360 BC — Plato, in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias, discusses the history of a fictitious island he calls Atlantis, which lay beyond the Strait of Gibraltar (“Pillars of Hercules”) and sank into the ocean after its inhabitants had become morally corrupted and launched an unsuccessful attack against Athens
320 BC — Pytheas, after his travels, mentions an island in the North Atlantic, located near the Arctic Circle, that he calls “Thule”
29 BC — Virgil, in Georgics, refers to Ultima Thule as an unspecified northern landmass at the edge of the known world
60 – 61 — Roman conquest of Anglesey and Boudica's uprising
1200 – 1220 — Wolfram von Eschenbach composes Parzival, linking the Knights Templar to the Holy Grail
1871 — Proclamation of German Empire (Wilhelm I): Union is established between Prussia and other German kingdoms and duchies
13 – 17 Aug 1876 — First complete performance of the Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner
12 Nov 1880 — Premiere of Parsifal by Richard Wagner, popularising the Grail myth and the mythological depiction of the Knights Templar
25 Dec 1907 — Ordo Novi Templi (Order of the New Templars; ONT) is founded; the goal is to establish an Aryan utopia and racial salvation through eugenics and extermination
14 Dec 1911 — Roald Amundsen's expedition reaches the South Pole
17 Jan 1912 — Robert Falcon Scott's expedition reaches the South Pole
June 1912 — Order of Teutons is founded in Berlin: fundamental to the ideology is Nordic racial superiority and anti-semitism
18 Jun 1912 — Hans Dannreuther is born in Füssen, Bavaria
12 Sep 1913 — Elisabeth von Derschau is born in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
28 Jun 1914 — Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo by Yugoslav nationalist
28 Jul 1914 — Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia (beginning of the First World War)
5 Aug 1914 — Peter Janssen is born in Cuxhaven
26 Oct 1914 — Ingrid Sievert is born in Wilhelmshaven
21 Nov 1915 — Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance is crushed by ice and sinks
8 Mar – 8 Nov 1917 — Russian Revolution; beginning of the Russian Civil War
18 Aug 1918 — Thule Society is founded in Munich as a branch of the Order of Teutons; one core belief is that the Aryan race originated from the island of Thule, which is identified with Plato's Atlantis, whose real location is said to have been near Iceland
29 Oct 1918 — German Revolution begins with mutiny among sailors in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel
9 Nov 1918 — Independently, two German Republics are proclaimed; Wilhelm II abdicates and goes into exile in the Netherlands
11 Nov 1918 — Fighting of the First World War ends with an armistice agreement between Germany and the Allied forces
17 Dec 1918 — Swiss newspaper article cites British general as saying that German army was betrayed (“stabbed in the back”) by their home front; this “Stab-in-the-Back Legend” becomes crucial to right-wing accusations against Social Democrats, Communists, Jews, and Catholics, referred to as “November Criminals”
5 Jan 1919 — Supported by the Thule Society, the German Workers' Party (DAP) is founded in Munich
28 Jun 1919 — Treaty of Versailles: peace treaty between Germany and the Allies
1919 — Following the Russian and German Revolutions, fear of lower “impure” classes gaining control leads to a strengthening of the ONT; financial support is received from leading industrialists
July 1919 — Corporal of the German Army Adolf Hitler becomes part of an Intelligence Commando and is sent to infiltrate and investigate the DAP
11 Aug 1919 — German Constitution is signed: beginning of the Weimar Republic and end of the German Revolution
12 Sep 1919 — Hitler joins the DAP as 55th member
20 Feb 1920 — DAP is renamed National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)
24 Feb 1920 — First public meeting of NSDAP; Hitler proclaims a 25-point programme, including “Positive Christianity”, without a link to any established denomination, denying the Jewishness of Jesus, and opposing “Jewish Materialism”
March 1921 — Communist rebellions in Germany are unsuccessful
29 Jul 1921 — Hitler becomes chairman (“der Führer”) of NSDAP
August 1921 — Pressure on Germany to meet reparation payments stipulated by the Versailles Treaty begins hyperinflation
26 Aug 1921 — Mathias Erzberger is murdered by right-wing extremists for signing the armistice agreement
1922 — First sonic submarine detection device (ASDIC sonar) is produced in the UK; to avoid falling behind in submarine technology, circumventing the restrictions of the Versailles treaty, Germany begins to use the cover of a Dutch company to build and test submarines
27 – 29 Oct 1922 — “March on Rome” by Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party
31 Oct 1922 — (“Il Duce”) Mussolini becomes Prime Minister of Italy
Jan – Sep 1923 — Due to a crippled economy, revolutions, and strikes, Germany defaults on reparation payments; France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr region, leading to further strikes and weakening of the German economy
June 1923 — End of the Russian Civil War
8 – 9 Nov 1923 — "Beer Hall Putsch": failed attempt at revolution by NSDAP in Munich
11 Nov 1923 — Adolf Hitler is arrested for high treason and put in Landsberg Prison
15 Nov 1923 — Introduction of a new currency ends hyperinflation in Germany; reparation payments resume; France and Belgium withdraw from the Ruhr region
20 Dec 1924 — Hitler is pardoned and released from prison
18 Jul 1925 — Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler is published
1928 — Hermann Wirth proposes the past existence of an advanced Nordic-Atlantean culture on a lost island in the northern North Atlantic, claiming that a revival of that culture would bring about a utopian imperialism led by the Aryan race
6 Jan 1929 — Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron", SS) is expanded under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler and modelled after the Knights Templar and the Italian Blackshirts
24 Oct 1929 — “Black Thursday”: stock market crash on Wall Street leads to the Great Depression; rising unemployment and dissatisfaction with the liberal social democracy in Germany
22 Apr 1930 — London Naval Treaty is signed to regulate submarine warfare; Article 22 stipulates that enemy merchant vessels that neither refuse to stop nor offer active resistance can only be sunk after the crew has been brought to a place of safety; this effectively prohibits the sinking of large merchant vessels in the open sea and eliminates the strategic value of submarines
1930 — Alfred Rosenberg publishes The Myth of the Twentieth Century, promoting racial Nazi ideology, and the descent of Aryans from a lost master race of Atlanteans
