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Calendar

The Royal Kalendar of Anniversaries

Anniversaries 2026

Round anniversaries · 2026

    January

    1 January Thursday

    • 1801 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland comes into being 225th anniversary
    • 1823 Birth of Sándor Petőfi, poet 203rd anniversary
    • 1877 Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India at Delhi 149th anniversary
    • 1901 The Commonwealth of Australia is established 125th anniversary

    2 January Friday

    • 1784 Birth of Prince Ernest, the future Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Albert's father 242nd anniversary
    • 1861 William I ascends the Prussian throne 165th anniversary

    3 January Saturday

    • 1981 Death of Princess Alice of Albany, Victoria's grandchild 45th anniversary

    4 January Sunday

    • 1931 Death of Princess Louise of Wales, Victoria's grandchild 95th anniversary

    5 January Monday

    • 1827 Death of Frederick, Duke of York 199th anniversary

    6 January Tuesday

    • 1884 Death of Gregor Mendel, Augustinian friar, father of genetics 142nd anniversary

    7 January Wednesday

    • 1796 Birth of Princess Charlotte of Wales, only child of George IV 230th anniversary

    8 January Thursday

    • 1815 The Battle of New Orleans – news of the peace has not yet arrived 211th anniversary
    • 1828 Viscount Goderich leaves office: resigns 198th anniversary
    • 1864 Birth of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, Victoria's grandchild 162nd anniversary

    9 January Friday

    • 1873 Death of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French – died in exile in England, at Chislehurst 153rd anniversary
    • 1878 Death of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia, first King of a united Italy 148th anniversary

    10 January Saturday

    • 1840 Death of Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg 186th anniversary
    • 1840 The Uniform Penny Post comes into force – one penny for a letter to anywhere in the country 186th anniversary
    • 1863 The Metropolitan Railway opens, the world's first underground railway 163rd anniversary
    • 1893 Wedding of Princess Marie of Edinburgh, the future Queen of Romania and Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania 133rd anniversary

    11 January Sunday

    • 1928 Death of Thomas Hardy, writer and poet 98th anniversary

    12 January Monday

    • 1974 Death of Princess Patricia of Connaught, Victoria's grandchild 52nd anniversary

    13 January Tuesday

    • 1842 Dr William Brydon reaches Jalalabad alone, the sole survivor of the British retreat from Kabul 184th anniversary
    • 1883 Birth of Prince Arthur of Connaught, Victoria's grandchild 143rd anniversary
    • 1932 Death of Princess Sophie of Prussia, the future Queen of Greece, Victoria's grandchild 94th anniversary

    14 January Wednesday

    • 1878 Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone to the Queen at Osborne 148th anniversary
    • 1898 Death of Lewis Carroll, writer (Alice in Wonderland) 128th anniversary

    15 January Thursday

    • 1867 The ice breaks on the lake in Regent's Park – forty skaters drown 159th anniversary
    • 1882 Birth of Princess Margaret of Connaught, Victoria's grandchild 144th anniversary

    16 January Friday

    • 1809 The Battle of Corunna – Sir John Moore is killed 217th anniversary
    • 1862 The Hartley Colliery disaster in Northumberland – 204 miners die 164th anniversary
    • 1942 Death of Prince Arthur, the last surviving son 84th anniversary

    17 January Saturday

    • 1820 Birth of Anne Brontë, novelist 206th anniversary
    • 1912 Scott's expedition reaches the South Pole – Amundsen has already been there 114th anniversary
    • 1991 Death of Prince Alexander of Denmark, the future King Olav V of Norway, Victoria's great-grandchild 35th anniversary

    18 January Sunday

    • 1871 The German Empire is proclaimed at Versailles – Vicky's father-in-law becomes German Emperor 155th anniversary
    • 1871 William I is proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles – the German Empire is born 155th anniversary
    • 1919 Death of Prince John of Wales, Victoria's great-grandchild 107th anniversary
    • 1936 Death of Rudyard Kipling, writer (The Jungle Book) 90th anniversary

    19 January Monday

    • 1736 Birth of James Watt, inventor, improver of the steam engine 290th anniversary
    • 1757 Birth of Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf, grandmother of Victoria and Albert 269th anniversary
    • 1807 Birth of Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate armies 219th anniversary
    • 1809 Birth of Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet 217th anniversary
    • 1927 Death of Charlotte (Carlota), former Empress of Mexico, Victoria's cousin 99th anniversary

    20 January Tuesday

    • 1823 Birth of Imre Madách, playwright (The Tragedy of Man) 203rd anniversary
    • 1896 Death of Prince Henry of Battenberg, Beatrice's husband 130th anniversary
    • 1936 Death of Prince George, the future George V, Victoria's grandchild 90th anniversary

    22 January Thursday

    • 1788 Birth of Lord Byron, poet 238th anniversary
    • 1828 The Duke of Wellington becomes Prime Minister 198th anniversary
    • 1879 Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift – two battles of the Zulu War on a single day 147th anniversary
    • 1901 Queen Victoria dies at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight 125th anniversary
    • 1901 Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, succeeds to the throne as Edward VII 125th anniversary
    • 1954 Death of Princess Margaret of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 72nd anniversary

    23 January Friday

    • 1806 William Pitt the Younger leaves office: dies in office 220th anniversary
    • 1820 Edward, Duke of Kent, Victoria's father, dies at Sidmouth – his daughter is not yet a year old 206th anniversary
    • 1874 Prince Alfred marries Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna in St Petersburg 152nd anniversary

    24 January Saturday

    • 1900 The Battle of Spion Kop in the Boer War 126th anniversary

    25 January Sunday

    • 1858 Wedding of Princess Vicky and Prince Frederick William of Prussia 168th anniversary
    • 1893 Wedding of Princess Margaret of Prussia and Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse 133rd anniversary

    26 January Monday

    • 1788 The First Fleet lands at Sydney Cove – the colonisation of Australia begins 238th anniversary
    • 1841 The British flag is raised at Possession Point – Hong Kong becomes a British possession 185th anniversary
    • 1885 Khartoum falls and General Gordon is killed 141st anniversary
    • 1947 Death of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Victoria's great-grandchild 79th anniversary

    27 January Tuesday

    • 1773 Birth of Prince Augustus Frederick, the future Duke of Sussex 253rd anniversary
    • 1832 Birth of Lewis Carroll, writer (Alice in Wonderland) 194th anniversary
    • 1901 Death of Giuseppe Verdi, composer – died a few days after Victoria 125th anniversary

    28 January Wednesday

    • 1770 The Duke of Grafton leaves office: resigns 256th anniversary
    • 1770 Lord North becomes Prime Minister 256th anniversary
    • 1833 Birth of Charles Gordon, general 193rd anniversary
    • 1841 Birth of Henry Morton Stanley, journalist and explorer of Africa 185th anniversary
    • 1876 Death of Ferenc Deák, statesman, "the sage of the nation" 150th anniversary
    • 1886 The Marquess of Salisbury leaves office: defeated in the Commons, resigns 140th anniversary

    29 January Thursday

    • 1820 George III dies at Windsor, six days after his son the Duke of Kent 206th anniversary
    • 1844 Death of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Albert's father 182nd anniversary
    • 1856 Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross, the highest British award for gallantry 170th anniversary
    • 1886 Carl Benz is granted a patent for his motor car – the birth of the automobile 140th anniversary

    30 January Friday

    • 1818 Birth of Artúr Görgei, Honvéd general, commander-in-chief in the war of independence of 1848–49 208th anniversary
    • 1853 Wedding of Napoleon III and Eugénie de Montijo in Notre-Dame 173rd anniversary
    • 1855 The Earl of Aberdeen leaves office: resigns over the conduct of the Crimean War 171st anniversary
    • 1948 Death of Orville Wright, aviation pioneer 78th anniversary

    31 January Saturday

    • 1824 Birth of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry, Victoria's cousin 202nd anniversary
    • 1858 After months of attempts, Brunel's giant ship, the Great Eastern, is launched 168th anniversary

    February

    1 February Sunday

    • 1886 William Ewart Gladstone becomes Prime Minister (third time) 140th anniversary

    2 February Monday

    • 1754 Birth of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French foreign minister, ambassador in London 1830–34 272nd anniversary
    • 1871 Death of Baron József Eötvös, writer, minister of religion and education 155th anniversary
    • 1901 Victoria's funeral in St George's Chapel, Windsor 125th anniversary
    • 1905 Wedding of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich 121st anniversary

    3 February Tuesday

    • 1809 Birth of Felix Mendelssohn, composer, a favourite of Victoria and Albert 217th anniversary
    • 1830 Birth of The Marquess of Salisbury, prime minister 196th anniversary

    4 February Wednesday

    • 2002 Death of Sigvard Bernadotte, Victoria's great-grandchild 24th anniversary

    5 February Thursday

    • 1788 Birth of Sir Robert Peel, prime minister – died after a riding accident 238th anniversary
    • 1811 George, Prince of Wales, becomes Regent for his ailing father George III – the Regency begins 215th anniversary

    6 February Friday

    • 1840 The Treaty of Waitangi is signed – New Zealand comes under the British Crown 186th anniversary
    • 1855 Viscount Palmerston becomes Prime Minister 171st anniversary
    • 1899 Death of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria's grandchild 127th anniversary
    • 1952 Death of Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future George VI, Victoria's great-grandchild 74th anniversary

    7 February Saturday

    • 1812 Birth of Charles Dickens, writer (Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol) 214th anniversary
    • 1878 Death of Pius IX, pope, the longest-reigning pope 148th anniversary

    8 February Sunday

    • 1828 Birth of Jules Verne, French writer (Captain Nemo, Around the World in Eighty Days) 198th anniversary

    9 February Monday

    • 1881 Death of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer (Crime and Punishment) 145th anniversary

    10 February Tuesday

    • 1763 Treaty of Paris – the Seven Years' War ends and Canada becomes British 263rd anniversary
    • 1840 Victoria and Albert marry in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace 186th anniversary
    • 1868 Birth of Prince Waldemar of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 158th anniversary
    • 1904 Wedding of Princess Alice of Albany and Prince Alexander of Teck 122nd anniversary
    • 1906 Edward VII launches HMS Dreadnought 120th anniversary
    • 1912 Death of Joseph Lister, surgeon, pioneer of antiseptic surgery 114th anniversary

    11 February Wednesday

    • 1800 Birth of William Henry Fox Talbot, English photography pioneer (the calotype) 226th anniversary
    • 1806 Lord Grenville becomes Prime Minister 220th anniversary
    • 1847 Birth of Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor 179th anniversary

    12 February Thursday

    • 1809 Birth of Charles Darwin, naturalist 217th anniversary
    • 1809 Birth of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States – on the same day as Darwin 217th anniversary

    13 February Friday

    • 1883 Death of Richard Wagner, composer 143rd anniversary

    14 February Saturday

    • 1797 The Battle of Cape St Vincent – Jervis and Nelson defeat the Spanish fleet 229th anniversary
    • 1822 Birth of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry, Victoria's cousin 204th anniversary
    • 1871 Death of Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, Victoria's cousin 155th anniversary

    17 February Tuesday

    • 1867 Gyula Andrássy becomes prime minister of the responsible Hungarian government 159th anniversary
    • 1874 William Ewart Gladstone leaves office: resigns after an election defeat 152nd anniversary

