I often wonder what significant anniversaries are due at some point in the future as some of them might be of interest as triggers for blog posts or visits somewhere. However, it is often difficult to find out quickly what events have significant anniversaries - hence this section on the website.
By "significant anniversaries", I mean dates that are not, for example, the 73rd anniversary of something, but the 50th, 100th, 200th etc.
It should help to flag up interesting events.
Anniversaries during January 2017
Note: This page lists ALL anniversaries, not just the key dates.
For that more useful list, click here.
| Anniversary | Details |
| 417th | Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25. (1st Jan 1600) |
| 366th | Charles II is crowned King of Scotland. (1st Jan 1651) |
| 245th | The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London. (1st Jan 1772) |
| 229th | First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published. (1st Jan 1788) |
| 216th | The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. (1st Jan 1801) |
| 184th | The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. (1st Jan 1833) |
| 140th | Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India. (1st Jan 1877) |
| 123rd | The Manchester Ship Canal, England, is officially opened to traffic. (1st Jan 1894) |
| 116th | Nigeria becomes a British protectorate. (1st Jan 1901) |
| 107th | Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear Admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson. (1st Jan 1910) |
| 94th | Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS. (1st Jan 1923) |
| 80th | Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain. (1st Jan 1937) |
| 69th | The British railway network is nationalised to form British Railways. (1st Jan 1948) |
| 60th | An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest. (1st Jan 1957) |
| 44th | The UK is admitted into the European Community. (1st Jan 1973) |
| 75th | An underground explosion at Sneyd Colliery in the North Staffordshire Coalfield kills 55. (1st Jan 1942) |
| 255th | At some point in January, the "Cock Lane ghost" appeared in London. (1st Jan 1762) |
| 74th | Post-war austerity "Utility furniture" goes on sale for the first time. (1st Jan 1943) |
| 84th | The London Underground map designed by Harry Beck is introduced to the public for the first time. (occurred at an unknown date in January) (1st Jan 1933) |
| 104th | The British Board of Film Censors receives the authority to classify and censor films. (1st Jan 1913) |
| 43rd | New Year's Day was celebrated as a public holiday for the first time. (1st Jan 1974) |
| 93rd | The Met Office issues its first broadcast Shipping Forecast, at this time called Weather Shipping. (1st Jan 1924) |
| 702nd | The Great Famine of 1315 - 1317 (1st Jan 1315) |
| 52nd | Introduction of new "Worboys Committee" road signs. (1st Jan 1965) |
| 62nd | The U.K's first atomic bomber unit, No. 138 Squadron RAF, is formed, flying Vickers Valiants from RAF Gaydon in Warwickshire. (1st Jan 1955) |
| 102nd | World War I: Sinking of the battleship HMS Formidable, off Lyme Regis, Dorset, by an Imperial German Navy U-boat. 35 officers and 512 men are killed. (1st Jan 1915) |
| 40th | The United Kingdom holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time. (1st Jan 1977) |
| 50th | The London-set film Blowup is released in the UK. (1st Jan 1967) |
| 70th | The government nationalises the coal industry in the UK and Cable & Wireless. (1st Jan 1947) |
| 90th | The British Broadcasting Company becomes the British Broadcasting Corporation, when it is granted a Royal Charter. Sir John Reith becomes the first Director-General. (1st Jan 1927) |
| 300th | Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador, is arrested in London over a plot to assist the Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart. (1st Jan 1717) |
| 400th | Pocahontas received at court; she dies two months later at Gravesend. (1st Jan 1617) |
| 89th | abolition of domestic slavery in the British Protectorate of Sierra Leone comes into effect. (1st Jan 1928) |
| 39th | the otter becomes a protected species, ending hunting of it. (1st Jan 1978) |
| -2nd | Regulator Ofgem introduces a new energy price cap for households in England, Scotland and Wales. (1st Jan 2019) |
| -5th | The warmest New Year's Day on record is reported, with temperatures of 16.2C (61.2F) in St James's Park, Central London. (1st Jan 2022) |
| 12th | New Chip and PIN legislation comes into effect today. It makes retailers liable for fraudulent transactions if they have failed to sign up to the scheme. (1st Jan 2005) |
| 10th | Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures airs starring Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. (1st Jan 2007) |
| 174th | Daniel M'Naghten shoots and kills the Prime Minister's private secretary, Edward Drummond, in Whitehall. (2nd Jan 1843) |
| 199th | The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded (2nd Jan 1818) |
| 106th | A gun battle in the East End of London left two dead and sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill (2nd Jan 1911) |
| 76th | World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales (2nd Jan 1941) |
| 55th | The BBC broadcasts the first episode of Z-Cars. (2nd Jan 1962) |
| 0th | The government announces proposals to build seventeen new towns and villages across the English countryside. (2nd Jan 2017) |
| 50th | Actor Charlie Chaplin opened his last film, A Countess From Hong Kong, in England. (2nd Jan 1967) |
| 70th | British coins cease to include any silver content. (2nd Jan 1947) |
| 450th | Parliament dissolved as Queen Elizabeth refuses to name a successor. (2nd Jan 1567) |
| 12th | Operation Garron, the U.K. military aid effort for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami is launched. (2nd Jan 2005) |