May 1931 — Collapse of the Austrian banking system
1931 — Grail scholar Otto Rahn is commissioned by Himmler to conduct research on the Cathars in the Languedoc region (including Montségur)
July 1931 — Austrian banking crisis spreads into Germany
October 1932 — Oswald Mosley founds the British Union of Fascists (BUF)
30 Jan 1933 — Hitler becomes chancellor of a coalition government in Germany
27 Feb 1933 — Arson attack on the Reichstag (parliament building) is used by Hitler to arrest opposition politicians; parliament is dissolved, new elections are scheduled; concentration camps for political prisoners are being established
23 Mar 1933 — “Enabling Act”: with communist and social democratic deputies arrested or in hiding, the emergency bill allowing the cabinet to pass laws without involvement of the parliament is accepted by a two-thirds majority in parliament; Hitler, in effect, becomes dictator of the Third Reich
1 Apr 1933 — First boycott of Jewish businesses in Germany
2 May 1933 — Trade unions in Germany are dissolved; union leaders are imprisoned
9 May 1933 — Beginning of major burnings of "un-German" books across Germany (all Jewish writings, regardless of content; all writings that criticise the state, war, and Christianity; all writings that positively portray Darwin's theory of evolution)
14 Jul 1933 — Parties other than NSDAP are banned and dissolved
20 Jul 1933 — Reichskonkordat: treaty between Germany and Holy See guarantees freedom of Roman Catholic religion
1 Oct 1933 — Submarine school is established in Kiel; initially, courses are mostly theoretical, with some practical training on simulators and Finnish submarines
3 Nov 1933 — Himmler orders restoration of Wewelsburg, to turn it into an SS leader school
21 Jan 1934 — Large BUF rally in Birmingham
30 Jan 1934 — Political structure of German federal republic is dissolved; transfer of power from political institutions of provinces to central government
30 Jun – 2 Jul 1934 — “Night of the Long Knives”: Series of political executions by the Nazi government
2 Aug 1934 — Hindenburg dies; rather than call for new elections, cabinet proclaims Hitler as “Leader and Chancellor of the Empire” and Supreme Commander of armed forces
26 Feb 1935 — In the UK, first successful demonstration of radar
28 Mar 1935 — Lena Dannreuther is born in Kiel
9 Apr 1935 — Rosemarie Janssen is born in Wilhelmshaven
April 1935 — First major organised assaults in Germany against Jews
18 Jun 1935 — Anglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA) is signed in London: in violation of the Versailles Treaty, the German submarine force is officially reestablished, with command centre in Kiel
29 Jun 1935 — First German training submarine flotilla is established in Kiel; complete course takes one year
1 Jul 1935 — Foundation of Ahnenerbe: institute for research into the history of the Aryan race, led by Wirth, whose main interest is Atlantis
9 Jul 1935 — First official acknowledgement of the existence of a German submarine fleet
15 Sep 1935 — "Nuremberg Laws": Jews lose German citizenship; marriages and sexual intercourse is prohibited between "Germans" and "Jews"; the laws also establish the legal foundation for a eugenics programme
27 Sep 1935 — First German combat submarine flotilla is established in Kiel
12 Dec 1935 — Lebensborn Association is founded to promote and support “racially pure” pregnancies of married and unmarried women
25 Mar 1936 — Second London Naval Treaty is signed, affirming Article 22 from the first treaty of 1930
June 1936 — First meeting between Heinrich Himmler and Ernst Schäfer: Himmler explains his theory that Atlanteans descended from heaven, were forced to leave Atlantis as the island was submerged by rising sea levels (due to global warming and melting of thick ice sheets on the continents; "World Ice Theory"), and finally settled on the elevated terrain of central Asia, particularly in Tibet
17 Jul 1936 — Beginning of the Spanish Civil War; proxy war between Socialists and Fascists elsewhere
4 Oct 1936 — "Battle of Cable Street" in the East End of London between the Metropolitan Police Service, BUF supporters, and counter-protesters
25 Oct 1936 — Axis Pact between Germany and Italy
25 Nov 1936 — Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan
11 Dec 1936 — King Edward VIII abdicates, and George VI ascends throne
January 1937 — Wirth's Atlantean spiritualism is seen as being incompatible with Nazi Aryanism, and he is forced to leave Ahnenerbe
1 Jan 1938 — Beginning of “Aryanisation”: Jews are excluded from business and trade
12 Mar 1938 — “Anschluss”: Austria is annexed to the Third Reich
May 1938 – Aug 1939 — German Tibet Expedition led by Schäfer, supported by the SS and Ahnenerbe: goal is a geographical, cultural, and racial investigation of the region, partly to identify the roots of the Aryan race
25 Jun 1938 — 7th Submarine Flotilla is established in Kiel
29 Sep 1938 — “Munich Agreement”: in meeting with Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier, and Mussolini agree to the German occupation of Sudetenland
7 Nov 1938 — Ernst vom Rath is assassinated in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan
9 – 10 Nov 1938 — Reichskristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass): assassination of Ernst vom Rath is used as an excuse for attacks on Jews all across Germany
1 Dec 1938 — Beginning of Kindertransport: evacuation of Jewish children from the Continent to the UK
17 Dec 1938 — Beginning of the Third German Antarctic Expedition: aerial photographs are taken of the area east of the Weddell Sea, flags are planted, and markers are dropped from the air to lay claim on the new German territory of Neuschwabenland; plans are to establish a whaling station for oil production
27 Jan 1939 — Plan Z: extensive programme for an expansion of the German navy is approved, including the building of 249 submarines
15 Mar 1939 — In violation of the Munich Agreement, German army invades the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, beyond Sudetenland, and enters Prague; Bohemia and Moravia are declared German protectorates
1 Apr 1939 — End of Spanish Civil War
15 Aug 1939 — Mobilisation of the German submarine force; renewed warnings that it is not strong enough to take on the Royal Navy are ignored. Bletchley Park estate is taken over by Code and Cypher School as “Station X”; beginning of decryption of German Enigma and Lorenz codes
19 Aug 1939 — Beginning of war patrols of German submarines from Wilhelmshaven and Kiel
23 Aug 1939 — Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed in Moscow: non-aggression agreement between Germany and Soviet Union
25 Aug 1939 — In response to Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, UK and Poland sign alliance agreement
