1897 in the United Kingdom
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1897 was a year of prosperity in Great Britain as the British Empire remained at its height.
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[edit] Monarchy
In 1897, Queen Victoria celebrated her ascension to the throne in 1837 with her Diamond Jubilee celebrations centered around London.
[edit] Military
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.
According to some speculation, 1897 was the year of commission for the HMS Thunder Child, the fictional ship featured in The War of the Worlds.
[edit] Literature
The Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde was released from prison.
Irish-born writer Bram Stoker releases Dracula for the first time on May 18, which is set between Transylvania and Whitby in Yorkshire.
Herbert George Wells completes drafting of The War of the Worlds and prepares it for finalising and publishing. His novel, The Invisible Man, is released in this year, as is The Crystal Egg.
It is the 13th Anniversary since the publication of Britains' first comic book, Ally Sloper's Half Holiday.
[edit] Births
- July 29 — Neil Ritchie, general (died 1983)
- November 9 — Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1978)
