1803 223 years ago Historical Events July 26 2 sources

The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London, United Kingdom.

On July 26, in the year 1803, The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London, United Kingdom. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of July 26, one of 429 recorded events on this date across all of history.

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.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on July 26, 1803 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 2 Wikipedia articles.
  • The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 30 June 2026.

On This Date in History 429

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2025 Jul 26 Tom Lehrer, American singer, comedian and mathematician (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2023 Jul 26 Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer and musician (born 1966)
Notable Deaths 2021 Jul 26 Joey Jordison, American musician (born 1975)
Notable Deaths 2020 Jul 26 Olivia de Havilland, American actress (born 1916)
Notable Deaths 2019 Jul 26 Russi Taylor, American voice actress (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2019 Jul 26 Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cuban Roman Catholic prelate (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2018 Jul 26 Adem Demaçi, Kosovo Albanian politician and writer (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2018 Jul 26 John Kline, American basketball player (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 26 June Foray, American voice actress (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 26 Patti Deutsch, American voice artist and comedic actress (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2017 Jul 26 Ronald Phillips, American criminal (born 1973)
Historical Events 2016 Jul 26 The Sagamihara stabbings occur in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. Nineteen people are killed.
Historical Events 2016 Jul 26 Hillary Clinton becomes the first female nominee for president of the United States by a major political party at the…
Historical Events 2016 Jul 26 Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth.
Notable Deaths 2016 Jul 26 Solomon Feferman, American philosopher and mathematician (born 1928)
Selected Events 2016 Jul 26 Hillary Clinton (pictured) became the first female nominee for president of the United States by a major political…
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 26 Bijoy Krishna Handique, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Mines (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 26 Flora MacDonald, Canadian banker and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Communications (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 26 Leo Reise, Jr., Canadian ice hockey player (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2015 Jul 26 Ann Rule, American police officer and author (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 26 Oleh Babayev, Ukrainian businessman and politician (born 1965)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 26 Charles R. Larson, American admiral (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 26 Richard MacCormac, English architect, founded MJP Architects (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 26 Sergei O. Prokofieff, Russian anthropologist and author (born 1954)
Notable Deaths 2014 Jul 26 Roland Verhavert, Belgian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 26 Luther F. Cole, American lawyer and politician (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 26 Harley Flanders, American mathematician and academic (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 26 Sung Jae-gi, South Korean philosopher and activist (born 1967)
Notable Deaths 2013 Jul 26 George P. Mitchell, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 26 Don Bagley, American bassist and composer (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 26 Karl Benjamin, American painter and educator (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 26 Miriam Ben-Porat, Russian-Israeli lawyer and jurist (born 1918)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 26 Lupe Ontiveros, American actress (born 1942)
Notable Deaths 2012 Jul 26 James D. Watkins, American admiral and politician, 6th United States Secretary of Energy (born 1927)
Selected Events 2012 Jul 26 The New Irish Republican Army was formed from a merger of a number of dissident republican militant groups.
Historical Events 2011 Jul 26 A Royal Moroccan Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashes near Guelmim Airport in Guelmim, Morocco. All 80 people on…
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 26 Joe Arroyo, Colombian singer-songwriter and composer (born 1955)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 26 Tom Borton, American jazz saxophonist, songwriter and composer (born 1956)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 26 Richard Harris, American-Canadian football player and coach (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 26 Sakyo Komatsu, Japanese author and screenwriter (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2011 Jul 26 Margaret Olley, Australian painter and philanthropist (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2010 Jul 26 Sivakant Tiwari, Indian-Singaporean politician (born 1945)
Historical Events 2009 Jul 26 The militant Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram attacks a police station in Bauchi, leading to reprisals by the…
Notable Deaths 2009 Jul 26 Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (born 1919)
Historical Events 2008 Jul 26 Fifty-six people are killed and over 200 people are injured, in the Ahmedabad bombings in India.
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 26 Lars Forssell, Swedish author, poet, and playwright (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2007 Jul 26 Skip Prosser, American basketball player and coach (born 1950)
Selected Events 2007 Jul 26 After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu…
Historical Events 2005 Jul 26 Space Shuttle program: STS-114 Mission: Launch of Discovery, NASA's first scheduled flight mission after the Columbia…
Historical Events 2005 Jul 26 Mumbai, India receives 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, resulting in floods killing over 5,000 people.

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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