30 Aug 1939 — Beginning of the evacuation of children from large cities in the UK
1 Sep 1939 — Germany invades Poland (first military operation of the Second World War in Europe). Defence Regulation 18B comes into effect in the UK, allowing the internment of suspected Nazi or IRA sympathisers
3 Sep 1939 — Beginning of the “Phoney War”: UK and France declare war on Germany over the invasion of Poland, but no intervention follows. Beginning of the “Battle of the Atlantic”: British passenger ship SS Athenia is mistaken for an armed merchant cruiser and sunk by U-30; sinking is covered up in Germany and blamed on Churchill as a plot to draw the USA into the war
5 Sep 1939 — First Allied merchant ships sunk by German submarines
14 Sep 1939 — First German submarine sunk by a British warship
17 Sep 1939 — Soviet Union invades eastern Poland. First British warship sunk by a German submarine
18 Sep 1939 — William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) begins broadcasting English language Nazi propaganda from Germany
October 1939 — Beginning of the “Aktion T4” German euthanasia programme, initially affecting all disabled infants, later extended to adults
November 1939 — War Order No. 154, issued to the German Navy, stipulates unrestricted submarine warfare; explicitly prohibits the rescue of survivors and is therefore in clear contradiction to Article 22 of the London Naval Treaties
30 Nov 1939 — Soviet Union attacks Finland (beginning of the Winter War)
5 Feb 1940 — UK and France decide on a military intervention in Norway
16 Feb 1940 — “Altmark Incident”: UK violates Norwegian neutrality by attacking German supply ship Altmark in Norwegian waters (end of the Phoney War)
4 Mar 1940 — German Navy High Command issue order to cancel all upcoming submarine patrols until further notice, and to abort all ongoing patrols along the Norwegian coast
12 Mar 1940 — UK decides to send an expeditionary force to Norway
13 Mar 1940 — End of the Winter War; British operation to Norway is cancelled
3 Apr 1940 — First German submarines for the invasion of Norway depart Wilhelmshaven and Kiel to take up waiting positions in the North Atlantic
6 Apr 1940 — Beginning of "Operation Order Hartmut": submarines of the 2nd and 7th Flotillas leave their waiting positions for Narvik
7 Apr 1940 — German surface fleet for the occupation of Trondheim and Narvik departs bases
8 Apr 1940 — “Operation Wilfred”: Royal Navy lays mine fields in Norwegian waters, violating again Norwegian neutrality
9 Apr 1940 — "Operation Weserübung": beginning of the German invasion of Denmark and Norway; Narvik is taken
10 Apr 1940 — First Battle of Narvik: successful surprise attack by British naval and air forces on the German naval force at Narvik; beginning of the “German Torpedo Crisis”
12 Apr 1940 — British bombing raid from aircraft carrier on Narvik. Beginning of the UK occupation of the Faroe Islands
13 Apr 1940 — Second Battle of Narvik: arrival of British reinforcements; U-64, at anchor, is sunk from the air; U-51 is the only German vessel at Narvik to escape to the open sea; British victory at sea, but no landing troops are available; battle on land continues between Allied (British, French, Polish, and Norwegian) and outnumbered German troops
14 Apr 1940 — All British ships are withdrawn from Narvik. All torpedoes launched by U-46 and U-48 at HMS Warspite and escort destroyers fail to detonate
15 Apr 1940 — After failed attack on two destroyers, U-49 is located and sunk; from surfaced wreckage, secret documents are recovered by the British, including a map with the locations of all German submarines
Apr – May 1940 — First phase of the development of anti-invasion defences of Scotland (ports and airfields)
22 Apr 1940 — Anticipating Allied victory, Germans begin the destruction of railway lines and port facilities in Narvik
24 Apr 1940 — Narvik is bombed from British warships; civilians flee town
10 May 1940 — Beginning of the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. Neville Chamberlain resigns; Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister. UK invades Iceland
15 May 1940 — The Netherlands surrender to Germany
22 May 1940 — Amendment to Defence Regulation 18B is passed, to allow for more widespread arrests and internment of right-wing activists in the UK
23 May 1940 — Mosley is interned for the duration of the war; BUF is banned
24 May 1940 — Following German successes in the Low Countries and France, Allies decide to pull out of Norway, but the fighting at Narvik continues
25 May 1940 — British and French forces in France retreat to Dunkirk
26 May 1940 — Beginning of the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk
28 May 1940 — Allied troops take control of Narvik. Belgium surrenders to Germany
2 Jun 1940 — Much of Narvik is destroyed by fire due to a German bombing raid
4 Jun 1940 — End of the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk. Beginning of “Operation Alphabet”: evacuation of Allied troops from Narvik. Beginning of “Operation Juno”: German naval offensive to recapture Narvik, unaware of Allied evacuation
7 Jun 1940 — Norwegian Royal Family and Government, together with the gold reserve, are evacuated from Tromsø to London on HMS Devonshire
8 Jun 1940 — Due to the Allied evacuation, Operation Juno is redirected to attack the retreating troop transports; German troops recapture Narvik
9 Jun 1940 — British Army forms the British Commandos as a raider force for deployment in Continental Europe and Scandinavia
10 Jun 1940 — Norwegian forces surrender to Germany, but a Norwegian Government in exile is established in London
June 1940 — Beginning of the second phase of the development of anti-invasion defences of Scotland (linear defences along beaches, rivers, and canals). Thousands of internees are brought to the Isle of Man
22 Jun 1940 — France surrenders to Germany
30 Jun 1940 — Germany occupies the Channel Islands
2 Jul 1940 — First British air raid on Kiel
10 Jul 1940 — First German bombing raids on British convoys in the Channel (beginning of the "Battle of Britain")
July 1940 — Investigation into the reasons for the high failure rate of German torpedoes; problems are identified; no systematic trials and improvements until 30 Jan 1942
9 Aug 1940 — First German air raid on Birmingham
August 1940 — Beginning of the release of Category C and B enemy aliens from the Isle of Man
24 Aug 1940 — First night-time air raid on London; targets are the Victoria Docks. Further air raids on Portsmouth, Aberdeen, Bristol and South Wales
25 Aug 1940 — First British air raid on Berlin; retaliation for the bombing of London
7 Sep 1940 — "Black Saturday": beginning of the "Blitz", with the first major air raid on the docks and the East End of London, deliberately including civilian targets
