27th February 1900: Labour Representation Committee founded, marking the start of what would later become the British Labour Party
The Labour Representation Committee aimed to secure parliamentary representation for labour candidates, funded by trade unions. Ramsay MacDonald was appointed secretary, and six years later it adopted the name Labour ...
27 Feb 0s
26th February 1935: Daventry Experiment proves the ability of using radio waves to detect aircraft, heralding the development of radar
Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Wilkins conducted an experiment using a BBC shortwave radio transmitter located near Daventry, Northamptonshire, and a receiving station was set up in a field around 6 miles away that consisted of two receiving antennae attached to CRT monitoring equipment installed in a van. A Handley Page Heyford bomber was instructed to fly through the radio signal’s path, and it caused detectable variations in the received radio waves displayed on the ...
26 Feb 0s
25th February 1932: Adolf Hitler gains German citizenship, having been stateless for seven years and unable to run for public office
Numerous attempts to secure him German citizenship were attempted over the next few years, but it wasn’t until 1932 that a solution was found when Dietrich Klagges, a Nazi Party member who was serving as the Minister of the Interior for the Free State of Brunswick, arranged for Hitler to be appointed as an administrator for the state’s delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin on 25 February ...
25 Feb 0s
24th February 1868: US President Andrew Johnson impeached for defying the Tenure of Office Act
Having previously served as a senator and later military governor for the state of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson was chosen by Abraham Lincoln to be his running mate in the election of ...
24 Feb 0s
23rd February 1903: US President Theodore Roosevelt leases Guantanamo Bay from Cuba in perpetuity
Although Cuba retained sovereignty over Guantanamo Bay, the arrangement ensured that the United States maintained a strategic military presence in the Caribbean. The 45 square mile area was selected as most suitable for a naval base and coaling station due to its deep-water harbour and strategic location on Cuba’s south-eastern ...
23 Feb 0s
22nd February 1797: The last invasion of Britain takes place, leading to the Battle of Fishguard
The last invasion of Britain by a hostile foreign force began when French troops under the command of the Irish-American Colonel William Tate landed near the Welsh town of ...
22 Feb 0s
21st February 1804: World’s first recorded locomotive-hauled railway journey takes place at the Penydarren Ironworks in South Wales
On 21 February 1804, Richard Trevithick’s steam locomotive successfully pulled a load of ten tons of iron, as well as several passengers and workmen, along a 9.75 mile route from Penydarren Ironworks in South Wales in just over 4 ...
21 Feb 0s
20th February 1472: Orkney and Shetland Isles given to Scotland as a wedding dowry
The Northern Isles, which consist of the two island groups of Shetland and Orkney, have been inhabited since prehistoric times but were formally annexed by the Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre in around 875 after he subdued the Vikings who used the islands as a base from which to raid Norway and ...
20 Feb 0s
