JANUARY January 1 Britain proclaimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833). European Community established (1958). January 2 Wagner's opera 'The Flying Dutchman' opened, Dresden (1843). January 4 Donizetti's opera 'Don Pasquale' first performed, Paris (1843). January 5 Gilbert and Sullivan's opera 'Princess Ida' first performed, London (1884). Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) established (1919). January 10 Fritz Lang's film 'Metropolis' first shown, Berlin (1926). January 11 'Whisky-a-go-go', the first disco opened, Los Angeles (1963). January 13 Opera broadcast for the first time from the stage of New York's Metropolitan Opera House (1910). Beatles' first single in the USA, 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' sold 1 million copies in 3 weeks (1964). January 14 Puccini's opera 'Tosca' first performed, Rome (1900). January 20 First English parliament, met in Westminster Hall under King Henry III (1265). January 22 United Kingdom, the Irish Republic, and Denmark joined the European Union (1972). January 24 François Truffaut's 'Jules et Jim' first shown, Paris (1962). January 25 The authorised version of the Bible began translation, under the guidance of King James I (1604). FEBRUARY February 1 First edition of the Oxford English Dictionary published (1884). Puccini's opera 'La Bohème' first staged, Turin (1896). February 14 Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' first staged, London (1895). February 17 Puccini's opera 'Madame Butterfly' first staged, Milan (1904). February 18 John Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' first published (1678). February 19 Women's Institute founded by Mrs Hoodless, Canada (1897). February 23 Handel's 'Oratorio' first performed, London (1732). MARCH March 2 First ballet performed, The Loves of Mars and Venus, at the Theatre Royal, London (1717). March 3 Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' first published (1802). March 4 Tchaikovsky's ballet 'Swan Lake' first performed, Moscow (1877). March 5 The foundation stone of New College, Oxford, was laid (1397). March 7 First jazz record, 'The Dixie Jazz Band One-Step', went on sale in the USA (1917). March 9 The capital of Russia was moved from Petrograd (Lenningrad) to Moscow (1918). March 11 Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR (1985). March 14 Gilbert and Sullivan's musical 'Mikado' first performed, Savoy Theatre, London (1885). March 16 The new London Bridge was opened (1973). March 19 Sydney Harbour bridge was officially opened (1932). March 21 Died St Benedict, Italian hermit, established a monastery at Monte Cassino (550). March 22 First colour pictures printed in the 'New York Illustrated Mirror', the first in any newspaper (1904). March 25 Six European countries signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Union (1957). March 28 Act of Union with England was passed by the Irish Parliament (1800). March 31 Eiffel Tower, built for the Universal Exhibition, was inaugurated, Paris (1889). APRIL April 2 First broadcast of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race (1927). April 5 Johann Strauss's opera 'Die Fledermaus' first performed, Vienna (1874). April 7 World Health Organisation (WHO) established (1948). April 9 The National Gallery, London, was opened (1838). April 12 Union Jack adopted as official flag of England (1606). April 15 English lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary (1755). April 18 The National History Museum in South Kensington was opened (1881). April 21 City of Rome founded (753BC). April 23 Edward III, King of England, founded the Order of the Garter (1344). April 26 First production of the musical 'Bless the Bride', London (1947). April 27 Handel's 'Music for the Royal Fireworks' first performed, but finished early due to the outbreak of fire, London (1749). April 30 Debussy's opera 'Pelléas et Mélisande' first performed, Paris (1902). MAY May 1 Proclamation of the First Act of the Union of England and Scotland forming Great Britain (1707). Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London (1851). May 3 King George VI opened the huge 'Festival of Britain', which cost £8,000,000 (1951). American President Eisenhower proposed demilitarisation of Antarctica (1958). May 4 'Waltzing Matilda' became the national anthem of Australia (1976). May 6 First postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued (1840). May 8 First performance of John Osborne's play 'Look Back in Anger', London (1956). May 10 Mothers' Day initiated by Miss Anna Jarvis, Philadelphia, USA (1907). May 11 Terence Conran opened his first Habitat shop, Fulham Road, London (1964). May 12 Malik Sarvar founded the Muslim Kingdom of Jaunpu, on the middle Ganges (1394) . Alcoholics Anonymous founded by William Wilson, Akron, USA (1935). May 13 Black Friday with the collapse of Germany's economic system (1927). May 14 Royal British Legion founded by Earl Haig (1921). Salman Rushdie described the film 'Gandhi' as 'biographically inaccurate, appalling history, and laughably crude' (1983). May 16 Died Charles Perrault, French fairytale writer and collector (1703). May 17 £60,000,000 National Garden Festival opened by Princess Royal, Gateshead, England (1990). May 19 England declared itself a Commonwealth (1649). May 20 Croatia voted for independence from Yugoslavia (1991). May 21 Statue of Liberty completed after 10 years' construction (1884). May 24 Brooklyn Bridge, New York, was opened (1883). May 25 30 million people took part in Bob Geldof's 'Race Against Time', part of the Sport Aid event (1986). May 26 Last public execution in England, when Irish nationalist Michael Barrett was hanged (1868). May 27 First country to elect a government by proportional representation, Belgium (1900). Golden Gate suspension bridge opened (1937). May 29 Founded Eton School, by King Henry VI (1440). JUNE June 4 The Order of the British Empire was instituted (1917). June 6 George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eight-four' published (1949). June 7 Vatican City established (1929). June 8 James Earl Ray arrested and charged with killing Martin Luther King, London (1968). General Franco closed Spain's frontier with Gibraltar (1969). June 9 Britain took a 99-year lease on the New Territories, Hong Kong, from China (1898). June 10 Wagner's opera 'Tristan and Isolde' first performed, Munich, Germany (1865). June 12 Magdalen College founded. Oxford (1458). June 14 'Stars and Stripes' adopted as the flag of the USA (1771). First Henley Regatta on the Thames, England (1839). June 15 Florence Nightingale opened her nurses' school at St Thomas's Hospital, London (1860). Diary of Anne Frank published (1952). June 16 Henry Ford formed his manufacturing company (1903). Rudolf Nureyev, Soviet ballet dancer, defected to the West (1961). June 18 Egypt declared a republic (1953). June 19 Father's Day introduced in America by Mrs John Bruce Dodd (1910). June 21 Construction of St Paul's Cathedral began, London (1675). Last woman to hang in Britain, former model Ruth Ellis (1955). June 22 Former Liberal Leader, Jeremy Thorpe, found not guilty of plotting to murder Normal Scott (1979). 'Checkpoint Charlie', a hut at the crossing point of the Berlin Wall removed to a museum (1990). June 23 General Nasser became Egypt's first President (1956). June 24 Berlin airlift began following the Soviet blockade of Berlin (1948). June 28 Julius Caesar became the absolute ruler of Rome (48BC). June 29 Trade Unions legalised by Act of Parliament (1871). June 30 Tower Bridge officially opened, London (1894). Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Psycho' premiered in New York (1960). JULY July 1 Charles Darwin presented his paper on his theory of the evolution of species (1838). State treaty unifying East and West Germany can into effect (1990). July 4 The Statue of Liberty was presented by the people of France to the USA (1883). July 5 Maria Callas, aged 41, gave her last stage performance (1965). July 7 French experts announced that France's greatest national treasure, the 'Bayeux Tapestry', had been made in England. (1984). July 10 Greenpeace ship 'Rainbow Warrior' sunk by 2 French agents in Auckland Harbour (1985). July 11 Live TV broadcast of Puccini's Tosca watched by 1,450,000,000 from 45 countries (1992). July 12 Italian opera singer Pavarotti hired 3 bodyguards to stop him eating, so to reduce his 22 stones (1993). July 14 The Bastille, a former Paris state prison, stormed by Parisian citizens starting the French Revolution (1789). BBC transmitted its first play, 'The Man With A Flower In His Mouth' by Pirandello (1930). July 15 Le Marseillaise, by Rouget de Lisle, officially adopted as the national anthem of France (1795). July 17 Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' or 'My Struggle', written whilst in jail, was published (1925). July 18 Great fire of Rome began and lasted for nine days (AD64). July 19 First steamship to provide a regular transatlantic service launched, Brunel's 'Great Western' (1837). July 21 First 'Promenade Concert, 'Proms', the summer series of international orchestral concerts instituted (1895). July 26 First publication of the London 'Evening News' (1881). July 30 The first Penguin books were published (1935). July 31 Oxfam was founded, (1942). The first ever close up pictures of the moon were returned to Earth by the US Ranger 7 (1964). AUGUST August 1 The Morris Minor was launched by Morris Motors (1928). The first English Mars Bars, made in Slough, Berkshire, went on sale (1932). August 3 The French Riviera suffered its biggest art robbery when thieves stole paintings worth £25 million (1992). August 6 Holy Roman Empire ended when Francis II renounced the crown and became Francis I, emperor of Austria (1806). August 8 First London production of the musical '42nd Street' (1984). August 10 Smithsonian Institution was established in Washington DC, to foster American scientific research (1846). August 13 Richard Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' was first performed in its entirety in Bayreuth (1876). August 14 Cologne Cathedral completed, after being started in the 13th century (1880). It was announced that Beethoven's lost Tenth Symphony was to receive its world premiere (1988). August 15 Woodstock Music and Arts Fair began on a diary farm in upstate New York (1969). August 16 Puccini's 'Madam Butterfly' was first performed in Britain at the Lyric Theatre, London (1907). August 17 Wagner's opera 'Götterdämmerung' first performed, Bayreuth, Germany (1876). The Woodstock Festival came to an