| -4th | In a televised address, Boris Johnson announces a new, third COVID-19 lockdown for England, with people ordered to stay at home, and all schools and colleges to switch to remote learning from 5 January. This is expected to last until at least mid-February. (2nd Jan 2021) |
| -4th | The UK's second vaccine against COVID-19, developed by Oxford (2nd Jan 2021) |
| -4th | Most of England's primary schools reopen after the Christmas break, amid concerns over whether pupils should be returning during the current level of COVID infections. Most schools close again the following day. (2nd Jan 2021) |
| -4th | Nicola Sturgeon announces tougher restrictions for mainland Scotland to contain the new strain of the virus, implementing a stay-at-home order from midnight and delaying the return to school for pupils until February. (2nd Jan 2021) |
| -4th | The extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the UK to the US is blocked by a court in London, due to concerns over his mental health. (2nd Jan 2021) |
| 202nd | Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia. (3rd Jan 1815) |
| 5th | After a trial based on new forensic evidence, Gary Dobson and David Norris are convicted of the racist murder of black London teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in April 1993. On 4 January they are sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, with minimum term of just over 15 and 14 years respectively. (3rd Jan 2012) |
| 7th | The Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that full body scanners would be introduced at UK airports following the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on 25 December 2009. (3rd Jan 2010) |
| -2nd | The bakery chain Greggs launches a meat free version of its sausage rolls. (3rd Jan 2019) |
| 1146th | Battle of Reading: Ethelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army. (4th Jan 0871) |
| 375th | King Charles I of England sends soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war. (4th Jan 1642) |
| 368th | English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial. (4th Jan 1649) |
| 300th | The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance. (4th Jan 1717) |
| 255th | Great Britain declares war on Spain and Naples. (4th Jan 1762) |
| 133rd | The Fabian Society is founded in London. (4th Jan 1884) |
| 105th | The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter. (4th Jan 1912) |
| 45th | Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London. (4th Jan 1972) |
| 4th | Mark Cahill, a 51-year-old former pub landlord from West Yorkshire becomes the first person in the UK to receive a hand transplant. (4th Jan 2013) |
| 6th | Value added tax increased to 20% from 17.5%. (4th Jan 2011) |
| 69th | Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom. (4th Jan 1948) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: The daily infection number exceeds 200,000 for the first time, with a total of 218,724 cases, partly caused by a backlog in reporting over the New Year. (4th Jan 2022) |
| 951st | Edward the Confessor dies childless, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman Conquest of England. (5th Jan 1066) |
| 73rd | The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper. (5th Jan 1944) |
| 48th | Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary damage property and assault occupants in the Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland. In response, residents erect barricades and establish Free Derry. (5th Jan 1969) |
| 46th | The first One Day International cricket match is held between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. (5th Jan 1971) |
| 6th | Music retailer HMV announced the closure of sixty stores following disappointing Christmas sales - a move which would see the firm lose 10% of its stores and could cost up to 900 people their jobs. (5th Jan 2011) |
| 7th | The country was once again deluged by heavy snowfall as it endured its worst cold spell since the winter of 1981-82. (5th Jan 2010) |
| 49th | Gardeners' World debuts on BBC1 television, featuring Percy Thrower. (5th Jan 1968) |
| 69th | the first episode of the radio serial drama Mrs Dale's Diary is broadcast on the BBC Light Programme. (5th Jan 1948) |
| -5th | Four defendants (known as 'the Colston 4') accused of pulling down the Statue of Edward Colston in Bristol in June 2020 as part of the Black Lives Matter protests are found not guilty of criminal damage in a jury trial. (5th Jan 2022) |
| 16th | A report by the Department of Health suggests that Dr Harold Shipman, convicted of 15 murders a year ago, may have killed more than 300 patients since the 1970s. (5th Jan 2001) |
| 8th | Waterford Wedgwood, makers of the famous Wedgwood pottery, enter administration. (5th Jan 2009) |
| 951st | Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. (6th Jan 1066) |
| 477th | King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves. (6th Jan 1540) |
| 356th | The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. (6th Jan 1661) |
| 236th | In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey. (6th Jan 1781) |
| 2nd | Comedian and actor Stephen Fry confirms he is to marry his partner, Elliott Spencer. The couple are married two weeks later at a registry office in Norfolk. (6th Jan 2015) |
| 40th | Record company EMI sacks the British punk rock group the Sex Pistols for their behaviour on ITV's Today Show, whose presenter Bill Grundy was also dismissed by his employers for inciting them. (6th Jan 1977) |
| 79th | psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud arrives in London having fled from Vienna in Austria. (6th Jan 1938) |
| 89th | River Thames floods in London; 14 drown. On 7 January the moat at the Tower of London (drained in 1843 and planted with grass) is completely refilled by the river. (6th Jan 1928) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: A survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that 1.3 million people in the UK are living with long COVID, about 506,000 (40%) of whom caught the virus over a year ago, and still have symptoms such as fatigue, loss of smell, shortness of breath, and difficulty concentrating. (6th Jan 2022) |
