.
1928, Friday January 6, The Thames flooded, drowning four people, and severely damaging paintings stored in the Tate Gallery's basement. 7th 1536, Friday January 7, Death of Katherine of Aragon, henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary I.
1601, Wednesday January 7, Robert, Earl of Essex, led a revolt in London against Elizabeth I' Council.
1611, Monday January 7, Birth of the political author James Harrington.
1618, Wednesday January 7, Francis Bacon became Lord Chancellor.
1619, Thursday January 7, Death of the miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard.
1691, Wednesday 7 January, Death of the Irish scientist Robert Boyle.
1714, Thursday January 7, Henry Mill took out a patent on a typewriter but didn't manufacture it.
1805, Monday January 7, The famous pugilist Tom Cribb had his first public fight. It was against Tom Maddox at Wood Green. He was declared the winner after 76 rounds!
1811, Sunday January 7, The Thames did not completely freeze over this year but two men did walk along the ice from Battersea Bridge to Hungerford Stairs.
1927, Friday January 7, The London-New York telephone service began operating. (A three-minute call cost £15).
1988, Thursday January 7, Death of the actor Trevor Howard. 1st 1515, Monday January 1, Death of Louis XII of France. He was succeeded by his brother Francis I
1622, Tuesday January 1, The Papal Chancellery adopted January 1 as the beginning of the year, replacing March 25.
1631, Saturday January 1, Death of the carrier and inn-keeper Thomas Hobson, the original of "Hobson's Choice".
1651, Wednesday January 1, Coronation of Charles II as king of Scotland.
1766, Wednesday January 1, Death of James Stuart, the Old Pretender.
1814, Saturday January 1, The Baptist Minister, Joseph Harris launched Seren Gomer ("Star of Gomer") in Swansea. it was the first Welsh-language newspaper.
1854, Sunday January 1, Birth of the anthropologist and author Sir James Frazer.
1894, Monday January 1, The Manchester Ship Canal was officially opened to traffic.
1894, Monday January 1, Death of the physicist Heinrich Hertz.
1901, Tuesday January 1, The Commonwealth of Australia was formed .
1958, Wednesday January 1, The European Community came into existence. 2nd 1492, Monday January 2, Granada, the last foothold of the Moors in Spain, was captured by the Spanish.
1727, Monday January 2, Birth of general James Wolfe.
1889, Wednesday January 2, Birth of the tenor Tito Schipa.
1996, Tuesday January 2, Sweeping reforms of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were announced. 3rd 1521, Thursday January 3, Martin Luther was excommunicated
1543, Wednesday January 3, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, was appointed Regent of Scotland during the minority of Mary.
1717, Thursday January 3, American forces defeated the British at Princetown.
1795, Saturday January 3, Death of the potter Josiah Wedgwood.
1815, Tuesday January 3, By secret treaty, Austria, Britain, and France formed a defensive alliance against Prusso-Russian plans to solve the Saxon and Polish problems.
1833, Thursday January 3, Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands.
1892, Sunday January 3, Birth of the writer J R R Tolkien.
1910, Monday January 3, The miners went on strike demanding an 8 hour day.
1924, Thursday January 3, Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. 4th 1581, Wednesday January 4, Bishop James Ussher of Armagh calculated the first day of Creation as 23 November 4004 BC from the lifespan data in the Bible.
1761, Sunday January 4, Death of Stephen Hales, inventor of the ventilator.
1813, Monday January 4, Birth of the inventer of the modern shorthand system Isaac Pitman.
1878, Wednesday January 4, Birth of the painter Augustus John.
1937, Monday January 4, Birth of the mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry.
1944, Tuesday January 4, The attack on Monte Cassino was launched by the British Fifth Army in Italy. 5th 1589, Sunday January 5, Death of the dowager queen of France Catherine de' Medici.
1840, Sunday January 5, A total of 95,820 licensed public houses are recorded in England.
1896, Sunday January 5, Wilhelm Roentgen discovers x-rays.
1902, Sunday January 5, Birth of the poet and novelist Stella Gibbons.
1922, Thursday January 5, Death of the Antarctic explorer Henry Shackleton.
1931, Monday January 5, Birth of the pianist Alfred Brendel.
1941, Sunday January 5, Death of the aviator Amy Johnson. 6th 1838, Saturday January 6, The first public demonstration of the electric telegraph was given by Samuel Morse.
1839, Sunday January 6, The two-day violent storm over England and Ireland, known as the "Big Wind," began.
1884, Sunday January 6, Death of the monk and biologist Gregor Mendel.
1981, Tuesday January 6, Death of the novelist A J Cronin.
1993, Wednesday January 6, Death of the dancer Rudolf Nureyev. 7th 1537, Sunday January 7, Alessandro de' Medici was assasinated in Florence.
1558, Friday January 7, Calais, the last English possession on mainland France, was recaptured by the French.
1785, Friday January 7, The first aerial crossing of the English Channel was made by Jean Pierre Blanchard and Dr John Jeffries, in a hot-air balloon.
1925, Wednesday January 7, Birth of the author and naturalist Gerald Durrell.
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