Timeline of London (19th century) facts for kids

Welcome to a journey through London's history in the 1800s! This was a time of huge changes for the city, as it grew into one of the biggest and most important places in the world. You'll discover how new inventions, famous people, and big events shaped London into the city we know today. Get ready to explore a century of exciting developments!

London in the Early 1800s (1800 to 1809)

• 1800
  • January 8: The first soup kitchens opened in London, helping people who needed food.
  • January 13: The Royal Institution, a place for scientific learning, was officially started.
  • March 22: The Company of Surgeons became the Royal College of Surgeons in London, a very important medical group.
  • May 15: King George III had two close calls in London! Someone tried to shoot him in Hyde Park, and later, two bullets were fired at him at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Luckily, he was safe.
  • Around this time, Henry Maudslay in London invented a special machine called a screw-cutting lathe. This machine made it possible to create standard-sized screws for the first time, which was a big deal for building things! He also developed a small measuring tool called a micrometer.
• 1801
  • March 1: The London Stock Exchange, a place where people buy and sell shares in companies, was officially created. Its new building was finished by the end of the year.
  • March 10: The first ever British census (a count of all the people) was taken. London's population was over 1.1 million people!
  • April 25: Humphry Davy started giving very popular science talks at the Royal Institution.
• 1802
  • April 19: Joseph Grimaldi first performed his famous white-faced "Joey" clown character at Sadler's Wells Theatre.
  • May: Marie Tussaud showed her amazing wax sculptures in London for the first time.
  • August 27: The West India Docks, the first big commercial docks in London, opened. This was important for trade.
  • November 16: A group involved in the Despard Plot were arrested. Later, some were publicly punished, and a huge crowd of over 20,000 people watched.
  • The London Fever Hospital was founded to help people with fevers.
• 1803
  • After April: Richard Trevithick showed off his London Steam Carriage on the roads. It was an early steam-powered vehicle!
  • July 26: The Surrey Iron Railway opened. This was a horse-drawn railway between Wandsworth and Croydon, making it the first public railway line in England.
  • Summer: The Stafford Gallery, a private art collection, was opened to the public for the first time by invitation.
  • Frederick Albert Winsor showed how gas lighting worked at the Lyceum Theatre.
• 1804
  • March 7: The Horticultural Society of London was founded, focusing on plants and gardening.
• 1805
  • January 20: The London Docks opened, another important place for ships and trade.
  • March 25: Moorfields Eye Hospital opened to treat eye and ear diseases.
  • June: The British Institution was founded to promote fine arts. It held the world's first regular temporary art exhibitions.
  • June 4: The first Trooping the Colour ceremony, a military parade, took place on Horse Guards Parade.
  • November 6: News of the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson reached London. The city celebrated the victory but mourned Nelson.
  • December 9: The City Canal opened across the Isle of Dogs.
  • The Bow Street Horse Patrol was restarted as a police force.
• 1806
  • January 9: A grand funeral procession for Lord Nelson took place from The Admiralty to St Paul's Cathedral.
  • January 18: The London Institution was founded to promote higher education.
  • The East India Docks were completed.
• 1807
  • January 28: The first demonstration of gas lighting on a street happened on Pall Mall. Imagine how bright that must have seemed!
  • March 13: A new dock opened at Rotherhithe, and the first part of the Grand Surrey Canal followed.
• 1808
  • July 8 – September 18: Richard Trevithick's steam locomotive Catch Me Who Can was shown in London.
  • September 20: The original Theatre Royal, Covent Garden was destroyed by fire.
• 1809
  • February 24: The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane was also destroyed by fire.
  • September 18: A new Theatre Royal, Covent Garden opened. People were upset about higher ticket prices, leading to the Old Price Riots for 64 days until prices were lowered.
  • September 19: Two government ministers, Viscount Castlereagh and George Canning, fought a duel with pistols on Putney Heath.
  • October 22: The Croydon Canal opened.
  • November 10: The Berners Street Hoax happened, where Theodore Hook tricked many people into coming to a house on Berners Street.
  • William Bullock moved his museum of interesting items to London, calling it the London Museum in Piccadilly.

London in the 1810s (1810 to 1819)

• 1810
  • April: There were riots after Sir Francis Burdett, a Member of Parliament, was put in prison.
  • The Hindoostanee Coffee House opened, making it the first Indian restaurant in London.
  • Thomas Cubitt started his building company.
• 1811
  • Building began on Regent Street, a major development in the West End.
  • The Tobacco Dock began construction.
• 1812
  • May 11: The Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, was attacked and killed in the House of Commons.
  • October 10: The rebuilt Theatre Royal, Drury Lane opened.
  • Gas street lighting became more common.
  • The Egyptian Hall was completed in Piccadilly to show off interesting collections.
• 1813
  • January 24: The Philharmonic Society of London was formed to promote music.
  • December 31: Westminster Bridge was lit up by gas lighting, provided by the world's first public gasworks.
• 1814

The frozen River Thames during a frost fair, as shown in an old book from 1873.

