January 2: The Institute of Civil Engineers was founded (1818)

ICE's headquarters in London

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), a self-governing professional association representing civil engineers, was founded at the Kendal Coffee House in Fleet Street, London in 1818 by three young engineers, Henry Robinson Palmer, James Jones and Joshua Field. ICE is the first professional body for civilian engineers. (There has been the Corps of Royal Engineers for military engineers, which was founded in 1717.) Thomas Telford, a renowned civil engineer, was appointed as the first president and he became instrumental in obtaining a Royal Charter for ICE in 1828. The majority of its current members are British engineers but it has members in more than 150 countries around the world. Currently, ICE has more than 85,000 members.