    18 February Wednesday

    • 1825 Birth of Mór Jókai, writer, contributor to the Vasárnapi Ujság 201st anniversary
    • 1828 Feodora marries Ernst, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 198th anniversary
    • 1878 Wedding of Princess Charlotte of Prussia and Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen 148th anniversary
    • 1890 Death of Count Gyula Andrássy, Hungarian prime minister and Austro-Hungarian foreign minister 136th anniversary

    19 February Thursday

    • 1858 Viscount Palmerston leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 168th anniversary

    20 February Friday

    • 1858 The Earl of Derby becomes Prime Minister (second time) 168th anniversary
    • 1867 Birth of Princess Louise of Wales, Victoria's grandchild 159th anniversary
    • 1874 Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister (second time) 152nd anniversary

    21 February Saturday

    • 1848 Marx and Engels's Communist Manifesto is published in London 178th anniversary
    • 1852 Lord John Russell leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 174th anniversary

    22 February Sunday

    • 1732 Birth of George Washington, first President of the United States 294th anniversary

    23 February Monday

    • 1779 Birth of Prince Octavius 247th anniversary
    • 1804 Princess Sophia marries Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly 222nd anniversary
    • 1821 Death of John Keats, poet 205th anniversary
    • 1852 The Earl of Derby becomes Prime Minister 174th anniversary
    • 1960 Death of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, Victoria's grandchild 66th anniversary

    24 February Tuesday

    • 1774 Birth of Prince Adolphus Frederick, the future Duke of Cambridge 252nd anniversary
    • 1848 Louis Philippe abdicates and flees to England 178th anniversary

    25 February Wednesday

    • 1868 The Earl of Derby leaves office: resigns through ill health 158th anniversary
    • 1883 Birth of Princess Alice of Albany, Victoria's grandchild 143rd anniversary
    • 1885 Birth of Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Victoria's great-grandchild 141st anniversary

    26 February Thursday

    • 1796 Princess Juliane marries Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia 230th anniversary
    • 1802 Birth of Victor Hugo, French writer (Les Misérables) 224th anniversary
    • 1839 The first Grand National steeplechase at Aintree 187th anniversary
    • 1869 Birth of Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 157th anniversary

    27 February Friday

    • 1868 Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister 158th anniversary
    • 1881 Wedding of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein 145th anniversary
    • 1881 The Battle of Majuba Hill – a British defeat in the First Boer War 145th anniversary
    • 1919 Wedding of Princess Patricia of Connaught and Alexander Ramsay 107th anniversary

    28 February Saturday

    • 1900 The besieged town of Ladysmith is relieved 126th anniversary

    29 February Sunday

    • 1872 Arthur O'Connor approaches the Queen's carriage with a pistol at Buckingham Palace 154th anniversary

    March

    1 March Sunday

    • 1810 Birth of Frédéric Chopin, composer and pianist 216th anniversary

    2 March Monday

    • 1817 Birth of János Arany, poet (Toldi, The Bards of Wales) 209th anniversary
    • 1854 Death of Sir John Conroy, comptroller to the Duchess of Kent, deviser of the "Kensington System" 172nd anniversary
    • 1855 Alexander II ascends the Russian throne on the death of his father, Nicholas I 171st anniversary
    • 1882 Roderick Maclean fires at the Queen at Windsor – the last assassination attempt 144th anniversary
    • 1894 William Ewart Gladstone leaves office: retires 132nd anniversary
    • 1936 Death of Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Victoria's grandchild 90th anniversary

    3 March Tuesday

    • 1823 Birth of Count Gyula Andrássy, Hungarian prime minister and Austro-Hungarian foreign minister 203rd anniversary
    • 1847 Birth of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (the telephone) 179th anniversary
    • 1861 Alexander II's manifesto frees the Russian serfs 165th anniversary

    4 March Wednesday

    • 1821 Princess Elizabeth of Clarence dies at three months – William IV is left without a legitimate heir 205th anniversary
    • 1861 Abraham Lincoln takes the presidential oath 165th anniversary
    • 1890 The Forth Bridge in Scotland is opened 136th anniversary
    • 1890 The Prince of Wales opens the Forth Bridge 136th anniversary

    5 March Thursday

    • 1894 The Earl of Rosebery becomes Prime Minister 132nd anniversary

    6 March Friday

    • 1806 Birth of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet 220th anniversary
    • 1900 Death of Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and car maker 126th anniversary
    • 1954 Death of Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria's grandchild 72nd anniversary
    • 1964 Death of Prince Paul of Greece, the future King Paul I of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 62nd anniversary

    7 March Saturday

    • 1965 Death of Princess Louise of Battenberg, the future Queen of Sweden, Victoria's great-grandchild 61st anniversary

    9 March Monday

    • 1888 Frederick III ascends the German throne – Vicky becomes German Empress 138th anniversary
    • 1888 Death of William I, King of Prussia, German Emperor, Vicky's father-in-law 138th anniversary

    10 March Tuesday

    • 1863 Bertie, Prince of Wales, marries Princess Alexandra of Denmark at Windsor 163rd anniversary

    12 March Thursday

    • 1868 At Clontarf, Sydney, Henry O'Farrell shoots Prince Alfred in the back – the prince recovers 158th anniversary

    13 March Friday

    • 1879 Wedding of Prince Arthur and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia 147th anniversary
    • 1881 Tsar Alexander II is killed by a bomb in St Petersburg 145th anniversary
    • 1892 Ernest Louis becomes Grand Duke of Hesse on his father's death 134th anniversary
    • 1948 Death of Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 78th anniversary

    14 March Saturday

    • 1794 Birth of Józef Bem, Polish–Hungarian general, "Father Bem" 232nd anniversary
    • 1801 William Pitt the Younger leaves office: resigns over Catholic emancipation 225th anniversary
    • 1820 Birth of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia, first King of a united Italy 206th anniversary
    • 1824 Death of Antoinette, Duchess of Württemberg, Victoria's aunt 202nd anniversary
    • 1883 Death of Karl Marx, philosopher – lived and died in London, buried in Highgate Cemetery 143rd anniversary
    • 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado opens at the Savoy Theatre 141st anniversary

    15 March Sunday

    • 1779 Birth of Lord Melbourne, prime minister, mentor of the young Victoria 247th anniversary
    • 1813 Birth of John Snow, physician, father of epidemiology 213th anniversary
    • 1848 Revolution breaks out in Pest 178th anniversary
    • 1877 The first cricket Test match in Melbourne: Australia v England 149th anniversary

    16 March Monday

    • 1861 The Duchess of Kent, Victoria's mother, dies at Frogmore House 165th anniversary
    • 1872 The first FA Cup Final at Kennington Oval 154th anniversary

    17 March Tuesday

    • 1801 Henry Addington becomes Prime Minister 225th anniversary
    • 1834 Birth of Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and car maker 192nd anniversary
    • 1861 Victor Emmanuel II is proclaimed King of Italy 165th anniversary
    • 1886 Birth of Princess Patricia of Connaught, Victoria's grandchild 140th anniversary
    • 1904 Death of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, Victoria's cousin 122nd anniversary

    18 March Wednesday

    • 1834 The Tolpuddle Martyrs are sentenced – six Dorset farm labourers punished for a trade-union oath 192nd anniversary
    • 1848 Birth of Princess Louise 178th anniversary
    • 1913 King George I of Greece is assassinated; his son Constantine I succeeds – Sophie becomes Queen of Greece 113th anniversary

    19 March Thursday

    • 1813 Birth of David Livingstone, explorer of Africa 213th anniversary

    20 March Friday

    • 1890 Wilhelm II accepts Bismarck's forced resignation – "dropping the pilot" 136th anniversary
    • 1894 Death of Lajos Kossuth, statesman 132nd anniversary

    21 March Saturday

    • 1819 Princess Charlotte of Clarence, daughter of William IV, is born and dies the same day 207th anniversary
    • 1871 Princess Louise marries the Marquess of Lorne – a rare case of a bridegroom not of royal blood 155th anniversary

    22 March Sunday

    • 1797 Birth of William I, King of Prussia, German Emperor, Vicky's father-in-law 229th anniversary
    • 1832 Death of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet (Faust) 194th anniversary
    • 1882 Jumbo, London Zoo's giant elephant, leaves Regent's Park – bought by Barnum 144th anniversary

    23 March Monday

    • 1844 Barnum and General Tom Thumb visit Victoria at Buckingham Palace 182nd anniversary

    24 March Tuesday

    • 1834 Birth of William Morris, designer, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement 192nd anniversary
    • 1837 Birth of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, Victoria's cousin 189th anniversary
    • 1882 Robert Koch announces the discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus 144th anniversary
    • 1905 Death of Jules Verne, French writer (Captain Nemo, Around the World in Eighty Days) 121st anniversary
    • 1953 Death of Queen Mary, widow of George V 73rd anniversary

    25 March Wednesday

    • 1802 The Peace of Amiens between Britain and France 224th anniversary
    • 1807 Lord Grenville leaves office: dismissed by George III 219th anniversary
    • 1807 The Slave Trade Act receives royal assent 219th anniversary
    • 1843 The Brunels' Thames Tunnel opens, the world's first tunnel under a navigable river 183rd anniversary

    26 March Thursday

    • 1783 The Earl of Shelburne leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 243rd anniversary
    • 1819 Birth of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, Victoria's cousin, the future commander-in-chief 207th anniversary
    • 1827 Death of Ludwig van Beethoven, composer 199th anniversary

    27 March Friday

    • 1782 Lord North leaves office: resigns after the defeat in America 244th anniversary
    • 1782 The Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister (second time) 244th anniversary
    • 1871 The first rugby international: Scotland v England in Edinburgh 155th anniversary
    • 1879 Death of Prince Waldemar of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 147th anniversary
    • 1883 Death of John Brown, the Queen's Scottish servant and confidant 143rd anniversary

    28 March Saturday

    • 1785 Birth of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, Victoria's uncle 241st anniversary
    • 1854 Britain declares war on Russia – the Crimean War begins 172nd anniversary
    • 1884 Prince Leopold dies at Cannes 142nd anniversary
    • 1910 Birth of Princess Ingrid of Sweden, the future Queen of Denmark, Victoria's great-grandchild 116th anniversary
    • 1965 Death of Princess Mary of York, the future Princess Royal, Victoria's great-grandchild 61st anniversary

    29 March Sunday

    • 1871 Victoria opens the Royal Albert Hall 155th anniversary

    30 March Monday

    • 1856 The Treaty of Paris – the Crimean War ends 170th anniversary

    31 March Tuesday

    • 1807 The Duke of Portland becomes Prime Minister (second time) 219th anniversary
    • 1837 Death of John Constable, painter 189th anniversary
    • 1855 Death of Charlotte Brontë, novelist (Jane Eyre) 171st anniversary
    • 1889 Eiffel raises the flag on top of the completed Eiffel Tower 137th anniversary
    • 1900 Birth of Prince Henry, Duke of York, the future Duke of Gloucester, Victoria's great-grandchild 126th anniversary

    April

    1 April Wednesday

    • 1815 Birth of Otto von Bismarck, Prussian minister-president, German chancellor 211th anniversary
    • 1947 Death of Prince George of Greece, the future King George II of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 79th anniversary
    • 1993 Death of Juan, Count of Barcelona, Victoria's great-grandchild 33rd anniversary