• • January 14: The last ever River Thames frost fair took place, where the river froze solid enough for people to walk and play on it!
  • February 12: A fire destroyed the Custom House.
  • February 21: The Great Stock Exchange Fraud happened.
  • April 1: The Gas Light and Coke Company started the world's first permanent public gas lighting for streets in Westminster.
  • August 1: A big celebration in the Royal Parks, with a pretend naval battle, accidentally killed two people.
  • October 17: The London Beer Flood occurred when a huge vat of beer burst, flooding streets and killing nine people.
• 1815
  • June 21: News of the Battle of Waterloo reached London, and the streets were lit up in celebration.
  • The London Docks were completed in Wapping.
  • Jones, Watts and Doulton started as a pottery company in Lambeth.
• 1816
  • June 4: The first Vauxhall Bridge opened, making it the first iron bridge over the River Thames.
  • August 12: The Regent's Canal opened from Paddington to Camden.
  • November 15 & December 2: The Spa Fields riots took place, led by supporters of a radical thinker named Thomas Spence.
• 1817
  • June 18: The first Waterloo Bridge, designed by John Rennie, opened.
  • August 6: Gas lighting was introduced on stage in the West End theatres.
  • The Dulwich Picture Gallery, the first public art gallery built specifically for art, was completed and opened.
  • Apsley House was bought by Arthur Wellesley, who became the Duke of Wellington.
• 1818
  • May 11: The Old Vic theatre was founded as the Royal Coburg Theatre in South London.
  • The Royal Opera Arcade, London's first shopping arcade, was built.
• 1819
  • March 20: Burlington Arcade opened, another shopping area.
  • March 24: The first Southwark Bridge, with iron arches, opened as a toll bridge.
  • April: The famous poet John Keats had a very productive year, writing many of his best poems while living near Hampstead Heath. He fell in love with Fanny Brawne.
  • April 21: The new building for the London Institution opened.
  • The Travellers Club was founded.

London in the 1820s (1820 to 1829)

• 1820
  • February 23: The Cato Street conspiracy, a plot to murder government ministers, was discovered.
  • March 10: The Astronomical Society of London was established.
  • August 1: The Regent's Canal opened all the way to the Limehouse Basin.
• 1821
  • July 4: The redesigned Haymarket Theatre opened.
  • July 19: King George IV was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• 1822
  • October 20: The first edition of The Sunday Times newspaper was published.
  • The Royal Academy of Music was founded.
• 1823
  • Dr. George Birkbeck started the London Mechanics' Institute, which later became Birkbeck, University of London.
  • Pimm's oyster bar opened.
• 1824
  • May 10: The National Gallery opened to the public, showing off important artworks.
  • November 30: Banker Henry Fauntleroy was executed for forgery in front of 100,000 people.
  • Thomas Cubitt began building a large area in Belgravia, including Belgrave Square.
  • The Grosvenor Canal opened in Pimlico.
• 1825
  • March 21: Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 9 was performed for the first time in Britain.
  • June 15: The foundation stone for the new London Bridge was laid.
  • December 19: The first of the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures took place, which are still popular today.
  • The first horse-drawn omnibuses (public buses) started running in London.
  • London was estimated to become the world's largest city, bigger than Peking (Beijing).
• 1826
  • February 11: The University of London was established.
  • March 1: Chunee, a large elephant, was killed at a menagerie after becoming dangerous.
  • April: The Zoological Society of London was established.
  • The King's Library, part of the British Museum, was completed.
• 1827
  • May 21: The Standard newspaper began publication.
  • October 6: The first Hammersmith Bridge, a toll suspension bridge, opened.
  • Clarence House was completed in Westminster.
• 1828
  • April 27: London Zoo opened in Regent's Park for members of the Zoological Society. It was the first scientific zoo in the UK.
  • June 21: King's College London was founded.
  • October 25: St Katharine Docks opened.
• 1829
  • March 21: The Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, fought a duel in Battersea Fields.
  • July 4: George Shillibeer introduced his 3-horse Omnibus, a new type of public transport.
  • September 29: The Metropolitan Police of Sir Robert Peel started operating, covering a large area around Charing Cross. These police officers were nicknamed "Bobbies" after Robert Peel.
  • November: Thomas Hornor's huge Panoramic view of London was completed.
  • The General Post Office headquarters building was finished.

