This timeline gives the dates for various Raitts in history (in licorice black) together with world events, inventions and great names (in midnight blue) at the time they were living. Also included are Raitts and other family members who are more directly related to me (in strawberry). See also all the Raitts in history (up to 1700).

     938 - Earliest mention of (the now county of) Angus

     954 - Earliest mention of The Mearns (Kincardineshire)

    1004 - Unsuccessful Viking raid at Gamrie, Banffshire

    1012 - Murder of Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, by Vikings

    1040 - Macbeth crowned King of the Scots

    1050 - Macbeth makes pilgrimage to Rome – only Scottish king to do so

    1057 - Macbeth killed at the Battle of Lumphanan

    1066 - William the Conqueror of Normandy  invaded England and crowned King – start of French influence in names and etiquette

    1086 - William I initiates survey of England known as Domesday Book

    1095 - First Crusade to restore Christian rule to Holy Land

    1098 - Agreement between Edgar of Scotland and Magnus of Norway that the Norse should hold Western Isles and the Scots the mainland

    1099 - Siege of Jerusalem

    1118 - Order of Knights Templar founded in France

    1124 - David I crowned King of Scotland

Bef 1129 - Village of Rait in Gowrie (Perth) mentioned – defensive, estuarial settlement

    1147 - William Marshall born - reputed to be the greatest knight in the world

    1149 - Second Crusade

   1164 - Death of Somerled Macgillebrigte

    1170 - Murder of Thomas a Becket

    1178 - Arbroath Abbey founded

    1194 - Arbroath harbour built

    1209 - London Bridge (with houses and shops) completed; Albigensian Crusade

    1215 - Magna Carta

    1241 The Mongols invade Hungary and Poland

    1248 - Seventh Crusade

   1249 - Alexander III crowned King of Scots

    1251 - Alexander III married Margaret, daughter of Henry III of England

    1258 - Baghdad sacked by Mongols - 100.000 slaughtered

    1260 - Rait castle built near Nairn

    1263 - Alexander III defeats Haco (Haakon IV) King of Norway at Battle of Largs

    1265 - First English parliament

    1266 - Treaty of Perth – sovereignty of Western Isles (Hebrides) surrendered by Norway to Scottish crown

    1271 - Ninth Crusade; Marco Polo visits China for first time

    1272 - Edward I ascends English throne

    1281 - Margaret, daughter of Alexander III marries Eirik II of Norway

   1286 - Margaret, daughter of Eirik II and Margaret, becomes Queen of Scots

    1290 - Margaret, Maid of Norway and Queen of Scots dies in Orkney aged seven

    1292 - John Balliol adjudged rightful King of Scotland; Sir Gervaise de Rathe was Constable of Inverness Castle

    1295 - Franco-Scottish treaty of mutual defence against England

    1296 - Edward I of England invades Scotland, deposes King John Balliol, and removes Stone of Scone to Westminster Abbey; Gevaise de Rathe and his brother Sir Andrew de Rathe, as well as Sir Roger de Rathe, paid homage to King Edward 1st of England; Sir Andrew de Rait/Rathe was a member of Edward I’s household

    1297 - William Wallace  defeats English at Battle of Stirling Bridge

   1298 - William Wallace becomes Guardian (Governor) of Scotland

    1300 - Population in Scotland is about 400.000

    1304 - Scots submit to Edward I

    1305 - William Wallace executed

    1306 - Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland

    1314 - Battle of Bannockburn - Scots defeat English

    1320 - Declaration of Arbroath

    1328 - Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton     

1346 - Sir Alexander de Rathe killed at the Battle of Crécy; cannon used by English for first time; Edward III defeats Scots at Battle of Neville's Cross

    1348 - Black Death reaches England

1350 - John de Rait becomes Bishop of Aberdeen; Black Death plague kills some 50% of British population

    1357 - Treaty of Berwick

1360 - Rait lands in Gowrie lost to Crown – de Rait family move to Hallgreen in Angus

    1371 - Robert II becomes King of Scotland

    1376 - Hallgreen castle built at Bervie, Kincardineshire

1378 - David de Arrat sells lands of Arrat and Brechin by charter to Thomas de Rait, Lord of Ury (Aberdeenshire)

1396 - Barony of Rait (village) granted to David Bruce – descendant of Robert the Bruce; Battle of the Clans at Perth

1405 - Andrew, Thane of Calder (now Cawdor, Nairn), killed by Sir Alexander Gervaise de Raite who fled to the Mearns (Kincardineshire). All Rait lands in Nairn, Inverness, Moray were forfeit.

