William Barry Owen, Director of the National Gramophone Company in New York, arrives in Britain to exploit the Berliner European gramophone patents. Resigning from the National Gramophone Company, he sets up business at the Hotel Cecil in London under the name The Gramophone Company.

The Gramophone Company is officially registered by William Barry Owen and his partner/investor Trevor Williams, and moves from the Hotel Cecil to 31 Maiden Lane on May 16. Provisional arrangements are made to manufacture gramophones, records and to assemble machines in Germany.

July 23: Fred Gaisberg, a young recording engineer and talent scout, previously working for Emile Berliner, leaves New York for London to join The Gramophone Company as its first recording engineer.

August 2: Fred Gaisberg makes his first recordings in London at the Maiden Lane office.

October: The famous 'Recording Angel' trademark, devised by Theodore Birnbaum, first appears on the Company's record labels.

September 15: Francis Barraud's painting 'His Master's Voice' is purchased by The Gramophone Company Ltd. The picture is first used the following year on the Company's Record Supplement for January 1900.

July: William Barry Owen visits America to arrange rights to manufacture the Lambert typewriter.

December 10: The Gramophone Company Ltd transfers its business to a newly incorporated company, registered as The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd.

December 22: The 'His Master's Voice' picture is registered as a trademark in Britain.

The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd orders its first 10" diameter recording machine from E.R. Johnson in the USA. The 12" disc is added two years later.

February: The G&T moves its headquarters from Maiden Lane to 21 City Road.

The first Nellie Melba records are released. Fourteen single sided 12" discs with special mauve 'Melba' labels are issued, selling at 21/- (œ1.05) each.

February 9: The tenor Edward Lloyd cuts the first sod from the field site for the Company's first factory at Hayes, Middlesex. Cost of the silver spade used by Mr Lloyd is œ6.10/-, plus 15/- for the engraving (œ7.25 in total). The spade was later acquired by EMI in 1994 for œ5,000!

May 13: Madame (later Dame) Nellie Melba lays the foundation stone for the Power House at the Hayes factory site.

November 18: The company drops the 'Typewriter' from its name and returns to being The Gramophone Company Ltd.

June: The first record is pressed at the new Hayes factory. Commercial pressing commences in July.

Winston Churchill records a speech for the 1909 Budget League as does Prime Minister H.H. Asquith and Chancellor Lloyd George.

February: Nipper, the Gramophone Dog, makes his first appearance on British 'His Master's Voice' record labels.

Madame (later Dame) Clara Butt promises to sing on a five-year contract upon payment of œ1,000 and subject to a royalty of 2/-(10p) per 12" single sided record.

June: A gramophone and records go with Captain Scott on his Antarctic Expedition. The gramophone was brought back to Britain and is now part of the EMI Archive.

June: The head office of The Gramophone Company Ltd moves from City Road to Blyth Road, Hayes.

July 20: Madame Tetrazzini lays the corner stone of the new cabinet factory at Hayes.

June: A new recording studio is opened at the Blyth Road head office in Hayes. The office is allegedly forced to buy all the chickens in the neighbourhood to prevent their cackling being picked up by the recording apparatus.

July 20: The Gramophone Company's new retail premises in London's Oxford Street are opened by Sir Edward Elgar.

April 23: The Gramophone Company records H.M. King George V's speech at the opening of the Wembley Exhibition. The recording was made by a semi-electrical process with the wireless loudspeaker connected by a short tube to the recording box.

Electrical recording is introduced, using the Western Electric System.

October 28: The Gramophone Company makes its first electrical recording of a church organ, using a telephone land line linked to the recording equipment.

Columbia acquires the Parlophone record label.

April 21: The Gramophone Company Ltd and The Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd merge and register a holding company - Electric and Musical Industries Ltd. Alfred Clark of The Gramophone Company becomes Chairman and Louis Sterling of Columbia becomes Managing Director.

November 12: Sir Edward Elgar opens the new EMI Recording Studios at Abbey Road, St. John's Wood.

