| Victorian Era Timeline |
| 1837 |
Queen Victoria ascends to the throne
Charles Dickens published The Pickwick Papers and gained
instant notariety |
| 1838 |
Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist
Brunel built the "Great Western, a paddle steamer. Made the Bristol/New York crossing in under 15 days. |
| 1840 |
Queen Victorian married her cousin Prince Albert
The Penny Post went into effect |
| 1843 |
Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol. Sold out
completely in 6 days. |
| 1844 |
The potato famine began in Ireland |
| 1845 |
Brunel built the S. S. Great Britain, the first propeller driven
steamship. |
| 1849 |
Charles Dickens published David Copperfield. |
| 1851 |
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held at the Crystal Palace which
was especially built to house this exhibition. Six million tickets sold. |
| 1853 |
Crimean war breaks out |
| 1854 |
Florence Nightgale goes to Crimea to organize the nursing during
the war |
| 1856 |
Crimean war ends |
| 1859 |
Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities which was
based on the French Revolution of 1789
Brunel dies
Charles Darwin published the controversial "Origin of the
Species" |
| 1860 |
Florence Nightgale published the first nursing textbooks
Charles Dickens published Great Expectations, considered to
be his best novel |
| 1861 |
Prince Albert died from Typhoid fever at the age of 42 |
| 1867 |
Disraeli introduces a law giving voting rights to taxpayers. |
| 1868 |
Disraeli became Prime Minister, at post only a few months
Last shipment of criminals from England to Australia |
| 1870 |
Charles Dickens dies |
| 1874 |
Disraeli became Prime Minister for second time and governs until
1880 |
| 1875 |
Disraeli purchases Suez Canal shares gaining the controlling
interest for Britain |
| 1876 |
Disraeli gives the title "Empress of India" to Queen
Victoria |
| 1877 |
The telephone, the invention of Alexander Graham Bell, became
available
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. First recording and playback
was "Mary had a little lamb" |
| 1879 |
The electric light bulb was invented by American Thomas Edison |
| 1881 |
Disraeli died |
| 1885 |
First automobile built by Karl Benz |
| 1888 |
Jack the Ripper terrorized the East End of London |
| 1893 |
New Zealand became first country to give women the right to vote |
| 1901 |
Queen Victoria dies |