    1411 - Battle of Harlaw

    1413 - University of St Andrews founded

    1421 - Chinese fleets sail around the globe – Australia, Africa, North and South America

    1437 - Murder of James I at Perth

Abt 1450 - Mark Rait (son of Alexander) marries heiress of Hallgreen (Dunnet family) and inherits the castle

    1451 - University of Glasgow founded

    1452 - Leonardo da Vinci born in Florence, Italy

1454 - Andrew Rayte had tenement (estate) in Glasgow

    1469 - Orkney and Shetland ceded to Scotland from Denmark

1478 - Sir Thomas Rait, chaplain, St Andrews

1490 - David Rait of Drumnagair marries Ms Arbuthnott

    1492 - Christopher Columbus lands in America

    1495 - University of Aberdeen founded

    1500 - World population is 450 million; population of Scotland is 500.000

    1508 - Printing arrives in Scotland

    1509 - Henry VIII crowned King of England

1513 - William Rait killed at Battle of Flodden (Field), Northumberland

    1532 - central law court (college of justice) established in Edinburgh

    1533 - Mary becomes first female Monarch of England

    1558 - Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England

    1560 - Scottish Reformation - nation becomes Protestant;

Church of Scotland established

    1582 - University of Edinburgh founded

1585 - James Rait was the minister in Nairn and surrounds

   1587 - Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots

    1588 - Spanish Armada

1592 - David Rait, principle of the College of Aberdeen and of the house of Hallgreen, marries Elizabeth Allardice (daughter of Laird); University of Fraserburgh chartered

1595 - Elizabeth Rait of Hallgreen marries David Arbuthnot

1597 - wife of Andrew Raitt testifies in witch trial of Janet Wishart

    1600 - Formation of East India Company; population of Scotland is 800.000

    1603 - James VI of Scotland inherits English crown and becomes James I of England; Union of Scottish and English crowns

    1605 - Gunpowder Plot (Guy Fawkes) to blow up Houses of Parliament and get rid of Scots surrounding King in London  

    1607 - First English settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia

    1610 - Galileo discovers moons of Jupiter and observes rings of Saturn; US population is 250

    1613 - East India Company opens first trading post in Japan at Hirado

     1614 - Japan issues edict against Christians (Jesuits)

1615 - William Shakart gets master mariner certificate

    1616 - Act establishes schools in every parish in Scotland; death of

William Shakespeare

    1619 - First African slaves arrive in United States

    1620 - Pilgrim Fathers arrive from Leiden in Holland to establish settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts

1632 - James Rait born in Aberdeen

1635 - Alexander Raitt born (possibly Kinnell, Angus)

1636 - David Raitt was Principle of King’s College, Old Aberdeen

    1639 - Outbreak of Bishops’ War in Scotland

1641 - Elizabeth Rait (daughter of William Rait of Hallgreen) marries Robert Arbuthnott

    1643 - Taj Mahal completed in India     

1646 - William Rait of Hallgreen marries Janet Arbuthnott

1649 - Charles II passes Act in favour of William Raitt, Laird of Hallgreen

1650 - James Stormont born Lednethie, Angus; Imposition of Cromwellian rule on Britain following Battle of Dunbar; world population is 500 million; US population is 50.000

1651 - Rait village attacked by Oliver Cromwell; A. Rait of Rayne, Aberdeenshire, left for Prussia as a merchant

1655 - Alexander Rait born Arbroath

1657 - James Raitt born Kinnell

1658 - James Rait married Marjorie Ronaldson; Oliver Cromwell dies

    1660 - Royal Mail postal services starts

1665 - Katherine Raitt born Arbroath; Black Death in London – plague kills 75.000

    1666 - Great Fire of London; Defeat of Covenanters at Rullion Green

1667 - Margaret Raitt born St Vigeans

   1670 - Formation of Hudson Bay Company; Genealogy of the Raits of Halgrene compiled

1671 - John Meikison marries Agnis Shakkart; Colonel Thomas Blood attempts to steal the crown jewels

1675 - John Rait of Inverkeilor dies in Nevis, West Indies

1677 - Archibald Rait becomes burgess of Danzig

1680 - Francis Rait is standard-bearer of the Scots Regiment in The Netherlands;  Patrick Sangster born Gamrie, Banffshire

1683 - Family history manuscript published about the Raitt family in Bavaria

1684 - Francis Raitt born Kinnell

1686 - Johannes Raitt was studying in Leszna, Poland

    1687 - Isaac Newton describes theory of gravity  

1688 - Andrew Rait married Magdalene Fyfe

    1689 - Uprising of Bonnie Dundee for the Stewart cause; William of Orange (Holland) offered English crown; Peter the Great becomes Czar of Russia     

1690 - David Raitt born St Vigeans; Hearth tax (fireplace) introduced in Scotland

    1692 - Massacre of Glencoe

1693 - Elizabeth Rait born Arbroath

1695 - Isobel Rait born (possibly Guthrie, Angus); Bank of Scotland founded

    1696 - Education Act ordered locally-funded schools, Church-supervised schools to be established in every parish in Scotland

    1698 - Darien scheme - settlers from Scotland land in New Caledonia

(Caribbean) – colony fails and almost bankrupts Scotland; severe famine in Scotland

1699 - Thomas Raitt born Arbroath

1700 - Helen Hunter born Forfar; John Dorward born St Vigeans; US population is 250.000

1701 - J. Rait is Scottish member of the Guild of Merchants at Königsberg (Kneiphof)

1703 - Alexander Raitt becomes secretary to the Earl of Mar

    1704 - Alexander Selkirk (Robinson Crusoe) marooned on

Juan Fernandez, Chile

1705 - John Sangster born Gamrie, Banffshire

1706 - George Raitt graduated from Leiden University; 1706 - Francis Hauksbee produces electric light