London in the 1830s (1830 to 1839)

• 1830
  • February 5: A fire destroyed the Argyll Rooms, but new steam-powered fire engines helped stop the fire from spreading.
  • Spring: The Hertford Union Canal opened.
  • December 16: The last hanging for piracy took place at Execution Dock, Wapping.
  • The Geographical Society of London was founded.
  • The London Mechanics' Institute started admitting its first female students.
• 1831
  • March 29: Exeter Hall opened on The Strand.
  • August 1: The new London Bridge was officially opened by King William IV.
  • September 8: The coronation of King William IV took place in Westminster Abbey.
  • The Royal Surrey Gardens were created as zoological and pleasure gardens.
  • The building that would become Abbey Road Studios was built.
• 1832
  • February 12: The Second cholera pandemic began to spread in London, causing many deaths.
  • July 11: The Kensal Green Cemetery was authorized, becoming the first of the "Magnificent Seven cemeteries" (large cemeteries built outside the city).
• 1833
  • January 1: The London Fire Engine Establishment was formed, combining existing fire brigades.
• 1834
  • October 16: The Burning of Parliament took place, destroying much of the old Palace of Westminster.
  • December 23: Inventor Joseph Hansom patented the Hansom cab, a popular horse-drawn carriage.
  • The Old Bailey was renamed the Central Criminal Court.
  • Harrods was founded as a grocer in Stepney.
• 1835
  • March 23: Marie Tussaud moved her wax museum, Madame Tussauds, to a permanent location on Baker Street.
  • Regent's Park opened to the public.
• 1836
  • February 8: The first section of the London and Greenwich Railway, the first steam-powered line in London, began operating.
  • April 2: Charles Dickens married Catherine Hogarth.
  • June 7: The first University Boat Race between Cambridge and Oxford was held on the Thames.
  • June 9: The London Working Men's Association was formed, which was important for the Chartism movement.
  • November 28: The University of London was officially recognized.
  • December 14: Trains began calling at London Bridge station, making it the first permanent London train station.
• 1837
  • January 20: The death of architect Sir John Soane led to his house becoming the Sir John Soane's Museum.
  • February: Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist began to be published in parts.
  • June 20: Princess Victoria became Queen Victoria upon the death of her uncle. On July 13, she moved into Buckingham Palace, making it the main home for the British monarch.
  • July 20: Euston railway station, London's first main railway station, opened.
• 1838
  • January 10: A fire destroyed Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange.
  • April 8: The National Gallery opened in its new building in Trafalgar Square.
  • June 4: The first part of the Great Western Railway opened from London Paddington station to Maidenhead.
  • June 28: The coronation of Queen Victoria took place in Westminster Abbey.
  • August 6: The Polytechnic Institution, Britain's first polytechnic, opened on Regent Street.
  • The state rooms and gardens at Hampton Court Palace opened to the public for free.
• 1839
  • May 20: Highgate Cemetery was dedicated.
  • June 5: The London and Croydon Railway began operating.
  • September-October: Early photographs of London were taken by M. de St Croix from France.
  • The City of London Police was given official authority.

London in the 1840s (1840 to 1849)

