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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1910 | - 6 May 1910—20 Jan 1936: King George V
King George V was born in 1865 and died in 1936. He reigned as sovereign for 26 years from 1910 to 1936.
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| 2 | 1936 | - 11 Dec 1936—6 Feb 1952: King George VI
King George VI was born in 1895 and died in 1952. He reigned as sovereign for 16 years from 1936 to 1952.
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| 3 | 1939 | - 1 Sep 1939—2 Sep 1945: WW2
WW2 - a truly world war, it was fought throughout Europe, Russia, North Africa, and across the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. It is estimated that some 55 million lives were lost in total.
- 29 Sep 1939: 1939 Register
The 1939 Register was used to produce identity cards and, once rationing was introduced in January 1940, to issue ration books. Those recorded as engaged in 'heavy work' received additional rations.
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| 4 | 1940 | - 7 Sep 1940—11 May 1941: London Blitz
The London Blitz was a sustained eight-month German bombing campaign against the UK during WW2. Running from September 1940 to May 1941, the relentless aerial raids killed roughly 20,000 to 43,000 civilians in the capital, destroyed two million homes, and fundamentally reshaped the city’s urban landscape.
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| 5 | 1944 | - 6 Jun 1944: D-Day
The Normandy Landings. Codenamed 'Operation Neptune', D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France and the rest of Western Europe.
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| 6 | 1945 | - 8 May 1945: VE Day
VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) marked the formal unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies on May 8, 1945, officially ending World War II in Europe.
- 15 Aug 1945: VJ Day
VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) marks the anniversary of August 15th 1945, when Japan announced its surrender, bringing an end to the Second World War. In the UK, it is observed annually on August 15 to honor the British, Commonwealth, and Allied troops who fought in the Asia-Pacific.
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| 7 | 1948 | - 5 Jul 1948: NHS
The NHS was created in the UK providing free healthcare for all at the point of use.
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| 8 | 1949 | - 1949: Clothes & sweet rationing ended
Clothes and sweets were removed from ration books in the UK.
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| 9 | 1951 | - 1951: Festival of Britain
A national exhibition and fair held throughout the UK. The intention was to give the British public a sense of recovery and progress after the devastation of WW2 and to promote British science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts.
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| 10 | 1952 | - 1952: Tea rationing ended
Tea rationing ended in the UK.
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| 11 | 1953 | - 1953: Sugar & chocolate rationing ended
Sugar and chocolate sweets were completely derationed in the UK.
- 2 Jun 1953: Queen Elizabeth II
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
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| 12 | 1954 | - 4 Jul 1954: Rationing ended
In 1954 meat, bacon, and all remaining food restrictions officially ended on July 4
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| 13 | 1960 | - 31 Dec 1960: Conscription ends
The last call-ups for peacetime National Service ended in December 1960 with the last conscripted men discharged from the Armed Forces in May 1963.
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| 14 | 1962 | - Dec 1962—Mar 1963: Great Freeze
It began to snow on Boxing Day in December 1962 and didn't stop until the end of March 1963. The country froze.
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| 15 | 1968 | - 1968—1968: Measles vaccine
The measles vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1968. Twenty years later, in October 1988, it was replaced by the combined Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
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| 16 | 1970 | - 1970: Age of Majority
Age of majority, including the voting age, is reduced from 21 to 18. The term refers to when, in the eyes of the law, children assume the status of adulthood.
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| 17 | 1973 | - 1973: EEC
Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC).
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Dutton, Berrett & Hungerford Twigs
1934 - 1973 (38 years)
