1897 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1897 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

*Monarch - Victoria of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative

Events

* 29 March - Church of England encyclical replies to the recent Papal "Apostolicae Curiae" (v. 1896), defending the validity of Anglican orders.
* 19 May - The Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde was released from prison.
* 22 May - The Blackwall Tunnel, at the time the longest underwater tunnel in the world, opened by the Prince of Wales.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 22 June - Queen Victoria celebrates her accession to the throne in 1897 with her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, centred around London.
* 21 July - The Tate Gallery opens.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 325-326|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 26 July–2 August - Siege of Malakand: British troops besieged by Pashtun tribesmen in Malakand.
* 10 August - The Automobile Club of Great Britain (now known as the Royal Automobile Club) founded in London.
* 19 August - first electric, horseless taxis begin operating in London.
* 20 August - Physician Ronald Ross discovers malarial parasites.
* 10 September - First conviction for drink-driving given to London taxi driver George Smith.

Undated

* Discovery of the electron by J. J. Thomson.
* A British military force was ambushed by Chief Ologbosers, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin. In retaliation, Benin City was torched to the ground by British forces in the Punitive Expedition.

Publications

* Joseph Conrad's novella "The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'".
* Henry James' novels "The Spoils of Poynton" and "What Maisie Knew".
* Rudyard Kipling's novel "Captains Courageous" and his poem "Recessional".
* W. Somerset Maugham's novel "Liza of Lambeth".
* Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula".
* H. G. Wells' novel "The Invisible Man", and short story "The Crystal Egg".

Births

* 25 March — John Laurie, actor (died 1980)
* 26 March — David McCallum, Sr., violinist (died 1972)
* 27 May - John Cockcroft, physicist (died 1967)
* 12 June — Anthony Eden, Prime Minister (died 1977)
* 15 July - R. J. Yeatman, humorist (died 1968)
* 29 July — Neil Ritchie, general (died 1983)
* 11 August - Enid Blyton, children's writer (died 1968)
* 1 September — Andy Kennedy, footballer (died 1963)
* 9 November — Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1978)
* 15 November — Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Baronet, writer (died 1988)

Deaths

* 12 January - Isaac Pitman, inventor of Pitman Shorthand (born 1813
* 19 June - Charles Boycott, land agent, origin of the word "boycott" (born 1832)
* 15 October - Charles John Vaughan, scholar and churchman (born 1816)
* George Palmer biscuit manufacturer (born 1818)

References

ee also