    1707 - Union of parliaments between Scotland and England; Population of Scotland reaches 1 million

    1714 - George I (German) crowned King of England

1718 - Colonel William Rhett of South Carolina siezed a pirate ship

1720 - David Raitt married Jean Leslie; Rise of tobacco trade

1721 - James Raitt born St Vigeans

    1722 - Rapa Nui (Easter Island) discovered

1724 - Thomas Raitt marries Helen Hunter; John Raitt born St Vigeans

1725 - William Purvis born (Angus?); Original Arbroath harbour improved; Construction of military roads in the Highlands starts

1727 - John Raitt born Arbroath; Board of Trustees for Manufacturers set up to  encourage Scottish industry

1728 - John Sangster married Elspet Smith

1734 - John Dorward marries Mary Lyall; Death of outlaw Rob Roy (McGregor)

1736 - William Raitt born St Cyrus, Kincardineshire

1739 - John Raitt born St Vigeans; Dick Turpin, highwayman, executed

1742 - James Raitt marries Margaret Soutar; William Rait awarded doctorate of medicine from University of Rheims; Jean Meikison born Arbroath

    1743 - Potato introduced into Hebrides – cultivation becomes more widespread

    1745 - Jacobite rising – Bonnie Prince Charlie; Battle of Prestonpans

1746 - Francis Raitt born St Vigeans; Battle of Culloden and Act of Proscription; William Raitt surgeon for Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden

1750 - William Crabb born (Angus?); world population is 700 million; US population reaches 1 billion

1752 - Thomas Doig born Forfar

1753 - William Raitt born Kittery, Maine; Citrus treatment for scurvy proved by Scottish surgeon, James Lind

1755 - John Raitt appointed Sheriff of Arundel County, Maryland; Earthquake and tsunami kills 60.000 in Lisbon, Portugal

    1757 - Start of British Empire in India

1758 - John Raitt died Anne Arundel, MD; Halley correctly predicts return of comet

    1759 - British capture Quebec from French

    1761 - First Scottish settlement in Canada at Murray Bay, Quebec

1763 - John Raitt marries Jean Meikison

1765 - John Dorward born St Vigeans

1768 - Alexander Raitt born Arbroath; First volume of Encyclopaedia Brittanica published in Edinburgh

    1769 - James Watt invents steam engine

1770 - William Kelman born Fordyce, Banffshire; James Cook claims Australia for Britain; East India Company employee John Stewart returns to London from Madras on foot

1773 - James Raitt marries Jean Watt; Boston Tea Party - Massachusetts

1774 - David Raitt born St Vigeans; John Crabb born Arbroath

1776 - Shipmaster Alexander Raitt dies in  Jamaica; James Watt builds steam engine; American Declaration of Independence: Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations

    1777 - Botanist John Lightfoot publishes Flora Scotica; Collapse of tobacco trade

    1779 - Captain James Cook killed in Hawaii

    1780 - Trading opportunities for Scots with East India Company

1781 - Francis Smith born Banchory-Ternan, Kincardineshire;

Arbroath attacked by French privateer

    1782 James Reat born Fredericksburg, VA

    1783 - Montgolfier hot air balloon flight in France;

The Herald – earliest Scottish newspaper

1784 - David Lindsay born Tannadice, Angus; John Raitt born St Vigeans

1786 - John Holt born England

1787 - John Wilkie born (Angus?); Thomas Raitt marries Elisabeth Thoms;

US Constitution signed

    1788 - First British settlement in Australia

    1789 - John Raitt born Glen Isla, Angus; French Revolution

1790 - John Dorward marries Margaret Philip; HMS Bounty crew settle on

Pitcairn Island; Opening of Forth and Clyde Canal; Rapid expansion of textile industries; Statistical Account of Scotland first published

   1791 - George Raitt born Glen Isla, Angus

1792 - Alexander Sangster marries Margaret Robertson; Year of the Sheep – first major highland clearances in Scotland; Village of Raitts (Inverness-shire) cleared; Guillotine used for first time in France

1793 - Elizabeth Raitt marries John Crabb; William Kelman marries Isabella Irvin; William Kelman born Alvah, Banffshire; Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette executed

1794 - James Crabb born Arbroath

1796 - Alexander Raitt marries Susan Millar; Thomas Raitt born Glen Isla, Angus; Mungo Park traces course of river Niger in  Africa

    1797 - Last invasion of mainland Britain (by French)

1798 - Isabella Sangster born Gamrie, Banffshire; Mary Laurence born Fordyce, Banffshire

1799 - Alexander Raitt born Arbroath; Rosetta Stone discovered in Egypt

1800 - James Scorgie born (Banffshire?); George Scorgie starts his Caravan – conveying passengers between Aberdeen and Huntly; David Raitt marries

Margaret Chapel; Congreve rockets used for military purposes; US population is 5 million; professional civilian police force established in Glasgow

    1802 - Start of weaving of Paisley shawls

    1803 - Louisiana Purchase; Passengers Act passed in Scotland to stem flow of emigrants to British North America

