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Thanks to broad cross-party support, Lord Wier's proposal of the previous year - to create the Central Electricity Board (CEB) to link the UK's most efficient power stations with consumers via a 'national gridiron' - becomes law. In 1926, the Electricity (Supply) Act is passed, paving the way for the creation of the national grid. (Pictured: Lord Weir)
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| John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television. |
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| Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (Queen Elizabeth II) was born in Mayfair, London |
The General Strike began in Britain when employers offered coalminers a 13% pay cut |
Marilyn Monroe was born as Norma Jean Baker in Los Angeles |
Britain's first electric traffic lights were installed at Piccadilly Circus in London |
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A tower erection gang is joined by engineers, contractors and officials from CEB as the Nursling to Bournemouth grid line nears completion.
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| The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is created. |
The first official Ryder Cup match began at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts |
| British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is created |
Pan Am Airways launched the world's first scheduled international flight |
Josef Stalin took over control of the Soviet Union
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Clarence Birdseye patented his flash freezing frozen food invention |
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The first electricity pylon in the UK was built near Edinburgh
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| All women over the age of 21 get the vote
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The first 'talkie' (film with dialogue) is shown in Britain |
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin |
Labour wins the general election with Ramsay Macdonald as prime minister
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| Labour wins the general election with Ramsay Macdonald as prime minister |
Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression |
Cadbury’s Crunchie bar was launched |
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The first part of the National Grid was opened – in central Scotland. Inauguration of the first Grid scheme – the Central Scotland Electricity Scheme – on 30 April. Herbert Morrison, the Minister of Transport, closed a switch to energise a 132 kV line from Portobello Powerstation.
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| Clarence Birdseye produced the first frozen vegetables for sale to customers |
The Times newspaper published its first crossword puzzle |
| London Conference on Naval Disarmament starts
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Mohandas Gandhi leads a march to the sea in protest against the Indian salt monopoly |
'Simon Report' proposes representative government for India |
‘Round Table' conference on India opens in London |
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The Bournemouth grid line is completed. To make the pylons as unobtrusive as possible, the CEB asks Sir Reginald Bloomfield, a member of the Royal Academy, to design the structures.
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| Mohandas Gandhi agrees to suspend civil disobedience in India |
Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald resigns in a row over the budget |
'National government' coalition wins the election, but Labour support plummets |
Faraday Centenary Exhibition in London |
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Workers on the Central Electricity Board towers at Dagenham are 120 foot higher than the roof of St Paul's Cathedral. They are seen working on the insulators.
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| Éamon De Valera's Fianna Fáil party wins the Irish general election |
Oswald Mosley founds the British Union of Fascists |
Iraq joins the League of Nations after the British mandate ends |
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A huge 51 ton stator, the stationary component of an electric power generator, arrives in London from Birmingham. It is to be installed in the LMS power station at Stonebridge Park, Wembley.
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| The C.E.B. commenced normal trading and the 132kV National Grid starts supplying electricity ... initially as an interconnected set of regional grids in the Central Scotland and Mid-East England areas. |
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| 1 in 3 houses in the UK had a supply of electricity
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Battersea Power Station opens |
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Workmen employed by the Central Electricity Board to lay electric cables across the Thames at Mapledurham between Reading and Pangbourne.
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| The first large scale power failure occurred in South East England - all the lights went out. |
The first Launderette (Washeteria) opened in Fort Worth, Texas in America. |
| Bonnie and Clyde killed by police |
Cheeseburger created |
Parker brothers sells the game "Monopoly" |
Scottish Nationalist Party is founded to fight for an independent Scotland |
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Commercial operation of the national 132kV electric power transmission grid begins in the UK. It is the first integrated national grid in the world. Small and inefficient power stations are being closed down. Seven grid areas are created to cover the UK, with control rooms at Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, London and Glasgow.
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| First fluorescent lights became available. |
Ownership of transmission lines. A large proportion of the B.E.A.’s 66kV and lower vault age lines was transferred to Area Boards. |
| Germany Issues the Anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws |
Festival of Britain is opened by George VI |
Car seat belts introduced |
Alcoholics Anonymous Founded |
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The Electricity Supply (Meters) Act 1936 (repealed 1989). Started as a Private Member’s Bill introduced by a supply association, made better provision for the certifying and examination of electricity meters by competent and impartial Meter Examiners appointed by the Electricity Commissioners. Meters had to be constructed to a pattern approved by the Commissioners.