12 Sep 1940 — Against government regulations, Londoners use Underground stations as air raid shelters for the first time
September 1940 — First boats of the 7th Submarine Flotilla are transferred from Kiel to Saint-Nazaire, Bay of Biscay
30 Sep 1940 — Three German secret agents land in the Moray Firth by seaplane from Stavanger; are arrested only hours later
17 Dec 1940 — First scene in the Prologue of Part One
22 Dec 1940 — Second scene in the Prologue of Part One
29 – 30 Dec 1940 — Most devastating air raid on London ("Second Great Fire of London")
4 Mar 1941 — “Operation Claymore”: raid on Lofoten Islands (Henningsvær, Brettesnes, Stamsund, and Svolvær) by No. 3 and 4 British Commandoes and Norwegian Independent Company 1; destruction of fish oil factories, oil and glycerin stores, and ships; capture of German troops and Norwegian collaborators. Navy Enigma rotor wheels and keys for February are also captured from the armed trawler Krebs; leads to a major breakthrough in decoding Navy Enigma messages
9 May 1941 — “Operation Primrose”: capture of a complete working model of the latest version of the Naval Enigma encoding machine and codebooks from U-110 by HMS Bulldog, HMS Broadway, and HMS Aubretia; the submarine sinks while being towed to Scapa Flow
May 1941 — End of the intense phase of terror bombing of British cities (“Blitz”)
24 May 1941 — HMS Hood engages battleship Bismarck and is sunk with more than 1400 fatalities
27 May 1941 — Bismarck is sunk by British warships and aircraft with more than 2000 fatalities
June 1941 — Last submarines of the 7th Flotilla are transferred from Kiel to St. Nazaire. 1st Flotilla is transferred from Kiel to Brest
22 Jun 1941 — Beginning of “Operation Barbarossa”: Germany invades the Soviet Union
1941 — Development of the first guided missile at the German Army Research Centre in Peenemünde
21 Aug 1941 — First Arctic convoy leaves Iceland for Arkhangelsk
30 Nov 1941 — Indications that the British have developed a small airborne locating device (radar) are ignored by the German Navy High Command, when U-96 is attacked under completely dark night-time conditions
December 1941 — Operation Barbarossa fails with the “Battle of Moscow”
18 Jan 1942 — U-130 is attacked by a Canadian destroyers and crash-dives; submarine is flooded due to iced-up diesel air intakes and sinks to the sea floor in shallow water; destroyers break off the attack; crew manages to bail out the submarine and resurface
20 Jan 1942 — “Wannsee Conference”: high-ranking Nazi officials present a plan for the “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” (Holocaust)
6 Mar 1942 — First submarine patrol out of Narvik
March 1942 — Order of the New Templars and other sectarian groups are suppressed by the German secret police (Gestapo). Beginning of the development of the first ballistic missile in Peenemünde
26 Mar 1942 — Beginning of the mass extermination of Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp
May – Jun 1942 — Type IXC submarine U-511 participates in underwater test launches of rockets developed in Peenemünde; no further development due to lack of a precise rocket guidance system, and reduced underwater performance of the submarine with a rocket launcher
Jun – Jul 1942 — Hans Scholl and Alexander Schmorell write and distribute the first four leaflets of the White Rose resistance group in Munich
12 Sep 1942 — "Laconia Incident": RMS Laconia is mistaken for a troop transport and sunk by U-156; during the rescue of survivors, the submarine and lifeboats are attacked by an American B-24 bomber, forcing the submarine to abandon the rescue. In response, the "Laconia Order" is issued, reinforcing War Order No. 154 and prohibiting any kind of assistance to enemy survivors by crews of any German naval vessel; reinforcing War Order No. 154 from 1939
13 Jan 1943 — Riots after a Nazi speech in Munich: female students protest after being accused of "loitering" at the university instead of "presenting the Führer with babies"; as they are attacked and arrested by the police, male students step in to protect and free them; the incident attracts the attention of the Gestapo; the White Rose intensify their campaign
27 – 29 Jan 1943 — Hans and Sophie Scholl, Alexander Schmorell, and Willi Graf write and distribute their fifth leaflet in Munich and in other cities
February 1943 — Germans lose the “Battle of Stalingrad”. Sophie Scholl distributes leaflets during the day in Munich
18 Feb 1943 — Nazi rally in the Berlin Sportpalast: Joseph Goebbels delivers his "Total War Speech". Hans and Sophie are arrested while distributing their sixth leaflet and are interrogated; the leaflet is smuggled out of Germany and via Oslo to London
22 Feb 1943 — First White Rose trial in Munich; Christoph Probst, Hans and Sophie Scholl are convicted of treason and executed by guillotine
19 Apr 1943 — Second White Rose trial in Munich; Alexander Schmorell, Kurt Huber, and Willi Graf are sentenced to death
June 1943 — Preliminary plans for new Type XXI electric submarines are completed
1943 — Emile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau develop the first open-circuit underwater breathing apparatus
13 Jul 1943 — Alexander Schmorell and Kurt Huber are guillotined
July 1943 — RAF bombers drop millions of copies of the last White Rose leaflet over Germany, while readings are broadcast on the BBC. Plans to use submarine-towed launch platforms for V-1 rockets are proposed but ultimately rejected
13 Aug 1943 — German Navy High Command issues an order for the transition from conventional to electric submarines
12 Oct 1943 — After months of unsuccessful interrogations, Willi Graf is guillotined
December 1943 — RAF bombers drop White Rose leaflets over Germany
29 Jan 1944 — Beginning of “Operation Tabarin”: British military expedition to the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula to establish manned bases, in response to German, Argentine, and Chilean claims on Antarctic territories
26 Feb 1944 — Last heavy air raid on London
6 Jun 1944 — “D-Day”: beginning of the “Battle of Normandy”
20 Jul 1944 — Assassination attempt by German army generals and military intelligence officers on Hitler fails
15 Dec 1944 — 14th Submarine Flotilla is established in Narvik
December 1944 — Beginning of the production of waterproof containers for V-2 rockets, to be towed across the Atlantic by submarines; none are ever deployed
29 Jan 1945 — Hans Conrad Leipelt is executed for distributing the last White Rose leaflet in Hamburg; Marie-Louise Jahn is sent to labour prison
15 Feb 1945 — Obsolete Type VIIC submarine U-1053 is lost during a deep diving trial; reason for the trials is unclear; speculations about rocket tests
28 Apr 1945 — Mussolini is executed by Italian partisans
30 Apr 1945 — With the Red Army attacking Berlin, Hitler commits suicide in the Führerbunker
