10,000 British troops are sent to Natal, South Africa, signalling the start of the Boer War.

Town of Mafeking relieved by British forces, the most important symbolic event of the Boer War.

Death of Queen Victoria, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, having ascended the throne in 1837

Boer War formally ends following the signing of an armistice at Vereeniging.

Coronation of King Edward VII

Greatest suffragette rally in Hyde Park.

Death of King Edward VII

Siege of Sidney Street begins after members of an anarchist gang thought to have murdered a police officer are traced to a house in Houndsditch.

Coronation of King George V

The ocean liner Titanic strikes an iceberg and sinks on her maiden voyage

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is assassinated in Sarajevo, the event said to have triggered World War I.

Britain enters war following ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from Belgium

Armed uprising in Dublin centred around the Post Office. Although it is quickly crushed and its leaders executed, this will become one of the pivotal events leading to Irish independence.

Battle of Jutland secures British control over the seas, forcing the German navy to return to port.

Battle of the Somme begins. On the first day, 20,000 Britons are killed and 40,000 injured.

New coalition government formed under David Lloyd George

Bolsheviks led by Lenin overthrow provisional government in Petrograd in the 'October Revolution' (so called because Russia was using an older calendar at the time)

Married women over 30 granted the vote.

House of Commons votes to allow women MPs.

Germany signs armistice with Allies. Though the First World War only formally ends with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles the following June, all fighting ceases as of this date.