end, having being attended by around 400,000 people (1969). August 18 The file 'The Wizard of Oz' opened in New York (1939). August 19 Poland became the first eastern European country to end one-party rule (1989). August 21 The 'Mona Lisa' by da Vinci was stolen from the Louvre (1911). August 26 Julius Caesar landed in Britain (55 BC) August 28 200,000 people marched to Washington DC where Martin Luther King delivered his 'I have a dream' speech (1963). August 29 Opium War ended by the Treaty of Nanking between Britain and China (1842). Supreme Soviet voted to suspend formally all activities of the Communist Party (1991). SEPTEMBER September 4 The Cambridge Theatre, London, opened (1930). September 6 First cricket test match in England was played at the Oval between England and Australia (1880). September 10 Picasso's 'Guernica' returned to Spain after 40 years (1981). Hungary opened its border to the West, allowing thousands of East Germans to leave (1989). September 11 Stravinsky's 'The Rake's Progress' first performed, in Venice, the libretto was by W H Auden (1951). September 13 'The Mousetrap' became Britain's longest running play, reaching its 1,998 performance (1957). September 17 First long-playing records demonstrated in New York, but the venture failed (1931). September 18 The 'New York Times' was first published (1851). September 20 The liner 'Queen Elizabeth II' was launched at Clydebank (1966). September 22 France declared itself a Republic (1792). Solidarity Movement founded, an independent trade-union created in Poland (1980). September 26 Bob Dylan, American singer made his debut in New York's Greenwich Village (1961). September 30 Mozart's 'Magic Flute' first performed, Vienna (1791). OCTOBER October 3 Bolshoi Ballet performed in Britain, at Covent Garden, for the first time (1956). East and West Germany officially reunified, with Berlin as the capital (1990). October 6 First feature-length talking film, 'The Jazz Singer', began showing in New York (1927). October 8 First London production of the musical show 'The King and I' (1953). October 9 First London production of the musical show 'Porgy and Bess' (1952). October 10 China's Imperial Dynasty was forced to abdicate, and the Republic was proclaimed under Sun Yat- Sen (1911). October 13 Greenwich adopted as the universal time meridian of longitude from which all standard world times are calculated (1884). October 15 Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, was adopted in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France (1582). October 18 Hungary proclaimed a free Republic (1989). October 20 First publication of 'The Sunday Times' (1822). October 23 First parliament of Great Britain met (1707). October 29 'Black Tuesday', the Wall Street stock market crash, which lead to the Great Depression (1929). NOVEMBER November 2 Penguin Books were acquitted of obscenity in the matter of publishing 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' (1960). November 4 In Trafalgar Square, London, Nelson's Column was completed (1843). November 8 Louvre opened to the public by the Revolutionary Government (1793). November 12 Austria proclaimed a Republic, ending the Habsburg dynasty (1918). November 14 Colour TV transmission was begun in Britain (1969). November 17 First London performance of the musical show 'Godspell' (1971). November 19 Cunard liner 'Queen Elizabeth 2' made her first voyage (1968). November 24 Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' was published, London (1859). November 25 The play 'The Mousetrap', by Agatha Christie, opened in London (1952). November 27 William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway (1582). DECEMBER December 2 First production of the musical 'Hello, Dolly!' (1965). December 7 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, opened (1732). December 9 Lech Walesa, leader of the once-outlawed trade-union Solidarity Movement, was elected president of Poland (1990). December 10 Royal Academy of Arts founded in London by King George III (1768). Treaty of Maastricht agreed between the 12 EC nations, pledging closer political and economic union (1991). December 15 Bill of Rights (10 amendments) became part of the US Constitution (1791). December 17 'A Christmas Carol', by Charles Dickens, was published, London (1843). Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker' first performed, St Petersburg, Russia (1892). December 19 Britain agreed to transfer full sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997 (1984). December 21 Pilgrim Fathers, aboard the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock, USA (1620). December 22 11 of the 12 Soviet republics agreed on the creation of CIS, the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991). December 24 Verdi's 'Aïda' first performed, Cairo (1871). December 25 Charlemagne crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III (800). William the Conqueror crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey (1066). December 26 Soviet Union parliament formally voted itself out of existence (1991). December 27 James Barrie's 'Peter Pan' premier, London (1904). Spain became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship (1978). December 30 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed (1922).