1866 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1866 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Events
- 1 January — London Fire Brigade is formed as The Metropolitan Fire Brigade.
- 12 January
- 11 May — London bank Overend, Gurney and Company collapses precipitating a financial crisis.[1]
- 18 June — Lord Russell loses a vote of no confidence against his government.
- 26 June — Lord Russell resigns as Prime Minister, following splits in the Liberal Party over parliamentary reform. The Earl of Derby takes over, leading a minority Conservative administration.[2]
- 5 July — Marriage of Princess Helena, third daughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein at Windsor.
- 23 to 25 July — Demonstrations in Hyde Park, London, in favour of parliamentary reform turn violent.[2]
- 27 July — The SS Great Eastern successfully completes laying the transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Ireland and Heart's Content, Newfoundland, permanently restoring a communications link.[3]
- end July — W. G. Grace scores 224 not out for the All-England cricket team against Surrey at the Oval, just after his 18th birthday.[4][5]
- 1 August — The National Olympian Association (promoted by John Hulley of Liverpool[6] and Dr William Brookes of the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games) stages the first National Olympian Games field events at The Crystal Palace in South London. W. G. Grace wins the 440 yards hurdles.[5]
- 6 September — The Great Tea Race of 1866 ends in London, narrowly won by the clipper ship Taeping.
- September
- 12 December — The Oaks explosion in the Barnsley seam in Yorkshire kills 361 coal miners; a subsidiary explosion the following day kills 27 rescuers.[8] This is the all-time worst colliery or mining disaster in England, and the worst mining accident in the U.K. until 1913.
Undated
Publications
Births
- 17 April — Ernest Starling, physiologist (died 1927)
- 7 June — Ernest William Hornung, author (died 1921)
- 26 June — George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, financier of Egyptian excavations (died 1923)
- 28 July — Beatrix Potter, children's author (died 1943)
- 21 September — H. G. Wells, writer (died 1946)
- 12 October — Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister (died 1937)
- 8 November — Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin, car designer (died 1941)
- 30 November — Robert Broom, paleontologist (died 1951)
- 3 December — Ethna Carbery, born Anna Johnston, Irish poet (died 1902)
Deaths
References
- ↑ Elliott, Geoffrey (2006). The Mystery of Overend and Gurney: a Financial Scandal in Victorian London. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-77573-9.
- 1 2 3 4 Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 287–288. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ↑ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ↑ "AE v Surrey 1866". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- 1 2 Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). London: George Allen & Unwin. p. 125.
- ↑ Hulley, Ray (2009). "John Hulley — British Olympic Founder". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- 1 2 Farrugia, Jean Young (1969). The Letter Box: a history of Post Office pillar and wall boxes. Fontwell: Centaur Press. ISBN 0-900000-14-7.
- ↑ Duckham, Helen; Baron (1973). Great Pit Disasters: Great Britain 1700 to the present day. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5717-4.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1866". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
- ↑ "George Cadbury". Britain UnLimited. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ↑ "About Us". UK: Society of St. John the Evangelist. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
- ↑ Susina, Jan (2008). The Place of Lewis Carroll in Children's Literature. New York: Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 0-415-93629-2.
See also