2 May 1945 — Berlin surrenders to the Red Army
4 May 1945 — Stand-down order issued to the German navy
8 May 1945 — "V-E Day": Germany unconditionally surrenders to the Allied forces
1945 — Civilian Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) is established, to take over the management of the British bases on Antarctica
17 Jul 1945 — Beginning of the “Potsdam Conference”: German annexations are reversed; country is divided into four occupation zones
14 Nov 1945 — Beginning of the first round of the Nuremberg Trials
Nov 1945 – Feb 1946 — “Operation Deadlight”: scuttling of German submarines at Loch Ryan, Scotland and Lisahally, Northern Ireland
3 Jan 1946 — William Joyce is executed for high treason
March 1946 — “43 Group” is founded in response to post-war fascist groups in England
September 1947 — Women are henceforth accepted as full students at the University of Cambridge
24 Jun 1948 — Beginning of the Berlin Blockade (beginning of the Cold War)
4 Apr 1949 — NATO is founded, with headquarters in Brussels
5 May 1949 — Council of Europe is founded, with headquarters in Strasbourg
12 May 1949 — End of the Berlin Blockade
23 May 1949 — Federal Republic of Germany is founded
7 Oct 1949 — German Democratic Republic is founded
6 Feb 1952 — King George VI dies
2 Jun 1953 — Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
17 Jun 1953 — Demonstrations in East Germany are suppressed by the Soviet military (tens are killed, thousands arrested)
1953 — In his book The Silent World, Cousteau predicts porpoises’ use of sound for navigation and communication
9 May 1955 — West Germany joins NATO
17 May 1955 — In response to West Germany joining NATO, the Soviet Union initiates the establishment of the Warsaw Pact; East Germany is founding member; plans for a German reunification on both sides are abandoned
6 Jan 1956 — Station Z ("Halley") of FIDS is established on the Brunt Ice Shelf, Weddell Sea
25 Mar 1957 — “Treaty of Rome” is signed, laying the foundation for the European Economic Community (EEC)
1 Jul 1957 – 31 Dec 1958 — International Geophysical Year reestablishes a scientific interaction between East and West
4 Oct 1957 — Sputnik 1 becomes the first manmade object to orbit Earth (beginning of the Space Race)
2 Mar 1958 — “Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition”: first crossing of Antarctica is completed
30 Apr 1958 — Women are allowed to sit in the House of Lords
30 – 31 Aug 1958 — Race riots in Notting Hill, spawned by violent attacks on Caribbean immigrants
25 Dec 1958 — After almost 400 years, Christmas is reinstated as a public holiday in Scotland
3 Feb 1961 — Station T (“Adelaide”) of FIDS is established on Adelaide Island, Antarctic Peninsula
12 Apr 1961 — Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to travel into outer space
4 Jun 1961 — Beginning of the "Berlin Crisis": stand-off between American and Soviet armed forces in Berlin
23 Jun 1961 — Antarctic Treaty comes into effect: Antarctica can only be used for peaceful purposes, particularly for scientific research
July 1961 — Amnesty International is founded
13 Aug 1961 — Start of the construction of the Berlin Wall
November 1961 — By closing the border between East and West Berlin, the imminent threat of war is removed (end of the Berlin Crisis). First extensive scuba dive under Antarctic sea ice is conducted at McMurdo Station, including biological research
4 Dec 1961 — First birth control pills are made available in the UK through the NHS to married women, with the consent of their husbands
1962 — FIDS is renamed British Antarctic Survey (BAS), with headquarters located in Cambridge
14 – 28 Oct 1962 — “Cuban Missile Crisis” over Soviet nuclear missiles stationed on Cuba after the Bay of Pigs Invasion; ends with the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba, and of US missiles from Turkey
21 Dec 1962 — Alison Jane Conway is born in Great Yarmouth
26 Dec 1962 — Heavy snowfall and blizzards over Southern England are beginning of “The Big Freeze of 1963”, coldest winter in the UK since the “Little Ice Age”, and snowiest since 1946-47
6 Mar 1963 — First day of the year without frost anywhere in the UK
2 May 1963 — “From Me to You” by The Beatles is No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart; Beatlemania spreads from Liverpool
17 May 1963 — Siobhán Dannreuther is born in Liverpool
8 Jun 1963 — Mary-Claire Golding is born in Tonbridge
November 1963 — First of three consecutive American summer research projects studying Weddell seals, including their potential to use echolocation
22 Nov 1963 — John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas
Dec 1963 – Feb 1964 — American research project on algae under Antarctic sea ice
1964 — World Without Sun documentary film by Jacques-Yves Cousteau
31 Jan 1965 — Vietnam War escalates
1965 — Metrication begins in the UK
September 1966 — Alison and Siobhán begin attending nursery school; Claire begins attending an Anglican girl's prep school
7 Feb 1967 — British National Front is founded
February 1967 — Beginning of the construction of Halley II research station, after old base has been buried in snow
June 1967 — Beginning of the first winter diving project under Antarctic sea ice at McMurdo Station
1967 — Contraceptive pill becomes available to all British women between the ages of 16 and 49
27 Jul 1967 — Sexual Offences Act 1967 decriminalises private homosexual acts between men in England and Wales
September 1967 — Alison and Siobhán begin attending primary school
Feb – Mar 1968 — International Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expedition, including diving under sea ice from icebreaker channels
4 Apr 1968 — Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis
20 Apr 1968 — “Rivers of Blood Speech” by Enoch Powell fuels anti-immigration sentiments
27 Apr 1968 — Abortion Act 1967 comes into effect in the UK (except in Northern Ireland), legalising abortions through the NHS up to 28 weeks gestation
5 Jun 1968 — Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles
12 Jun 1968 — Rosemary's Baby film by Roman Polanski popularises the topic of Satanism
20 Jul 1968 — The Devil Rides Out film by Terence Fisher
September 1968 — "Great Flood of 1968" affects large parts of Southeast England
April 1969 — Intensification of “The Troubles”: British reinforcement troops are sent to Northern Ireland
20 Jul 1969 — Apollo 11: Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin become the first men on the moon
9 – 10 Aug 1969 — "Tate and LaBianca murders" by members of the Manson Family are falsely linked by some media reports to satanic rituals
12 – 14 Aug 1969 — “Battle of the Bogside” between Irish nationalists and the Royal Ulster Constabulary
December 1969 — IRA splits into Provisional (PIRA) and Official factions
