Timeline of Brighton

The following is a timeline of the history of Brighton, England.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

18th century

Year	Date	Event	Reference
1730s		Richard Russell begins to prescribe the medicinal use of seawater at Brighthelmstone for his patients
1771		Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, and brother of George III, visits Brighton
1786		George, Prince of Wales, and the future George IV rents a farmhouse in Brighton
1787		George, Prince of Wales, and the future George IV begins construction of the Royal Pavilion

19th century

 

Brighton's Chain Pier, Sussex's earliest pier, was built in 1823. Painting by John Constable c.1824

Year	Date	Event	Reference
1823		Brighton's first pier, the Chain Pier, is built.	^[1]
1828	11 June	Sussex County Hospital (now Royal Sussex County Hospital) opens in Brighton	^[2]
1837	27 March	Death of Maria Fitzherbert, longtime companion of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom at her home in Steine House, Brighton.	^[3]
1839	1 March	Sussex County Cricket Club formed, the first county cricket club.	^[4]
1840	11 May	The first railway line in Sussex, from Brighton to Shoreham opens.	^[5]

20th century

Year	Date	Event	Reference
1908		G. A. Smith films A Visit to the Seaside in Brighton. The film is the world's first commercially produced film in natural colour.	^[6]
1926	11 May	Angry confrontations known as Battle of Lewes Road take place in Brighton during the 1926 United Kingdom general strike.
1940		German air raids on Sussex begin, those in Brighton being known as the Brighton Blitz.
1945	8 May	VE Day marks the end of the war in Europe.	^[7]
1961	August	Charter granted to the University of Sussex, the first university in Brighton and Sussex.	^[8]
1965	14 June	Bishop David Cashman is made the first bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton.	^[9]
1966		Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was designated; it was revoked in 2010 upon the establishment of the South Downs National Park.
1967		The first Brighton Festival and Brighton Fringe are held
1968		Sussex Police is formed.	^[10]
1972	October	Sussex Gay Liberation Front holds a demonstration in favour of gay rights, a precursor to the annual Brighton Pride event	^[11]
1974		As part of the Local Government Act 1972 the Lord Lieutenancy of Sussex replaced with one each for East and West Sussex which are made ceremonial counties.	^[12]
1982		At a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Brighton, delegates vote for a moratorium on commercial whaling.	^[13]
1984	12 October	Brighton bombing assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher	^[14]

21st century

Year	Date	Event	Reference
2000		Brighton and Hove is granted city status
2011	1 April	South Downs National Park becomes fully operational.	^[15]
2014		UNESCO designates land between the Rivers Adur and Ouse to be the Brighton and Lewes Downs Biosphere Reserve, Sussex's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.	^[16]
2018		The Rampion Wind Farm becomes operational, a wind farm that lies off the Sussex coast between Worthing and Seaford.	^[17]
2018	3 October	Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make their first official visit to Brighton as Duke and Duchess of Sussex	^[18]
2020	6 February	The first case in Brighton of COVID-19 was reported when a man who returned from Singapore and France to Brighton on 28 January	^[19]^[20]^[21]
2021	March	DEFRA announces a bylaw first proposed by the Sussex IFCA to prevent trawling on 304 square kilometres (117 sq mi) of sea bed off the coast of Sussex. The law should help the rewilding and regeneration of the Sussex kelp forest.	^[22]^[23]^[24]

References

1. Drewry, Charles Stewart (1832). A Memoir on Suspension Bridges, Comprising the History of Their Origin and Progress, and of Their Application to Civil and Military Purposes. Longmans, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman. pp. 69–74.
2. "History of Royal Sussex County Hospital Programme Board Presentation" (PDF). Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
3. Knowles, Rachel (16 October 2011). "Mrs Fitzherbert (1756-1837)". Regency History. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
4. Scott, Les (2011). Bats, Balls & Bails: The Essential Cricket Book. Random House. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-446-42316-5. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
5. Christopher, John, ed. (2014). Locomotives of London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1445634517.
6. "A Visit to the Seaside (1910)". Retrieved 30 March 2021.
7. "1945: Rejoicing at end of war in Europe". BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
8. "About the University". University of Sussex. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
9. "Bishop David John Cashman". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
10. "Sussex Police Authority". National Archives. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
11. www.sitebysimon.co.uk, Simon Chilton -. "Brighton Ourstory :: A History of Lesbian & Gay Brighton Chapter 3: Out of the Closet, 1967-87". www.brightonourstory.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
12. UK Government. Local Government Act 1972. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
13. McCarthy, Michael (2 January 2006). "20 years on and whales are under threat again". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
14. Tebbit, Norman (12 October 2014). "Brighton bombing: I can't find it in my heart to forgive the creature Magee, says Norman Tebbit". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
15. "'Historic day' for South Downs National Park". BBC. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
16. "Brighton & Lewes Downs". UNESCO. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
17. "Rampion Offshore Wind Farm Hits Full Stride". Offshore Wind.biz. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
18. "Harry and Meghan visit Sussex as duke and duchess". BBC. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
19. Spiteri, Gianfranco; Fielding, James; Diercke, Michaela; Campese, Christine; Enouf, Vincent; Gaymard, Alexandre; Bella, Antonino; Sognamiglio, Paola; Sierra Moros, Maria José; Riutort, Antonio Nicolau; Demina, Yulia V. (5 March 2020). "First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020". Eurosurveillance. 25 (9). doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000178. ISSN 1025-496X. PMC 7068164. PMID 32156327.
20. Boseley, Sarah; Campbell, Denis; Murphy, Simon (6 February 2020). "First British national to contract coronavirus had been in Singapore". The Guardian. from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
21. Mohdin, Kim Willsher Aamna; Madrid, and Sam Jones in (8 February 2020). "Coronavirus: British nine-year-old in hospital in France". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
22. "Trawl fishing banned off Sussex coastline to restore kelp forests". Oceanographic Magazine. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
23. "Kelp". Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
24. "Trawl fishing ban off Sussex coast aims to restore seaweed forests". 22 March 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.