    2 April Thursday

    • 1783 The Duke of Portland becomes Prime Minister 243rd anniversary
    • 1801 The Battle of Copenhagen – Nelson turns a "blind eye" to the signal to withdraw 225th anniversary
    • 1805 Birth of Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer of fairy tales 221st anniversary
    • 1872 Death of Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse telegraph 154th anniversary

    3 April Friday

    • 1897 Death of Johannes Brahms, composer 129th anniversary
    • 1908 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman leaves office: resigns through ill health, three weeks before his death 118th anniversary

    4 April Saturday

    • 1793 Prince Augustus Frederick secretly marries Lady Augusta Murray – the marriage is later annulled 233rd anniversary
    • 1865 The Prince of Wales opens the Crossness pumping station – Bazalgette's sewers put an end to the "Great Stink" 161st anniversary
    • 1900 Victoria's fourth and last visit to Ireland – her entry into Dublin 126th anniversary
    • 1900 In Brussels, 15-year-old Jean-Baptiste Sipido fires at the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII – and misses 126th anniversary
    • 1929 Death of Carl Benz, German engineer, builder of the first petrol-engined car 97th anniversary
    • 1953 Death of Prince Carol of Romania, the future King Carol II of Romania, Victoria's great-grandchild 73rd anniversary

    5 April Sunday

    • 1827 Birth of Joseph Lister, surgeon, pioneer of antiseptic surgery 199th anniversary
    • 1863 Birth of Princess Victoria of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 163rd anniversary
    • 1908 H. H. Asquith becomes Prime Minister 118th anniversary

    6 April Monday

    • 1871 Birth of Prince Alexander John of Wales, Victoria's grandchild 155th anniversary
    • 1896 The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens 130th anniversary
    • 1909 Peary announces that he has reached the North Pole 117th anniversary

    7 April Tuesday

    • 1818 Princess Elizabeth marries Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg 208th anniversary
    • 1853 Birth of Prince Leopold – Victoria is given chloroform during the birth 173rd anniversary
    • 1853 John Snow gives the Queen chloroform at the birth of Prince Leopold – pain relief in childbirth becomes accepted 173rd anniversary
    • 1871 Death of Prince Alexander John of Wales, Victoria's grandchild 155th anniversary

    8 April Wednesday

    • 1763 The Earl of Bute leaves office: resigns 263rd anniversary
    • 1795 George, Prince of Wales, marries Caroline of Brunswick – an unhappy marriage 231st anniversary
    • 1835 Sir Robert Peel leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 191st anniversary
    • 1860 Death of István Széchenyi, "the greatest Hungarian" 166th anniversary
    • 1904 The Entente Cordiale – an Anglo-French understanding 122nd anniversary
    • 1938 Death of Prince George of Battenberg, Victoria's great-grandchild 88th anniversary

    9 April Thursday

    • 1806 Birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer (Great Western, Great Britain) 220th anniversary
    • 1827 The Earl of Liverpool leaves office: resigns after a stroke 199th anniversary
    • 1835 Birth of Leopold, Duke of Brabant, the future Leopold II, King of the Belgians, Victoria's cousin 191st anniversary
    • 1836 Prince Ferdinand marries Queen Maria II of Portugal – becoming King consort of Portugal 190th anniversary
    • 1838 The National Gallery's new building in Trafalgar Square opens 188th anniversary
    • 1839 The world's first commercial telegraph line, Cooke and Wheatstone's, opens between Paddington and West Drayton 187th anniversary
    • 1865 Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox – the American Civil War ends 161st anniversary
    • 1882 Death of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet 144th anniversary

    10 April Friday

    • 1815 Mount Tambora erupts – the following year is the "Year Without a Summer" 211th anniversary
    • 1848 The Chartist mass meeting on Kennington Common, London 178th anniversary
    • 1864 Archduke Maximilian accepts the imperial crown of Mexico – Charlotte becomes Empress of Mexico 162nd anniversary

    12 April Sunday

    • 1782 The Battle of the Saintes – Rodney defeats the French fleet 244th anniversary
    • 1827 George Canning becomes Prime Minister 199th anniversary
    • 1866 Birth of Princess Viktoria of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 160th anniversary

    13 April Monday

    • 1743 Birth of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, author of the Declaration of Independence 283rd anniversary
    • 1829 Catholic Emancipation receives royal assent 197th anniversary

    14 April Tuesday

    • 1857 Birth of Princess Beatrice, the youngest child 169th anniversary
    • 1857 John Snow again administers chloroform at the birth of Princess Beatrice 169th anniversary
    • 1865 John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre 161st anniversary
    • 1867 Birth of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 159th anniversary

    15 April Wednesday

    • 1865 Death of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States 161st anniversary
    • 1912 The Titanic sinks 114th anniversary
    • 1969 Death of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the future Queen of Spain, Victoria's grandchild 57th anniversary

    16 April Thursday

    • 1763 George Grenville becomes Prime Minister 263rd anniversary
    • 1786 Birth of Sir John Franklin, polar explorer, leader of the lost Franklin expedition 240th anniversary
    • 1855 Napoleon III and Eugénie arrive at Windsor on a state visit 171st anniversary
    • 1867 Birth of Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneer 159th anniversary
    • 1942 Death of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh, Victoria's grandchild 84th anniversary

    18 April Saturday

    • 1835 Viscount Melbourne becomes Prime Minister (second time) – Victoria's first prime minister 191st anniversary
    • 1881 The Natural History Museum opens in South Kensington 145th anniversary

    19 April Sunday

    • 1775 Lexington and Concord – the American War of Independence breaks out 251st anniversary
    • 1824 Death of Lord Byron, poet 202nd anniversary
    • 1881 Death of Benjamin Disraeli, prime minister, Victoria's favourite 145th anniversary
    • 1882 Death of Charles Darwin 144th anniversary
    • 1894 Wedding of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and his cousin, Victoria Melita 132nd anniversary

    20 April Monday

    • 1805 Birth of Franz Xaver Winterhalter, painter, portraitist of Victoria and her family 221st anniversary
    • 1808 Birth of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French – died in exile in England, at Chislehurst 218th anniversary
    • 1884 Birth of Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh, Victoria's grandchild 142nd anniversary
    • 1896 Wedding of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Ernst, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 130th anniversary
    • 1909 Death of Abdul Karim, the "Munshi", Victoria's Indian secretary and teacher 117th anniversary
    • 1910 Halley's Comet at perihelion again – the Earth passes through its tail 116th anniversary
    • 1912 Death of Bram Stoker, writer (Dracula) 114th anniversary
    • 1929 Death of Prince Henry of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 97th anniversary

    21 April Tuesday

    • 1816 Birth of Charlotte Brontë, novelist (Jane Eyre) 210th anniversary
    • 1843 Death of Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex 183rd anniversary
    • 1880 Benjamin Disraeli leaves office: resigns after an election defeat 146th anniversary
    • 1910 Death of Mark Twain, American writer (Tom Sawyer) 116th anniversary

    22 April Wednesday

    • 1838 The steamship Sirius reaches New York – the first Atlantic crossing under continuous steam power; the Great Western arrives the next day 188th anniversary
    • 1872 Birth of Princess Margaret of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 154th anniversary
    • 1906 Birth of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Victoria's great-grandchild 120th anniversary

    23 April Thursday

    • 1775 Birth of J. M. W. Turner, painter 251st anniversary
    • 1799 Prince Edward Augustus, Victoria's father, is created Duke of Kent and Strathearn 227th anniversary
    • 1838 The steamship Great Western arrives in New York – regular steam navigation across the Atlantic begins 188th anniversary
    • 1880 William Ewart Gladstone becomes Prime Minister (second time) 146th anniversary
    • 1922 Death of Prince Leopold of Battenberg, Victoria's grandchild 104th anniversary

    24 April Friday

    • 1854 Wedding of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth (Sisi) in Vienna 172nd anniversary
    • 1888 Victoria arrives in Berlin at the bedside of her dying son-in-law, Emperor Frederick III – and meets Bismarck 138th anniversary

    25 April Saturday

    • 1776 Birth of Princess Mary 250th anniversary
    • 1843 Birth of Princess Alice 183rd anniversary
    • 1897 Birth of Princess Mary of York, the future Princess Royal, Victoria's great-grandchild 129th anniversary

    27 April Monday

    • 1791 Birth of Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse telegraph 235th anniversary
    • 1822 Birth of Ulysses S. Grant, Union general, 18th President of the United States 204th anniversary
    • 1828 London Zoo opens in Regent's Park (at first only to members of the Society) 198th anniversary
    • 1840 Princess Victoria of Coburg marries Louis, Duke of Nemours, son of King Louis Philippe of France 186th anniversary
    • 1882 Wedding of Prince Leopold and Princess Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont 144th anniversary
    • 1931 Death of Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 95th anniversary

    29 April Wednesday

    • 1818 Birth of Alexander II, Tsar of Russia, the Liberator of the serfs 208th anniversary

    30 April Thursday

    • 1857 Death of Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, the last surviving child of George III 169th anniversary
    • 1884 Wedding of Princess Victoria of Hesse and Prince Louis of Battenberg 142nd anniversary

    May

    1 May Friday

    • 1769 Birth of The Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), soldier and prime minister 257th anniversary
    • 1840 The Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp, is issued with Victoria's profile 186th anniversary
    • 1850 Birth of Prince Arthur, the future Duke of Connaught – a year before the Great Exhibition opens 176th anniversary
    • 1851 Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park 175th anniversary
    • 1873 Death of David Livingstone, explorer of Africa 153rd anniversary
    • 1876 Victoria assumes the title "Empress of India" 150th anniversary
    • 1920 Death of Princess Margaret of Connaught, Victoria's grandchild 106th anniversary

    2 May Saturday

    • 1816 Princess Charlotte marries Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 210th anniversary
    • 1896 Budapest's Millennium Underground Railway opens, the first underground on the Continent 130th anniversary

    3 May Sunday

    • 1783 Prince Octavius dies aged four – George III mourns him for the rest of his life 243rd anniversary
    • 1870 Birth of Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 156th anniversary

    4 May Monday

    • 1799 The Siege of Seringapatam – Tipu Sultan falls 227th anniversary
    • 1847 Jenny Lind's London debut at Her Majesty's Theatre – Victoria is in the audience 179th anniversary
    • 1913 Birth of Princess Katherine of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 113th anniversary

    5 May Tuesday

    • 1818 Birth of Karl Marx, philosopher – lived and died in London, buried in Highgate Cemetery 208th anniversary
    • 1821 Death of Napoleon, Emperor of the French 205th anniversary
    • 1826 Birth of Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French, Victoria's friend 200th anniversary
    • 1904 Death of Mór Jókai, writer, contributor to the Vasárnapi Ujság 122nd anniversary
    • 2012 Death of Carl Johan Bernadotte, Victoria's last surviving great-grandchild 14th anniversary

    6 May Wednesday

    • 1859 Death of Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and traveller 167th anniversary
    • 1882 Birth of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, Victoria's great-grandchild 144th anniversary
    • 1910 Death of Edward VII 116th anniversary
    • 1910 George V succeeds on the death of his father, Edward VII 116th anniversary

    7 May Thursday

    • 1812 Birth of Robert Browning, poet 214th anniversary
    • 1818 Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, marries Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel 208th anniversary
    • 1833 Birth of Johannes Brahms, composer 193rd anniversary
    • 1840 Birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer 186th anniversary