| 13th | The Daily Mirror publishes the blacked out portion of a letter wherein Diana, Princess of Wales alleged that someone was trying to kill her. (6th Jan 2004) |
| 8th | The closure of Woolworths is completed across the UK, having started at the end of December, spelling an end to 100 years of the retail chain. The company was placed into administration in November 2008, with its 813 stores gradually being phased out. More than 27,000 jobs have been lost as a result of the company's collapse. (6th Jan 2009) |
| -4th | Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announces that GCSE and A-Level exams in England this summer will be replaced by teacher assessments, telling MPs he would "trust in teachers rather than algorithms". (6th Jan 2021) |
| -4th | Another record daily case figure for COVID infections is reported, with 62,322 new infections. The daily number of deaths from the virus exceeds 1,000 for the first time since April 2020. (6th Jan 2021) |
| 459th | France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England. (7th Jan 1558) |
| 232nd | Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon. (7th Jan 1785) |
| 90th | The first transatlantic telephone service is established - from New York City to London. (7th Jan 1927) |
| 52nd | Twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray are arrested on suspicion of running a protection racket in London. (7th Jan 1965) |
| 50th | The television series The Forsyte Saga was first shown, on BBC Two. (7th Jan 1967) |
| 11th | Charles Kennedy, resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats, admitting that he has a drinking problem. (7th Jan 2006) |
| 10th | Laura Pearce became the first contestant on Channel 4 television show Deal or No Deal to win the top prize of £250,000 since the start of the show on 31 October 2005. It took until the 351st attempt for the top prize to be won. (7th Jan 2007) |
| 1146th | Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings. (8th Jan 0871) |
| 283rd | Premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. (8th Jan 1734) |
| 271st | Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling. (8th Jan 1746) |
| 77th | World War II: Britain introduces food rationing. (8th Jan 1940) |
| 3rd | An inquest jury decides that Mark Duggan, whose death sparked the 2011 England riots was lawfully killed by police. (8th Jan 2014) |
| 49th | the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, endorses the 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign, encouraging workers to work extra time without pay or take other actions to help competitiveness, which is spreading across Britain. (8th Jan 1968) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: The number of deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test exceeds 150,000. (8th Jan 2022) |
| 16th | Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 comes into effect, reducing the age of consent for male homosexual sexual acts to that for heterosexual and lesbian acts, sixteen (seventeen in Northern Ireland). (8th Jan 2001) |
| 13th | The Queen Mary 2 is christened by Elizabeth II. (8th Jan 2004) |
| -4th | A third COVID vaccine is approved for public use, made by US company Moderna and offering 94% protection from the virus. (8th Jan 2021) |
| -4th | A major incident is declared in London by mayor Sadiq Khan, stating that the spread of the virus is "out of control" in the capital. (8th Jan 2021) |
| 586th | Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government. (9th Jan 1431) |
| 249th | In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus. (9th Jan 1768) |
| 211th | Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral. (9th Jan 1806) |
| 201st | Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery. (9th Jan 1816) |
| 108th | Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the furthest anyone had ever reached at that time. (9th Jan 1909) |
| 76th | World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster. (9th Jan 1941) |
| 45th | Coal miners begin a strike which lasts for seven weeks. (9th Jan 1972) |
| -1st | Virgin Trains announces it has stopped selling copies of the Daily Mail on its West Coast trains following "considerable concern [about] the Mail's editorial position on issues such as immigration, LGBT rights and unemployment". (9th Jan 2018) |
| 2nd | Abu Hamza, the former head of London's Finsbury Park mosque who preached Islamic terrorism, is sentenced to life in prison by a US court. (9th Jan 2015) |
| 6th | An investigation by The Guardian newspaper revealed details of how Metropolitan police officer Mark Kennedy infiltrated dozens of protest groups in 22 countries using the pseudonym Mark Stone. (9th Jan 2011) |
| 149th | penal transportation from Britain to Australia ends with arrival of the convict ship Hougoumont in Western Australia after an 89-day voyage from England. (9th Jan 1868) |
| 10th | New rules outlawing businesses from discriminating against homosexuals were upheld in the House of Lords, after a challenge by Lord Morrow of the Democratic Unionist Party. (9th Jan 2007) |
| -4th | COVID-19 in the UK: Buckingham Palace say that the Queen and Prince Philip have both received the first doses of their COVID-19 vaccinations at Windsor Castle. (9th Jan 2021) |
| 372nd | Archbishop William Laud is beheaded at the Tower of London. (10th Jan 1645) |
| 154th | The London Underground, the world's oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station. (10th Jan 1863) |
| 179th | A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London. (10th Jan 1838) |
| 63rd | A de Havilland Comet jet airliner on BOAC Flight 781 from Singapore to London crashes in the Mediterranean Sea following fatigue failure, killing all 35 on board. (10th Jan 1954) |