1804 - Cecilia Munro born Greenock, Renfrewshire; Thomas Raitt born Backmuir, Angus; James Reat becomes a silversmith in Richmond, VA; world population 1 billion

1805 - John Raitt born St Vigeans; Battle of Trafalgar – death of Nelson; professional civilian police force established in Edinburgh

    1806 - Lewis-Clark expedition ends in Missouri; Abolition of slavery; First steam spinning mill in  Arbroath

1807 - William Raitt commands the 18 gun brig-sloop Scout in naval battles in the Mediterranean; Start of Sutherland clearances; Abolition of slave trade in Britain; Bell Rock lighthouse built off Arbroath

1808 - Elizabeth Dorward born Arbroath; John Wilkie marries Isabella Wallace

    1810 - Mexico independence from Spain declared

    1811 - Charles Robert Raitt born Tenby, Wales; Napoleon invades Russia and loses 570.000 men; Bell Rock lighthouse, off Arbroath, becomes operational; Luddites protests against new textile technology

1812 - Bridget Mottley born (possibly Glamis, Angus); Prime minister Spencer Perceval assassinated; Madison declares war on Britain

1813 – Catherine Wilkie born Forfar, Angus; The Adelphi of Aberdeen, commanded by David Raitt, is captured by Americans off the coast of Brazil; British soldiers burn the White House and public buildings in Washington

    1814 - Union of Norway and Sweden

1815 - John Wilkie, Forfar Militia and Honourable East India Company, serves in St Helena; James Reat died Richmond, VA; Battle of Waterloo – Napoleon defeated and exiled on St Helena; Highland and Lowland clearances; Corn Laws passed; Collapse of cattle market

1816 - John Lindsay born Tannadice, Angus; Elgin Marbles purchased from Greece and placed on display in British Museum; the “year with no summer” following eruption of Tambora volcano in Indonesia in 1815 resulted in crop failure and famine

1817 - John Benjamin Kellogg born Kentucky; James W. Hold born England; Master George Sangster arrives in Pictou, Canada from Saltcoats in the Baron Ardrossan

1818 - William Kelman marries Mary Laurence; Illinois Immigrant newspaper starts

1819 - Owen Carroll born Ireland; First steam-powered ship (Savannah) crosses Atlantic; Liberation of New Granada (now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador) from Spain

1820 - James Scorgie married Isabella Sangster; Alexander Scorgie born Macduff, Banffshire; Master David Raitt arrives in Pictou, Canada from Aberdeen in the Ceres; Independence of Brazil from Portugal; Start of decline in hand loom weaving

    1821 - Population of Scotland now 2 million

   1822 - Greece declares independence from Turkey; Champollion translates Rosetta Stone based on earlier work by Thomas Young; US population is 10 million

1823 - William Raitt died St Cyrus, Kincardineshire; Collapse of kelp industry

    1824 - National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck founded

    1825 - World's first modern railway, Stockton-Darlington, opens in England

1826 - Alexander Raitt marries Mary Stormont; Isabella Kelman born Marnoch, Banffshire; First commercial railway in Scotland between Edinburgh and Dalkeith; Last fatal duel takes place in Scotland in Kirkcaldy

1829 - James Crabb marries Cecilia Munro; Stephenson’s Rocket – steam locomotive; professional civilian police force established in London (the Metropolitan Police)

1831 -     Thomas Taylor born Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire; Charles Frederick Raitt died London; First passenger railway opens – Glasgow to Garnkirk; London Bridge demolished after over 600 years; Margaret Rait, American whaler, build in St Andrews, New Brunswick for James Rait

    1832 - Outbreak of cholera, typhoid, flu in Scotland – over 50.000 die

1833 - John Raitt marries Elizabeth Dorward; Burghs establish police forces in Scotland; Factory Act limits hours children work in cotton mills;  New Statistical Account of Scotland published

1834 - Margaret Phillips Raitt born Arbroath; William Purvis marries Catherine Wilkie; Babbage invents analytical engine – precursor to computer; House of Parliament burned to the ground

1835 - John Benjamin Kellogg marries Sidney Gaston; John Benjamin Kellogg born Gonzalez Co, TX

    1836 - The Alamo – Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Johnny Kellogg killed; End of survey expedition of HMS Beagle – Charles Darwin; Great Trek of Boers in South Africa

1837 - John (Dorward) Raitt born Arbroath; Cecilia Monroe Crabb born Arbroath; Queen Victoria crowned

    1838 - Railway comes to Arbroath with link to Dundee

    1839 - New harbour in Arbroath built; First photography – daguerreotype

1840 - James Dorward Raitt born Arbroath; James W. Holt emigrates to Illinois; Post service starts – Penny Black stamp

    1841 - First decennial census giving names for the whole population;   Tennant's Stalk constructed - tallest chimney (438ft) in the world; James Raitt born St Vigeans; Thomas Raitt born Dundee;

1842 - David Raitt arrived from Scotland and settled in Lachute, Quebec, Canada farming 100 acres before moving to Main Street as a tailor, then jeweller and finally taking office as bailiff; James Rait, Merchant and Shipbuilder in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada dies in Jamaica; Hong Kong ceded to Britain by China after Opium Wars; Employment of women and children underground in mines ends