    10 May Sunday

    • 1804 Henry Addington leaves office: resigns 222nd anniversary
    • 1804 William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister (second time) 222nd anniversary
    • 1839 The "Bedchamber Crisis": Victoria refuses to dismiss her ladies, Peel declines to form a government, Melbourne stays 187th anniversary
    • 1857 The Indian Mutiny breaks out at Meerut 169th anniversary
    • 1869 The "golden spike" is driven at Promontory Summit – the American transcontinental railroad is complete 157th anniversary
    • 1904 Death of Henry Morton Stanley, journalist and explorer of Africa 122nd anniversary
    • 1907 Birth of Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, Victoria's great-grandchild 119th anniversary

    11 May Monday

    • 1812 Assassination: Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is shot in the lobby of the House of Commons – the only British prime minister to be assassinated 214th anniversary
    • 1860 Garibaldi's Thousand land at Marsala 166th anniversary

    12 May Tuesday

    • 1820 Birth of Florence Nightingale, nurse, "the Lady with the Lamp" 206th anniversary
    • 1828 Birth of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet 198th anniversary
    • 1876 Birth of Prince Harald of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 150th anniversary
    • 1879 Birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen, Victoria's first great-grandchild 147th anniversary

    13 May Wednesday

    • 1792 Birth of Pius IX, pope, the longest-reigning pope 234th anniversary
    • 1842 Birth of Arthur Sullivan, composer (Gilbert and Sullivan) 184th anniversary

    14 May Thursday

    • 1881 Death of Mary Seacole, nurse in the Crimean War 145th anniversary

    15 May Friday

    • 1773 Birth of Klemens von Metternich, Austrian chancellor 253rd anniversary

    16 May Saturday

    • 1811 The Battle of Albuera in the Peninsular War 215th anniversary

    17 May Sunday

    • 1838 Death of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, French foreign minister, ambassador in London 1830–34 188th anniversary
    • 1899 Victoria lays the foundation stone of the Victoria and Albert Museum – her last great public ceremony 127th anniversary
    • 1900 The besieged town of Mafeking is relieved – London rejoices 126th anniversary

    18 May Monday

    • 1797 Princess Charlotte marries Frederick William, Hereditary Prince of Württemberg 229th anniversary
    • 1836 Prince Albert and his brother Ernest first come to visit at Kensington – Victoria and Albert's first meeting 190th anniversary
    • 1857 The round Reading Room of the British Museum opens 169th anniversary

    19 May Tuesday

    • 1744 Birth of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, later wife of George III 282nd anniversary
    • 1845 Franklin's expedition, the Erebus and the Terror, sails from Greenhithe for the Northwest Passage 181st anniversary
    • 1849 William Hamilton fires a blank shot towards the Queen 177th anniversary
    • 1898 Death of William Ewart Gladstone, prime minister 128th anniversary

    20 May Wednesday

    • 1876 Death of Prince Harald of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 150th anniversary
    • 1884 Death of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry, Victoria's cousin 142nd anniversary

    21 May Thursday

    • 1780 Birth of Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer 246th anniversary
    • 1889 Birth of Prince Leopold of Battenberg, Victoria's grandchild 137th anniversary
    • 1916 Death of Artúr Görgei, Honvéd general, commander-in-chief in the war of independence of 1848–49 110th anniversary

    22 May Friday

    • 1770 Birth of Princess Elizabeth 256th anniversary
    • 1813 Birth of Richard Wagner, composer 213th anniversary
    • 1859 Birth of Arthur Conan Doyle, writer, creator of Sherlock Holmes 167th anniversary
    • 1885 Death of Victor Hugo, French writer (Les Misérables) 141st anniversary

    24 May Sunday

    • 1819 Alexandrina Victoria is born at Kensington Palace, London 207th anniversary
    • 1844 Morse sends the first telegraph message: "What hath God wrought" 182nd anniversary
    • 1874 Birth of Princess Marie of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 152nd anniversary
    • 1883 The Brooklyn Bridge opens 143rd anniversary
    • 1888 Wedding of Prince Henry of Prussia and his cousin, Princess Irene of Hesse 138th anniversary

    25 May Monday

    • 1846 Birth of Princess Helena 180th anniversary
    • 1895 Oscar Wilde is sentenced to two years' hard labour 131st anniversary

    26 May Tuesday

    • 1762 The Earl of Bute becomes Prime Minister 264th anniversary
    • 1867 Birth of Mary of Teck, the future Queen Mary, wife of George V 159th anniversary
    • 1896 Coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra (Victoria's granddaughter) in Moscow 130th anniversary

    27 May Wednesday

    • 1819 Birth of Prince George of Cumberland, the future George V of Hanover – three days after Victoria 207th anniversary
    • 1848 Death of Princess Sophia 178th anniversary
    • 1910 Death of Robert Koch, German physician and bacteriologist 116th anniversary

    28 May Thursday

    • 1759 Birth of William Pitt the Younger, prime minister 267th anniversary
    • 1849 Death of Anne Brontë, novelist 177th anniversary
    • 1972 Death of Prince Edward, Duke of York, the future Edward VIII, Victoria's great-grandchild 54th anniversary

    29 May Friday

    • 1815 Prince Ernest Augustus marries Princess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 211th anniversary
    • 1818 Edward, Duke of Kent, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Victoria's future parents, marry in Coburg 208th anniversary
    • 1873 Death of Prince Frederick of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 153rd anniversary
    • 1911 Death of W. S. Gilbert, dramatist (Gilbert and Sullivan) 115th anniversary

    30 May Saturday

    • 1842 John Francis fires at the Queen's carriage 184th anniversary
    • 1912 Death of Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneer 114th anniversary

    31 May Sunday

    • 1859 The great clock of the Palace of Westminster starts 167th anniversary
    • 1902 The Treaty of Vereeniging – the Second Boer War ends 124th anniversary
    • 1906 Wedding of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the future Queen of Spain and King Alfonso XIII of Spain 120th anniversary
    • 1906 A bomb is thrown at the wedding procession of Victoria Eugenie and Alfonso XIII in Madrid – the couple are unhurt 120th anniversary

    June

    1 June Monday

    • 1794 The "Glorious First of June" – Howe's naval victory over the French 232nd anniversary

    2 June Tuesday

    • 1840 Birth of Thomas Hardy, writer and poet 186th anniversary
    • 1882 Death of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot 144th anniversary

    3 June Wednesday

    • 1865 Birth of Prince George, the future George V, Victoria's grandchild 161st anniversary
    • 1899 Death of Johann Strauss II, the "Waltz King" 127th anniversary

    4 June Thursday

    • 1738 Birth of Prince George of Wales, the future George III 288th anniversary
    • 1831 The Belgian National Congress elects Leopold, Victoria's uncle, as king 195th anniversary
    • 1838 The first section of the Great Western Railway opens between Paddington and Maidenhead 188th anniversary
    • 1941 Death of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Victoria's grandchild 85th anniversary

    5 June Friday

    • 1771 Birth of Prince Ernest Augustus, the future Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover 255th anniversary
    • 1916 Death of Herbert Kitchener, field marshal 110th anniversary

    6 June Saturday

    • 1861 Death of Camillo Benso di Cavour, Piedmontese prime minister, architect of Italian unity 165th anniversary
    • 1872 Birth of Princess Alix of Hesse, the future Tsarina Alexandra, Victoria's grandchild 154th anniversary

    7 June Sunday

    • 1832 The first great Reform Act receives royal assent 194th anniversary
    • 1840 Birth of Princess Charlotte of Belgium, the future Empress of Mexico, Victoria's cousin 186th anniversary
    • 1907 Birth of Sigvard Bernadotte, Victoria's great-grandchild 119th anniversary

    8 June Monday

    • 1812 The Earl of Liverpool becomes Prime Minister 214th anniversary
    • 1829 Birth of John Everett Millais, Pre-Raphaelite painter 197th anniversary
    • 1867 Franz Joseph is crowned King of Hungary in Buda – the crowning of the Compromise 159th anniversary

    9 June Tuesday

    • 1781 Birth of George Stephenson, engineer, "the father of the railways" 245th anniversary
    • 1815 The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna is signed 211th anniversary
    • 1870 Death of Charles Dickens 156th anniversary
    • 1885 William Ewart Gladstone leaves office: defeated in the Commons, resigns 141st anniversary
    • 1923 Death of Princess Helena 103rd anniversary

    10 June Wednesday

    • 1829 The first Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, at Henley 197th anniversary
    • 1840 Edward Oxford fires at the Queen and Albert on Constitution Hill – the first assassination attempt 186th anniversary
    • 1854 Victoria opens the Crystal Palace, re-erected at Sydenham 172nd anniversary
    • 1897 Birth of Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, Victoria's great-grandchild 129th anniversary
    • 1974 Death of Prince Henry, Duke of York, the future Duke of Gloucester, Victoria's great-grandchild 52nd anniversary

    11 June Thursday

    • 1776 Birth of John Constable, painter 250th anniversary
    • 1847 Death of Sir John Franklin, polar explorer, leader of the lost Franklin expedition 179th anniversary
    • 1859 The Earl of Derby leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 167th anniversary
    • 1859 Death of Klemens von Metternich, Austrian chancellor 167th anniversary

    12 June Friday

    • 1859 Viscount Palmerston becomes Prime Minister (second time) 167th anniversary
    • 1866 Princess Mary Adelaide marries Francis, Duke of Teck 160th anniversary
    • 1878 Death of George V of Hanover, Victoria's cousin 148th anniversary

    13 June Saturday

    • 1777 Prince Francis marries Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf at Ebersdorf 249th anniversary
    • 1818 Birth of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry, Victoria's cousin, father of the future Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria 208th anniversary
    • 1831 Birth of James Clerk Maxwell, physicist 195th anniversary
    • 1842 Victoria's first railway journey: from Slough to Paddington, London 184th anniversary

    14 June Sunday

    • 1870 Birth of Princess Sophie of Prussia, the future Queen of Greece, Victoria's grandchild 156th anniversary

    15 June Monday

    • 1884 Wedding of Princess Elisabeth (Ella) of Hesse and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich 142nd anniversary
    • 1888 Death of Emperor Frederick III, Vicky's husband, after a reign of 99 days; his son Wilhelm II succeeds 138th anniversary
    • 1888 Wilhelm II ascends the German imperial throne 138th anniversary
    • 1905 Wedding of Princess Margaret of Connaught and Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden 121st anniversary

    16 June Tuesday

    • 1815 The Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before Waterloo 211th anniversary
    • 1858 Death of John Snow, physician, father of epidemiology 168th anniversary

    17 June Wednesday

    • 1775 The Battle of Bunker Hill near Boston 251st anniversary

    18 June Thursday

    • 1815 The Battle of Waterloo – Wellington and Blücher defeat Napoleon 211th anniversary
    • 1866 Death of Prince Sigismund of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 160th anniversary
    • 1901 Birth of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, Victoria's great-grandchild 125th anniversary

    19 June Friday

    • 1867 Emperor Maximilian of Mexico is executed at Querétaro 159th anniversary

    20 June Saturday

    • 1837 William IV dies; eighteen-year-old Victoria becomes Queen of Great Britain 189th anniversary
    • 1887 Victoria's Golden Jubilee: fifty years on the throne 139th anniversary
    • 1913 Birth of Juan, Count of Barcelona, Victoria's great-grandchild 113th anniversary

    21 June Sunday

    • 1798 The Battle of Vinegar Hill – the Irish rebellion is crushed 228th anniversary
    • 1813 The Battle of Vitoria – Wellington drives the French out of Spain 213th anniversary
    • 1818 Birth of Prince Ernest, the future Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Albert's elder brother 208th anniversary