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| First public broadcasts of television by the BBC |
The original design of Battersea Power Station (pictured above), with only two chimneys, another pair of chimneys being added later |
| Hoover Dam Completed |
George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII |
Kind Edward VII abdicates to marry Wallace Simpson |
Spanish Civil War begins |
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All areas of the Grid first coupled together as a single unit on 29 October for several hours. Previously, limited use of inter-area tie lines between pairs or trios of Areas had been made for small-scale power transfers e.g. excess hydro from Scotland to NW England or for mutual assistance during temporary generation or transmission shortages.
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| For the first time, and quite unofficially, an engineer issues instructions to couple all seven areas of the grid together. His bosses aren't amused! |
(above) One of the many pylons at Llanfair, Anglesey, wrecked in a blizzard. Nearly every pylon in the line that carries the North Wales Power Company supply to Holyhead was damaged, and repairs will take two years. |
| Golden Gate Bridge opened |
Japan invades China |
George VI is crowned King |
The Hindenberg Disaster |
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Arrangements were completed by the CEB for establishing a National Control Organisation at the Bankside control room in London. Electricity supply could now be controlled from one place.
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| During the latter part of 1938 the Grid in all the nine areas was normally operated as one interconnected system. From the beginning of the war it had been continuously operated as a single unit. |
In the 20 months leading up to the war, the CEB makes plans. Employees are given air raid training and brick shelters and steel shutters are used to protect plant and equipment. |
| Broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" causes panic |
Chamberlain anounces "Peace in Our Time" |
Germany occupies and then annexes Austria in the ‘Anchluss’ |
Cadbury’s Roses were launched |
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London is the home of the grid's National Control. To offer as much protection as possible, the centre moves from its Thameside HQ, nicknamed 'The Hut', to the shafts of the nearby disused tube station, nicknamed 'The Hole'. (pictured right)
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| First commercial flight over the Atlantic |
German-Soviet non-aggression pact signed |
Helicopter invented |
World War II begins - Britain declares war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland |
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The Battle of Britain – West Ham substation is hit and it takes just 19 days to rebuild. During the course of the war, air raids also knock out Fulham power station and badly damage Battersea power station.
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| First electric razor produced by Remmington. |
First use of gas as the fuel to burn at a power station. Up to this time coal had been the most common fuel to use.
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| Battle of Britain begins with heavy raids by the German Luftwaffe |
Thousands of Allied troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, France |
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the Coalition Government |
‘Blitz’ begins with a massive daylight raid by the Luftwaffe |
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It isn’t just London that’s hit by bombs. Coventry, Portsmouth and Plymouth are among other big cities hit. But, by mobilising resources from across the UK, the grid continues to provide power to help the war effort.
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| The first wind generator was set up in America by Palmer C. Putnam, who built a 1250kW wind turbine which supplied electricity to the public network from 1942-1945. |
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| Japanese attack Pearl Harbour |
1,000 people are killed in the Belfast Blitz |
HMS ‘Hood’ sunk by the German battleship ‘Bismark’ |
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Because barracks, factories and airfields were being located out towns, a massive crash course in extending the grid took place. By the end of 1942 another 500 miles of transmission lines had been built.
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| Anne Frank goes into hiding. (pictured above) |
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| T-shirt introduced |
First American troops arrive in Europe, landing in Belfast |
‘Beveridge Report’ lays the foundations for the Welfare State |
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How many power stations should be geared up and ready in case some are hit by enemy bombing? That is the problem facing the CEB as the UK’s stocks of coal diminish.
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| First programmable computer, called ‘Colossus’ built at Bletchley Park to help break secret codes during the second world war. This was kept secret until 1976. ‘Colossus’ used thermionic valves and was the size of a house. |
The Hydroelectric Development (Scotland) Act 1943 (repealed 1989).This made provision for the establishment of a public corporation called the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. |
| French Resistance leader Jean Moulin killed |
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising |
‘Dambusters Raid’ by the RAF breeches two dams in the Ruhr Valley |
Germany call off the Battle of the Atlantic |
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2 out of 3 houses now had a supply of electricity – the number had doubled in just 10 years.
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| Woman ironing in the kitchen, c 1940s (pictured above) |
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| Ballpoint pens go on sale |
Allied forces land in Normandy on D-Day, starting the liberation of France |
Hitler escapes assassination attempt |
Butler Act creates free secondary Education in Britain |
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Few new power stations were built during the war. Those that survived were in a poor state. Rationing was still in force and coal supplies were low. To keep warm, home owners often frequently treated themselves to an electric fire – adding 10 per cent to their electricity usage.