18 Dec 1969 — Murder Act 1965 comes into effect, abolishing the death penalty for murder in the UK (except in Northern Ireland)
15 Feb 1971 — Currency decimalisation in the UK and Ireland: shilling and florin are phased out
5 Aug 1971 — Education (Milk) Act abolishes free school milk for children over seven
Aug 1971 – Dec 1975 — “Operation Demetrius”: internment of suspected IRA members in Northern Ireland, leading to the worst riots of the conflict in Belfast
9 Jan 1972 — Beginning of a widespread miners strike in the UK
30 Jan 1972 — “Bloody Sunday”: 13 civil rights protesters are killed by the British Army in Londonderry; increased recruitment into PIRA
2 Feb 1972 — British embassy in Dublin is burned down by protesters in response to Bloody Sunday
9 Feb 1972 — Due to the miners strike, a state of emergency is proclaimed
28 Feb 1972 — End of the miners strike
28 Jul 1972 — Beginning of a dockers strike in the UK
4 Aug 1972 — Due to the dockers strike, a state of emergency is proclaimed
1 Sep 1972 — School leaving age in England and Wales is increased from 15 to 16
17 Oct 1972 — European Communities Act lays foundation for the incorporation of EEC law in the UK
1 Jan 1973 — UK enters the EEC
February 1973 — Beginning of the construction of Halley III research station
8 Mar 1973 — First PIRA bombings in England (Whitehall and Old Bailey in London)
9 Mar 1973 — Northern Ireland Referendum returns a majority vote for remaining in the Union
October 1973 — OAPEC embargo in response to the Yom Kippur War results in a global oil crisis and increased coal prices in the UK
26 Dec 1973 — The Exorcist film by William Friedkin
Jan – Mar 1974 — “Three-Day Week” in the UK: due to the oil crisis and ongoing strikes, commercial electricity use is limited to three days per week, creating food and other shortages
March 1974 — End of oil crisis; in aftermath, increased inflation in the UK, and development of North Sea Oil
September 1974 — Alison and Siobhán begin attending Angel Road Comprehensive in Norwich; Claire begins attending an Anglican girl's boarding school in Royal Tunbridge Wells
5 Oct 1974 — “Guildford pub bombing” by PIRA
21 Nov 1974 — “Birmingham pub bombing” by PIRA
28 May 1975 — “A Sound of Dolphins” episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
6 Jun 1975 — In a referendum, Britons vote for a continued membership in the EEC
9 Jun 1975 — “Beneath the Frozen World” episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
June 1975 — Beginning of British North Sea Oil production
July 1975 — Rendezvous in Earth orbit of Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts ends the space race
15 Aug 1975 — “Birmingham Six” are sentenced to life terms
22 Oct 1975 — "Guildford Four" are sentenced to life terms
25 Oct 1975 — Rothera Research Station of BAS is established on Adelaide Island to replace Station T
30 Oct 1975 — First killing by Peter Sutcliffe (“Yorkshire Ripper”)
29 Dec 1975 — Sex Discrimination Act and Equal Pay Act come into effect in the UK
Jun – Jul 1976 — Record heat wave and drought in the UK; state of emergency due to water shortages
1 Jul 1976 — Anneliese Michel dies of starvation after an attempted Catholic exorcism
21 Jul 1976 — UK ambassador to Ireland is assassinated by PIRA in Dublin
17 Nov 1976 — Voyage to the Edge of the World documentary film by Jacques-Yves and Philippe Cousteau
18 May 1977 — UN ban on weather warfare is signed
6 – 9 Jun 1977 — Silver Jubilee celebrations for Elizabeth II
18 Jan 1978 — UK is found guilty of mistreatment of prisoners in Northern Ireland by the European Court of Human Rights
April 1978 — First UK nudist beach is opened near Hastings
25 Jul 1978 — World's first "test-tube baby" is born in the UK
September 1978 — Beginning of the "Winter of Discontent": limit on pay raises to control inflation results in widespread trade union strikes across the UK, including lorry and ambulance drivers, NHS ancillary workers, gravediggers, and waste collectors
October 1978 — Heated public debate about the cull of grey seals around the Orkney Islands
18 Nov 1978 — Jonestown Massacre: more than 900 people die in a mass suicide and murder in Jonestown, Guyana
January 1979 — "Crisis? What Crisis?": increasing chaos in the UK due to widespread union strikes; growing support for the Conservative Party
16 Jan 1979 — First episode of Life on Earth is broadcast on the BBC
12 – 23 Feb 1979 — First World Climate Conference in Geneva, sponsored by WMO, concludes that international cooperation is required to combat manmade climate change
February 1979 — End of trade union strikes
Feb – Mar 1979 — Heavy snow and blizzards in Eastern England
22 Mar 1979 — British ambassador to the Netherlands is shot dead in Den Haag by PIRA
4 May 1979 — Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the UK
7 Jun 1979 — First election for the European Parliament
27 Aug 1979 — "Warrenpoint Ambush": PIRA attack on a British Army convoy via a remote controlled bomb in County Down. Simultaneously, Lord Mountbatten is executed by a remote controlled bomb in his boat
1980 — Publication of Michelle Remembers by Lawrence Pazder and Michelle Smith spawns hysteria about satanic ritual abuse, resulting in several wrongful accusations and convictions until the early 1990s
15 Jul 1980 — Alfred Wegener Institut (AWI) für Meeres- und Polarforschung is founded in Bremerhaven
Oct – Dec 1980 — First IRA hunger strike in protest of the conditions in prison
8 Dec 1980 — John Lennon is fatally shot in New York
December 1980 — Diving facilities for biological research are established at Station H ("Signy") of BAS
24 Feb 1981 — Georg-von-Neumayer Station of AWI is commissioned on the Ekström Ice Shelf
Mar – Oct 1981 — Second IRA hunger strike in an attempt to receive political status for prisoners; ten inmates die
11 May 1981 — Bob Marley dies of skin cancer
13 May 1981 — Pope John Paul II is critically injured in an assassination attempt by a Turkish sniper
30 May 1981 — “March for Jobs” to Trafalgar Square
July 1981 — Widespread inner city race riots in England
29 Jul 1981 — Marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s
1 Aug 1981 — “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles becomes the first video shown on MTV
August 1981 — Alison and Siobhán receive the required A-levels and are formally accepted by King’s College of the University of Cambridge; Claire is accepted at St Andrews
September 1981 — Establishment of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, protesting the siting of American cruise missiles in Britain
January 1982 — Unemployment in the UK reaches the high levels of the 1930s
19 Mar 1982 — Argentina occupies the South Georgia Islands (beginning of the Falklands War)
2 Apr 1982 — Argentina invades the Falkland Islands