    22 June Monday

    • 1895 The Earl of Rosebery leaves office: resigns 131st anniversary
    • 1897 The Diamond Jubilee procession in London 129th anniversary
    • 1906 Coronation of Haakon VII and Queen Maud in Trondheim 120th anniversary
    • 1909 Birth of Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Victoria's great-grandchild 117th anniversary
    • 1911 Coronation of George V and Queen Mary in Westminster Abbey 115th anniversary

    23 June Tuesday

    • 1845 The foundation stone of the new Osborne House is laid on the Isle of Wight 181st anniversary
    • 1885 The Marquess of Salisbury becomes Prime Minister 141st anniversary
    • 1894 Birth of Prince Edward, Duke of York, the future Edward VIII, Victoria's great-grandchild 132nd anniversary

    24 June Wednesday

    • 1819 The infant Alexandrina Victoria is christened at Kensington Palace 207th anniversary
    • 1850 Birth of Herbert Kitchener, field marshal 176th anniversary

    25 June Thursday

    • 1857 Victoria confers on Albert the title "Prince Consort" 169th anniversary
    • 1876 Little Bighorn: Sitting Bull's and Crazy Horse's warriors destroy Custer's cavalry; Custer is killed 150th anniversary
    • 1895 The Marquess of Salisbury becomes Prime Minister (third time) 131st anniversary
    • 1900 Birth of Prince Louis of Battenberg, the future Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Victoria's great-grandchild 126th anniversary

    26 June Friday

    • 1824 Birth of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), physicist 202nd anniversary
    • 1830 George IV dies; William IV succeeds, and eleven-year-old Victoria becomes heir presumptive 196th anniversary
    • 1839 The first Henley Regatta 187th anniversary
    • 1846 The repeal of the Corn Laws receives royal assent 180th anniversary
    • 1866 Earl Russell leaves office: resigns 160th anniversary
    • 1899 Birth of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Victoria's great-grandchild 127th anniversary

    27 June Saturday

    • 1850 Robert Pate strikes the Queen with a cane 176th anniversary

    28 June Sunday

    • 1838 Coronation of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey 188th anniversary
    • 1843 Princess Augusta of Cambridge marries Frederick William, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 183rd anniversary
    • 1866 The Earl of Derby becomes Prime Minister (third time) 160th anniversary

    29 June Monday

    • 1846 Sir Robert Peel leaves office: resigns after the repeal of the Corn Laws 180th anniversary
    • 1861 Death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet 165th anniversary

    30 June Tuesday

    • 1846 Lord John Russell becomes Prime Minister 180th anniversary
    • 1859 Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope 167th anniversary
    • 1894 Tower Bridge is opened 132nd anniversary

    July

    1 July Wednesday

    • 1782 The Marquess of Rockingham leaves office: dies in office 244th anniversary
    • 1818 Birth of Ignaz Semmelweis, physician, "saviour of mothers" 208th anniversary
    • 1862 The sombre wedding of Princess Alice and Prince Louis of Hesse at Osborne 164th anniversary
    • 1867 The Canadian Confederation is formed 159th anniversary

    2 July Thursday

    • 1850 Death of Sir Robert Peel, prime minister – died after a riding accident 176th anniversary
    • 1903 Birth of Prince Alexander of Denmark, the future King Olav V of Norway, Victoria's great-grandchild 123rd anniversary

    3 July Friday

    • 1842 John William Bean points a pistol at the Queen on the Mall 184th anniversary

    4 July Saturday

    • 1776 The American Declaration of Independence 250th anniversary
    • 1782 The Earl of Shelburne becomes Prime Minister 244th anniversary
    • 1807 Birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot 219th anniversary
    • 1814 Death of Emich Charles, Prince of Leiningen, first husband of the Duchess of Kent 212th anniversary
    • 1826 Death of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, author of the Declaration of Independence 200th anniversary
    • 1862 A boat trip in Oxford: Lewis Carroll first tells Alice Liddell the story of Alice in Wonderland 164th anniversary
    • 1879 The Battle of Ulundi – the Zulu War ends 147th anniversary
    • 1934 Death of Marie Curie (Maria Skłodowska), physicist and chemist, twice a Nobel laureate 92nd anniversary

    5 July Sunday

    • 1841 Thomas Cook's first excursion, from Leicester to Loughborough – the birth of tourism 185th anniversary
    • 1866 Wedding of Princess Helena and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein 160th anniversary
    • 1888 The match girls of the Bryant & May factory go on strike 138th anniversary

    6 July Monday

    • 1868 Birth of Princess Victoria of Wales, Victoria's grandchild 158th anniversary
    • 1885 Pasteur vaccinates a human against rabies for the first time 141st anniversary
    • 1891 Wedding of Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein and Prince Aribert of Anhalt 135th anniversary
    • 1893 Wedding of Prince George, the future George V and Mary of Teck 133rd anniversary

    7 July Tuesday

    • 1930 Death of Arthur Conan Doyle, writer, creator of Sherlock Holmes 96th anniversary

    8 July Wednesday

    • 1822 Death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet 204th anniversary
    • 1835 Death of Sophia, Countess Mensdorff-Pouilly, Victoria's aunt 191st anniversary
    • 1850 Death of Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge 176th anniversary
    • 1873 Death of Franz Xaver Winterhalter, painter, portraitist of Victoria and her family 153rd anniversary

    9 July Thursday

    • 1834 Earl Grey leaves office: resigns 192nd anniversary
    • 1863 Death of Baron Christian Friedrich von Stockmar, adviser to Leopold, then to Victoria and Albert 163rd anniversary
    • 1877 The first Wimbledon Championships begin 149th anniversary

    10 July Friday

    • 1765 George Grenville leaves office: dismissed by George III 261st anniversary
    • 1851 Death of Louis Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype 175th anniversary

    11 July Saturday

    • 1818 William, Duke of Clarence (the future William IV), marries Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen at Kew 208th anniversary
    • 1818 Edward, Duke of Kent, and Princess Victoria of Coburg also marry in an English ceremony at Kew – a double wedding with the Duke of Clarence 208th anniversary
    • 1866 Birth of Princess Irene of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 160th anniversary
    • 1902 The Marquess of Salisbury leaves office: retires 124th anniversary
    • 1920 Death of Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of the French, Victoria's friend 106th anniversary

    12 July Sunday

    • 1902 Arthur Balfour becomes Prime Minister 124th anniversary
    • 1905 Birth of Prince John of Wales, Victoria's great-grandchild 121st anniversary

    13 July Monday

    • 1765 The Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister 261st anniversary
    • 1837 Victoria moves into Buckingham Palace – the first monarch to live there 189th anniversary
    • 1870 The Victoria Embankment on the Thames is opened 156th anniversary
    • 1878 The Treaty of Berlin – the Congress of Berlin closes 148th anniversary
    • 1889 Birth of Princess Louise of Battenberg, the future Queen of Sweden, Victoria's great-grandchild 137th anniversary
    • 1966 Death of Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh, Victoria's grandchild 60th anniversary

    14 July Tuesday

    • 1789 The Storming of the Bastille – the French Revolution breaks out 237th anniversary

    15 July Wednesday

    • 1750 Birth of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, grandfather of Victoria and Albert 276th anniversary
    • 1909 Wedding of Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Infante Alfonso of Orléans-Borbón 117th anniversary

    16 July Thursday

    • 1834 Viscount Melbourne becomes Prime Minister 192nd anniversary

    17 July Friday

    • 1918 Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra (Victoria's granddaughter) and their five children, Victoria's great-grandchildren, are executed at Yekaterinburg 108th anniversary

    18 July Saturday

    • 1811 Birth of William Makepeace Thackeray, writer (Vanity Fair) 215th anniversary
    • 1817 Death of Jane Austen, novelist (Pride and Prejudice) 209th anniversary
    • 1918 Death of Princess Elisabeth (Ella) of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 108th anniversary
    • 1938 Death of Princess Marie of Edinburgh, the future Queen of Romania, Victoria's grandchild 88th anniversary

    19 July Sunday

    • 1821 The lavish and enormously expensive coronation of George IV 205th anniversary
    • 1822 Birth of Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Victoria's cousin 204th anniversary
    • 1843 Brunel's giant steamship, the Great Britain, is launched 183rd anniversary
    • 1843 Brunel's SS Great Britain is launched in the presence of Prince Albert 183rd anniversary
    • 1884 Birth of Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria's grandchild 142nd anniversary
    • 1890 Birth of Prince George of Greece, the future King George II of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 136th anniversary

    20 July Monday

    • 1822 Birth of Gregor Mendel, Augustinian friar, father of genetics 204th anniversary
    • 1886 William Ewart Gladstone leaves office: resigns after the failure of Irish Home Rule 140th anniversary
    • 1951 Death of Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, Victoria's great-grandchild 75th anniversary

    21 July Tuesday

    • 1831 Leopold takes the oath: Leopold I, first King of the Belgians 195th anniversary

    22 July Wednesday

    • 1812 The Battle of Salamanca – a victory for Wellington 214th anniversary
    • 1816 Princess Mary marries her cousin William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester 210th anniversary
    • 1896 Wedding of Princess Maud of Wales, the future Queen of Norway and Prince Carl of Denmark, the future Haakon VII 130th anniversary

    23 July Thursday

    • 1885 Princess Beatrice marries Prince Henry of Battenberg at Whippingham 141st anniversary
    • 1885 Death of Ulysses S. Grant, Union general, 18th President of the United States 141st anniversary

    24 July Friday

    • 1802 Birth of Alexandre Dumas père, French writer (The Three Musketeers) 224th anniversary
    • 1860 Birth of Princess Charlotte of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 166th anniversary

    25 July Saturday

    • 1886 The Marquess of Salisbury becomes Prime Minister (second time) 140th anniversary

    26 July Sunday

    • 1881 Death of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry, Victoria's cousin 145th anniversary

    27 July Monday

    • 1857 Princess Charlotte of Belgium marries Archduke Maximilian, brother of Franz Joseph 169th anniversary
    • 1866 The first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable is completed 160th anniversary
    • 1880 The Battle of Maiwand – a heavy British defeat in Afghanistan 146th anniversary
    • 1889 Wedding of Princess Louise of Wales and Alexander Duff, Duke of Fife 137th anniversary

    29 July Wednesday

    • 1833 Death of William Wilberforce, leader of the campaign against slavery 193rd anniversary

    30 July Thursday

    • 1766 The Marquess of Rockingham leaves office: dismissed 260th anniversary
    • 1766 William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) becomes Prime Minister 260th anniversary
    • 1818 Birth of Emily Brontë, novelist (Wuthering Heights) 208th anniversary
    • 1898 Death of Otto von Bismarck, Prussian minister-president, German chancellor 128th anniversary
    • 1900 Prince Alfred dies in Coburg 126th anniversary
    • 1900 Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, becomes reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 126th anniversary

    31 July Friday

    • 1817 Prince Ernest marries Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg – the wedding of Albert's parents 209th anniversary
    • 1844 Eos, Prince Albert's favourite greyhound, dies – her bronze statue still stands at Osborne 182nd anniversary
    • 1849 Death of Sándor Petőfi, poet 177th anniversary
    • 1886 Death of Franz Liszt, composer and pianist – played for Victoria at Windsor in 1886 140th anniversary