1843 - Elizabeth Abbott born Glamis, Angus; Alexander Scorgie marries Isabella Kelman; Richard M. Holt born Peoria, Illinois; Formation of the Free Church of Scotland; Launch of Great Britain – built by Brunel and first propeller-driven, iron-hulled steamship

    1844 - Telegraph invented; first international cricket match - between USA and Canada, held in New York

    1845 - Potato famine starts in Ireland and Scotland; US population is 20 million

1846 - David Dorward Raitt born Arbroath; Ann Smith born Kirkden, Angus; US declares war on Mexico; Planet Neptune discovered; start of ten year Highland potato famine in Scotland

1847 - Mary Purvis born Arbroath; Power looms for weaving sailcloth introduced in Arbroath

1848 - Alexander Scorgie born Easter Bonnyton, Banffshire; William Robertson Doig born Glamis, Angus; California gold rush starts

1849 - Elizabeth Dorward Raitt born Arbroath

    1850 - Scotsman Allan Pinkerton opens first detective agency in Chicago, Illinois; First telegraph laid under English Channel

    1852 - South African Republic established; Formation of Highland Emigration Society

1853 - Thomas Taylor marries Charlotte Tandy; Percy Clinton Raitt born Lymington, England

1854 - James Raitt born Craig, Angus; John Raitt died St Vigeans; Commodore Perry opens up Japan; Charge of the Light Brigade, Crimea

1855 - Alexander Barnwell Taylor born Springfield, IL; Henry Crabb emigrates to Illinois; David Livingstone discovers Victoria Falls, Rhodesia;  Castle Garden becomes America’s first immigrant receiving centre; Introduction of statutory registration in Scotland

    1856 - End of Crimean War (Florence Nightingale)

1858 - James Lindsay born Tannadice, Angus; Eliza Jane Drummond born Brechin, Angus; British rule starts in India after Mutiny; 1st transatlantic telegraph; Great Eastern launched – built by Brunel and largest ship ever (for over forty years)

1859 - John Dorward Raitt marries Cecilia Monroe Crabb; Elizabeth Ann Dorward Raitt born Arbroath; US population is 30 million

1860 - Cecilia Monroe dies Arbroath; William Raitt born Aberdeen; Pony Express starts; Construction of London Underground begins; Lead acid battery invented

1861 - Patrick McAneny born Ireland; American Civil War; population of Scotland now 3 million

1863 - John Dorward Raitt born Glasgow; John (Dorward) Raitt emigrates to Illinois; William Crockett Kellogg born Flatonia, TX; Private William Rait of 165th New York Volunteers (2nd Duryee’s Zouaves) wounded at Port Hudson. Also fighting were 1st sergeant Lewis Raite, Augustus Johnston William Raite, Lewis Raite John McClain; Battle of Gettysburg; First underground railway system in the world opens in London

1864 - Walter Frederick Taylor born Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire; John Raitt died Bovina, New York; End of American Civil War; Abraham Lincoln becomes president

    1865 - Abraham Lincoln assassinated

1867 - Samuel Bowden Raitt born St Vigeans; US buys Alaska from Russian

1868 -  James Dorward Raitt marries Elizabeth Abbott; James Dorward Raitt receives Master Mariner certificate; Meiji restoration in Japan; First official football match between two Scottish teams, Queens Park and Thistle, in Glasgow

1869 - David Dorward Raitt marries Mary Purvis; David Raitt born Arbroath; Alexander Raitt dies Elsinore, Denmark; Alexander Kelman, wife and child die of TB in Aberchirder; Suez Canal (Egypt) opens; Transcontinental rail service established in US; Cutty Sark clipper built in Dumbarton – sails made in Arbroath; Folies Bergeres opens in Paris

1870 - Lily Dorward Raitt born Pike Township, IL; Electric light invented; Unification of Italy

1871 - James Dorward Raitt and family emigrate to Illinois, USA; Elizabeth Dorward Raitt marries William Robertson Doig; William Raitt born Arbroath; John Crabb, sister Jane and infant Becky emigrate to Illinois; Alexander Scorgie marries Ann Smith; Oswald Raitt born Nairn, Scotland; German Empire declared; Stanley finds Scottish explorer Livingstone in Tanganyika; First ever rugby international - between England and Scotland

1872 - Alexina Dunbar Raitt born Arbroath; George Raitt died Delhi, New York; Thomas Raitt died Bovina, New York; Education becomes compulsory in Scotland; Mary Celeste discovered unmanned and abandoned in North Atlantic under full sail; US population is 40 million

1873 - Jennie Crabb Raitt born Peoria, IL; Alexina Dunbar Raitt died St Vigeans; The Highlander newspaper founded in Inverness to air crofter grievances

1874 - John Purvis Raitt born Arbroath; Henry Edward Keill born Londonderry, Northern Ireland; Robert Sangster Raitt born  Narborough – Principal of Glasgow Uni – parents from Aberdeen; Major Rait, Officer Commanding Royal Artillery at Ashantee, Gold Coast (Africa) granted Freedom of City of Arbroath; James Raitt emigrates to New Zealand; Levi Strauss and Jacob Davies receive US patent for blue jeans with copper rivets