| 3rd | At the Old Bailey, police officer Keith Wallis pleads guilty to misconduct in a public office over an email he sent to his local MP concerning the Plebgate affair. (10th Jan 2014) |
| 4th | April Casburn, a senior detective with the Metropolitan Police is found guilty of trying to sell information on the investigation into phone hacking to the News of the World, the newspaper at the centre of the scandal. (10th Jan 2013) |
| 5th | Five Muslim men go on trial at Derby Crown Court for calling for gay men to be killed, the first such prosecution under hate crime legislation. (10th Jan 2012) |
| 40th | Clive Sinclair introduces his new two-inch screen television set, which retails at £175. (10th Jan 1977) |
| 60th | Harold Macmillan succeeds Eden as Prime Minister. (10th Jan 1957) |
| -5th | The Met Police contacts the government over "widespread reporting relating to alleged breaches" of Covid rules, following an email obtained by ITV News dated 20 May 2020, in which 100 people were invited to a "bring-your-own-booze" event in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown. Boris Johnson declines to say whether he was among those there. (10th Jan 2022) |
| 14th | Ian Carr, a 27-year-old banned from driving with a total of 89 previous convictions (including causing death by dangerous driving), admits causing the death by dangerous driving of a six-year-old girl in Ashington, Northumberland - a crime which sparks widespread public and media outrage across Britain. (10th Jan 2003) |
| 448th | First recorded lottery in England. (11th Jan 1569) |
| -1st | Theresa May pledges to eradicate all "avoidable" plastic waste throughout the UK by 2042. (11th Jan 2018) |
| 44th | The Open University awarded its first degrees. (11th Jan 1973) |
| 1st | Arlene Foster becomes the first women to lead the Democratic Unionist Party and becomes Northern Ireland First Women First Minister. (11th Jan 2016) |
| 53rd | Teen girls' magazine Jackie first published. (11th Jan 1964) |
| 153rd | Charing Cross railway station in London opens. (11th Jan 1864) |
| 4th | Publication of the Giving Victims a Voice report, initiated as a result of publicity surrounding the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal (11th Jan 2013) |
| 39th | a North Sea storm surge ruins four piers in the UK: Herne Bay, Margate, Hunstanton and Skegness. (11th Jan 1978) |
| -4th | Khairi Saadallah is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of three men and the attempted murder of three others during a stabbing in Forbury Gardens in Reading in June 2020. (11th Jan 2021) |
| 209th | The organizational meeting that led to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh. (12th Jan 1808) |
| 151st | The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London. (12th Jan 1866) |
| 122nd | The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom. (12th Jan 1895) |
| 118th | 13 crew members and 5 apprentices are rescued from the stricken schooner Forest Hall by the Lynmouth Lifeboat when it floundered off the coast of Devon, England. (12th Jan 1899) |
| 111th | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included amongst its members H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election. (12th Jan 1906) |
| 95th | British government releases remaining Irish prisoners captured in the War of Independence. (12th Jan 1922) |
| 95th | HMS Victory permanently dry docked at Portsmouth. (12th Jan 1922) |
| -1st | US President Donald Trump scraps a planned visit to the UK, blaming his predecessor, Barack Obama, for a "bad deal" on the new embassy due to be opened in London, despite the fact it was agreed under the administration of George W. Bush. (12th Jan 2018) |
| 0th | A government-commissioned review gives backing to a tidal lagoon planned for Swansea Bay in Wales. The £1,300,000,000 project could have a lifetime of 120 years and supply 8% of UK energy. (12th Jan 2017) |
| 69th | the London Co-operative Society opens Britain's first supermarket, in Manor Park, London. (12th Jan 1948) |
| 99th | Minnie Pit disaster, a mining accident at Halmer End in the North Staffordshire Coalfield, kills 155 as the result of an explosion caused by firedamp. (12th Jan 1918) |
| 99th | Admiralty M-class destroyers HMS Narborough (1916) and HMS Opal (1915) run aground and are wrecked off Orkney in a severe storm with only one survivor. (12th Jan 1918) |
| -5th | At Prime Minister's Questions, Johnson confirms he did attend a party in the No 10 garden during the first lockdown in May 2020 and offers his "heartfelt apology". Opposition MPs and the leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross call for his resignation. (12th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | The High Court rules that the government's use of a "VIP lane" to award contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) to two companies was unlawful. (12th Jan 2022) |
| 12th | Britain's tallest self-supporting sculpture, the "B of the Bang", is unveiled in Manchester by Linford Christie. (12th Jan 2005) |
| 689th | Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault. (13th Jan 1328) |
| 470th | Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death. (13th Jan 1547) |
| 232nd | John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times). (13th Jan 1785) |
| 124th | The Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom holds its first meeting. (13th Jan 1893) |
| -5th | Prince Andrew's military affiliations and royal patronages, which includes the use of "His Royal Highness", are returned to the Queen. It is announced that he will defend the Giuffre lawsuit as a "private citizen". (13th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | MI5 warns that a Chinese spy, who they identify as Christine Ching Kui Lee, has been active in the British Parliament. (13th Jan 2022) |
| 13th | The Bichard Inquiry into events preceding the Soham murders formally opens. (13th Jan 2004) |
| 74th | World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war. (14th Jan 1943) |