    August

    1 August Saturday

    • 1798 The Battle of the Nile (Aboukir Bay) – Nelson destroys the French fleet 228th anniversary
    • 1893 Birth of Prince Alexander of Greece, the future King of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 133rd anniversary

    2 August Sunday

    • 1858 The Government of India Act – India comes under the direct rule of the Crown 168th anniversary
    • 1922 Death of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (the telephone) 104th anniversary

    3 August Monday

    • 1849 On her first visit to Ireland Victoria lands at Cove, renamed Queenstown in her honour 177th anniversary
    • 1858 Speke reaches Lake Victoria and identifies it as the source of the Nile 168th anniversary

    4 August Tuesday

    • 1792 Birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet 234th anniversary
    • 1813 Birth of Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, Victoria's cousin, the future Austrian foreign minister 213th anniversary
    • 1875 Death of Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer of fairy tales 151st anniversary

    5 August Wednesday

    • 1901 Vicky, Victoria's eldest daughter, dies – half a year after her mother 125th anniversary

    6 August Thursday

    • 1809 Birth of Alfred Tennyson, poet, Victoria's Poet Laureate 217th anniversary
    • 1844 Birth of Prince Alfred, the future Duke of Edinburgh 182nd anniversary

    7 August Friday

    • 1783 Birth of Princess Amelia, youngest child of George III 243rd anniversary
    • 1868 Victoria arrives in Lucerne incognito as the "Countess of Kent" for a Swiss holiday 158th anniversary

    8 August Saturday

    • 1827 George Canning leaves office: dies in office after 119 days 199th anniversary

    9 August Sunday

    • 1830 Louis Philippe becomes King of the French after the July Revolution 196th anniversary
    • 1832 Leopold I, King of the Belgians, marries Princess Louise-Marie of Orléans 194th anniversary
    • 1870 The Elementary Education Act – schooling for every child 156th anniversary
    • 1870 The Elementary Education Act receives royal assent 156th anniversary
    • 1902 Coronation of Edward VII 124th anniversary

    10 August Monday

    • 1810 Birth of Camillo Benso di Cavour, Piedmontese prime minister, architect of Italian unity 216th anniversary

    11 August Tuesday

    • 1892 The Marquess of Salisbury leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 134th anniversary

    12 August Wednesday

    • 1762 Birth of Prince George, the future George IV 264th anniversary
    • 1848 Death of George Stephenson, engineer, "the father of the railways" 178th anniversary
    • 1865 Lister first uses carbolic acid to treat an open fracture – the beginning of antiseptic surgery 161st anniversary
    • 1872 Birth of Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 154th anniversary
    • 1904 Birth of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Victoria's great-grandchild 122nd anniversary

    13 August Thursday

    • 1762 The British capture Havana in the Seven Years' War 264th anniversary
    • 1849 Görgei lays down arms before the Russian army at Világos 177th anniversary
    • 1865 Death of Ignaz Semmelweis, physician, "saviour of mothers" 161st anniversary
    • 1896 Death of John Everett Millais, Pre-Raphaelite painter 130th anniversary
    • 1910 Death of Florence Nightingale, nurse, "the Lady with the Lamp" 116th anniversary
    • 1946 Death of H. G. Wells, writer (The Time Machine) 80th anniversary

    14 August Friday

    • 1862 Birth of Prince Henry of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 164th anniversary

    15 August Saturday

    • 1769 Birth of Napoleon, Emperor of the French 257th anniversary
    • 1771 Birth of Walter Scott, writer and poet (Ivanhoe) 255th anniversary
    • 1842 The Detective Branch of Scotland Yard is formed 184th anniversary
    • 1860 Death of Juliane (Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna), Victoria's aunt 166th anniversary
    • 1867 The second Reform Act receives royal assent 159th anniversary
    • 1892 William Ewart Gladstone becomes Prime Minister (fourth time) – at the age of 82 134th anniversary

    16 August Sunday

    • 1763 Birth of Prince Frederick, the future Duke of York 263rd anniversary
    • 1819 The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester 207th anniversary
    • 1858 The first transatlantic telegram: Victoria greets President Buchanan 168th anniversary
    • 1858 Over the first Atlantic cable Victoria sends a greeting to President Buchanan – the cable falls silent a few weeks later 168th anniversary

    17 August Monday

    • 1786 Birth of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the future Duchess of Kent, Victoria's mother 240th anniversary

    18 August Tuesday

    • 1830 Birth of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary 196th anniversary
    • 1855 Victoria and Albert arrive in Paris – the first English sovereign in Paris since the Hundred Years' War 171st anniversary
    • 1882 The Married Women's Property Act receives royal assent – a wife may control her own property 144th anniversary

    19 August Wednesday

    • 1778 Birth of Sophia, Victoria's aunt (later Countess Mensdorff-Pouilly) 248th anniversary
    • 1839 The daguerreotype is made public in Paris – the birthday of photography 187th anniversary
    • 1871 Birth of Orville Wright, aviation pioneer 155th anniversary

    20 August Thursday

    • 1782 Prince Alfred, son of George III, dies aged two 244th anniversary

    21 August Friday

    • 1765 Birth of Prince William, the future William IV 261st anniversary

    22 August Saturday

    • 1787 Birth of Baron Christian Friedrich von Stockmar, adviser to Leopold, then to Victoria and Albert 239th anniversary
    • 1893 Prince Alfred becomes reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 133rd anniversary
    • 1893 Death of Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Albert's elder brother 133rd anniversary
    • 1903 Death of The Marquess of Salisbury, prime minister 123rd anniversary

    24 August Monday

    • 1759 Birth of William Wilberforce, leader of the campaign against slavery 267th anniversary
    • 1814 The British burn Washington, including the White House 212th anniversary

    25 August Tuesday

    • 1819 Death of James Watt, inventor, improver of the steam engine 207th anniversary
    • 1867 Death of Michael Faraday, physicist and chemist 159th anniversary
    • 1942 Death of George, Prince of Wales, the future Duke of Kent, Victoria's great-grandchild 84th anniversary

    26 August Wednesday

    • 1819 Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is born at Schloss Rosenau, Coburg 207th anniversary
    • 1845 On her first visit to Germany, Victoria celebrates Albert's birthday at the Rosenau, the house where he was born 181st anniversary
    • 1850 Death of Louis Philippe, King of the French – died in exile in England, at Claremont 176th anniversary
    • 1945 Death of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen, Victoria's first great-grandchild 81st anniversary

    27 August Thursday

    • 1851 Death of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, Victoria's uncle 175th anniversary
    • 1883 The eruption of Krakatoa – heard four thousand kilometres away 143rd anniversary
    • 1896 The Anglo-Zanzibar War – the shortest war in history, about 40 minutes 130th anniversary
    • 1979 Death of Prince Louis of Battenberg, the future Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Victoria's great-grandchild 47th anniversary

    28 August Friday

    • 1749 Birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet (Faust) 277th anniversary
    • 1779 Birth of Antoinette, Victoria's aunt 247th anniversary
    • 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act receives royal assent 193rd anniversary

    29 August Saturday

    • 1831 Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction 195th anniversary
    • 1833 The first effective Factory Act receives royal assent, restricting child labour 193rd anniversary
    • 1842 The Treaty of Nanking – Hong Kong becomes British 184th anniversary
    • 1882 Australia beat England at the Oval – a mocking "obituary" gives birth to the legend of the Ashes 144th anniversary

    30 August Sunday

    • 1841 Viscount Melbourne leaves office: resigns after an election defeat 185th anniversary
    • 1841 Sir Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister (second time) 185th anniversary

    31 August Monday

    • 1827 Viscount Goderich becomes Prime Minister 199th anniversary
    • 1888 The first canonical victim of Jack the Ripper is found in Whitechapel 138th anniversary
    • 1907 The Anglo-Russian Convention – the Triple Entente is formed 119th anniversary

    September

    1 September Tuesday

    • 1878 Birth of Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh, Victoria's grandchild 148th anniversary

    2 September Wednesday

    • 1843 Victoria visits Louis Philippe at the Château d'Eu – the first meeting of English and French sovereigns since Henry VIII 183rd anniversary
    • 1870 Napoleon III is captured at Sedan – the fall of the Second Empire 156th anniversary
    • 1898 The Battle of Omdurman – Kitchener's victory in the Sudan 128th anniversary

    3 September Thursday

    • 1783 Treaty of Paris – Britain recognises the independence of the United States 243rd anniversary
    • 1813 Birth of Baron József Eötvös, writer, minister of religion and education 213th anniversary
    • 1878 The pleasure steamer Princess Alice sinks in the Thames – more than six hundred die 148th anniversary

    6 September Sunday

    • 1866 The Great Tea Race: after 99 days the Taeping and the Ariel reach London barely half an hour apart 160th anniversary
    • 1938 Death of Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, Victoria's great-grandchild 88th anniversary

    7 September Monday

    • 1855 The royal family moves into the completed new Balmoral Castle 171st anniversary
    • 1856 Alexander II is crowned Tsar of Russia in Moscow 170th anniversary

    8 September Tuesday

    • 1761 George III marries Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 265th anniversary
    • 1831 Coronation of William IV and Queen Adelaide 195th anniversary
    • 1848 Victoria and Albert arrive at Balmoral for the first time 178th anniversary
    • 1854 John Snow removes the handle of the Broad Street pump – the beginning of modern epidemiology 172nd anniversary
    • 1855 The assault on the Malakoff and the Redan – the fate of Sevastopol is sealed 171st anniversary
    • 1888 The first round of Football League matches is played 138th anniversary

    9 September Wednesday

    • 1828 Birth of Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (War and Peace) 198th anniversary
    • 1845 The Dublin Evening Post reports the appearance of potato blight in Ireland – the Great Famine begins 181st anniversary
    • 1870 Death of Baroness Louise Lehzen, Victoria's governess and confidante 156th anniversary

    10 September Thursday

    • 1898 Empress Elisabeth is stabbed to death in Geneva by the anarchist Luigi Lucheni 128th anniversary

    12 September Saturday

    • 1804 Birth of Carl, Prince of Leiningen, Victoria's half-sibling 222nd anniversary
    • 1938 Death of Prince Arthur of Connaught, Victoria's grandchild 88th anniversary

    13 September Sunday

    • 1882 The Battle of Tel el-Kebir – Britain occupies Egypt 144th anniversary

    14 September Monday

    • 1769 Birth of Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and traveller 257th anniversary
    • 1852 Death of the Duke of Wellington, the victor of Waterloo 174th anniversary

    15 September Tuesday

    • 1830 The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens – William Huskisson is killed at the opening 196th anniversary
    • 1859 Death of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer (Great Western, Great Britain) 167th anniversary
    • 1864 Birth of Prince Sigismund of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 162nd anniversary

    17 September Thursday

    • 1877 Death of William Henry Fox Talbot, English photography pioneer (the calotype) 149th anniversary

    19 September Saturday

    • 1802 Birth of Lajos Kossuth, statesman 224th anniversary

    20 September Sunday

    • 1854 The Battle of the Alma, the first great battle of the Crimean War 172nd anniversary

    21 September Monday

    • 1791 Birth of István Széchenyi, "the greatest Hungarian" 235th anniversary
    • 1832 Death of Walter Scott, writer and poet (Ivanhoe) 194th anniversary
    • 1866 Birth of H. G. Wells, writer (The Time Machine) 160th anniversary