• 1840
  • February 10: Queen Victoria married Albert, Prince Consort at St James's Palace.
  • April 15: King's College Hospital opened.
  • April 27: The foundation stone for the new Palace of Westminster was laid, as rebuilding began after the fire.
  • June: The World Anti-Slavery Convention was held in Exeter Hall.
  • September 30: The foundation of Nelson's Column was laid in Trafalgar Square.
  • Abney Park, Nunhead, and Brompton, three of the "Magnificent Seven cemeteries", opened.
  • Charles Dickens' novel The Old Curiosity Shop was published in parts.
• 1841
  • March: Richard Beard opened England's first commercial photography studio in London.
  • May: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew opened to the public.
  • June 6: The United Kingdom Census 1841 took place. London's population was over 2.2 million.
  • July 17: The magazine Punch began publication.
  • August 2: Fenchurch Street railway station opened.
  • October 30: A fire at the Tower of London destroyed its Grand Armoury.
  • The City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery, the last of the "Magnificent Seven cemeteries," opened.
• 1842
  • May 14: The Illustrated London News began publication.
  • August 15: The Metropolitan Police created a Detective Branch.
  • November: The Fleet Prison and Marshalsea debtor's prisons were closed. Pentonville Prison for criminals was completed.
• 1843
  • March 25: Marc Isambard Brunel's Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under the river, opened for people to walk through.
  • September 2: The Economist newspaper was first published.
  • November 3-4: The statue of Nelson was placed on top of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
• 1844
  • June 6: The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in St Paul's Churchyard.
  • August 9: A new law, the Metropolitan Buildings Act 1844, was passed to make new buildings in London safer and healthier.
  • October 28: The Royal Exchange opened.
  • The first eel and mash shop was recorded in London.
• 1845
  • January 3: The first known arrest of a person using the new electric telegraph happened, when a murderer was caught after police were alerted ahead of his train.
  • May 1: The Hungerford Bridge opened as a footbridge.
  • May 1: The first cricket match was played at the Kennington Oval.
  • Fuller's Brewery was established in Chiswick.
  • The creation of Victoria Park in the East End, the first "People's Park," began.
• 1846
  • April 3: The last London-based mail coach ran to Norwich, as trains took over.
  • Henry Poole opened a tailoring shop on Savile Row, starting a tradition of famous tailoring there.
• 1847
  • New Oxford Street was constructed.
  • The Royal Brompton Hospital admitted its first patients.
• 1848
  • April 10: A large Chartist rally took place on Kennington Common.
  • July 4: St George's Church, Southwark opened, becoming the largest Roman Catholic church in London at the time.
  • July 11: Waterloo station opened.
  • October: The Palm house at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was completed.
  • Queen's College, London was founded, the world's first school to give academic qualifications to young women.
• 1849
  • May: The first exhibition of paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a new art movement, took place.
  • Summer: Karl Marx moved to London, where he lived for the rest of his life.
  • July: The Horsleydown cholera outbreak occurred.
  • December 17: The first bowler hat was collected from hatters in St James's.
  • Bedford College was founded to provide education for women.
  • Harrods moved to Knightsbridge.

London in the 1850s (1850 to 1859)

• 1850
  • April 4: The North London Collegiate School for girls was established.
  • May 25: Obaysch, a hippopotamus, arrived at London Zoo from Egypt, the first to live in Britain in a very long time.
• 1851
  • March: The Marble Arch was moved to Hyde Park from Buckingham Palace.
  • May 1: The Great Exhibition opened in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. It was a huge event showcasing inventions and art from around the world.
  • July 16: A Roman Catholic educational college, the predecessor of St Mary's University, was established.
  • The news agency Reuters started its business.
  • The Royal Marsden was established as the world's first specialist cancer hospital.
  • Wandsworth Prison admitted its first prisoners.
• 1852
  • February 3: The new chamber of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom opened in the Palace of Westminster.
  • February 11: The first British public toilet for women opened on Bedford Street. One for men had opened earlier in Fleet Street.
  • February 14: Great Ormond Street Hospital opened as the UK's first children's hospital with only 10 beds. It later became a world leader in children's health.
  • May: The Museum of Manufactures, which later became the Victoria and Albert Museum, opened.
  • May 17: Canterbury Music Hall, the first tavern music hall, opened in Lambeth.
  • October 14: King's Cross railway station opened.
  • The Metropolis Water Act 1852 stopped people from taking drinking water from the dirty River Thames.
• 1853
  • January 20: The Photographic Society of London was founded.
  • May: The world's first public aquarium opened in Regent's Park.
• 1854
  • January 16: The permanent Paddington station train shed, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened.
  • June 10: The Crystal Palace reopened in Sydenham with life-size dinosaur models in the grounds.
  • August 31 – September 8: A cholera epidemic killed 10,000 people. Dr John Snow famously traced the source of the Broad Street cholera outbreak to a single water pump, proving that cholera was spread by water. This was a huge step for public health!
  • November 13: The London Necropolis Company began operating Brookwood Cemetery with a special railway service from Waterloo.
• 1855
  • April 11: The first six post boxes started being used in London.
  • June: The Victoria Dock opened, designed for steamships.
  • June: The Metropolitan Cattle Market opened.
  • June 24: There was a riot in Hyde Park over a bill about Sunday trading.
  • June 29: The Daily Telegraph newspaper began publication.
  • September 3: The last Bartholomew Fair took place.
  • December 22: The Metropolitan Board of Works was established to manage public works.
• 1856
  • March 5: A fire destroyed the Covent Garden Theatre.
  • March 15: The Boat Race 1856 became an annual event between Cambridge and Oxford.
  • August 22: The Eastern Counties Railway opened a branch to Loughton, which would later become the oldest section of the London Underground.
  • October 22: Big Ben was first given its famous nickname.
  • November 9: The last Lord Mayor's Show to use barges on the Thames took place.
  • December 2: The National Portrait Gallery was formally established.
• 1857
  • May 2: The British Museum Reading Room opened.
  • June 22: The South Kensington Museum was opened by Queen Victoria. It included collections that would become the Science Museum and was the world's first museum with a refreshment room.
• 1858
  • January 1: The designation of London postal districts was completed.
  • January 31: Isambard Kingdom Brunel's huge ship, the SS Great Eastern, was launched in Millwall.
  • April 3: Chelsea Bridge, a toll suspension bridge, opened.
  • July 2 – August: The "Great Stink" happened, where hot weather made the smell from untreated sewage in the River Thames unbearable.
  • August 2: A new law was passed because of the Great Stink, allowing the Metropolitan Board of Works to build Joseph Bazalgette's improved London sewer system.
  • December 26: A panic and crush at the Royal Victoria Theatre killed 15 young men.
• 1859
  • January 15: The National Portrait Gallery opened.
  • April 21: The first drinking fountain was put up by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association.
  • September 7: The clock and chimes of the newly completed Clock Tower at the Palace of Westminster became fully operational.
  • Wilton's Music Hall opened in the East End.