| 39th | The English punk rock band Sex Pistols broke up amidst their US tour. (14th Jan 1978) |
| 59th | TWW, the ITV franchise for South Wales and the West Of England goes on the air. (14th Jan 1958) |
| 203rd | Treaty of Kiel cedes Danish Heligoland to Britain. (14th Jan 1814) |
| 203rd | Last River Thames frost fair in London. (14th Jan 1814) |
| 278th | Britain and Spain sign the Convention of Pardo. (14th Jan 1739) |
| -5th | The Daily Telegraph reports that two parties were held at Downing Street the night before Prince Philip's funeral, at a time when Covid restrictions banned indoor mixing. Downing Street issues an apology to the Queen. (14th Jan 2022) |
| 458th | Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London. (15th Jan 1559) |
| 258th | The British Museum opens. (15th Jan 1759) |
| -1st | Carillion, the UK's second-largest construction company, goes into liquidation with debts of £1,500,000,000. (15th Jan 2018) |
| 1st | Tim Peake conducts the first spacewalk by an "official" British astronaut, stepping outside an ISS airlock. (15th Jan 2016) |
| 50th | The United Kingdom entered the first round of negotiations for EEC membership in Rome. (15th Jan 1967) |
| 6th | Three former Church of England bishops were ordained as priests in the new Roman Catholic Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham at Westminster Cathedral. (15th Jan 2011) |
| 99th | the keel of HMS Hermes (95) is laid on Tyneside, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be laid down. (15th Jan 1918) |
| -2nd | The House of Commons rejects Theresa May's deal on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union by 432 votes to 202. The 230 vote margin is the largest defeat for a government motion in 100 years. (15th Jan 2019) |
| 8th | John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, the constituency which includes Heathrow Airport, is suspended from Parliament after picking up the ceremonial House of Commons mace in protest at the government's approval of a third runway. (15th Jan 2009) |
| -4th | COVID-19 in the UK: Boris Johnson announces that the UK is to close all travel corridors from 18 January to "protect against the risk of as yet unidentified new strains" of COVID-19, forcing all passengers travelling to the UK to produce a negative test result. (15th Jan 2021) |
| 445th | Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. (16th Jan 1572) |
| 436th | The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism. (16th Jan 1581) |
| 310th | The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. (16th Jan 1707) |
| 78th | The Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a bombing and sabotage campaign in England. (16th Jan 1939) |
| -1st | Supermarket chain Iceland announces that it will end the use of plastic for its own-brand products by the end of 2023. (16th Jan 2018) |
| 0th | The power-sharing government of Northern Ireland collapses following the resignation of Martin McGuinness. (16th Jan 2017) |
| 4th | A helicopter crash in central London kills two people and injures 13 others. (16th Jan 2013) |
| 60th | Royal Ballet granted a Royal Charter. (16th Jan 1957) |
| 60th | The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool as a jazz club. (16th Jan 1957) |
| 49th | the Prime Minister announces that the Civil Defence Corps is being stood down. (16th Jan 1968) |
| -2nd | Theresa May's government survives a no confidence vote by 325 to 306. (16th Jan 2019) |
| 369th | England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. (17th Jan 1648) |
| 244th | Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle. (17th Jan 1773) |
| 165th | The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal. (17th Jan 1852) |
| 105th | British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four reach the South Pole, only to find that Amundsen has beaten them to it. (17th Jan 1912) |
| 305th | Robert Walpole imprisoned in the Tower of London following charges of corruption (17th Jan 1712) |
| 74th | anti-aircraft shrapnel shells kill 23 people and injure 60 during a raid on London by 118 planes; six are reported losses. (17th Jan 1943) |
| -2nd | Japan's Hitachi announces the suspension of work on the £20bn Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant in Wales amid concerns over rising costs, putting thousands of jobs at risk. (17th Jan 2019) |
| -5th | A 50-year-old woman from Brighton is reported among the fatalities in the Hunga Tonga eruption and tsunami. (17th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | GB News announces it will play God Save the Queen at the start of live programming every day. (17th Jan 2022) |
| 531st | King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV. (18th Jan 1486) |
| 133rd | Dr. William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the United Kingdom (18th Jan 1884) |
| 131st | Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. (18th Jan 1886) |
| 114th | President Theodore Roosevelt sends a radio message to King Edward VII: the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States. (18th Jan 1903) |
| 39th | The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. (18th Jan 1978) |
| 3rd | 16-year-old Lewis Clarke of Bristol sets a new world record after becoming the youngest person to trek to the South Pole. (18th Jan 2014) |
| 50th | Jeremy Thorpe became leader of the Liberal Party. (18th Jan 1967) |
| 6th | A gay couple won a discrimination case against Christian hoteliers who refused to let them stay in a double room. (18th Jan 2011) |
| 9th | Last working of Tower Colliery, the last deep mine in the South Wales Valleys (official closure: 25 January). (18th Jan 2008) |
| 598th | Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. (19th Jan 1419) |
| 253rd | John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel. (19th Jan 1764) |
