On 5 July 1841, Thomas Cook organised a rail excursion for 500 campaigners from Leicester to the nearby town of Loughborough. Excursions to Liverpool (1845), Scotland (1846) and the Great Exhibition in London (1851) followed. In 1872, he organised a round-the-world tour, lasting 222 days. He was the pioneer in what we know as ‘packaged holidays’.