London in the 1860s (1860 to 1869)

• 1860
  • July 9: The Nightingale Training School and Home for Nurses, the first nursing school based on Florence Nightingale's ideas, opened at St Thomas' Hospital.
  • October 1: The first section of Victoria station opened.
  • November: The 'Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs', which later became the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, was established.
  • December 29: The world's first all-iron-hulled and armored battleship, HMS Warrior, was launched on the Thames.
  • Construction began on the first section of the London Underground.
  • Joseph Malin's was one of the first recorded fish and chip shops in London.
• 1861
  • March 23: The first horse-drawn trams in London began operating on the Bayswater Road.
  • June 22: The Tooley Street fire broke out, and firefighter James Braidwood was killed fighting it.
  • The Crimean War Memorial was unveiled.
• 1862
  • March 26: The Peabody Trust housing association was established by American banker George Peabody to provide affordable homes.
  • May 1 – November 1: The 1862 International Exhibition was held in South Kensington.
  • May 24: The new Westminster Bridge opened.
  • November: Joseph Bazalgette began building the Thames Embankment, a huge project to control the river and improve sanitation.
  • The science collections of the South Kensington Museum moved to separate buildings.
• 1863
  • January 10: The first section of the London Underground, the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon Street, opened to the public. It was the first underground railway in the world!
  • March 2: Clapham Junction railway station opened.
  • October 26: The Football Association was founded, creating the rules for football.
  • December 19: The first football game played under the new Football Association rules took place.
• 1864
  • January 11: Charing Cross railway station and bridge opened.
  • September 28: The International Workingmen's Association was founded in London.
  • December 21: Blackfriars Railway Bridge opened.
• 1865
  • April 4: The Crossness Pumping Station, a major part of the new London sewerage system designed by Joseph Bazalgette, was officially opened. This system greatly improved London's health.
  • June 26: Jumbo, a young male African elephant, arrived at the London Zoo and became very popular.
  • July 2: The Christian Mission, later called The Salvation Army, was founded in Whitechapel.
  • November 1: Broad Street station opened.
• 1866
  • January 1: The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was set up under the leadership of Eyre Massey Shaw.
  • July: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson opened the St Mary's Dispensary, where women could get medical advice from female doctors.
  • July 23-25: Demonstrations in Hyde Park for parliamentary reform became violent.
  • September 1: Cannon Street station opened.
  • The last cholera epidemic in London caused over 5,000 deaths.
  • John I. Thornycroft & Company was established as shipbuilders in Chiswick.
• 1867
  • January 15: The Regent's Park skating disaster: 40 skaters died when ice broke in Regent's Park.
  • February: The Society of Arts started the blue plaque scheme, putting up memorial tablets on houses where famous people lived.
  • May 20: Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Royal Albert Hall.
  • October: Thomas Barnardo opened his first shelter for homeless children in Stepney.
  • The rebuilding of Palace of Westminster was completed.
• 1868
  • March 14: The Millwall Dock opened.
  • May 26: The last public hanging in Britain took place outside Newgate Prison.
  • October 1: St Pancras railway station opened.
  • November 24: Smithfield Meat Market opened.
  • December 10: The world's first traffic lights were installed in Parliament Square.
  • December 24: The first section of the District line of the London Underground opened.
• 1869
  • March 6: The first international cycle race was held in Crystal Palace.
  • May 22: Sainsbury's first store opened in Drury Lane.
  • November 6: The new Blackfriars Bridge and Holborn Viaduct stations were opened by Queen Victoria.
  • November 24: The Albert Embankment, engineered by Joseph Bazalgette, was completed.
  • December 7: The first train ran through the Thames Tunnel on the East London Line.
  • Columbia Market was established in Bethnal Green as a covered food market by Angela Burdett-Coutts.

