1912 in the United Kingdom
| 1912 in the United Kingdom |
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Events from the year 1912 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch - George V
- Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith (Liberal)
Events
- 1 January - Post Office takes over National Telephone Company.[1]
- 17 January - British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four reach the South Pole to find that Amundsen has beaten them to it.[2]
- 31 January - G. K. Sowerby's drama Rutherford and Son premières in London, Court Theatre on 31 January[3][4][5]
- 2 February - With Our King and Queen Through India, a 2½-hour Kinemacolor feature film of the Delhi Durbar of 1911 made by Charles Urban, is first shown at the Scala Theatre, London.[6]
- 26 February - Coal miners' strike begins.[7][8]
- 1 March - Suffragettes smash shop windows in the West End of London, especially around Oxford Street.[9]
- 16 March - Lawrence Oates, ill member of Scott's South Pole expedition leaves the tent saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time." He is not seen again.[2]
- 19 March - Minimum wage introduced for miners after national strike.[9]
- 29 March - The remaining members of Scott's expedition die.[2]
- 11 April - Irish Home Rule Bill introduced in the House of Commons, but fails to receive the support of the House of Lords.[9]
- 13 April - The Royal Flying Corps is established by royal charter.
- 14–15 April - Sinking of the RMS Titanic: The White Star liner RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg and sinks on her maiden voyage from the United Kingdom to the United States.[2][10]
- 15 April - The syndicalist Daily Herald newspaper is first published on a permanent basis.
- 22 April - English aviator Denys Corbett Wilson completes the first aeroplane crossing of the Irish Sea, from Goodwick in Wales to Crane near Enniscorthy in Ireland.
- April/May - Thousands of Jewish workers in London's garment trade in the West End strike, followed by thousands more in the East End inspired by Rudolf Rocker.
- May - Liberal Unionist Party formally merges into the Conservative And Unionist Party.
- 2 May–3 July - Board of Trade inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
- 5 May–22 July - Great Britain and Ireland compete at the Olympics in Stockholm and win 10 gold, 15 silver and 16 bronze medals.
- 13 May - The Air Battalion Royal Engineers becomes the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps.
- 15 July - The National Insurance Act 1911 comes into force introducing National Insurance payments.[2]
- 27 July - Bonar Law, leader of the Conservative Party in opposition, makes a defiant speech at a massive Irish Unionist rally at Blenheim Palace against Irish Home Rule implying support for armed resistance to it in Ulster.
- August
- Cabinet ministers accused of corruption in the Marconi scandal.[9]
- Wettest British August on record.[11]
- 10 August - Frank McClean flies a Short Brothers floatplane up the River Thames between the upper and lower parts of Tower Bridge and underneath London Bridge.[12]
- 25–27 August - The wet summer climaxes in a major rainstorm across England, causing floods particularly in Norfolk and Norwich.[13]
- September - The tradition of the Blackpool Illuminations begins.[14]
- 24 October - Formation of the Edinburgh and Leith Branch of the Workers' Educational Association at a meeting addressed by Albert Mansbridge.
- 31 October - Robert Baden-Powell marries Olave St Clair Soames at Parkstone.[15]
- 5 November - Establishment of the British Board of Film Censors.[2]
- 12 November - The bodies of Captain Scott and his team found in the Antarctic.[2]
- 27 November - Concerted Suffragette attacks on pillar boxes.[16]
- 18 December - Piltdown Man, thought to be the fossilized remains of a hitherto unknown form of early human, presented to the Geological Society of London. It is revealed to be a hoax in 1953.[2]
Undated
- Sir Rufus Isaacs, the Attorney General, becomes the first Jew appointed to the Cabinet.
- Glucozade, the predecessor of Lucozade, is first produced.
Publications
- Walter de la Mare's The Listeners, and Other Poems.
- Ethel M. Dell's novels Greatheart and The Way of an Eagle.[17]
- Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World.
- The first Georgian Poetry anthology Georgian Poetry 1911-12 edited by Edward Marsh.
- Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell's book Principia Mathematica vol. 2, one of the most important and seminal works in mathematical logic and philosophy.
