Thomas Cook factfile - the 178 year history of Peterborough-based travel firm
Here we take a look back at the Peterborough-based company’s interesting history.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdJULY 5, 1841 - Thomas Cook organises his first excursion, a rail journey for 500 passengers from Leicester to Loughborough for just one shilling
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad1845 - Thomas Cook conducts his first trip for profit - a railway journey to Liverpool from Leicester, Nottingham and Derby
1855 - Thomas Cook creates his first continental tour, escorting two groups from Harwich in Essex to Paris via Antwerp, Brussels, Cologne, Heidelberg and Strasbourg
1863 - Thomas Cook visits the Alps for the first time and helps to establish Switzerland as a summer holiday destination
1865 - Thomas Cook opens his first high street shop in Fleet Street, London
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad1872-3 - Thomas Cook organises and leads the first round the world tour. He is away from home for 222 days and covers more than 29,000 miles
1874 - Cook’s Circular Note, an early form of the traveller’s cheque, is launched in New York
1896 - Thomas Cook & Son is appointed Official Passenger Agent for the first modern Olympic Games in Athens
1919 - Thomas Cook & Son is the first travel agent to sell pleasure trips by air
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad1927 - Thomas Cook & Son Ltd organises the first personally-conducted air tour, from New York to Chicago, for the Dempsey-Tunney heavyweight boxing contest
1965 - Thomas Cook’s net profits exceed £1 million for the first time
1977 - Thomas Cook opens its new administrative headquarters at Thorpe Wood in Longthorpe
1984 - The “Don’t Just Book It. Thomas Cook It!” tagline is introduced
2005 - Thomas Cook announces it is relocating from Bretton, where it had been since 1996, to move to the Lynch Wood Business Park.