5 Apr 1982 — First ships of the British Task Force leave Portsmouth for the Falklands
25 Apr 1982 — British recapture the South Georgia Islands
2 May 1982 — ARA General Belgrano is sunk outside the total exclusion zone with 323 fatalities; protests by the Irish Government worsen Anglo-Irish relations
21 May 1982 — Landing of British troops on East Falkland
28 – 29 May 1982 — 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment recaptures Darwin and Goose Green
14 Jun 1982 — Falklands War ends with Argentine surrender
18 Jun 1982 — Roberto Calvi, member of Propaganda Due, is found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London
1982 — Propaganda Due: list of members (frati neri, "black friars) and political programme of the secret organisation ("state within a state") are discovered; goal is to transform Italy into a rightwing authoritarian democracy
23 Jul 1982 — International Whaling Commission agrees on a ban of commercial whaling at a meeting in Cambridge
August 1982 — U.S. Centers for Disease Control classify newly discovered sexually transmitted disease, referred to as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
12 Oct 1982 — Parade in London to celebrate the victory in the Falklands War
30 Nov 1982 — Letter bomb from animal rights activists explodes in 10 Downing Street
12 Dec 1982 — 30,000 women participate in the blockade of RAF Greenham Common
2 Jan 1983 — Halley IV research station is established
February 1983 — Local Hero film by Bill Forsyth is released
21 Apr 1983 — Due to the high printing costs, the One Pound coin is introduced to replace the note
18 – 24 Jun 1983 — Sally Ride becomes the first female American astronaut to fly into space
1983 — Survival: South Atlantic by Cindy Buxton and Annie Price is published
26 Nov 1983 — "Brink's-Mat Robbery": Gold bullion worth £26m are stolen in Britain's largest ever robbery
19 Jan 1984 — First episode of The Living Planet is broadcast on the BBC
12 Mar 1984 — Beginning of a miners strike in the UK after the announcement of pit closures
June 1984 — Siobhán receives a B.A. from the University of Cambridge and is offered a Ph.D. position at the University of St Andrews
18 Jun 1984 — “Battle of Orgreave”: clash between thousands of striking miners and police results in injuries and arrests
1984 — Danger of acid rain becomes a public issue
Jul – Aug 1984 — Beginning of a dockers strike in support of the striking miners
12 Oct 1984 — “Brighton Hotel Bombing”: PIRA assassination attempt on Thatcher and her cabinet kills five
10 Dec 1984 — "Pits and Perverts" concert in London, organised by lesbian and gay groups in support of the striking miners
15 Dec 1984 — “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid becomes fastest selling record of all time; charity recording and concerts to relieve famine in Ethiopia
4 Jan 1985 — First official surrogate birth in the UK causes controversy
17 Jan 1985 — British Telecom announce that red telephone boxes will be phased out
25 Jan 1985 — After more than 40 years, German parliament elides all sentences past by the Volksgerichtshof ("people's court" of Nazi Germany, operating outside of constitutional law), including the death sentences for the White Rose members; resistance fighters against the Nazi regime are officially not considered traitors anymore
3 Mar 1985 — Miners strike collapses as poverty among workers becomes untenable; beginning of widespread pit closures and migration out of mining communities (formation of “ghost towns”)
March 1985 — Beginning of Perestroika: reforms in the Soviet Union to establish a free market economy
16 May 1985 — Based on measurements at Halley IV, BAS announce the discovery of a serious thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer over Antarctica
June 1985 — Siobhán receives an M.Sc. in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St Andrews and continues with Ph.D. research
1985 — First satellite communications system on Antarctica becomes operational, linking Australian bases to homeland
10 Jul 1985 — Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior is sunk in Auckland by French secret agents
1 Sep 1985 — Wreck of RMS Titanic is found at a depth of 3800 m
October 1985 — Major race riots in Liverpool and London
15 Nov 1985 — Anglo-Irish Agreement grants Ireland an advisory role in Northern Ireland; seen as a betrayal by Unionists
28 Jan 1986 — Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart shortly after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts
26 Apr 1986 — Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in radioactive contamination across Europe
1986 — Three East German Troposphären-Funkstationen (tropospheric radio stations), each protected by an underground nuclear bunker, become operational for test purposes
November 1986 — UK Ministry of Agriculture admits the presence of a new disease in cows, that can affect humans (BSE)
December 1986 — Unemployment rates in the UK are falling rapidly
6 Mar 1987 — British ferry capsizes in the harbour of Zeebrugge, killing 193
9 Apr 1987 — Lady Diana opens the UK’s first AIDS ward in the Middlesex Hospital
28 May 1987 — Mathias Rust from West Germany lands with a rented Cessna on the Red Square in Moscow
16 Sep 1987 — Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is signed
19 Sep 1987 — In the UK, the first criminal arrest is made based on DNA evidence, leading to conviction
19 Oct 1987 — “Black Monday”: stock markets around the world crash
15 Dec 1987 — Beginning of the construction of the Channel Tunnel
6 Mar 1988 — “Death on the Rock”: three unarmed PIRA members are shot by SAS in Gibraltar, before a planned bomb attack can be carried out
11 May 1988 — The Big Blue film by Luc Besson is released
11 Jun 1988 — Concert for Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday in Wembley Stadium
June 1988 — Beginning of the “Second Summer of Love”: acid house raves become popular in England; increased usage of MDMA and LSD. Siobhán receives a Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Evolution from the University of St Andrews (Spectral Analysis of Echolocation Signals and Sound Communication in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus))
6 Jul 1988 — A fire on the oil and gas platform Piper Alpha, northeast of Aberdeen, kills most of the crew
July 1988 — Siobhán is accepted as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Aberdeen
15 Aug 1988 — European format passports are introduced in the UK
28 Oct 1988 — After having been trapped under ice near Point Barrow for weeks, two of three grey whales are freed by Alaskans and two Soviet icebreakers
5 Dec 1988 — First episode of Supersense is broadcast on the BBC
December 1988 — Troposphären-Funkstation 302 in Lindholz becomes fully operational