| 102nd | World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing more than 20, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target. (19th Jan 1915) |
| 100th | Silvertown explosion: 73 are killed and 400 injured in an explosion in a munitions plant in London. (19th Jan 1917) |
| 102nd | World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn for the first time, killing more than twenty. (19th Jan 1915) |
| -5th | Conservative MP Christian Wakeford defects to Labour, after submitting a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson in light of the "partygate" scandal. (19th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | Inflation reaches 5.4%, the highest level since March 1992. (19th Jan 2022) |
| 8th | The Royal Bank of Scotland announces it expects to have to write down assets totalling around £20 billion, believed to be the biggest lose in British corporate history. The announcement sees RBS' share price plunge 67% on the day. (19th Jan 2009) |
| 752nd | In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting held by Simon de Montfort in the Palace of Westminster, now also known colloquially as the "Houses of Parliament". (20th Jan 1265) |
| 661st | Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scotland. (20th Jan 1356) |
| 368th | Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes". (20th Jan 1649) |
| 234th | The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (20th Jan 1783) |
| 81st | Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom. (20th Jan 1936) |
| 74th | Sandhurst Road School Disaster: a bomb kills 38 children and 6 teachers at a school in Catford, south-east London. (20th Jan 1943) |
| 45th | Unemployment exceeds million for the first time since the 1930s. (20th Jan 1972) |
| 53rd | Eleven men go on trial at Buckinghamshire Assizes in Aylesbury charged in connection with the Great Train Robbery five months ago. (20th Jan 1964) |
| 5th | Press TV, an English language news channel owned by the Iranian Government, is forced off air in the United Kingdom after Ofcom revokes its broadcasting licence for breaching the terms of the Communications Act. (20th Jan 2012) |
| -5th | 30 elite British troops are sent to Ukraine amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion. The troops deliver 2,000 NLAW anti-tank missile launchers to Ukrainian forces to bolster their defences. (20th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | Conservative MP William Wragg accuses whips of blackmail against Conservative MPs who are believed to support the ousting of Johnson. The Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, tells the Commons that potentially criminal offences would be a matter for the police. A Downing Street spokesperson says: "We are not aware of any evidence to support what are clearly serious allegations." (20th Jan 2022) |
| 11th | River Thames whale: a whale is discovered swimming in the River Thames in London. (20th Jan 2006) |
| 46th | The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts. (21st Jan 1971) |
| 41st | Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes. (21st Jan 1976) |
| 0th | 2017 Women's March: thousands of people march in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Shipley, Edinburgh and Bristol - as well as millions more in countries around the world - in protest at Donald Trump's inauguration as 45th President of the United States. (21st Jan 2017) |
| 73rd | Start of Operation Steinbock (the "Baby Blitz"), a nocturnal Luftwaffe bombing offensive chiefly targeted at the Greater London area. (continues until May) (21st Jan 1944) |
| 83rd | Ten thousand people attend a British Union of Fascists rally in Birmingham, organised by Oswald Mosley. (21st Jan 1934) |
| 5th | Under new guidelines to come into force from 30 April, clinics which charge for pregnancy services including abortions will be able to advertise their services on radio and television after the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice rules there is no justification for barring such advertising. (21st Jan 2012) |
| -2nd | 2019 Piper PA-46 Malibu crash: An aircraft carrying new Cardiff City F.C. footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson en route from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, Wales, goes missing over the English Channel. Sala's body is recovered on February 7. (21st Jan 2019) |
| 8th | Statistics released by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of unemployed people in the UK has risen to more than 1,900,000, the highest level since late 1996. (21st Jan 2009) |
| -4th | Glastonbury Festival is cancelled for the second year running as a result of the pandemic. (21st Jan 2021) |
| -4th | Storm Christoph: Five "danger to life" flood warnings are put in place across North West England and Wales after hundreds of homes are evacuated overnight due to widespread flooding caused by heavy rain and snow. (21st Jan 2021) |
| 328th | The Convention Parliament convenes to determine if James II, the last Roman Catholic king of England, had vacated the throne when he fled to France in 1688. (22nd Jan 1689) |
| 246th | Spain cedes Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands to the United Kingdom. (22nd Jan 1771) |
| 116th | Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. (22nd Jan 1901) |
| 93rd | Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (22nd Jan 1924) |
| 90th | First live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury. (22nd Jan 1927) |
| 45th | Britain officially joins the European Economic Community. (22nd Jan 1972) |
| 53rd | The Film "Zulu" is released. (22nd Jan 1964) |
| 8th | The Disasters Emergency Committee of UK charities launched its Gaza Crisis Appeal following the recent conflict in the region. The BBC causes controversy by saying it will not be broadcasting the appeal as it would compromise its impartiality. (22nd Jan 2009) |
| -4th | Four men are jailed for the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants after they were found dead in a lorry container in Essex in October 2019. (22nd Jan 2021) |
