Events

  • 1868: Michael Barrett is publicly hanged at Newgate

    Michael Barrett was hanged outside Newgate Prison on 26 May 1868. He became the last person publicly hanged in England. Barrett had been convicted after the Clerkenwell explosion of December 1867. The blast was connected to an attempt to free Fenian prisoners from the Clerkenwell House of Detention. It caused civilian deaths and injuries, and…

  • 1895: Oscar Wilde is convicted of gross indecency

    Oscar Wilde was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 25 May 1895 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. The conviction followed a failed libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde had gone to court as the complainant. When the case collapsed, evidence raised there…

  • 1897: Blackwall Tunnel opens beneath the Thames

    The original Blackwall Tunnel opened on 22 May 1897, linking Blackwall on the north bank of the Thames with Greenwich on the south. Its purpose was practical. The Thames was central to London’s trade, but it also made road journeys awkward. Ferries, bridges and longer routes could only do so much for a city whose…

  • 1897: *Dracula* is published in London

    *Dracula* was published in London by Archibald Constable and Company in May 1897. 26 May is often given as the publication date, though it is safer to treat it as probable rather than exact. Bram Stoker’s novel reached the British market as a gothic story before Dracula became a figure of film, costume and shorthand.…

  • 1907: The first Isle of Man TT race is held

    The first Isle of Man Tourist Trophy motorcycle race was held on 28 May 1907 on the St John’s Short Course. The Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency, not part of the United Kingdom. Even so, the race fits a British-linked history archive because of the island’s close relationship with Britain and the TT’s…

  • 1915: Quintinshill rail disaster kills more than 200 people

    On 22 May 1915, a troop train carrying men of the 1/7th Battalion Royal Scots crashed near Quintinshill Junction, near Gretna. A second collision and fire followed. The disaster killed 230 people and became Britain’s worst railway accident. The men on the troop train were part of Britain’s war effort. They were being moved by…

  • 1915: HMS Princess Irene explodes off Sheerness

    HMS Princess Irene exploded off Sheerness on 27 May 1915 while being loaded with mines. The ship was destroyed and sank. The disaster killed 352 people. Princess Irene had been a Canadian Pacific passenger liner before the Admiralty took her into service during the First World War. She was being used as an auxiliary minelayer.…

  • 1916: The Battle of Jutland begins

    On 31 May 1916, the Battle of Jutland began in the North Sea. The Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet met Germany’s High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the First World War. Britain depended on sea power. The Royal Navy kept Germany contained and maintained the blockade meant to weaken the German war effort.…

  • 1919: Eddington’s eclipse observations support Einstein’s theory

    On 29 May 1919, British-led teams observed a total solar eclipse from Príncipe, off the west coast of Africa, and Sobral in Brazil. The eclipse gave astronomers a rare chance to photograph stars close to the Sun. The test came from Einstein’s general theory of relativity. His theory predicted that the Sun’s gravity would bend…

  • 1935: The compulsory driving test begins in Great Britain

    The compulsory driving test began in Great Britain on 1 June 1935. It came as motor traffic was becoming a normal part of British life. Roads carried cars, buses, lorries, bicycles, pedestrians and older forms of traffic. More vehicles meant more risk, and road safety became a public concern rather than a private worry. The…