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| During the winter, power cuts – some lasting up to five hours – take place on 51 occasions in an attempt to preserve supply. (pictured above) |
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| Britain celebrates the end of the war on Victory in Europe Day |
Labour wins the general election by a landslide |
United Nations founded with Britain as a founder member |
U.S. Drops Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki |
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The winter of 1946-1947 saw 'the Big Freeze'. Gales disrupted supplies of coal coming into the UK, in January heavy snow paralysed the country. Power cuts across the UK, some lasting up to 12 hours, weren't uncommon.
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| Bikinis introduced |
Juan Perón Becomes President of Argentina |
Nuremberg Trials |
Winston Churchill gives his 'Iron Curtain' Speech |
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The Electricity Bill received the Royal Assent, 13 August. The Electricity Act 1947 brought the supplyindustry of England and Wales and Southern Scotland under public ownership, and the existing undertakings which then numbered 560, were integrated into new statutory Electricity Boards appointed by the Minister of Fuel and Power. The CEB is nationalised by the incoming labour government. The CEB is no more, instead the British Electricity Authority was given the task to manufacture and sell electricity to Electricity Boards who bought power in bulk and sold it to industry and domestic users.
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| To preserve supply, in some areas only the most essential industries are allowed to use electricity. Domestic consumers have to switch off from 9am to noon and from 2pm to 4pm. |
Isle of Wight connected to the mainland for the first time by a 33 kV submarine cable from Nursling, near Southampton to Cowes. |
| Dead Sea Scrolls discovered |
Polaroid Camera invented |
Britain’s coal industry is nationalised |
India gains independence from Britain |
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The fourteen Area Electricity Boards are established on 1 January. On 1 April – vesting day BEA and the 14 Area Electricity Boards became responsible for the public system of electricity supply throughout Great Britain, except in the north of Scotland – essentially nationalising the electricity supply.
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| An engineer sending a message by teleprinter to Newcastle from the control room of the Electricity Board in London. (pictured above) |
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| Gandhi assassinated |
State of Israel founded |
National Health Service is established |
Olympic Games open at Wembley Stadium |
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In 1949 discussions began with the nationalised France-based power company Electricitie de France about the possibility of constructing a cross-Channel power link. Work began on the link in 1957 , with each country laying 'submarine cables' on the bed of the channel. Work finished in 1961, but the link was often damaged by ship's anchors. It was eventually taken out of service in 1982 and replaced with a new 2,000MW link, dug into trenches beneath the sea bed.
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| Work is almost completed on the Clunie Dam, which when activated will allow the Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's Tummel Garry scheme to get underway, producing electricity for the region. Scotland has a large potential for hydroelectric power, which can fuel local people's homes and attract industry to the area. |
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| China becomes Communist |
George Orwell publishes Nineteen Eight-Four |
NATO Established |
Republic of Ireland comes into being |
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The existing grid could not meet the future demands of consumers. The decision is taken to start work on a new 12 year project to create a 275kV supergrid – with new lines created that could carry 400kV in the future. That meant new 42 metre pylons (much higher than those for the 132kV grid had to be introduced, along with more than 4,000 miles of new transmission lines.
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| The first electric storage heaters became available. |
Plastic covered wire became available. Before this cables were either cloth or rubber covered, both of which deteriorated with time and became dangerous. |
| First modern Credit Card introduced |
First organ transplant |
U.S. President Truman orders construction of Hydrogen Bomb |
Labour wins the general election with Clement Attlee returned as Prime Minister |
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Electrification of Railways’ – Report of a committee appointed by the Railway Executive and the London Transport Executive, published in March. Its principal recommendation was that the DC system with an overhead line at 1500 V should be adopted as standard in all future electrification schemes (confirming main conclusions of the 1927 Railway Electrification Committee (the Pringle Report).
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| Experimental heat pump installation commissioned at the Royal Festival Hall under the auspices of the Chief Scientist’s Division of the Ministry of Fuel and Power, driven by two Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engines converted to run on town gas. The main source of heat was provided by the River Thames. |
The Thames North Grid control in the National Control Centre of the National Grid at Paternoster Square in London. (pictured above) |
| Colour TV introduced |
South Africans forced to carry ID Cards identifying race |
Conservatives under Winston Churchill win the general election |
Festival of Britain is opened by George VI |
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Eastern E.B. introduced standard day/night tariffs for domestic, commercial and farm consumers. Cheap night rates served to flatten the load curve thereby improving the use made of the system
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| Ownership of transmission lines. A large proportion of the B.E.A.’s 66kV and lower vaultage lines was transferred to Area Boards. |
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| The Great Smog of 1952 |
Polio Vaccine Created |
Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen at Age 25 and succeeds her father George VI |
Car Seat Belts Introduced |
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Rural electrification: on 19 June the House of Commons resolved that steps should be taken to develop the supply of electricity to rural areas as much and as fast as possible. The Minister of Fuel and Power relaxed restrictions on capital expenditure and the supply industry announced a rural electrification programme with a target of 85 per cent of farms connected by 1963. The target was achieved eighteen months ahead of schedule.