1875 - James Crabb died Arbroath; Alexander Croal drowned in shipwreck off Fidra island; Minimum age of ten set for child workers

1876 - Elizabeth Raitt born Deer Creek, IL; Emma Belle Raitt born Ocoya, IL; David Dorward Raitt receives Master Mariner (Captain) certificate; John Harvey Holt born IL; Charles Robert Raitt died Lymington, England; Telephone invented; Custer killed at Little Big Horn

1877 - Elizabeth Ann Dorward Raitt marries Alexander Barnwell Taylor; Helen Scorgie born St Vigeans; Phonograph invented – able to both record and reproduce sound

    1879 - Zulu War in South Africa; Tay Railway Bridge disaster - 75 dead

1880 - John Raitt died Arbroath; Bridget Mottley died Washington Township, Illinois; Granville Clinton Raitt born Lymington, England; Palace theatre opens in Paris – becomes Casino de Paris; US population reaches 50 million

1881 - James Lindsay marries  Eliza Jane Drummond; Eyemouth fishing disaster off Berwickshire coast - 129 drowned during storm     

1882 - Henry Motley Raitt died Washington Township, IL; Thomas Raitt died Memphis, Tennessee; Death of outlaw Jesse James in Missouri

1883 - James Dorward Raitt and family move to Nebraska; Elizabeth Dorward

died  Arbroath; Percy Clinton Raitt died Christchurch, England; Krakatoa

volcano erupts in Indonesia – up to 120.00 killed - weather affected for

years; Boys Brigade founded in Glasgow

1884 - Elmer Arthur Holt born Flanagan, IL

    1885 - Benz – first petrol driven car

1886 - Thomas Raitt died Dundee; Statue of Liberty unveiled in New York; Crofters’ Commission set up

1887 - David Dorward Raitt died St Vigeans; Jane Lindsay born Kirriemuir, Angus

1888 - Herbert George Taylor born Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire; Kodak box camera introduced by George Eastman; Jack the Ripper active in London; T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) (b Wales); Scotsman John Dunlop introduces pneumatic tire; US population now 60 million

    1890 - Forth Bridge opened; Eiffel Tower built; Massacre of Wounded Knee

1891 - Ethel B. Horner born IL; population of Scotland is 4 million

    1892 - Ellis Island immigration centre opens; Women admitted as

undergraduates at Scottish universities

1893 - John Dorward Raitt marries Lily Dorward Raitt; David Raitt marries Annie Edward Duncan; Chicago World Fair; New Zealand becomes first country to give women the vote; Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) born Hunan, China     

1894 - Archibald Claude Raitt born Rising City, NE

    1895 - Sino-Japanese War ends; US population is 70 million

    1896 - Glasgow underground subway railway opens

1899 - William Raitt marries Helen Scorgie; John Dorward Raitt and family move to Nebraska

1901 - Emma Belle Raitt marries John Harvey Holt; William Raitt born Arbroath; Raitts in Arbroath move to Glasgow; John Purvis Raitt marries Georgina Clark; first transatlantic radio communication experiments

1902 - Annie Smith Raitt born Glasgow; End of Boer War

1903 - Mary Purvis Raitt born Glasgow; Charles Carroll born Glasgow; Wright brother’s credited with first powered flight in US; Scotsman David Dunbar Buick established Buick Motor Company in Detroit; US population is 80 million

1904 - Alta Mae Kilgore born Monroe, NE; Samuel Bowden Raitt born Arbroath

1905 - Helen Raitt born Glasgow; Einstein theory of special relativity

1906 - San Francisco earthquake and fire – 3000 dead

1907 - Baden-Powell starts Boy Scout movement; Regular transatlantic radio-telegraph service between Ireland and Nova Scotia commences

1908 - Alice Kirk Raitt born Glasgow; Peter McAneny born Glasgow; Elmer Arthur Holt marries Ethel B. Horner; Model T Ford goes into production; First powered flight in UK; Frederick Cook claims to reach North Pole – although credit controversially given to Robert Peary in 1909; Tunguska event in Russia - massive explosion flattens 80 million trees

1909 - Alexander Scorgie Raitt born Glasgow; US population is 90 million       

1910 - Elizabeth Raitt marries Henry Edward Keill

1911 - Margaret Phillips Raitt died Arbroath; Capital of India moved from Calcutta to Delhi by British King-Emperor; Roald Amundsen reaches South Pole, just beating Robert Falcon Scott; Northern Rhodesia created

1912 - Herbert George Taylor marries Jane Lindsay;  Titanic strikes iceberg on maiden voyage and sinks with loss of 1500 lives

1913 - Kenneth Eugene Holt born Lowell, IL; Emma Belle Raitt died Shiloh, IL

    1914 - Start of World War I

1915 - David Raitt born Glasgow; James Eldon Keill born David City, NE; Jennie Crabb Raitt marries John Harvey Holt; Annie Lindsay marries George Milne in Winnipeg; mass Glasgow rent strikes; Einstein theory of general relativity; US population reaches 100 million