    22 September Tuesday

    • 1761 Coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte in Westminster Abbey 265th anniversary
    • 1780 Birth of Prince Alfred, son of George III 246th anniversary
    • 1791 Birth of Michael Faraday, physicist and chemist 235th anniversary
    • 1840 Death of Princess Augusta Sophia 186th anniversary

    23 September Wednesday

    • 1781 Birth of Juliane, Victoria's aunt – later Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna 245th anniversary
    • 1803 The Battle of Assaye – the first great victory of Arthur Wellesley (the future Wellington) 223rd anniversary
    • 1862 Bismarck is appointed Minister-President of Prussia 164th anniversary
    • 1872 Death of Feodora, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Victoria's beloved half-sister 154th anniversary
    • 1896 Victoria becomes the longest-reigning British monarch 130th anniversary

    24 September Thursday

    • 1950 Death of Princess Victoria of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 76th anniversary

    27 September Sunday

    • 1825 The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens, the first public railway worked by steam locomotives 201st anniversary

    28 September Monday

    • 1853 Victoria lays the foundation stone of the new Balmoral Castle 173rd anniversary
    • 1895 Death of Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist 131st anniversary

    29 September Tuesday

    • 1758 Birth of Horatio Nelson, admiral 268th anniversary
    • 1766 Birth of Charlotte Augusta Matilda, the Princess Royal 260th anniversary
    • 1791 Frederick, Duke of York, marries Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia 235th anniversary
    • 1810 Birth of Elizabeth Gaskell, novelist 216th anniversary
    • 1829 Peel's new police, the "bobbies", begin patrolling London 197th anniversary
    • 1850 Pius IX's bull restores the Catholic hierarchy in England 176th anniversary

    October

    1 October Thursday

    • 1868 St Pancras station opens 158th anniversary
    • 1919 Death of Princess Charlotte of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 107th anniversary

    2 October Friday

    • 2007 Death of Princess Katherine of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 19th anniversary

    3 October Saturday

    • 1784 Birth of Baroness Louise Lehzen, Victoria's governess and confidante 242nd anniversary
    • 1891 Birth of Prince Maurice of Battenberg, Victoria's grandchild 135th anniversary
    • 1896 Death of William Morris, designer, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement 130th anniversary

    4 October Sunday

    • 1809 The Duke of Portland leaves office: resigns through ill health 217th anniversary
    • 1809 Spencer Perceval becomes Prime Minister 217th anniversary

    5 October Monday

    • 1864 Death of Imre Madách, playwright (The Tragedy of Man) 162nd anniversary

    6 October Tuesday

    • 1773 Birth of Louis Philippe, King of the French – died in exile in England, at Claremont 253rd anniversary
    • 1820 Birth of Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale", Victoria's favourite singer 206th anniversary
    • 1828 Death of Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg, eldest daughter of George III 198th anniversary
    • 1829 The Rainhill locomotive trials begin – Stephenson's Rocket wins 197th anniversary
    • 1849 The thirteen generals of the Hungarian Honvéd army are executed at Arad 177th anniversary
    • 1892 Death of Alfred Tennyson, poet, Victoria's Poet Laureate 134th anniversary

    7 October Wednesday

    • 1849 Death of Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet 177th anniversary
    • 1870 Birth of Prince Frederick of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 156th anniversary

    8 October Thursday

    • 1905 Wedding of Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich 121st anniversary

    9 October Friday

    • 1845 John Henry Newman converts to Catholicism 181st anniversary
    • 1937 Death of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 89th anniversary

    10 October Saturday

    • 1813 Birth of Giuseppe Verdi, composer – died a few days after Victoria 213th anniversary
    • 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founds the Women's Social and Political Union – the suffragettes 123rd anniversary
    • 1914 Ferdinand ascends the Romanian throne – Marie (Victoria's granddaughter) becomes Queen of Romania 112th anniversary

    11 October Sunday

    • 1797 The Battle of Camperdown – Duncan defeats the Dutch fleet 229th anniversary
    • 1899 The Second Boer War breaks out 127th anniversary
    • 1905 Wedding of Charles Edward, Duke of Albany and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein 121st anniversary

    12 October Monday

    • 1845 Death of Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer 181st anniversary
    • 1870 Death of Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate armies 156th anniversary

    14 October Wednesday

    • 1768 William Pitt the Elder leaves office: resigns through ill health 258th anniversary
    • 1768 The Duke of Grafton becomes Prime Minister 258th anniversary

    15 October Thursday

    • 1839 Victoria proposes to Prince Albert at Windsor 187th anniversary
    • 1851 The Great Exhibition closes – after six million visitors 175th anniversary
    • 1874 Birth of Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria's grandchild 152nd anniversary
    • 1893 Birth of Prince Carol of Romania, the future King Carol II of Romania, Victoria's great-grandchild 133rd anniversary
    • 1913 Wedding of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Alexandra, Duchess of Fife 113th anniversary
    • 1922 Coronation of Ferdinand and Marie at Alba Iulia 104th anniversary

    16 October Friday

    • 1834 The old Palace of Westminster burns down – today's Houses of Parliament and Big Ben rise in its place 192nd anniversary
    • 1846 The first public demonstration of ether anaesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 180th anniversary
    • 1854 Birth of Oscar Wilde, writer (The Picture of Dorian Gray) 172nd anniversary

    17 October Saturday

    • 1777 General Burgoyne's British army surrenders at Saratoga 249th anniversary
    • 1803 Birth of Ferenc Deák, statesman, "the sage of the nation" 223rd anniversary
    • 1849 Death of Frédéric Chopin, composer and pianist 177th anniversary
    • 1860 The first golf championship, The Open, is held at Prestwick 166th anniversary

    18 October Sunday

    • 1861 William I is crowned King of Prussia at Königsberg 165th anniversary
    • 1865 Viscount Palmerston leaves office: dies in office 161st anniversary
    • 1871 Death of Charles Babbage, mathematician, pioneer of the computer 155th anniversary
    • 1931 Death of Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor 95th anniversary

    19 October Monday

    • 1781 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown – American independence is decided 245th anniversary

    20 October Tuesday

    • 1784 Birth of Lord Palmerston, prime minister 242nd anniversary
    • 1827 The Battle of Navarino – the allied fleet destroys the Turkish-Egyptian fleet 199th anniversary

    21 October Wednesday

    • 1786 Birth of Sir John Conroy, comptroller to the Duchess of Kent, deviser of the "Kensington System" 240th anniversary
    • 1805 The Battle of Trafalgar – Nelson triumphs but loses his life 221st anniversary
    • 1833 Birth of Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite, founder of the Nobel Prize 193rd anniversary

    22 October Thursday

    • 1811 Birth of Franz Liszt, composer and pianist – played for Victoria at Windsor in 1886 215th anniversary
    • 1882 Death of János Arany, poet (Toldi, The Bards of Wales) 144th anniversary

    23 October Friday

    • 1851 Lajos Kossuth arrives at Southampton, England 175th anniversary

    24 October Saturday

    • 1887 Birth of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the future Queen of Spain, Victoria's grandchild 139th anniversary

    25 October Sunday

    • 1760 Death of George II; his grandson George III succeeds to the throne 266th anniversary
    • 1825 Birth of Johann Strauss II, the "Waltz King" 201st anniversary
    • 1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava 172nd anniversary
    • 1920 Death of Prince Alexander of Greece, the future King of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 106th anniversary

    26 October Monday

    • 1944 Death of Princess Beatrice, Victoria's last surviving child 82nd anniversary

    27 October Tuesday

    • 1889 Wedding of Princess Sophie of Prussia, the future Queen of Greece and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece 137th anniversary
    • 1897 Death of Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, Victoria's cousin 129th anniversary
    • 1914 Death of Prince Maurice of Battenberg, Victoria's grandchild 112th anniversary

    28 October Wednesday

    • 1886 The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York 140th anniversary

    29 October Thursday

    • 1816 Birth of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, the future Ferdinand II of Portugal, Victoria's cousin 210th anniversary
    • 1865 Earl Russell becomes Prime Minister (second time) 161st anniversary
    • 1875 Birth of Princess Marie of Edinburgh, the future Queen of Romania, Victoria's grandchild 151st anniversary
    • 1900 Death of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 126th anniversary

    31 October Saturday

    • 1795 Birth of John Keats, poet 231st anniversary
    • 1916 Birth of Carl Johan Bernadotte, Victoria's last surviving great-grandchild 110th anniversary

    November

    1 November Sunday

    • 1864 Birth of Princess Elisabeth (Ella) of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 162nd anniversary

    2 November Monday

    • 1767 Birth of Prince Edward Augustus, the future Duke of Kent, Victoria's father 259th anniversary
    • 1810 Princess Amelia dies – her death tips George III into permanent madness 216th anniversary
    • 1887 Death of Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale", Victoria's favourite singer 139th anniversary

    3 November Tuesday

    • 1777 Birth of Princess Sophia 249th anniversary

    4 November Wednesday

    • 1847 Death of Felix Mendelssohn, composer, a favourite of Victoria and Albert 179th anniversary
    • 1854 Florence Nightingale and her nurses arrive at the military hospital at Scutari 172nd anniversary

    5 November Thursday

    • 1854 The Battle of Inkerman in the Crimean War 172nd anniversary
    • 1879 Death of James Clerk Maxwell, physicist 147th anniversary
    • 1922 Wedding of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz 104th anniversary

    6 November Friday

    • 1817 Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales – her death starts the "race" for an heir to the throne 209th anniversary
    • 1869 Victoria opens Blackfriars Bridge and Holborn Viaduct 157th anniversary
    • 1892 Birth of Prince George of Battenberg, Victoria's great-grandchild 134th anniversary
    • 1893 Death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer 133rd anniversary

    7 November Saturday

    • 1867 Birth of Marie Curie (Maria Skłodowska), physicist and chemist, twice a Nobel laureate 159th anniversary
    • 2000 Death of Princess Ingrid of Sweden, the future Queen of Denmark, Victoria's great-grandchild 26th anniversary

    8 November Sunday

    • 1768 Birth of Princess Augusta Sophia 258th anniversary
    • 1847 Birth of Bram Stoker, writer (Dracula) 179th anniversary
    • 1895 Röntgen discovers X-rays 131st anniversary

    9 November Monday

    • 1841 Birth of Albert Edward ("Bertie"), the future Edward VII 185th anniversary

    10 November Tuesday

    • 1871 Stanley finds Livingstone at Ujiji: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" 155th anniversary

    11 November Wednesday

    • 1821 Birth of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer (Crime and Punishment) 205th anniversary
    • 1953 Death of Princess Irene of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 73rd anniversary

    12 November Thursday today

    • 1865 Death of Elizabeth Gaskell, novelist 161st anniversary

    13 November Friday

    • 1850 Birth of Robert Louis Stevenson, writer (Treasure Island) 176th anniversary
    • 1856 Death of Carl, Prince of Leiningen, Victoria's half-sibling 170th anniversary
    • 1929 Death of Princess Viktoria of Prussia, Victoria's grandchild 97th anniversary

    14 November Saturday

    • 1834 Viscount Melbourne leaves office: dismissed by William IV – the last prime minister dismissed by a monarch 192nd anniversary
    • 1896 The first London–Brighton motor run (the "Emancipation Run") – the Red Flag Act is repealed 130th anniversary

    15 November Sunday

    • 1884 The Berlin Conference on the Congo opens 142nd anniversary
    • 1895 Birth of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, Victoria's great-grandchild 131st anniversary

