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1901 - 19101901 January 22: Queen Victoria dies – Edward VII king March 31: Seventh full British Census (available for inspection January
2002) June: Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in
Boer War October 2: Britain's first submarine launched December 12: First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by
Marconi 1902 Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education May 24: Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated May 31: Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War 1903 Before 1903 people had flown in hot-air
balloons and in motor less gliders, butleaving aside one or two claims that are not
officially accepteduntil that year no one had ever flown in a power-driven,
heavier-than-air machine, or aeroplane. Two American brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright,
invented and tested the first practical aeroplane. On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright
made an initial flight of 12 seconds at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Within a year the
brothers had built a craft that could stay aloft, and turn and bank. Other aircraft soon
followed, and within a few years aeroplanes were carrying mail, crossing the English
Channel, and fighting in World War I. 1905 Einstein publishes theory of relativity In New Zealand, the postage meter is introduced. 1906 Labour Party formed Free school meals for poor children San Francisco earthquake 1907 School medical system begins 1909 January 1: Old Age Pensions Act came into force July 25: Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to
Dover) Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges 1910 Union of South Africa formed May 6: Edward VII dies – George V king |
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