First Lyons tea shop opens 1894

Lyons Tea Shops

Marks and Spencers opens 1894

Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer open the first of their ‘Penny Bazaars’, at Cheetham Hill, Manchester. Marks arrived in Britain from Poland, penniless, illiterate and did not speak English. Spencer befriended him and lent him £5, which he used to start selling from market stalls. Their stores sold a range of household goods ‘don’t ask…

Diamonds discovered South Africa 1869

Discovery South African diamonds 1869

First and Second Opium Wars 1856-1860

First Opium War Britain defeats China (1839-1842 and Second Opium War 1856-1860 British and French occupy the forbidden city Beijing.

What is the point of history?

materials to work with: Churchill quotation cited in (David Cannadine’s inaugural lecture as Director of the Institute of Historical Research, 1999) ” ‘History’, Churchill observed, ‘with its flickering lamp, stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passions of former days.’…

Macau reverts to Chinese rule from the Portuguese 1999

Macau reverts to Chinese rule in 1999

Russian occupation of Manchuria 1900

Russians occupy Southern Manchuria China

Queen Victoria Dies 22nd January 1901

Queen Victoria died in 1901 and is succeeded be her son Edward VII

Khaki uniforms for British troops 1848

British colonial troops in India in 1848, were issued with khaki uniforms to give them camouflage in the arid dusty conditions they found themselves in. Khaki is the Hindi word meaning ‘dust covered’. Take a look at old military photos, the type of uniform could give you a hint if your ancestor served overseas and…

Gold is discovered in california 1848

On 24th January 1848, a man called James Marshall from New Jersey, was helping to build a sawmill on the America River for a man called Johann Sutter. He went to free the wheel in the millrace and saw, in the shallow pool that formed, a nuggett of gold, just over the size of a…

Intriguing History