London in the 1870s (1870 to 1879)

• 1870
  • April 16: The Vaudeville Theatre opened.
  • May 2: The first permanent horse-drawn street trams in London began running.
  • July: French painters Monet, Pissarro, and Daubigny moved to London to escape the Franco-Prussian War.
  • July 13: Victoria Embankment, engineered by Joseph Bazalgette, opened.
  • August 2: The Tower Subway opened, the world's first underground passenger "tube" railway. It showed how a new tunneling method worked.
  • November 25: The Gas Light and Coke Company began production from Beckton Gas Works, which became the largest in Europe.
• 1871
  • March 29: The Royal Albert Hall opened in South Kensington; it had a huge organ, the world's largest at the time.
  • May: French painter James Tissot moved to London.
  • July 18: The Slade School of Fine Art was established.
  • September 15: The Army & Navy Co-operative Society Ltd was started, which became the Army & Navy Stores.
  • The Metropolitan Board of Works bought part of Hampstead Heath to protect it from building.
• 1872
  • March 16: In the first ever final of the FA Cup, the London club Wanderers F.C. defeated the Royal Engineers A.F.C. at The Oval.
  • May 14: The new church of St Mary Abbots in Kensington was consecrated.
  • June 24: The Bethnal Green Museum opened in the East End.
  • July 3: Queen Victoria opened the Albert Memorial in memory of her husband, Prince Albert.
  • July 18: Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, became the first woman to be made an Honorary Freeman of the City of London.
  • August 3: The Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company began building cottages for social housing in Battersea.
  • November 16: A London Metropolitan Police strike took place.
• 1873
  • January 16: The Royal Naval College, Greenwich was established.
  • March: An American gang stole £100,000 from the Bank of England.
  • May 5: The Midland Grand Hotel opened, becoming the world's largest hotel at the time.
  • May 18: Artist Vincent van Gogh lived in London for 18 months.
  • June 9: Alexandra Palace was destroyed by fire just two weeks after opening.
  • August 23: The Albert Bridge opened.
  • September 27: The first Wandsworth Bridge opened.
  • November 17: The Criterion Restaurant opened in Piccadilly.
  • December: Several weeks of severe smog (thick fog mixed with smoke) covered London.
  • Work began on the Natural History Museum.
• 1874
  • February 2: Liverpool Street station opened.
  • March 2: Holborn Viaduct station opened.
  • May 9: The Chelsea Embankment opened.
  • October 2: A barge carrying petroleum and gunpowder exploded under a bridge in Regent's Park, killing four people.
  • Autumn: London School of Medicine for Women was founded.
• 1875
  • February: The first shelter for cab drivers was installed in St John's Wood.
  • September: Joseph Bazalgette completed the 30-year construction of London's sewer system, a massive achievement for public health.
  • Arthur Liberty started the Liberty business on Regent Street.
• 1876
  • May 16: Adam Worth stole Gainsborough's famous painting Portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
  • October 7: The first greyhound race using an artificial hare was held in Hendon.
• 1877
  • April 10: The first human cannonball act in Britain was performed by 14-year-old Rossa Matilda Richter ("Zazel") at the Royal Aquarium.
  • May 1: Grosvenor Gallery opened to the public for showing modern art.
  • July 9-19: The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club held the first Wimbledon Championships in lawn tennis.
  • July 20: The new Billingsgate Fish Market building opened.
• 1878
  • January 2-13: Wren's Temple Bar was taken apart and moved. A monument was later put in its place.
  • March 5: William Burges moved into The Tower House, which he designed for himself.
  • May 25: Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera HMS Pinafore opened at the Opera Comique.
  • August 8: The Epping Forest Act required the forest to be preserved for public enjoyment.
  • August: The Gaiety Theatre became the first in London to light its stage with carbon arc lamps (electric lights).
  • September 3: Over 640 people died when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collided with another ship in the Thames.
  • September 12: Cleopatra's Needle was put up on the Victoria Embankment.
  • October: The University of London became the first in the UK to admit women on equal terms with men.
  • December 13: Electric street lighting was first introduced in London on the Thames Embankment.
  • Gamages department store opened.
• 1879
  • May 24: The Metropolitan Board of Works removed tolls from several bridges, making them free to cross.
  • August 1: The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was established.
  • August 16: Fulham F.C. was founded as a church Sunday school football club.
  • The first telephone exchange opened in London.
  • Prudential Assurance moved to its new headquarters.