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| Nuclear Power, B.E.A. established a nuclear power branch in their Chief Engineer’s Department to study, plan, design, and eventually arrange for the construction of nuclear stations |
The main control room in Bankside Power Station, London. |
| Watson and Crick publish their discovery of the structure of DNA |
Hillary and Norgay climb Mt. Everest |
Joseph Stalin dies |
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage |
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The Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1954 (repealed 1989) – provided for the transfer to the Secretary of State for Scotland of practically all the functions of the Minister of Power in relation to electricity supply in Scotland, and for setting up of a new public authority, the South of Scotland Electricity Board, to be responsible from 1 April 1955, for the generation and supply of electricity in the part of Scotland outside the area of the North of Scotland H.-E.B. Also provided for the British Electricity Authority to be changed to Central Electricity Authority (C.E.A.) from the same date.
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| Electric floor heating. South East Scotland E.B.’s experiment in conjunction with Kirkcaldy Corporation in a prototype eight-storey block of flats |
Highest transmission line in Great Britain completed – over the Corrieairack Pass in Inverness-shire, some 2,500ft. above sea level at summit. |
| First atomic submarine launched |
Report says cigarettes cause cancer |
Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile |
Segregation ruled illegal in U.S. |
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1 April - The British Electricity Authority becomes the Central Electricity Authority, and the Scottish Area Boards merge into the South of Scotland Electricity Board
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| James Dean dies in car accident |
McDonald's Corporation founded |
Conservatives win the general election with Sir Antony Eden returned as Prime Minister |
Commercial TV starts with the first ITV broadcast |
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The first large-scale nuclear power station in the world was opened in the UK at Calder Hall (Sellafield). The U.K.A.E.A.’s Calder Hall “A”, in Cumberland, rating 4 x 23 MW generating sets, connected to the grid after a Royal opening on 17 October. Its primary purpose was to produce the fissile fuel plutonium, essentially for military use.The heat produced by a nuclear reaction was used to heat water to provide the steam to drive the turbines.
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| Televisions, washing machines, fridges, freezer...the grid continues to grow to meet increasing demand from consumers. |
TheWind-power generation – a 10kW generator erected for tests at the E.R.A. station at Cranfield. Built by Dowsett organisation in conjunction with Ministry of Power. |
| Elvis gyrates on Ed Sullivan's Show |
Suez crisis |
T.V. remote control invented |
Velcro introduced |
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The Electricity Act 1957 (repealed 1989) ... the Central Electricity Authority is dissolved and to be replaced by two new statutory bodies, The Electricity Council, a central council for the electricity supply industry in England and Wales as a whole and.the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) to take over from the C.E.A. the duties of generation and transmission. The vesting date for these two new bodies was 1 January 1958. The act also gave greater financial responsibility to the Area Boards.
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| Parliament passes the Electricity Act, creating the Central Electricity Generating Board. In popular terms, its aim was 'to keep the lights on' |
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| European Economic Community established |
Soviet satellite Sputnik launches space age |
Britain tests its first Hydrogen bomb |
Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden Resigns and is replaced by Harold Macmillan |
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| Hula Hoops Become Popular |
LEGO toy bricks first introduced |
NASA founded |
Motorway system opens with the M6 Preston by-pass |
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The grid-commissioning of the Severn and Wye 275 kV crossing of 21/4 mile length from Aust to Beachley, including a one mile span across the Severn and a 1, 000 yard span across the Wye. The two high crossing towers were 488 ft. high.
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| The first microwave oven was demonstrated at a catering exhibition in London for reheating cooked food |
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| Castro becomes dictator of Cuba |
Kitchen debate between Nixon and Khrushchev |
The Sound of Music opens on Broadway |
Conservatives under Harold Macmillan win the general election |
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Railway electrification. Inauguration of the Manchester-Crewe section at 25 kV single-phase AC – the first main-line section with this system in the country.
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| First televised presidential debates. |
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| Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho released |
Brazil's capital moves to brand new city |
Lasers invented |
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Inauguration on 8 December of the cross –Channel submarine cable link between England and France – from Dungeness Point in Kent, to Boulogne, in the Pas de Calais, some 30 miles – operating on direct current at 100 kV above and below earth potential, permitting power exchanges between the two countries of up to 160 MW each way. It connected the British 275 kV system with the Electricité de France 225 kV network. Availability was poor due to fouling by ship’s anchors and it was taken out of service in 1980 and decomissioned in 1982.