21 Dec 1988 — “Lockerbie Air Disaster”: Pan Am Flight 103 is brought down by a bomb and crashes over Scotland, killing 270 (worst case of mass murder in the UK)
February 1989 — Several sexual abuse cases of children in Nottinghamshire are wrongly attributed to Satanic ritual abuse
March 1989 — First free democratic elections in the Soviet Union since 1917
15 Apr 1989 — “Hillsborough Stadium Disaster” in Sheffield at the start of the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, killing 96
April 1989 — Siobhán applies for the position of marine biologist with the British Institute for Polar Research (BIPOLR) to work at the Aurora IV base on Antarctica, but receives no response
3 – 5 Jun 1989 — “Tiananmen Square Massacre”: unarmed protesters are attacked by military, killing at least hundreds
8 Jun 1989 — Wreck of the battleship Bismarck is discovered at a depth of 4790 m
14 Jul 1989 — First MDMA-induced death in the UK during an acid house rave in Manchester
23 Aug 1989 — Hungary opens its border to Austria
4 Sep 1989 — Beginning of "Monday Demonstrations" in East Germany
10 Sep 1989 — Hungary opens its border to East Germany, allowing East Germans to escape to the West
19 Oct 1989 — "Guildford Four" are released from prison after police evidence is found unreliable
29 Oct 1989 — “Splashdown” episode of Natural World is broadcast on the BBC
4 Nov 1989 — Protest on East Berlin's Alexanderplatz
9 Nov 1989 — Opening of the Berlin Wall; East German and Soviet military decide not to intervene in the mass exodus to the west
16 Nov 1989 — Frederik de Klerk announces the end of racial segregation in South Africa
3 Dec 1989 — “Malta Summit”: end of the Cold War is declared by the superpowers
17 Dec 1989 — “Under the Ice” episode of Natural World
22 Dec 1989 — Brandenburg Gate is reopened
15 Jan 1990 — Stasi headquarters in Berlin are invaded by East German citizens, demanding access to personal records
11 Feb 1990 — Nelson Mandela is released from prison
15 Feb 1990 — UK and Argentina restore diplomatic relations
March 1990 — Several protests and riots against the Poll Tax in London
16 Apr 1990 — Concert for Nelson Mandela in Wembley Stadium
4 May 1990 — Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union
17 May 1990 — Homosexuality is removed from the WHO list of diseases
1 Jun 1990 — PIRA assassinate British Army personnel in England and Germany
7 Jun 1990 — Joint Enquiry Report of the Nottinghamshire County Council finds no evidence for Satanic ritual abuse in several alleged cases in Nottinghamshire between 1987 and 1989
12 Jun 1990 — Russia declares independence from the Soviet Union
13 Jun 1990 — Beginning of the official dismantling of the Berlin Wall
1990 — Several children are wrongfully removed from their homes in Rochdale due to unfounded allegations of Satanic ritual abuse
July 1990 — First IPCC Scientific Assessment of Climate Change report
22 Jul 1990 — "Deliver Us from Evil": an edition of Heart of the Matter on BBC One still promotes the idea of Satanic ritual abuse, referring to the cases in Nottinghamshire
2 Aug 1990 — Beginning of the First Gulf War between Iraq and UN Coalition Forces
4 Sep 1990 — Occupation by East German citizens of the STASI headquarters in Berlin achieves the opening of secret personal files, against the original plans of the East and West German governments
September 1990 — UK is affected by a recession and increasing unemployment
20 Sep 1990 — East and West German parliaments sign the treaty for reunification
24 Sep 1990 — East Germany leaves the Warsaw Pact. In an evening phone call, Siobhán is invited by BIPOLR to Cambridge for an interview for the wintering position at Aurora IV
30 Sep 1990 — Article in the Mail on Sunday debunks the claims put forth in Michelle Remembers
2 Oct 1990 — Troposphären-Funkstation 302 is shut down; weapons, secret equipment and documents are removed; reduced guard personnel remain
3 Oct 1990 — Formal conclusion of the German reunification
4 Oct 1990 — After passing all medical examinations, Siobhán is accepted for the wintering position
15 Oct 1990 — Gorbachev receives the Nobel Peace Prize
October 1990 — Women serve on an operational British warship for the first time
1 Nov 1990 — Ireland elects its first female president
21 Nov 1990 — Paris Charter is adopted, laying the foundation for the OSCE
27 Nov 1990 — Thatcher resigns after the election of John Major as party leader
1 Dec 1990 — British and French parts of the Channel Tunnel meet
7 – 8 Dec 1990 — Unusually heavy snowfall and strong winds over the UK (blizzard conditions, fatalities, power outages, disruption of traffic)
22 Dec 1990 — Siobhán's first scene in Part One
5 Jan 1991 — Severe winds over Southwest England and Ireland (fatalities and power outages)
17 Jan 1991 — First bombing of Iraqi positions in Kuwait by Coalition Forces
19 Jan 1991 — Protests against the Gulf War in London
30 Jan 1991 — Prologue of Part Two
4 Feb 1991 — Siobhán's last scene in Part One
7 Feb 1991 — PIRA mortar attack on 10 Downing Street
11 Feb 1991 — "The wrong type of snow": expression is introduced in a BBC Radio 4 interview to explain the impact of the unusually snowy weather conditions on rail traffic
18 Feb 1991 — PIRA bombs explode in Paddington and Victoria stations; all Heathrow terminals and approach roads are closed for several hours
20 Feb 1991 — Siobhán's first scene in Part Two
23 Feb 1991 — First ground assault on Iraqi positions in Kuwait by Coalition Forces
28 Feb 1991 — First Gulf War ends with the liberation of Kuwait
2 Mar 1991 — Siobhán's last scene in Part Two
6 Mar 1991 — Prologue of Part Three
12 Mar 1991 — Siobhán's first scene in Part Three
14 Mar 1991 — “Birmingham Six” are released from prison after the discovery that evidence had been fabricated and suppressed by the police
15 Mar 1991 — Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany (“Zwei-plus-Vier-Vertrag”) comes into effect: Germany regains complete independence from the Second World War Allies
21 Mar 1991 — Siobhán's last scene in Part Three
18 May 1991 — Helen Sharman on board Soviet space capsule Soyuz TM-12 becomes the first Briton in space
1 Jul 1991 — Warsaw Pact is dissolved
October 1991 — Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is signed in Madrid: requires that non-native flora and fauna (including sledge dogs, but exempting humans) be removed from Antarctica by 1994
7 Jan 1992 — Closure of Troposphären-Funkstation 302: fuel is removed, electricity disconnected, doors locked and sealed, but water is left in the tanks on the lowest level
19 Feb 1992 — Halley V research station becomes fully operational
November 1995 — First female BAS wintering staff arrive at Halley V
January 1997 — Bonner Laboratory and dive facility for biological research is opened at Rothera station
28 Sep 2001 — Bonner Laboratory burns down due to an electrical fault