London in the 1880s (1880 to 1889)

• 1880
  • May 31: The St James's Gazette newspaper began publication.
  • June 24: The Royal Albert Dock opened.
  • Summer: Burnham Beeches was bought by the Corporation of London to protect its woodlands for public recreation.
  • September 27: The Guildhall School of Music opened.
  • November 17: The University of London awarded the first degrees to women.
  • The Old Vic theatre was taken over by Emma Cons as a coffee tavern and hall.
• 1881
  • March 16: A bomb was found and defused in the Mansion House.
  • April 3: The United Kingdom Census 1881 took place. London's population was over 4.7 million, meaning one-eighth of the UK's population lived in London!
  • April 18: The Natural History Museum opened in South Kensington.
  • July 14-20: The International Anarchist Congress was held in London.
  • July 26: The Evening News was first published.
  • October 10: Richard D'Oyly Carte's Savoy Theatre opened, becoming the world's first public building to be fully lit by electricity using light bulbs.
  • December 15: The rebuilt Leadenhall Market opened.
  • "Great Paul", Britain's heaviest swinging bell, was hung in St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1882
  • January 12: Holborn Viaduct power station, the world's first coal-fired public electricity generating station, began operating.
  • January 25: The London Chamber of Commerce was founded.
  • March 24: Jumbo the elephant left Britain after being sold by London Zoo to the American showman P. T. Barnum.
  • May 12: A bomb exploded at the Mansion House.
  • September 5: Tottenham Hotspur F.C. was founded by schoolboys.
  • December 4: The Royal Courts of Justice opened on The Strand.
• 1883
  • January 20: An explosion at the Local Government Board caused damage and injuries. Another bomb at The Times newspaper offices did not explode.
  • March 17: Karl Marx was buried at Highgate Cemetery.
  • May 7: The Royal College of Music opened.
  • August 4: The Noel Park estate, providing affordable homes, was formally opened.
  • October 30: Two bombs exploded in the London Underground, injuring 70 people.
• 1884
  • January: The London Hydraulic Power Company was set up.
  • January 4: The Fabian Society was founded.
  • February 26: A bomb exploded at Victoria station. Other bombs were defused at other stations.
  • April 17: The Empire Theatre opened.
  • May 30: Three bombs exploded in London, injuring 10 people. A fourth bomb did not explode.
  • July 8: The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) was founded.
  • October 6: The Circle line (London Underground) was completed.
  • October 22: The International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. decided that the Greenwich meridian would be the world's prime meridian.
  • Samuel and Henrietta Barnett established Toynbee Hall, a university settlement in the East End.
• 1885
  • January 2: A bomb exploded at Gower Street Tube station.
  • January 24: Irish terrorists damaged Westminster Hall and the Tower of London.
  • March 14: The famous Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera The Mikado was first performed at the Savoy Theatre.
  • October 3: Millwall F.C. played their first match.
  • The first municipal underground public toilet opened in the city for gentlemen.
  • The Ayrton Light was first lit on the Palace of Westminster's clock tower to show that Parliament was meeting.
  • The Science Collections of the South Kensington Museum were renamed as the Science Museum.
• 1886
  • January 18: The Hockey Association was founded, setting the rules for hockey.
  • February 8 ("Black Monday"): Riots by unemployed people took place in the West End and Trafalgar Square.
  • March 10: The first Crufts dog show was held.
  • May 29: The replacement stone Putney Bridge opened over the Thames.
  • December 11: Arsenal F.C. played their first match.
  • December 26: The Olympia exhibition centre opened.
  • Shaftesbury Avenue was completed.
• 1887
  • January 18: A panic and crush at a club in the East End led to 17 deaths.
  • May 9: The first exhibition at Earl's Court, an American Exhibition & Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, opened.
  • May 14: The People's Palace, a predecessor of Queen Mary University of London, was opened in the East End by Queen Victoria.
  • June 11: The replacement Hammersmith Bridge opened.
  • August 6/7: A major fire destroyed Whiteleys department store.
  • November 13 ("Bloody Sunday"): A large socialist demonstration was violently broken up by the police.
  • November: Arthur Conan Doyle's first detective novel, A Study in Scarlet, introduced the famous London detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
• 1888
  • February 13: The first issue of the Financial Times newspaper went on sale.
  • July 2-27: The London matchgirls strike of 1888 took place, where young women working in a match factory went on strike for better conditions.
  • August 13: The Local Government Act 1888 established the County of London, changing how the city was governed.
  • December 17: The Lyric Theatre opened in the West End.
  • Parliament Hill was bought to preserve it as a public viewpoint.
  • The first police boxes were put up in London.
• 1889
  • March 23: The Woolwich Free Ferry was started.
  • April 1: The elected London County Council took over from the Metropolitan Board of Works, changing the administration of London.
  • August 6: The Savoy Hotel opened.
  • August 14 – September 15: The London Dock Strike of 1889 happened, where dockers went on strike for better pay and won. This was a big moment for workers' rights.
  • August 30: The Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Sorting Office was officially opened.
  • September 7: The Morley Memorial College for Working Men and Women opened.
  • Charles Booth's important study Life and Labour of the People in London began publication.

