Cambridge in the Twentieth Century
Nineteenth Century <- Time Thread -> Twenty-First Century
1901-1910
- 1901: King Edward VII
- 1905: There were claims that Cambridge had the worst traffic problems in England during term time
- 1905: Sultan of Zanzibar hoax
- 1909: Cambridge School of Art moved to Collier Road
- 1910: King George V
- 1910: Moving pictures were shown in a large tent at Midsummer Fair
1911-1920
- 1911: A Bleriot monoplane landed on Parker's Piece for a wager
- 1912: the Urban District of Chesterton merged with the Cambridge Borough Council
- 1914: From the outbreak of war, soldiers camped on most of the open spaces of the town.
A large hospital was built with temporary huts on the site which became the 1934 University Library
- 1919: The PhD was introduced, to encourage foreign researchers to come
1921-1930
- 1920s & 1930s: Slum clearance on Castle Hill
- 1922: Cambridge Corporation Act
- 1924: Rag Day started, for the Earl Haig Poppy fund
- 1925: Drummer St. bus station and car park
- 1925: One-way system introduced in Market Street and Petty Cury
- 1925: CU ban of students' motor vehicles before 12:30 and after 8:30pm
- 1926: Government-imposed reforms of Cambridge University - the University loses its two
Members of Parliament and the modern Regent House is instituted.
First women lecturers
- 1926: Fen Causeway was built to link the expanding area of Newnham
and give work during the depression.
There was also a lot of council house building in the 1920s, mainly in the south
and north-east of the town. Bricks came from the Coldham's Lane brickworks
(now the Coral Park trading estate)
- 1927: The ancient King's Mill by the
Mill Pool was demolished
- 1929: First traffic lights in Cambridge - at the Castle Street/Northampton Street junction
- 1929: Marshall's aerodrome opened (replaced by the current airport in 1937-8)
- 1930: CU banned first-years keeping & driving motor vehicles
1931-1940
- 1931: Varsity newspaper first published
- 1932: Cambridge Corporation Act
- 1932: A new Shire Hall was built
- 1932: Paul Dirac elected Lucasian Professor
- 1932: Cambridgeshire Technical College and School of Art
- 1932: The rough grazing land of New Square was converted to a car park
- 1934: The town council abolished the annual Stourbridge Fair
- 1934: Town boundary enlarged to include Cherry Hinton
- 1934/5: The new University Library opened
- 1936: King Edward VIII
- 1936: King George VI
- 1936/7: New Guildhall built, designed by C. Cowles Voysey
- 1938: Marshall's Airport formally opened, with a display of Spitfires
- 1940: A bomb destroyed houses in Vicarage Terrace
1941-1950
- 1942: Bombs fell on the Union Society, the Round Church,
houses in Jesus Lane and Portugal Place and Whewell's Court, Trinity.
In all 15 bombs fell on the town during the war.
Mill Road railway bridge was also hit.
An abandoned Wellington bomber hit
houses in Histon Road
- 1944: A near-riot
- 1947: The University votes to admit women
- 1947: Camtax taxis fitted with Pye VHF radios - believed first in country
- 1948: The Queen became the first female to have full membership of the University
upon receiving an honorary degree.
Newnham and Girton Colleges were formally recognised
- 1950: The Holford Report
1951-1960
- 1951: King George VI grants Cambridge its charter ("Letters Patent") as a City (24 March)
- 1952: Queen Elizabeth II
- 1953-8: Slums south of Lensfield Road were demolished
- 1954: The emergence of Grad-bashing
- 1954: New Hall founded, initially where Darwin College now is, moving to its
Huntingdon Road site in 1964
- 1956: CU Pantomime Society stages the first theatrical performance in the 1875 Corn Exchange
- 1958: Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology
- 1958-9: Silver Street Bridge rebuilt to Sir Edwin Lutyen's design
- 1960: Churchill College founded as a memorial to Sir Winston
1961-1970
- 1961: The City's first modern shopping arcade, Bradwell's Court, opened
- 1962: The first phase of New Addenbrooke's Hospital was opened by the Queen
- 1963: Parkside indoor swimming pool opened, described as
"the finest in the country", with new fire and police stations nearby
- 1963: Park St. car park opened
- 1963: Cambridge University Press expanded to a new site by the railway line
- 1964: A car park under Parker's Piece was rejected (as it had been in 1957 & 1959)
- 1964: The Grad Pad ("University Centre") founded by benefaction of Sir Isaac Wolfson
- 1964: Darwin College founded by Caius, St John's and Trinity Colleges
- 1965: The first Cambridge Folk Festival
- 1965: University College founded, renamed as Wolfson College in 1973
- 1965: Lucy Cavendish Collegiate Society recognised by the University
- 1965: CU abolishes the requirement to wear gowns
after dark, essentially as it was no longer appropriate or enforceable
- 1966: Fitzwilliam College founded from Fitzwilliam House
- 1966: Clare Hall founded by Clare College
- 1967: Buses and lorries banned from Magdalene Bridge as the aging bridge couldn't cope but there was opposition to a replacement, delaying it till 1981
- 1967: The village of Bar Hill was founded
- 1967: Sinclair Radionics relocates
- 1968: The Mott Report
- 1969: The Co-Op's Beehive Centre was opened as a discount warehouse, later opened to everyone, against planning opposition
- 1969: Rag Day moved to February, after a long
disagreement with the City Council (who licenced collections before the Charity Commission took over)
- 1970: There was some liberalisation of students' gate hours
- 1970: Trinity Science Park founded
- 1970: Lion Yard development started
1971-1980
- 1971: Students from elsewhere gained the right to vote in Cambridge
- 1971: Elizabeth Bridge opened, having been proposed at the same time as Victoria Bridge 80 years before
- 1971: Queen Anne Terrace car park opened
- 1972: Cambridge Transport Study
- 1972: Whittle Laboratory for jet engine studies opened
- 1972: The Dorothy restaurant/ballroom closed
- 1973: The first Cambridge Beer Festival and Strawberry Fair
- 1974: Local Government reforms: Cambridge University loses its City councillors and the City status was retained
- 1974: Reality Checkpoint
- 1975: Kelsey Kerridge Sports Hall opened by Princess Anne
- 1977: The Duke of Edinburgh elected Chancellor
- 1977: Robinson College founded by David Robinson
- 1977: Northern Bypass built
- 1977: City Centre Traffic Restrictions
- 1979: Stephen Hawking elected Lucasian Professor
- 1980: Mill Road bridge was raised to allow for electric trains
- 1980: M11 opened
- Students in the late 60s & 70s
1981-1990
1991-2000
Nineteenth Century <- Time Thread -> Twenty-First Century
Cambridge
: History