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| The Transmission Construction Project group is formed to oversee the construction of the new 400kV supergrid. |
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (O.P.E.C.) created in September. Founder members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. |
| Bay of Pigs invasion |
Berlin Wall built |
Peace Corps founded |
Soviets launch first man in space – Yuri Gagarin |
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In 1954 the Atomic Energy Authority’s prototype nuclear power station, Calder Hall, Cumbria, was officially opened. While its main aim was to produce plutonium for military purposes, it also fed power into the National Grid. In 1962, nuclear reactors at Berkely, Gloucestershire and Bradwell, Essex are switched on. The UK’s power now comes from a mix of coal, oil and nuclear.
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| Andy Warhol exhibits his Campbell's Soup Can |
Cuban missile crisis |
First person killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall |
Marilyn Monroe found dead |
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As the winter continues to bite, the grid faces the worst disruption in its history. Overnight there are 700 flashovers, as control engineers plan for major morning disruption. The south of the UK is particularly badly hit, as the six power lines carrying electricity from the Midlands fail one by one. Engineers disconnect several areas to prevent total shutdown. Just a few hours later, the grid is operational again.
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| The Electricity and Gas Act 1963 (repealed 1989) |
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| JFK assassinated |
Martin Luther King Jr. makes his "I Have a Dream" speech |
New Universities open and students get state support |
Conservative Sir Alec Douglas-Home becomes prime minister |
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The main control room of Dungeness nuclear power station with operators.
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| First electronic calculator made in Japan – weighed 25 kg. |
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| Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) Becomes World Heavyweight Champion |
Nelson Mandela Sentenced to Life in Prison |
Abolition of Resale Price Maintenance prompts the rise of supermarkets in Britain |
Labour wins the general election with Harold Wilson as prime minister |
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After the success of the prototype Calder Hall nuclear power station which went on line in 1956, the Atomic Energy Authority commissioned a string of gas cooled reactors . Picturesque Hinkley Point was the site for reactor A , a Magnox reactor designed in the 1950s but not on line until 1965. Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station was closed in 2000.
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| Work on the first 150 miles of the new 400kV supergird begins |
The 8 ft diameter tunnel dug at Wimbledon to house national grid power cables in a transformer station (pictured above). |
| Japan's Bullet Train opens |
Malcolm X assassinated |
U.S. Sends troops to Vietnam |
Death penalty is abolished in Britain |
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Work begins on the Dungeness B Power Station; more 2,000MW power stations come into service, along with gas turbine stations – capable of reacting quickly to unexpected surges in demand.
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| Street lighting began to be improved with the introduction of Sodium lamps (the orange lights that are still used today). |
1,300 miles of the new 400kV line has been built - there's just 200 miles left to complete. |
| Mass draft protests in U.S. |
Star Trek T.V. series airs |
Labour strengthens its parliamentary position in the general election |
England win the football World Cup |
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The wreckage of a British Midlands airliner which crashed into an electricity sub station in Stockport, Cheshire, during a flight from Palma. 72 people were killed in the accident.
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| Che Guevara killed |
First heart transplant |
Abortion and homosexuality are legalised |
Beatles release 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' |
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Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated.
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| The Gas and Electricity Act 1968 (repealed 1989) |
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| Prague spring |
Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated |
My Lai massacre |
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A linesman, working for the Central electricity generating board, wears a conductor suit and stands on an electricity pylon before being lowered onto a 400,000 voltage cable.
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| Concorde, the world’s first supersonic airliner, makes its maiden flight. |
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| Charles Manson and "Family" arrested |
Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon |
Rock-and-Roll concert at Woodstock |
Concorde, the world's first supersonic airliner, makes its maiden flight |
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Regional Engineering Departments are formed to help stations cope with engineering and other problems; Transmission Sections are merged into larger Districts while generation and transmission come under the remit of the new Director of production.
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| Beatles break up |
Computer floppy disks introduced |
Palestinian group hijacks five planes |
Conservatives win the general election, with Edward Heath as prime minister |
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The National Control Centre of the Central Electricity Generating Board in Park Street, London.
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| VCRs introduced |
First British soldier is killed in Northern Ireland's 'Troubles' |
Decimalised currency replaces 'pounds, shillings and pence' in the UK |
Cadbury launches its Creme Egg |
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Staff at the Information Centre of the Hove Eastern Electricity Board Headquarters work with the aid of portable gas lamps during power cuts caused by the miners strike.