December: Alan Blumlein, an electrical engineer at EMI's Central Research Laboratories, produces his master patent for binaural (stereo) recording and reproduction.

July 7: A flying bomb hits the Hayes factory. The bomb falls very near the entrance to a surface shelter. Of the occupants and others, caught in the open, thirty-seven employees are killed and fifty-six injured.

October: EMI launches its first 33rpm microgroove Long Playing records. At the same time, 7" 45rpm microgroove singles, both classical and pop, are also released.

April: EMI launches its Mono Extended Play 7" 45rpm records.

January: EMI makes its first UK releases on the Capitol Records label.

August 9: Cliff Richard is signed to EMI.

September: EMI launches stereo LP's.

February 19: The last 78rpm record on EMI labels is issued in Britain - 'Rule Britannia' and 'Royal Event' by Russ Conway.

June 20: EMI moves from Blyth Road and now operates from EMI House, 20 Manchester Square, London W1.

March 23: EMI notifies the retail trade that all 78rpm records in their catalogue will be withdrawn after March 31, 1962.

June 4: The Beatles sign their first contract with Parlophone and the single 'Love Me Do' is released in October.

EMI forms Music For Pleasure with Paul Hamlyn of Hamlyn Publishing. EMI also starts the World Record Club.

EMI releases its first pre-recorded cassettes.

March: Pink Floyd sign to EMI.

EMI commences its own UK manufacturing of pre-recorded cassettes.

January 1: Electric & Musical Industries changes its name to EMI Ltd. "It is felt that such a change is appropriate for two reasons: first because our present name no longer reflects our wide span of activities and interests; and secondly, the initials EMI have become our primary means of identification throughout the world."

November: Queen sign to EMI.

The Gramophone Company changes its name to EMI Records Ltd.

October: EMI Records sign an unknown group "offering some promise" - The Sex Pistols.

January: Kate Bush releases her first single 'Wuthering Heights', having been signed to EMI since July 1976.

EMI Records UK is honoured with the Queen's Award For Export Achievement.

February: EMI Ltd buys the United Artists Records Group.

October 16: THORN Electrical Industries Limited makes an offer of £148m for EMI Ltd.

November 6: The EMI Board recommends THORN's revised offer of £169m to its shareholders and a new company THORN EMI is formed.

November 28: Iron Maiden sign to EMI.

December 8: John Lennon is shot and killed in New York.

December: Not having recorded for several years, Tina Turner signs to Capitol Records in the US.

July: EMI Music announces a major investment in the mastering and manufacture of Compact Discs, utilising the clean air facilities originally set up for videodisc. Production is to begin in early 1986.

May 15: EMI opens its first-ever CD factory in Swindon.

July: Colin Southgate is appointed Chief Executive of THORN EMI.

May 2: Jim Fifield is appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of EMI Music Worldwide, based in New York. He is becomes President and Chief Executive Officer the following year.

EMI Music purchases a 50% interest in Chrysalis Records.

SBK Entertainment World Inc, music publishers, is purchased, adding over 250,000 titles to the existing catalogue.

June 10: Cliff Richard releases 'The Best of Me' - his 100th single with EMI Records.

November 24: Freddie Mercury dies of AIDS-related illness.

December: EMI Music purchases the remaining 50% interest in Chrysalis Records.

June: EMI Music acquires Richard Branson's Virgin Records.

EMI Records UK is honoured with the Queen's Award For Export Achievement for the second time.

Rupert Perry is appointed Chairman of EMI Records Group UK & Ireland, and President and Chief Executive Officer of EMI Europe. He is succeeded as President and CEO of EMI Records Group UK & Ireland by Jean-Francois Cecillon.

August 16: THORN EMI shareholders vote by a large majority in favour of the Demerger proposals. The new name, EMI Group plc, formally replaces THORN EMI on August 19 and continues to own its principal businesses - EMI Music and HMV.

EMI celebrates its first Centenary.