1588 English Admiral John Hawkins knighted for his actions against the Armada.
1609 English mathematician Thomas Harriot is the first person to draw a map of the Moon by looking through a telescope.
… Surrey Iron Railway
The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn narrow-gauge plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by an act of Parliament in 1801, and opened partly in 1802 and partly in 1803. It was a toll railway on which carriers used horse traction. The chief goods transported were coal, building materials, lime, manure, corn and seeds. The first 8+1⁄4 miles (13.3 km) to Croydon opened on 26 July 1803, with a branch line off from Mitcham to Hackbridge.
The 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) long Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway was built as an extension of the railway but by a separate company.It opened in 1805 and closed in 1838.[5]
The Surrey Iron Railway was commercially successful only briefly, until shortly after the opening of the canal between Croydon and London in 1809. It closed in 1846. …
1916 The US protests the "Blacklist" issued by the British, forbidding trade with some 30 US firms. ..
1945 After a Labour landslide in the general election, Clement Attlee becomes the British Prime Minister.
On 26th July, the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Cardiff came to an end with the closing ceremony at Cardiff Arms Park.
The film Ironclad, released on 26th July 2011, was filmed entirely in Wales at the Dragon International Film Studios in Llanharan. It was the largest independent production to be filmed in Wales.
On this day in music, July 26, 2006, the final edition of the iconic British music TV show, Top Of The Pops, was recorded at London’s BBC Television Centre in front of a studio audience of 200. First broadcast on New Year’s Day 1964, the series ran to 2,260 episodes, a feat which made it the world’s longest-running music show. Many of the series’ earlier presenters led the hour-long farewell, which included memorable clips from the TOTP archives and tributes by some of the show’s most famous guests.[/b]
Did I read that right? Are birthday wishes in order? I went to The Rhondda Heritage Park yesterday, it's only a mile from me but I hadn't been in a while. There was a car boot sale there, so me and the mrs went for a wander. I took a few photos you might appreciate.
Ironical that the Surrey Iron Railway was defeated by competion from a later canal!
This must have been the world's first "public" railway, even though carrying only goods. Private plateways already existed but only as part of particular mines and quarries.
What could have been the first public goods railway using steam locomotives started in Stratford-on-Avon, aiming to connect that inland port with Oxford and eventually London. It was seriously hampered by Parliament banning steam traction, likely thanks to lobbying by the draught-horse industry. Part of its route was eventually taken over by the Great Western Railway, whose empire extended as far North as Birmingham. The line's attractive, brick-built bridge over the R. Avon, close to the modern RSC Theatre, is now a footbridge: the modern road bridge is upstream of it.
Mention Stratford-on-Avon to most people and they think immediately of William Shakespeare, but really, only because he was born there. His major work, including his Globe Theatre, was all in London. The town's real historical significance came later, as a major goods interchange between the canal network and the River Avon Navigation. That died in time but the restored waterways are now busy with leisure boats.