   1916 - Easter Rising in Ireland

1917 - James Dorward Raitt died David City, NE; John Emmett Raitt born Santa Ana, CA;  Russian Revolution

    1918 - End of World War I; Great Influenza (Spanish flu) pandemic kills some 50 million people

1919 - Archibald Claude Raitt marries Alta Mae Kilgore;  Alcock and Brown make first non-stop transatlantic flight; German Grand Fleet scuppered in Scapa Flow

1920 - Elden Louis Andrew born Ponca, NE; Cecilia Monroe Crabb died David City, NE; prohibition introduced in USA

1921 -     Marcella Imogene Raitt born Rising City, NE; David and William Lindsay emigrate to New Zealand; Einstein receives Nobel Prize for Physics

1922 - Aileen Taylor born Rotherham, Yorkshire; Audene Clara Taylor born (IL?); William Robertson Doig died Arbroath; Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in Egypt; British Broadcasting Company (BBC) formed

    1923 -James Scorgie of Turriff emigrates to Canada aged 18; First sound film shown commercially

1924 - John (Dorward) Raitt died Panola, IL; Elizabeth Dorward Raitt died Arbroath; British Empire Exhibition held in London

    1925 - Art Deco movement commences; television tested publicly in USA

1926 - Lindsay family emigrates to Argentina; First successful liquid-fueled rocket tested; Silent movie idol Rudolph Valentino died - 100.000 people at New York funeral; John Logie Baird demonstrates wireless television in London

1927 - Jennie Crabb Raitt died Peoria, IL; Helen Raitt marries Robert Henry Guest; John Logie Baird demonstrates transmission of TV pictures over telephone lines from London to Glasgow; Charles Lindbergh makes first solo transatlantic flight crossing; world population reaches 2 billion

1928 - William Raitt died Glasgow; Penicillin discovered; John Logie Baird transmits colour television pictures across Atlantic

    1929 - Graf Zeppelin airship circumnavigates the globe from Lakehurst, NJ; Wall Street Crash heralds Great Depression; Church of Scotland and United Free Church of Scotland unite

1930 - John Dorward Raitt died Rising City, NE; Amy Johnson becomes first woman to fly solo between Great Britain and Australia; Evacuation of St. Kilda

    1931 - Earthquake devastates Napier, NZ – town rebuilt in Art Deco style;

Empire State Building completed in New York

1933 - Alice Kirk Raitt married Peter McAneny; Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany; prohibition ends in USA

1934 - David Raitt died Glasgow; Queen Mary launched on Clydebank; Long March retreat commences in China; Scottish National Party (SNP) founded

1935 - Alexander Scorgie Raitt marries May Duncan McCallum West; Elvis Presley born of Scottish ancestry

1936 - Eliza Jane Drummond died Kirriemuir

1937 - Last Laird of Rait dies; Ann Dorward Raitt (died Peoria, IL; Jet engine introduced; Hindenberg airship catches fire while docking at Lakehurst, New Jersey – 36 dead

1938 - William Raitt died Los Angeles; Edward VIII crowned and abdicated; Biro patents ball point pen

1939 -     Mary Purvis died Glasgow; New York World’s Fair; Start of 2nd World War; population of Scotland hits 5 million

    1940 - Hitler invades much of Europe; Winston Churchill becomes Britain’s prime minister

    1941 - Japan attacks US fleet at Pearl Harbour bringing US into World War II; Oswald Raitt dies Nicaragua

1942 - James Raitt died Ontario, Canada

1943 - David Raitt married Aileen Taylor

1944 - David Ian Raitt born Sulhamstead Abbots; Annie Smith Raitt marries Charles Carroll; Allies invade Normandy of D-Day; International Monetary Fund and World Bank created

    1945 Hitler commits suicide; Germany surrenders; US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; United Nations established; first electronic computer, ENIAC, completed

1946 - John Purvis Raitt died Glasgow; Granville Clinton Raitt died San Diego

    1947 - Britain nationalizes coal mines; Chuck Yeager becomes first person to break sound barrier; Chicago gangster Al Capone died

    1948 - Gandhi assassinated; Nation of Israel proclaimed; Berlin airlift begins

    1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established; Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic established; apartheid instituted in South Africa; Bonnie Lynn Raitt born Burbank, CA

    1950 - Brink's robbery in Boston - almost $3 million stolen.