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| The Electricity Act 1972 (repealed 1989) |
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| Terrorists Attack at the Olympic Games in Munich |
Watergate Scandal Begins |
British army kills 14 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on Bloody Sunday |
Idi Amin expels Uganda's asians and many settle in Britain |
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The Chairmen of various nationalised industries meet with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anthony Barber, at 11 Downing Street. Left to right: Derek Ezra (Coal), A F Hetherington (Gas), Sir Peter Menzies (Electricity), Lord Melchett (Steel), the Anthony Barber, Sir William Ryland (GPO), D L Nicholson (British Airways) and Richard Marsh (British Rail).
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| Abortion legalized in U.S. |
Sears Tower built |
U.S. pulls out of Vietnam |
Britain joins the European Economic Community |
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1974 General Election poster for the British Conservative Party, depicting a man turning off a giant power point, with the caption 'A warning is issued by the Conservatives. Fact: prices are rising twice as fast as last year'.
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| The largest coal powered power station in the UK was opened at Drax in Yorkshire. |
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| Terracotta Army discovered in China |
U.S. President Nixon resigns |
Election ends in a 'hung parliament' with Harold Wilson as prime minister |
Labour wins a tiny majority in the election with Harold Wilson as prime minister |
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For the first time, demand slackens. The CEGB takes the decision to shut down some of its more uneconomic plant – a move that sees the closure of 23 stations and the partial closure of a further 18.
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| Arthur Ashe first black man to win Wimbledon |
Civil War in Lebanon |
Microsoft founded |
Pol Pot becomes the Communist Dictator of Cambodia |
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Construction begins on the hydro-electric power station at Dinorwig, in Snowdonia.
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| Greenhouses to grow tomatoes were built at the larger power stations using ‘free’ heat from the cooling water used in the stations. |
Hinkley Point B Nuclear power station comes into operation. |
| North and South Vietnam join to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
Tangshan Earthquake kills over 240,000 |
Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns and is replaced by James Callaghan |
Britain is forced to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund |
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Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee.
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| Wade's most notable victory came at Wimbledon, England, in 1977. It was the sixteenth year in which Wade had played at Wimbledon, and she made her first appearance in the final by beating the defending champion Chris Evert. |
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| Elvis found dead |
South African Anti-Apartheid Leader Steve Biko tortured to death |
Star Wars movie released |
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A worldwide depression hits and demand lowers, while the cost of oil rises. Demand for electricity continues to fall. It won't be until 1984 that consumption, once again, passes its 1978 level.
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| Environmental pressure groups argue that future demand can be met through renewable energy resources. |
The winter of discontent leads to the election of a conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher. |
| John Paul II becomes Pope |
Jonestown Massacre |
World's first test-tube baby is born in Oldham |
Strikes paralyse Britain during the so-called 'Winter of Discontent' |
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Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first female Prime Minister.
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| The Electricity (Scotland) Act 1979 (repealed 1989) |
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| Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island |
Sony Introduces the Walkman |
Conservative Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female prime minister |
IRA kill the Queen's cousin Lord Mountbatten |
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John Lennon is assassinated.
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| Long life, energy efficient light bulbs became available. |
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| Failed U.S. rescue attempt to save hostages in Tehran |
John Lennon assassinated |
Rubik's Cube Becomes Popular |
Ted Turner establishes CNN |
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A crane fitted with a huge magnet clears metallic debris from the 'A' turbine hall of Battersea Power Station, London.
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| Millions watch royal wedding on T.V. |
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| Assassination Attempts on the Pope and U.S. President Reagan |
New plague identified as AIDS |
Personal Computers (PC) introduced by IBM |
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The CEGB installs its first wind turbine plant at Camarthen Bay in South Wales. With an output of 200 kilowatts, the site could power a small village.
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| Falkland Islands invaded by Argentina. |
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| E.T. movie released |
King Henry VIII's Ship the Mary Rose raised after 437 years |
Michael Jackson releases Thriller |
Argentina invades the British territory of the Falkland Islands |
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| Cabbage Patch Kids are popular |
Reagan announces defense plan called Star Wars |
Sally Ride becomes the first american woman in space |
Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is re-elected by a landslide |
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“Coal: 'Not our dispute'”reads the headline in an issue of Power News as the miners, led by Arthur Scargill, go out on a year-long strike. CEGB's job, argued its Board, was to keep the lights on, not take sides.
