On 7th October…

1806 - Carbon paper was patented by Ralph Wedgwood in London. Carbon paper is a sheet of paper saturated with ink and then dried out, when it’s placed between two sheets of paper whatever is written on the top sheet is then copied straight onto the bottom sheet of paper.

1920 - For the first time in its history Oxford University allowed women to collect degrees for their studies. Oxford has been a centre for education since 1096 but women had been excluded until 1878, when separate academic halls were established for them. Even though women had been able to study at Oxford for over 30 years it wasn’t until 1920 that they could receive certificates to prove they had studied at Oxford University to a degree standard.

On 8th October…

1908 - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame was published for the first time. The story features Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger and their lives by the river. The book is so popular that it has never been out of print in its lifetime.

1965 - The Post Office Tower (now known as Telecom Tower) opened in London. At the time it was the tallest building in Britain at 191 metres high and helped to relay telecommunications across the UK. On the 34th floor there was a revolving restaurant where you could sit and eat whilst viewing the entire cityscape of London.

On 9th October…

On 10th October…

1846 - William Lassell, an amateur astronomer from Bolton in England, discovered Triton the largest of Neptune’s moons. The planet Neptune had only been discovered 17 days beforehand.

On 11th October…

1982 - The Mary Rose, the pride of King Henry VIII’s fleet of ships, was raised from the seabed to viewers around the world on live television. The ship had sunk in the English Channel not far from Portsmouth in 1545 and had lain preserved on the seabed ever since, it is now on display in the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, England.

On 12th October…

632 - The Battle of Hatfield Chase took place in Anglo-Saxon England. The kingdom of Northumbria was led by the first Christian king, King Edwin who fought fiercely against the joint forces of the pagans of the English kingdoms of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd. Penda of Mercia and King Cadwallon of Gwynedd defeated King Edwin who was killed in the battle.

1845 - Elizabeth Fry died at the age of sixty-five years. She was a Quaker and a prison and social reformer. Her work helped to make the treatment of prisoners more humane.

1859 - Robert Stephenson the famous Victorian engineer died. He worked alongside his father George. Robert designed the Rocket locomotive which was the fastest steam engine of its time and able to pull carriages along the railways invented by his father.

On 13th October…

1453 - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales was born. He was the only son of King Henry VI of England and Margaret Anjou.