    1951 - Colour television introduced in US; Lyons Electronic Office is UK’s first commercial computer

1952 - Annie Edward Duncan died Glasgow; Alexander Raitt died Bathurst, Canada; George VI died

1953 - James Lindsay died Kirriemuir; Elizabeth II crowned; James Watson and Francis Crick discover structure of DNA; Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay  scale Mount Everest; Soviet Union explodes hydrogen bomb

    1954 - First atomic submarine Nautilus launched; rationing ends in UK

    1955 - Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat on bus

    1956 - First aerial H-bomb tested over Bikini Atoll;  Egypt takes control

of Suez Canal

    1957 - Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, first Earth-orbiting satellite

1958 - William Raitt died Glasgow; European Economic Community (Common Market) becomes effective. first U.S. Earth satellite, Explorer I, placed in orbit; Charles de Gaulle becomes French president

    1959 - Fidel Castro takes over Cuba; Leakeys discover hominid fossils in East Africa

1960 - Jean Lindsay died Reading, England; American U-2 spy plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, shot down over Russia; world population 3 billion

1961 - Herbert George Taylor died Mortimer, England; Soviet Union puts first man in orbit around Earth, Major Yuri Gagarin; East Germans erect Wall between East and West Berlin

    1962 - John Glenn is first American to orbit Earth; Cuban missile crisis;  

Telstar 1 launched -  successfully relayed through space the first television pictures, telephone calls, fax images and provided the first live transatlantic television feed

    1963 - President Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas; Great Train Robbery in England - over £2.6 million stolen

    1964 - IBM announced System/360

    1965 - Rhodesia declares Independence

1966 - Helen Scorgie died Glasgow

    1967 - Israeli and Arab forces battle in six-day war;  Dr. Christiaan Barnard and team of South African surgeons perform world's first successful human heart transplant

    1968 - Martin Luther King killed in Memphis; Robert F. Kennedy killed in Los Angeles; Czechoslovakia invaded by Russian and Warsaw Pact forces; Church of Scotland permits ordination of women; US population now 200 milion

    1969 - Neil Armstrong becomes first person to walk on Moon; Woodstock music festival; Internet (ARPA) goes online

    1972 - Pong console game released

1973 - Alice Kirk Raitt died East Kilbride; Great Britain joins European Economic Community; Vietnam War ends

1974 - Peter McAneny died Kilwinning, Ayrshire; President Richard Nixon resigns; Lucy hominid discovered - 3.2 million years old; world population 4 billion

1975 - Charles Carroll died East Kilbride

    1976 - Queen Elizabeth II sent her first e-mail

1977 - Samuel Bowden Raitt died Glen Rock, NJ

   1979 - Shah of Iran deposed; Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman prime minister in UK

    1980 - Rhodesia gains independence and becomes Zimbabwe. John Lennon killed in New York

    1981 -  First orbital flight of the Space Shuttle; wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer; Sony introduced first 3.5” floppy disks; IBM introduced PC

    1982 - Falklands War

1984 - Helen Raitt died Newcastle; Robert Henry Guest died Newcastle; Apple launches Macintosh - first mouse driven computer with graphic user interface  

1985 - Annie Smith Raitt died East Kilbride; Mary Duncan McCallum West

died Glasgow

    1986 - Chernobyl nuclear disaster; launch of the Russian Mir space station; return of Halley's Comet

    1987 - world population reaches 5 billion

    1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland; construction of the Channel Tunnel begins

    1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall;

    1990 - Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web; German reunification; launch of Hubble Space Telescope.

    1991 - Dissolution of the Soviet Union and independence of 15 former Soviet republics

    1992 - Maastricht Treaty creates the European Union; Bill Clinton elected President of the United States

    1993 - Mosaic web browser released - later known as Netscape

    1994 - Apartheid ends in South Africa - Nelson Mandela elected president; Channel Tunnel opens

     1997 - Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from UK to China; Diana, Princess of Wales killed in  car crash in Paris; Andy Green breaks sound barrier on land

1998 Alexander Scorgie Raitt died Glasgow

    1999 - Euro is introduced; a Scottish Parliament sits for first time in 272 years; world population is 6 billion

2000 - David Raitt died North Devon; Vladimir Putin becomes president of

Russia; International Space Station begins operations

   2001 - September 11 attacks in New York - almost 3000 killed

    2003 - Invasion of Iraq led by US forces; Human Genome Project is

completed; Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up on re-entry

    2004 - Tsunami in Indian Ocean kills over 230.000 in 14 countries

    2005 - Angela Merkel becomes Germany's first female Chancellor

    2007 - Scottish National Party (SNP) comes to power; US population becomes 300 million

    2008 - Barack Obama is elected first black president of the United States

    2011 - Tsunami causes nuclear reactor meltdowns in Japan - some 16.000 deaths with over 2600 still missing; world population climbs to 7 billion; population of US is almost 312 million; population of Scotland is some 5.3 million

    2012 - Higgs boson discovered; Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth 1

    2013 - Nelson Mandela dies

    2014 - Scotland rejects independence; Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa - over 8000 dead; Rosetta spacecraft's Philae probe becomes the first to successfully land on a comet

     2015 - ancient archaeological sites destroyed by ISIL; Cuba and USA restore diplomatic relations after more than 50 years; Queen Elizabeth II becomes longest reigning British monarch

     2016 - UK citizens vote to leave European Union; Aileen Raitt died North Devon

     2018 - Saudi Arabia allows women to drive

       2019 - first all-female spacewalk outside of the International Space Station; Covid-19 pandemic starts in Wuhan, China; fire engulfs Notre Dame in Paris

    2020 - UK formally withdraws from European Union; Covid-19 claims 6 million lives; China becomes third country to return samples from the Moon; Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games delayed until 2021 because of Covid-19 pandemic Dorothy Marshall turns 100 years old

    2022 - Russia invades Ukraine