| 507th | Henry VIII of England, then 18 years old, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals his identity. (23rd Jan 1510) |
| 484th | Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England, discovers herself pregnant. (23rd Jan 1533) |
| 447th | James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such. (23rd Jan 1570) |
| 446th | The Royal Exchange opens in London. (23rd Jan 1571) |
| -1st | Rupert Murdoch's £11.7 billion bid to take full control of Sky is provisionally blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). (23rd Jan 2018) |
| 54th | Double Agent Kim Philby disappears having defected to the Soviet Union. (23rd Jan 1963) |
| 74th | World War II: British forces capture Tripoli from the Nazis. (23rd Jan 1943) |
| 93rd | Margaret Bondfield becomes the first woman to be appointed a government minister. (23rd Jan 1924) |
| 62nd | Sutton Coldfield rail crash: an express train takes a sharp curve too fast and derails at Sutton Coldfield railway station: 17 killed, 43 injured. (23rd Jan 1955) |
| 50th | Milton Keynes, a village in north Buckinghamshire, was formally designated as a new town by the government. (23rd Jan 1967) |
| 79th | York Castle Museum opened. (23rd Jan 1938) |
| 8th | Karen Matthews and Michael Donavon are sentenced to eight years in prison for the kidnap of Shannon Matthews, the former's daughter, having held her captive in Donvon's flat in Dewsbury last year as part of a bid to claim £50,000 for her "safe return" after reporting her missing to the police. (23rd Jan 2009) |
| 338th | King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament. (24th Jan 1679) |
| 484th | Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn. (24th Jan 1533) |
| 0th | The UK Supreme Court rules against the Government's Brexit appeal case by an 8 to 3 decision, stating that Parliament must vote to trigger Article 50. (24th Jan 2017) |
| 52nd | Sir Winston Churchill dies aged 90 at Chartwell, his Kent home of more than 40 years. (24th Jan 1965) |
| -5th | Yasmin Chkaifi, 43, is stabbed to death in Maida Vale, West London. (24th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | ITV News reports that Johnson attended a party to celebrate his 56th birthday on 20 June 2020, despite Covid rules forbidding social gatherings indoors at the time. (24th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | Conservative peer Lord Agnew publicly resigns in the House of Lords after criticising the government's handling of fraudulent Covid business loans. (24th Jan 2022) |
| -5th | Johnson orders an inquiry into allegations by Conservative MP Nus Ghani that she was dismissed as a minister after being told her "Muslim-ness was "making colleagues uncomfortable". (24th Jan 2022) |
| -2nd | Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is arrested by police and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and two of attempted rape. (24th Jan 2019) |
| 226th | The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. (25th Jan 1791) |
| 225th | The London Corresponding Society is founded. (25th Jan 1792) |
| 159th | The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia. (25th Jan 1858) |
| 100th | Armed merchantman SS Laurentic is sunk by mines off Lough Swilly with the loss of 354 of the 475 aboard. (25th Jan 1917) |
| 200th | The Scotsman is first published in Edinburgh as a liberal weekly newspaper by lawyer William Ritchie and customs official Charles Maclaren. (25th Jan 1817) |
| -5th | At a London Assembly committee meeting, Cressida Dick confirms that the Metropolitan Police are now investigating "potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations" in Downing Street and Whitehall since 2020, as a "result of the information provided by the Cabinet Office inquiry team", led by Sue Gray. (25th Jan 2022) |
| -2nd | The European Medicines Agency (EMA) closes its office at Canary Wharf, London, in preparation for its move to Amsterdam. (25th Jan 2019) |
| 14th | Central line underground train crashes into the tunnel wall at Chancery Lane tube station in London, injuring 34 people. (25th Jan 2003) |
| 8th | The Sunday Times publishes allegations that four Labour members of the House of Lords are willing to accept money to table amendments to legislation. (25th Jan 2009) |
| -4th | Online retailer Boohoo acquires the Debenhams brand and website for £55m after the department store went into administration in April 2020, but it does not retain any of its stores, putting up to 12,000 jobs at risk. (25th Jan 2021) |
| 176th | The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China later formally cedes. (26th Jan 1841) |
| 75th | World War II: First US troops for the European Theatre arrive in the UK, at Belfast. (26th Jan 1942) |
| 85th | British submarine HMS M2 sinks with all 50 hands. (26th Jan 1932) |
| 129th | The Lawn Tennis Association is founded. (26th Jan 1888) |
| 2nd | Libby Lane becomes the first woman ordained as a bishop in the Church of England, at York Minster. (26th Jan 2015) |
| 100th | The sea defences at the village of Hallsands, Devon are breached, leading to all but one of the houses becoming uninhabitable. (26th Jan 1917) |
| 10th | News International phone hacking scandal: The News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed for four months having pleaded guilty to phone message interception charges. (26th Jan 2007) |
| 8th | Possession of 'extreme pornography' becomes illegal under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. (26th Jan 2009) |
| -4th | COVID-19 in the UK: Boris Johnson says he is "deeply sorry for every life that has been lost" as the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the UK exceeds 100,000. (26th Jan 2021) |
| 411th | Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31. (27th Jan 1606) |
