Prime Minister William Gladstone opens the Metropolitan Railway, London, 1863 (1951).

Prime Minister William Gladstone opens the Metropolitan Railway, London, 1863 (1951). Engineered by John Fowler, the Metropolitan Railway was the first line of what would eventually become the London Underground. On January 10 1863, the railway operated its first service, which ran from Farringdon Street north to King's Cross, and west to Paddington (Bishop's Road), utilising trains hauled by steam engines. A print from 100 Years in Pictures, A panorama of History in the Making, text by DC Somervell, Odhams press Limited, London, 1951. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)