There are some important anniversaries that will be celebrated this year, from the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten to 100 years of the Chelsea Flower Show. We round up some dates for the diary.
24 January The Royal Philharmonic Society celebrates its 200th anniversary
28 January 200 years since Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was published
19 March 200th anniversary of the birth of David Livingstone, Scotland’s most famous explorer and missionary
21 March 600 years since Henry V became King of England (crowned April)
22 March The Beatles’ debut album Please Please Me was recorded at Abbey Road Studios 50 years ago
8 April 175th anniversary of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s steamship the SS Great Western beginning its maiden voyage from Bristol to New York
9 April 175th anniversary of the National Gallery in London opening at its present site in Trafalgar Square
9 April 600th anniversary of the crowning of Henry V
13 April 60 years since Ian Fleming published his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale
16 April Queen Elizabeth II launched the Royal Yacht Britannia in Scotland 60 years ago
29 April The Queen announces that Buckingham Palace will open to the public for the first time 20 years ago
19 May The Isle of Iona celebrates the 1,450th anniversary of the death of St Columba, who brought Christianity to Scotland
21 100 years of the Chelsea Flower Show
25 May 300th anniversary of the birth of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, British Prime Minister (1762–63)
2 June 60 years since The Queen’s Coronation
11 June 20 years since some 80,000 people attended a concert at Wembley Stadium in honour of Nelson Mandela, who turned 70 on that day
15 June The first episode of historical sitcom Blackadder is broadcast on BBC One 30 years ago
4 June 100 years since Emily Davison, a suffragette, stepped in front of the King’s horse at the Derby, sustaining injuries from which she died four days later
26 June First woman magistrate appointed, Miss Emily Dawson, in London 100 years ago
28 June 175th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria at the age of 18
29 June 400th anniversary of the original Globe Theatre in London, built and owned by Shakespeare’s company of players, being destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in June 1614
23 July 150th anniversary of Alexandra Park in north London being opened to the public
30 July 250th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Rogers, British poet and patron of the arts
1 August 175th anniversary of slavery being abolished in most of the British Empire
8 August 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire. £2.6 million was stolen in one of the UK’s most infamous robberies
13 August 125th anniversary of the birth of John Logie Baird, Scottish engineer who invented the first practical television system
13 August 100th anniversary of the first production of stainless steel in the UK by Harry Brearley
28 August 600th anniversary of the founding of the University of St Andrews
31 August The first of Jack the Ripper’s confirmed victims, Mary Ann Nichols is murdered 100 years ago
7 Sept The Largs Viking Festival will commemorate the 750th anniversary of the Battle of Largs
9 Sept 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden Field during the War of the League of Cambrai in Northumberland; the English defeated the Scottish invaders
26 Sept 125th anniversary of the birth of T. S. Eliot, American-born British poet, playwright and literary critic
26 Sept Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time 40 years ago
29 Sept The University of East Anglia is established in Norwich, England 50 years ago
October 50 years since the National Theatre Company opened at the Old Vic with its first production of Hamlet starring Peter O’Toole and Michael Redgrave
5 November 100th anniversary of the birth of Vivien Leigh, award-winning Indian-born British stage and film actress
12 November Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster 80 years ago
22 November 100 years since the composer Benjamin Britten was born
23 November 50th anniversary of the screening of the first episode of Doctor Who
21 December 100th anniversary of the first crossword puzzle being published, in the New York World newspaper. It was invented by British-born Arthur Wynne, who call it a ‘Word-Cross Puzzle’
31 December The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC 90 years ago
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