Births
- 1 January - Kim Philby, spy (died 1988)
- 11 February - Roy Fuller, poet and novelist (died 1991)
- 27 February - Lawrence Durrell, writer (died 1990)
- 4 March - Judith Furse, character actress (died 1974)
- 5 March - David Astor, editor of The Observer newspaper (died 2001)
- 23 March - Betty Astell, actress (died 2005)
- 27 March - James Callaghan, Prime Minister (died 2005)
- 5 April - John Le Mesurier, actor (died 1983)
- 22 April - Kathleen Ferrier, contralto (died 1953)
- 22 May - Herbert C. Brown, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)
- 31 May - Alfred Deller, countertenor (died 1979)
- 16 June - Enoch Powell, politician (died 1998)
- 23 June - Alan Turing, mathematician (died 1954)
- 24 June
- Brian Johnston, BBC cricket commentator (died 1994)
- Mary Wesley, novelist (died 2002)
- 16 August - Ted Drake, footballer (died 1995)
- 16 August - Wendy Hiller, actress (died 2003)
- 28 September - Peter Finch, actor (died 1977)
- 25 November - Francis Durbridge, playwright and author (died 1998)
- 27 December - Conroy Maddox, painter (died 2005)
Deaths
- 10 February - Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, surgeon (born 1827)
- 17 February - Edgar Evans, Welsh-born naval officer (born 1876), member of the Scott expedition to the South Pole
- 21 February - Osborne Reynolds, physicist (born 1842)
- 1 March - George Grossmith, actor and comic writer (born 1847)
- 17 March - Lawrence Oates, army officer (born 1880), member of the Scott expedition
- 29 March - Remaining members of the Scott expedition:
- Henry Bowers, Scottish-born naval officer (born 1883)
- Robert Falcon Scott, naval officer and explorer (born 1868)
- Edward Wilson, physician and naturalist (born 1872)
- 15 April - Some victims of the sinking of the RMS Titanic:
- Thomas Andrews, Jr., shipbuilder (born 1873)
- Thomas Byles, Catholic priest (born 1870)
- Wallace Hartley, ship's bandleader and violinist (born 1878)
- Jack Phillips, ship's senior wireless officer (born 1887)
- Edward Smith, ship's captain (born 1850)
- William Thomas Stead, campaigning journalist (born 1849)
- 20 April - Bram Stoker, writer (born 1847)
- 21 May - Julius Wernher, art collector (born 1850)
- 2 July - Tom Richardson, cricketer (born 1870)
- 13 August - Octavia Hill, social reformer (born 1838)
- 20 August - William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army (born 1829)
- 1 September - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composer (born 1875)
References
- ^ Freshwater, Robert (2010). "A History of the British Post Office (BPO)". The Telephone File. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ Brown, Mark (14 August 2009). "Githa Sowerby, the forgotten playwright, returns to the stage". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "Tyneside honours forgotten writer". BBC. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ Hodgson, Barbara (17 September 2009). "Author Is Brought Back to Life". The Journal. Newcastle upon Tyne. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "The Delhi Durbar". Charles Urban, Motion Picture Pioneer. 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ The Annual Register.
- ^ Gill, Peter (23 April 2008). "National Coal Strike". Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ a b c d Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 346–347. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ Lord, Walter (1955). A Night to Remember. New York: Holt.
- ^ Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. pp. 75–8. ISBN 978-0-00-728463-4.
- ^ "Sir Francis McClean Pioneer Aviator". Obituaries. The Times. No. 53297. London. 12 August 1955. p. 11C.
- ^ "The Great Flood - 1912". Norfolkcoast. 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
- ^ "History of the Lights". Visit Blackpool. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ "Olave St Clair Baden-Powell (née Soames), Baroness Baden-Powell; Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell". National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ Farrugia, Jean Young (1969). The Letter Box: a history of Post Office pillar and wall boxes. Fontwell: Centaur Press. ISBN 0-900000-14-7.
- ^ Leavis, Q. D. (1965). Fiction and the Reading Public (rev. ed.). London: Chatto & Windus.