19th Century 1800-1899

Alexander Graham Bell Patent 1876

Alexander Graham Bell was issued with a patent from the US Patent Office on 7th March 1876 for ‘a method of and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds, telegraphically’.

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First steam assisted crossing of the Atlantic 1819

The ship ‘Savannah’ left Georgia in America bound for Liverpool in the UK, on Monday, 24th May 1819. As well as sails, she was fitted with steam driven paddles and would be the first ship to attempt crossing the Atlantic under steam power. She was successful, even though steam power played only a small part…

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The first railway terminus at Euston 1837

Euston station was the first mainline station to be built in London. In July 1837, the London and Birmingham Railway opened it’s first terminus. It was to have been built at Camden at Chalk Farm but it was proposed that that it should be brought closer to the metropolis and an Act of parliament in…

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Charles Dickens born 1812

Novelist and philanthropist? Follow the Charles Dickens Trails via Charles Dickens and our Intrguing Snippets for a fast easy to use overview to the wider picture..

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Oliver Twist published 1837

Charles Dickens was born on the 7th February 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. He endured a grim childhood after the imprisonment of his father and the rest of his family in Marshalsea for bad debt. Charles was sent to work in Warren’s boot blacking factory,just off the Strand in London. Here he endured terrible conditions.…

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The new London Bridge opened 1831

The old London bridge was a bridge like no other bridge in the world. It was a thoroughfare, jammed full of houses and shops and passable only with caution and if you had time to spare. The old bridge was not able to cope with growing demands of an expanding city  A new bridge was…

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Defining the English Yard 1824

The unit of measurement ‘the yard’ has been in English usage for hundreds of years. Quite how it’s length came to be a unit of measurement is lost but various theories abound, it roughly equates to a man’s stride or it has been suggested that it is the girth of a man. The need to…

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The Athenaeum Pall Mall

The Athenaeum is a club in London’s Pall Mall. It was founded in 1824 by a chap called John Crocker. He encouraged scientists, writers and artists to join the club and amongst it’s notable members are Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, T.S Eliot, J.M.W Turner and Keats to name but a few. The importance of ‘the…

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