On This Day
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First practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England

The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world.

The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport Services (BTS) and runs for 18 km (11 miles). It carried 4.4 million passengers in 2024/25.

It is the second-oldest electric tramway in the United Kingdom, the first being Volk's Electric Railway in Brighton, which opened two years earlier and similarly runs on a reserved track along the seafront. These are also the two surviving first-generation town tramways in the UK, though the majority of services on the line have since 2012 been operated by a fleet of modern Bombardier Flexity 2 trams.

Historical Significance

The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England.

Events Before

  1. American painter Thomas Eakins (40) weds American painter and photographer Susan Macdowell (32) in a Quaker ceremony in

    American painter Thomas Eakins (40) weds American painter and photographer Susan Macdowell (32) in a Quaker ceremony in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until his death in 1916

  2. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass marries his second wife suffragist Helen Pitts

    Abolitionist Frederick Douglass marries his second wife suffragist Helen Pitts

  3. First volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published

    The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house.

  4. Siege of Khartoum, Sudan, begins by Mahdist forces and lasts ten months

    The siege of Khartoum (also known as the battle of Khartoum or fall of Khartoum) took place from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885.

  5. American mechanical engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (28) weds Louise M. Spooner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    American mechanical engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor (28) weds Louise M. Spooner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Events After

  1. Karl Benz patents the "Benz Patent-Motorwagen" in Karlsruhe, Germany, the world's first automobile with an internal comb

    Karl Benz patents the "Benz Patent-Motorwagen" in Karlsruhe, Germany, the world's first automobile with an internal combustion engine [1]

  2. Inventor Thomas Edison (38) marries 2nd wife Mina Miller (20) in Akron, Ohio

    Inventor Thomas Edison (38) marries 2nd wife Mina Miller (20) in Akron, Ohio

  3. William Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill in the British House of Commons

    The Home Rule movement (Irish: Rialtas Dúchais) was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

  4. Painter Paul Cézanne (47) weds Marie-Hortense Fiquet (36)

    Painter Paul Cézanne (47) weds Marie-Hortense Fiquet (36)

  5. Nationwide demonstrations and strikes demanding an 8-hour workday begin in the US

    Socialism in the United States has encompassed various types of tendencies, including utopian socialists, anarchists, democratic socialists, social democrats, Marxist–Leninists, and Trotskyists.

More from the 1880s

The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C., to promote "the increase and diffusion of geographic kno

The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C., to promote "the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge" [1]

The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jers

The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey

American painter Thomas Eakins (40) weds American painter and photographer Susan Macdowell (32) in a Quaker ceremony in

American painter Thomas Eakins (40) weds American painter and photographer Susan Macdowell (32) in a Quaker ceremony in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until his death in 1916

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass marries his second wife suffragist Helen Pitts

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass marries his second wife suffragist Helen Pitts

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on September 29, 1885?
The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport Services (BTS) and runs for 18 km (11 miles).
Why is First practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, ... significant?
The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England.

Explore More

September 29 in HistoryYear 1885