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| IRA bombers strike at the Conservative conference in Brighton. |
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| Huge poison gas leak in Bhopal, India |
12-month 'Miners' Strike' over pit closures begins |
IRA bombers strike at the Conservative conference in Brighton |
Feed the World released – Band Aid |
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The miners’ strike ends and the CEGB, which switched production of electricity from coal to oil, estimates the strike cost it some £2,000 million.
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| Famine in Ethiopia |
Hole in the Ozone Layer discovered |
Wreck of the Titanic found |
Live Aid concerts in Wembley Stadium, London, and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia |
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Major national industries are privatised. - The privatisation of British Gas was a major step in the Conservative government's policy of privatisation. It paved the way for the privatisation of British Aerospace, Cable and Wireless, Britoil, the National Bus Company, British Airways, Rolls Royce, British Steel, British Telecom, the electricity-generating industry and the water companies. These sales cut government expenditure, by bringing in large sums of money and by reducing the need for state subsidies.
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| The IFA interconnector between France and England is commissioned. The 2,000MW high voltage direct current link is the biggest HVDC submarine line in the world. |
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| Challenger space shuttle explodes |
Chernobyl nuclear accident |
U.S. bombs Libya |
U.S.S.R. Launches Mir Space Station |
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The biggest storm since 1703, hits the UK – with winds of up to 120 mph. More than 15 million trees are thought to have fallen, bringing down power lines. The BBC’s Breakfast Time was broadcast from a single-position studio, reinforcing a sense of national emergency.
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| DNA first used to convict criminals |
New York Stock Exchange suffers huge drop on "Black Monday" |
West German pilot lands unchallenged in Russia's Red Square |
Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wins a third term |
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| Pan Am Flight 103 Is bombed over Lockerbie |
U.S. shoots down Iranian airliner |
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The Electricity Act, which paves the way for the industry’s privatisation, goes through Parliament.
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| The Electricity Act 1989, plans the privatisation of the industry. |
Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web - In 1989, while working at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland, Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea of the World Wide Web, a new way of using existing internet technology to share information. He wrote the first web browser the following year, and went on to found the World |
| Berlin Wall falls |
Exxon Valdez spills millions of gallons of oil on coastline |
Students massacred in China's Tiananmen Square |
U.S. President Bush announces that he doesn't like broccoli |
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On 31 March 1990, the electricity industry was restructured and then privatised under the terms of the Electricity Act 1989. The National Grid Company plc assumed ownership and control of the transmission system and joint ownership of the interconnectors with Scotland and France, together with the two pumped storage stations in North Wales, but these stations were subsequently sold off.
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| Privatisation begins ... the assets of the CEGB are divided between three new companies: Powergen, National Power and National Grid Company ... later the nuclear generation component of National Power is moved to state-owned Nuclear Electric |
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| Hubble Telescope launched into space |
Nelson Mandela freed |
Introduction of new local taxes sparks 'poll tax' riots in London |
Margaret Thatcher resigns and John Major becomes prime minister |
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| Scottish electricity industry is privatised |
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| Bronze Age man found frozen in glacier |
Collapse of the Soviet Union |
South Africa repeals Apartheid Laws |
Liberation of Kuwait begins as Allies launch Operation Desert Storm |
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| Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail. |
Conservatives win the general election, returning John Major as prime minister |
| Riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict |
Conservatives win the general election, returning John Major as prime minister |
Nigel Mansell wins the F1 Championship
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'Black Wednesday' forces withdrawal of sterling from the ERM |
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The ‘dash for gas’ begins and the grid has to accommodate the new technology of combined cycle gas turbine power stations linking up to the system.
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| Northern Ireland electricity supply is privatised ... Premier Power is formed |
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| Cult compound in Waco, Texas raided |
Use of the Internet grows exponentially |
World Trade Center bombed |
First women priests are ordained by the Church of England. |
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| Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa |
O.J. Simpson arrested for double murder |
Rwandan Genocide begins |
Lorena Bobbit takes brutal revenge |
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National Grid listed on the London Stock Exchange and the shares are traded publicly for the first time.
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| 11 December 1995 - National Grid listed on the London Stock Exchange |
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| Ebola Virus spreads in Zaire |
Gas attack in Tokyo Subway |
Oklahoma City bombing |
Yitzhak Rabin assassinated |
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The Electricity National Control Centre in Wokingham is now operating the UK system, replacing the seven regional control centres.
