1916 in the United Kingdom
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Events from the year 1916 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch - George V of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, coalition (until 5 December), David Lloyd George, coalition
[edit] Events
- 1 January - The Royal Army Medical Corps first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled.
- 24 January - Conscription introduced by the Military Service Act.[1]
- 22 March - Marriage of Edith Bratt and J. R. R. Tolkien. They would serve as the inspiration for the fictional characters Lúthien and Beren.
- 24–30 April - Easter Rising in Ireland.
- 27 April - Battle of Hulluch in World War I, 47th Brigade, 16th (Irish) Division decimated in one of the most heavily-concentrated gas attacks of the war.
- 21 May - daylight saving time introduced.
- 31 May–1 June - Battle of Jutland between the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet.[2]
- 5 June - HMS Hampshire sinks off the Orkney Islands, Scotland, with Lord Kitchener aboard.
- 1 July–18 November - More than 1 million soldiers die during the Battle of the Somme including 60,000 casualties for the British Commonwealth on the first day.
- 2 September - William Leefe-Robinson becomes the first pilot to shoot down a German airship over Britain.
- 18 November - World War I: First Battle of the Somme ends. In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on 1 July.
- Gustav Holst composes The Planets, Opus 32
[edit] Births
- 9 January - Peter Twinn, mathematician and World War II code-breaker (d. 2004)
- 2 February - Olaf Pooley, actor
- 14 February - Sally Gray, actress (d. 2006)
- 15 February - Ernest Millington, politician
- 11 March - Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
- 17 March - Ray Ellington, singer (d. 1985)
- 20 May - Owen Chadwick, author and historian
- 31 May - Bernard Lewis, historian
- 8 June - Francis Crick, molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- 23 June - Len Hutton, cricketer (d. 1990)
- 1 July - Olivia de Havilland, actress
- 9 July - Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
- 11 July - Reg Varney, actor
- 23 July - George 'Dusty' Rhodes, Army Sergeant and author
- 13 September - Roald Dahl, author (d. 1990)
- 3 October - James Herriot, veterinarian and author (d. 1995)
- 11 November - Robert Carr, politician
- 19 December - Roy Ward Baker, film director
- 19 December - Jack Agazarian, World War II spy (d. 1945)
[edit] Deaths
- 5 June - Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Field Marshal, diplomat and statesman (b. 1850)
- 23 July - William Ramsay, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 13 November - Lanoe Hawker, fighter pilot (b. 1890)
- 14 November - Saki, writer (b. 1870)
- 5 December - Augusta of Cambridge, member of the Royal Family (b. 1822)
[edit] References
- ^ (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ (1999) The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon, 483. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.