London in the 1890s (1890 to 1899)

• 1890
  • July 21: The replacement Battersea Bridge opened.
  • October 10: Brentford F.C. was established.
  • November: Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, moved to a new building.
  • November 4: The City & South London Railway, the world's first deep-level electric underground railway, opened. It was a predecessor of the Northern line.
  • December: No hours of sunshine were recorded this month in Westminster, showing how foggy London could be!
  • Construction of Britain's first council housing began in Shoreditch.
• 1891
  • January: The Strand Magazine was first published. Sherlock Holmes appeared in it for the first time in July.
  • May: William Morris established the Kelmscott Press in Hammersmith.
  • November: Woolwich Polytechnic opened, a predecessor of the University of Greenwich.
• 1892
  • July 1: The Royal Liberty of Havering was dissolved.
  • September 30: Borough Polytechnic Institute opened, a predecessor of London South Bank University.
  • December: Smog killed 779 people.
• 1893
  • June 29: The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, with its statue of Anteros, was unveiled on Piccadilly Circus.
  • November 25: Queen's Hall opened as a concert venue.
• 1894
  • February 15: A French anarchist tried to destroy the Royal Greenwich Observatory with a bomb.
  • May 19: Richmond Lock and Footbridge opened on the Thames.
  • June 30: Tower Bridge opened to traffic. This iconic bridge was a marvel of engineering.
  • September 20: The first Lyons tea shop opened in Piccadilly.
  • October 18: The first Kinetoscope Parlour (showing early films) opened in Oxford Street.
  • December: Frederick Bremer ran the first British petrol-engined motor car on a public road.
  • The City of London School for Girls was established.
• 1895
  • January 1: The Bishopsgate Institute opened.
  • February 14: The première of Oscar Wilde's famous play The Importance of Being Earnest took place.
  • March: Birt Acres filmed Incident at Clovelly Cottage, considered the "first successful motion picture film made in Britain."
  • June 29: The formation of Thames Ironworks F.C., the predecessor of West Ham United F.C., was announced.
  • July 17: The Great Wheel opened at the Earl's Court exhibition grounds. At 94 meters (300 feet), it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel at the time.
  • August 10: The first ever indoor promenade concert, the origin of The Proms, was held at the Queen's Hall.
  • October: The London School of Economics held its first classes.
• 1896
  • January 10: Birt Acres demonstrated his film projector, the Kineopticon, the first in Britain.
  • February 20: The Lumiere Brothers showed their films in Britain for the first time.
  • May: "Watkin's Tower" at Wembley Park opened to the public, though it was never completed.
  • May 4: The Daily Mail newspaper began publication.
  • August 17: Bridget Driscoll became the first person in the world to be killed in a car accident, near The Crystal Palace.
  • October 1: The Trocadero restaurant opened.
  • The first flats in the London County Council's Boundary Estate were completed. This was the country's earliest public housing scheme.
• 1897
  • May 22: The Blackwall Tunnel opened for road traffic under the Thames. It was the world's longest underwater tunnel at the time.
  • June 22: Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations took place.
  • July 21: The National Gallery of British Art (today's Tate Britain) opened on Millbank.
  • August 19: Bersey electric cabs, the first horseless taxicabs, began operating in London.
• 1898
  • June 21: At the launch of HMS Albion, 34 spectators drowned when a stage collapsed.
  • August 8: The Waterloo & City line, an underground railway, opened.
  • November 16: Harrods department store installed the first stepless escalator in the UK.
• 1899
  • March 15: Marylebone station, the last main London train station, opened.
  • May 17: The foundation stone of the Victoria and Albert Museum was laid by Queen Victoria, her last public event.
  • May 24: The Kensington Palace state rooms were opened to the public.
  • July 13: The London Government Act 1899 divided the County of London into 28 metropolitan boroughs, changing how local areas were governed.
  • September-October: Artist Monet visited London and painted views of the Thames.
  • October 9: The first motor buses began regular service in London.
  • October 31: The statue of Oliver Cromwell, Westminster, was unveiled outside the House of Commons.

Images for kids

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  The frozen River Thames during a frost fair, as shown in an old book from 1873.

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  Commemorative plaque erected by the Society of Arts to caricaturist George Cruikshank in Camden (1885).