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| Mad Cow Disease hits Britain |
Two royal divorces |
Unabomber arrested |
Damon Hill wins the F1 Championship |
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Labour wins the general election, with Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
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| Tiger Woods wins Masters |
Labour wins the general election, with Tony Blair as prime minister |
Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris |
Scotland and Wales vote in favour of devolution |
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| Titanic most successful movie ever |
U.S. President Clinton impeached |
Viagra on the Market |
Good Friday Agreement establishes a devolved Northern Irish assembly |
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A solar eclipse sees the largest ever surge in electricity as the lights go on in the middle of summer!
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| The Euro the New European Currency |
Britain decides not to join the European Single Currency |
Fear of Y2K Bug |
Killing spree at Columbine High School |
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The grid is prepared for the ‘millennium bug’, but the new year starts without a hitch.
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| Utilities Act 2000 ... makes generating companies responsible for enabling the connection to the grid of distributed energy sources |
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| Britain and the world celebrate the new Millennium |
Global stock markets tumble as the ‘dotcom bubble’ b |
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14 September: During the three-minute silence on the Friday following the 9/11 attacks in the US, the UK sees its largest ever drop in electricity demand.
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| New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) introduce a more competitive, market-based system for electricity in England and Wales. |
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| Foot and mouth wreaks havoc on rural Britain |
Labour wins the general election with Tony Blair returned as Prime Minister |
Islamic terrorists crash aircraft on targets in New York and Washington |
Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist by paying $19 million to board the International Space Station |
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The National Grid and Lattice Group plc, the owner of Transco, the UK gas distribution business, merge to form National Grid Transco plc.
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| April 2002 - Merger of National Grid and Lattice announced |
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| Foot and mouth wreaks havoc on rural Britain |
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established on July 1 |
A series of bombings carried out by Islamic militants killed 202 people at the resort of Kuta, Bali, Indonesia on |
Mars Odyssey arrives in orbit around Mars. |
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Second Yorkshire line is commissioned after 13 years in development. The 400kV line from Lackenby on Teeside to Shipton in North Yorkshire provides additional capacity for new generation in the north east, and strengthens the transmission connection between Scotland and England.
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| Britain joins the US in an invasion of Iraq |
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1 |
Dolly the cloned sheep dies prematurely February 14 |
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe. |
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On December 26 an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra creates a large tsunami, which kills at least 230,000 people.
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| 10 new states join the European Union |
bombings carried out by Islamic militants killed 191 people on the commuter rail system of Madrid, Spain. |
On December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra created a large tsunami |
Ocean rim with heights of over 30 feet (10 meters) and killed at least 230,000 people |
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On 1 April 2005, changes to harmonise electricity trading across Great Britain came into effect with the introduction of a single set of wholesale electricity trading and transmission arrangements known as BETTA (British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements). National Grid UK is Great Britain System Operator and, following the introduction of BETTA, now operates the two Scottish transmission systems and its own England and Wales system as one, balancing electricity supply and demand across Great Britain.
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| 1 June 2005 - Sale of four gas distribution networks |
London wins bid to host 2012 olympics. |
| London wins bid to host 2012 Olympics |
Kyoto Protocol on measures to control climate change comes into force |
Labour wins a 3rd consecutive term with Tony Blair returned as Prime Minister |
The first successful partial face transplant is performed in France |
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| Suicide bombers kill 52 people on London’s transport system |
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on October 9. |
Australian of the Year Dr Ian Frazer develops a vaccine for cervical cancer. |
On July 11, bombs planted on the train system in Mumbai exploded, killing 209 people. |
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Walham substation is threatened by a flood after the UK experiences its wettest May–July since records began.
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| A civil war escalated in the Gaza Strip throughout June |
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
Tony Blair resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
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Transmission cables beneath the Olympic site are commissioned following a three-year build programme involving tunnelling, cable installation and overhead line work. The 6km-long cables running between West Ham and Hackney are housed in a four metre diameter tunnel at a depth of 15 to 30 metres.
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| Japanese scientists create a form of artificial DNA. |
Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar on April 27, 2008 |
The downfall of Lehman Brothers, which triggered the biggest banking crisis since the Great Depression |
An earthquake in Sichuan, China killed 69,227. This was the 19th deadliest earthquake of all time. |
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Barack Obama is elected first African-American president of the United States.
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| Barack Obama is elected first African-American president of the United States |
Michael Jackson dies. |
England win the Ashes series against Australia |
Jade Goody dies. |
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BritNed celebrate at the marine cable-lay of two High Voltage Direct Current cables between the Isle of Grain in Kent and Maasvlakte in the Netherlands has been completed and passed initial voltage tests
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| The World Cup, and TV pick ups surge as England go out (again) against Germany. |
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| Haiti earthquake - although numbers unknown at present, death toll is thought to exceed 250,000. |
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