    16 November Monday

    • 1830 The Duke of Wellington leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 196th anniversary
    • 1831 Death of Augusta, grandmother of both Victoria and Albert 195th anniversary
    • 1835 Halley's Comet at perihelion 191st anniversary
    • 1855 Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls 171st anniversary
    • 1878 Death of Princess Marie of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 148th anniversary

    17 November Tuesday

    • 1798 Princess Antoinette marries Duke Alexander of Württemberg 228th anniversary
    • 1818 Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, dies at Kew Palace 208th anniversary
    • 1834 The Duke of Wellington becomes Prime Minister (caretaker) 192nd anniversary
    • 1869 The Suez Canal opens 157th anniversary
    • 1905 Death of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, Victoria's cousin 121st anniversary

    18 November Wednesday

    • 1787 Birth of Louis Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype 239th anniversary
    • 1836 Birth of W. S. Gilbert, dramatist (Gilbert and Sullivan) 190th anniversary
    • 1851 Death of Ernest Augustus I, King of Hanover, Victoria's uncle 175th anniversary
    • 1851 George V ascends the throne of Hanover on the death of his father, Ernest Augustus I 175th anniversary
    • 1905 The Norwegian parliament elects Prince Carl of Denmark king: Haakon VII – Maud becomes Queen of Norway 121st anniversary

    19 November Thursday

    • 1805 Birth of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal 221st anniversary
    • 1863 Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 163rd anniversary
    • 1890 Wedding of Princess Viktoria of Prussia and Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe 136th anniversary

    20 November Friday

    • 1815 The Second Treaty of Paris after Napoleon's final downfall 211th anniversary
    • 1849 The Chain Bridge in Pest is opened – designed by the Englishman William Tierney Clark and built by the Scot Adam Clark 177th anniversary
    • 1910 Death of Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (War and Peace) 116th anniversary
    • 1938 Death of Princess Maud of Wales, the future Queen of Norway, Victoria's grandchild 88th anniversary

    21 November Saturday

    • 1840 Birth of Princess Victoria ("Vicky"), the Queen's first child 186th anniversary
    • 1916 Death of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary 110th anniversary

    22 November Sunday

    • 1819 Birth of George Eliot, novelist (Middlemarch) 207th anniversary
    • 1830 Earl Grey becomes Prime Minister 196th anniversary
    • 1869 The tea clipper Cutty Sark is launched at Dumbarton 157th anniversary
    • 1900 Death of Arthur Sullivan, composer (Gilbert and Sullivan) 126th anniversary
    • 2002 Death of Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Victoria's great-grandchild 24th anniversary

    23 November Monday

    • 1805 Birth of Mary Seacole, nurse in the Crimean War 221st anniversary
    • 1886 Birth of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, Victoria's grandchild 140th anniversary

    24 November Tuesday

    • 1848 Death of Lord Melbourne, prime minister, mentor of the young Victoria 178th anniversary
    • 1859 Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" is published 167th anniversary

    25 November Wednesday

    • 1844 Birth of Carl Benz, German engineer, builder of the first petrol-engined car 182nd anniversary
    • 1868 Birth of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, Victoria's grandchild 158th anniversary
    • 1875 Disraeli buys Egypt's shares in the Suez Canal 151st anniversary
    • 1876 Birth of Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Victoria's grandchild 150th anniversary

    26 November Thursday

    • 1869 Birth of Princess Maud of Wales, the future Queen of Norway, Victoria's grandchild 157th anniversary
    • 1894 Wedding of Princess Alix of Hesse, the future Tsarina Alexandra and Tsar Nicholas II 132nd anniversary

    27 November Friday

    • 1833 Birth of Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Victoria's cousin, mother of Mary of Teck 193rd anniversary
    • 1852 Death of Ada Lovelace, mathematician, the first programmer 174th anniversary

    30 November Monday

    • 1815 Prince Ferdinand marries Maria Antonia Koháry – founding the Hungarian branch of the House of Coburg 211th anniversary
    • 1835 Birth of Mark Twain, American writer (Tom Sawyer) 191st anniversary
    • 1872 The first football international: Scotland v England, 0–0 in Glasgow 154th anniversary
    • 1900 Death of Oscar Wilde, writer (The Picture of Dorian Gray) 126th anniversary

    December

    1 December Tuesday

    • 1868 Benjamin Disraeli leaves office: resigns after an election defeat 158th anniversary

    2 December Wednesday

    • 1848 Franz Joseph ascends the Austrian imperial throne after the abdication of his uncle Ferdinand V 178th anniversary
    • 1852 The Second Empire is proclaimed – Napoleon III becomes Emperor of the French 174th anniversary

    3 December Thursday

    • 1868 William Ewart Gladstone becomes Prime Minister 158th anniversary
    • 1894 Death of Robert Louis Stevenson, writer (Treasure Island) 132nd anniversary
    • 1935 Death of Princess Victoria of Wales, Victoria's grandchild 91st anniversary
    • 1939 Death of Princess Louise 87th anniversary

    4 December Friday

    • 1905 Arthur Balfour leaves office: resigns 121st anniversary

    5 December Saturday

    • 1839 Birth of George Armstrong Custer, American cavalry general 187th anniversary
    • 1870 Death of Alexandre Dumas père, French writer (The Three Musketeers) 156th anniversary
    • 1905 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman becomes Prime Minister 121st anniversary
    • 1916 Death of Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Victoria's cousin 110th anniversary
    • 1969 Death of Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Victoria's great-grandchild 57th anniversary

    6 December Sunday

    • 1884 The third Reform Act receives royal assent 142nd anniversary

    7 December Monday

    • 1807 Birth of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, Victoria's half-sibling 219th anniversary
    • 1894 Death of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal 132nd anniversary

    8 December Tuesday

    • 1826 Birth of John Brown, Victoria's Scottish servant 200th anniversary
    • 1864 Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol opens 162nd anniversary
    • 1956 Death of Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, Victoria's grandchild 70th anniversary

    9 December Wednesday

    • 1806 Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, dies; his son Ernest I succeeds 220th anniversary
    • 1834 The Duke of Wellington leaves office: hands over to Peel 192nd anniversary

    10 December Thursday

    • 1815 Birth of Ada Lovelace, mathematician, the first programmer 211th anniversary
    • 1820 Birth of Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, daughter of William IV 206th anniversary
    • 1834 Sir Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister 192nd anniversary
    • 1850 Death of Józef Bem, Polish–Hungarian general, "Father Bem" 176th anniversary
    • 1857 Death of Victoria, Duchess of Nemours, Victoria's cousin 169th anniversary
    • 1865 Death of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, Victoria's uncle and adviser 161st anniversary
    • 1896 Death of Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite, founder of the Nobel Prize 130th anniversary
    • 1901 The first Nobel Prizes are awarded 125th anniversary

    11 December Friday

    • 1843 Birth of Robert Koch, German physician and bacteriologist 183rd anniversary

    12 December Saturday

    • 1889 Death of Robert Browning, poet 137th anniversary
    • 1901 Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal in Newfoundland 125th anniversary

    14 December Monday

    • 1799 Death of George Washington, first President of the United States 227th anniversary
    • 1861 Prince Albert dies at Windsor – Victoria mourns him for the rest of her life 165th anniversary
    • 1878 Princess Alice dies – on the 17th anniversary of her father's death 148th anniversary
    • 1895 Birth of Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future George VI, Victoria's great-grandchild 131st anniversary
    • 1901 Birth of Prince Paul of Greece, the future King Paul I of Greece, Victoria's great-grandchild 125th anniversary
    • 1911 Amundsen reaches the South Pole 115th anniversary

    15 December Tuesday

    • 1832 Birth of Gustave Eiffel, French engineer 194th anniversary
    • 1885 Death of Ferdinand II of Portugal, Victoria's cousin 141st anniversary
    • 1890 Death of Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Sioux chief 136th anniversary
    • 1899 The Battle of Colenso – the last British defeat of "Black Week" in the Boer War 127th anniversary

    16 December Wednesday

    • 1770 Birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, composer 256th anniversary
    • 1773 The Boston Tea Party 253rd anniversary
    • 1775 Birth of Jane Austen, novelist (Pride and Prejudice) 251st anniversary
    • 1790 Birth of Prince Leopold, the future Leopold I, King of the Belgians, Victoria's uncle 236th anniversary

    17 December Thursday

    • 1843 Horsley delivers to Henry Cole the first printed Christmas card 183rd anniversary
    • 1852 The Earl of Derby leaves office: resigns after a vote of no confidence 174th anniversary
    • 1865 Leopold II takes the oath and becomes King of the Belgians 161st anniversary
    • 1903 The Wright brothers make the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk 123rd anniversary
    • 1907 Death of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), physicist 119th anniversary
    • 1909 Death of Leopold II, King of the Belgians, Victoria's cousin 117th anniversary

    18 December Friday

    • 1783 The Duke of Portland leaves office: dismissed by George III 243rd anniversary
    • 1890 The City & South London Railway opens, the world's first deep-level electric underground railway 136th anniversary

    19 December Saturday

    • 1783 William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister – at 24, the youngest ever 243rd anniversary
    • 1843 Dickens's A Christmas Carol is published 183rd anniversary
    • 1848 Death of Emily Brontë, novelist (Wuthering Heights) 178th anniversary
    • 1851 Death of J. M. W. Turner, painter 175th anniversary
    • 1852 The Earl of Aberdeen becomes Prime Minister 174th anniversary

    20 December Sunday

    • 1902 Birth of George, Prince of Wales, the future Duke of Kent, Victoria's great-grandchild 124th anniversary

    21 December Monday

    • 1803 First marriage of Princess Victoria of Coburg: to Emich Charles, Prince of Leiningen 223rd anniversary
    • 1804 Birth of Benjamin Disraeli, prime minister, Victoria's favourite 222nd anniversary

    22 December Tuesday

    • 1880 Death of George Eliot, novelist (Middlemarch) 146th anniversary

    23 December Wednesday

    • 1832 Ernest I of Coburg marries his niece, Duchess Marie of Württemberg – Albert's cousin also becomes his stepmother 194th anniversary
    • 1848 The Illustrated London News pictures the royal family's Christmas tree – the custom spreads 178th anniversary
    • 1861 Prince Albert's funeral in St George's Chapel, Windsor 165th anniversary

    24 December Thursday

    • 1814 The Treaty of Ghent – the Anglo-American War ends 212th anniversary
    • 1837 Birth of Duchess Elisabeth (Sisi) in Bavaria, the future Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary 189th anniversary
    • 1840 Dash, Victoria's beloved King Charles spaniel, dies – his grave is at Windsor 186th anniversary
    • 1863 Death of William Makepeace Thackeray, writer (Vanity Fair) 163rd anniversary

    26 December Saturday

    • 1791 Birth of Charles Babbage, mathematician, pioneer of the computer 235th anniversary

    27 December Sunday

    • 1822 Birth of Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist 204th anniversary
    • 1923 Death of Gustave Eiffel, French engineer 103rd anniversary

    28 December Monday

    • 1879 The Tay Bridge collapses in a storm with a train on it – there are no survivors 147th anniversary

    29 December Tuesday

    • 1809 Birth of William Ewart Gladstone, prime minister 217th anniversary
    • 1860 HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled armoured warship, is launched 166th anniversary

    30 December Wednesday

    • 1865 Birth of Rudyard Kipling, writer (The Jungle Book) 161st anniversary