| 50th | The UK, Soviet Union, and USA sign the Outer Space Treaty. (27th Jan 1967) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: The government's "Plan B" restrictions in England come to an end, meaning that face masks and Covid passes are no longer legally required. (27th Jan 2022) |
| 10th | The final edition of Grandstand, the flagship BBC sports programme, was aired after nearly 50 years on television screens. (27th Jan 2007) |
| -4th | Home Secretary Priti Patel announces that people travelling from "red list" countries considered to be COVID-19 hotspots will be required to quarantine in government hotels, while anyone wishing to travel abroad will need to prove that they are making an essential trip. (27th Jan 2021) |
| 470th | Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England. (28th Jan 1547) |
| 263rd | Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to Horace Mann. (28th Jan 1754) |
| 204th | Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom. (28th Jan 1813) |
| 59th | The last episode of the British radio comedy programme Goon Show was broadcast. (28th Jan 1958) |
| 2nd | An earthquake of magnitude 3.8 is felt across the East Midlands. (28th Jan 2015) |
| 99th | night of unusually heavy bombing in London and south-east England. (28th Jan 1918) |
| 13th | The Hutton Inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Dr. David Kelly is published. This is taken by most of the press to strongly condemn the BBC's handling of the David Kelly affair and to exonerate the government; the BBC's Director-General, Greg Dyke, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Gavyn Davies, and the journalist at the centre of the controversy, Andrew Gilligan, resign. The UK media, in general, condemns the report as a whitewash. (28th Jan 2004) |
| -4th | COVID-19 in the UK: A third vaccine, Novavax, which will be manufactured in Stockton-on-Tees, is shown to be 89.3% effective against the virus in a two-dose regimen, following large-scale UK trials. 60 million doses are secured by the government. (28th Jan 2021) |
| 161st | Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross. (29th Jan 1856) |
| 75th | Desert Island Discs first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme, presented by Roy Plomley. Vic Oliver is the first castaway. (29th Jan 1942) |
| 1st | The last Land Rover Defender rolls off the production line at Solihull, ending 68 years of production. (29th Jan 2016) |
| 7th | Former Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared at the Iraq Inquiry and was questioned in public for the first time about his decision to take the United Kingdom to war against Iraq. (29th Jan 2010) |
| -5th | Storm Malik hits the UK, killing a 9-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman and leaving tens of thousands of homes in Scotland and England without power. (29th Jan 2022) |
| 368th | King Charles I of England is beheaded. (30th Jan 1649) |
| 356th | Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed two years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed. (30th Jan 1661) |
| 191st | The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened. (30th Jan 1826) |
| 159th | The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of the Hallé Orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra. (30th Jan 1858) |
| 115th | The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London. (30th Jan 1902) |
| 104th | The United Kingdom's House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill. (30th Jan 1913) |
| 48th | The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police. (30th Jan 1969) |
| 45th | Bloody Sunday: British Paratroopers kill fourteen unarmed civil rights/anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland. (30th Jan 1972) |
| -1st | A leaked government paper shows that Brexit will damage the UK economy no matter what kind of deal is agreed, with up to 8% of GDP growth lost within fifteen years. (30th Jan 2018) |
| 649th | Hundred Years' War: barons in English-controlled territory in France object to new taxes, and appeal to King Charles V of France. (30th Jan 1368) |
| 14th | Richard Colvin Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber", is sentenced to life imprisonment by a United States court. (30th Jan 2003) |
| 411th | Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England. (31st Jan 1606) |
| 270th | The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. (31st Jan 1747) |
| 168th | Corn Laws are abolished in the United Kingdom (following legislation in 1846). (31st Jan 1849) |
| 99th | A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships. (31st Jan 1918) |
| 98th | The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland. (31st Jan 1919) |
| 64th | The North Sea flood of 1953 kills hundreds of people on the east coast of Britain. (31st Jan 1953) |
| 102nd | Warwick Avenue station on the London Underground Bakerloo Line opens. (31st Jan 1915) |
| 102nd | Kilburn Park station on the London Underground Bakerloo Line opens. (31st Jan 1915) |
| -5th | The initial findings of a report by Sue Gray into Downing Street parties are published. She notes that, "At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time," and concludes that "a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did. There is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across Government." (31st Jan 2022) |
| 99th | "Battle of May Island": in a confused series of collisions as a large Royal Navy fleet steams down the Firth of Forth this evening, submarines HMS K4 and HMS K17 are sunk, three other submarines and a light cruiser are damaged and 104 men are killed. (31st Jan 1918) |
| 9th | Four men were jailed for 15 years each for their part in the 2006 Securitas raid, the UK's biggest cash robbery. (31st Jan 2008) |
| -4th | Flu cases are reported to have fallen by more than 95%, reaching the lowest levels seen in 130 years, believed to be due to the COVID-19 lockdown and new health habits. (31st Jan 2021) |
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