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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1945 | - 12 Apr 1945—20 Jan 1953: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
Harry S. Truman
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| 2 | 1951 | |
| 3 | 1952 | - 1952: Contraceptive pill invented
- 1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
- 1952: Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
- 1952: Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
- 1952: The last execution takes place in the Netherlands.
- 6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies
- 21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
- 2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London
and Johannesburg
- 5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
- 16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
- 6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
- 3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain
- 1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA
- 25 Nov 1952: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
- 4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
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| 4 | 1953 | - 1 Jan 1953: As a result of a long series of errors, Netherlands was not ready when during a heavy storm, the sea broke through the dikes. There were many more victims than had been necessary. 1835 people perished. Thousands of livestock animals were drowned.
- 20 Jan 1953—20 Jan 1961: Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
Dwight David Eisenhower
- 31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century
- 5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain
- 5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
- 26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
- 24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
- 25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
- 2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
- 26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
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| 5 | 1954 | - 1954: First comprehensive school opens in London
- 1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
- 1954: First transistor radios sold
- 6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
- 3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
- 5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
- 30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
|
| 6 | 1955 | - 1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
- 6 Apr 1955—10 Jan 1957: Sir Anthony Eden, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Sir Anthony Eden
- 27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
- 22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
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| 7 | 1956 | - 1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
- 1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
- 17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched
- 3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second
Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class)
- 31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
|
| 8 | 1957 | - 1957: Britain introduces parking meters
- 1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
- 10 Jan 1957—19 Oct 1963: Harold Macmillan, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Harold Macmillan
- 11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
- 14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
- 15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
- 25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six
countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg
- 4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster
- 25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
|
| 9 | 1958 | - 1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
- 1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
- 1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
- 13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
- 26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as "Prince of Wales"
- 5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
- 5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens
|
| 10 | 1959 | - 3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died'
- 17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched
- 24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
- Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
- 26 Sep 1959: Vietnam War
- 3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
- 1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
|
| 11 | 1960 | - 17 Mar 1960: New
- 18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
- 21 Jul 1960: Francis Chichester arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II (took 40 days),
winning the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race which he co-founded
- 12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
- 12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
- 1 Oct 1960: HMS "Dreadnought" nuclear submarine launched
- 2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the "Lady Chatterley's Lover" case
|
| 12 | 1961 | - 1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
- 20 Jan 1961—22 Nov 1963: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
- 13 Mar 1961: Black & White
- 14 Mar 1961: New English Bible (New Testament) published
- 1 May 1961: Betting shops legal in Britain
|
| 13 | 1962 | - 1962: Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
- 1962: Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies
- 1962: Britain and France agree to construct "Concorde"
- 25 May 1962: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
- 15 Jun 1962: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley,
Glos)
- Jul 1962: First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast
from Moreton to Rhyl
- 10 Jul 1962: First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar)
- 24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis
|
| 14 | 1963 | - 1963: France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC
- Jan 1963: Cold weather forces cancellation of most football matches (only 4 English First
Division matches in the month)
- 27 Mar 1963: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe')
- 1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age raised to 17
- 8 Aug 1963: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
- 17 Sep 1963: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational
- 19 Oct 1963—16 Oct 1964: Sir Alec Douglas-Home, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
- 18 Nov 1963: Dartford Tunnel opens
- 20 Nov 1963—20 Jan 1969: Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States
Lyndon Baines Johnson
- 23 Nov 1963: First episode of "Dr Who" on BBC TV
|
| 15 | 1964 | - 1 Jan 1964: First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV
- 9 Apr 1964: First Greater London Council (GLC) election
- 21 Apr 1964: BBC2 TV launched
- 22 Aug 1964: "Match of the Day" starts on BBC2
- 4 Sep 1964: Forth road bridge opens
- 16 Oct 1964—19 Jun 1970: Harold Wilson, UK Prime Minister (Labour)
Harold Wilson
|
| 16 | 1965 | - 1965: Britain enacts first Race Relations Act
- 7 Feb 1965: First US raids against North Vietnam
- 7 Apr 1965: Winston Churchill dies
- 1 Aug 1965: TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain
- 8 Oct 1965: Post Office Tower operational in London
- 28 Oct 1965: Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then
abolished 18 Dec 1969
- 22 Dec 1965: 70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
|
| 17 | 1966 | - 1966: Netherlands
Princess Beatrix and Claus von Amsberg marry
- 14 Feb 1966: Australia converts from
- 3 May 1966: "The Times" begins to print news on its front page in place of classified
advertisements
- 30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
- 8 Sep 1966: First Severn road bridge opens
- 21 Oct 1966: Aberfan disaster
- 1 Dec 1966: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
|
| 18 | 1967 | - 1967: Netherlands
The government's decision to close Limburg mines
- 4 Jan 1967: Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on
Conniston Water
- 18 Mar 1967: "Torrey Canyon" oil tanker runs aground off Lands End
- 28 May 1967: Francis Chichester arrives in Plymouth after solo circumnavigation in Gipsy
Moth IV (he was knighted 7th July at Greenwich by the queen using the sword with which
Elizabeth I had knighted Sir Francis Drake four centuries earlier
- 27 Jun 1967: First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain
- 1 Jul 1967: First colour TV in Britain
- 14 Aug 1967: Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK
- 20 Sep 1967: "QE2" launched on Clydebank
- 27 Sep 1967: "Queen Mary" arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage
- 30 Sep 1967: BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 & 4 open
- 5 Oct 1967: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
|
| 19 | 1968 | - 18 Feb 1968: British Standard Time introduced
- 18 Apr 1968: London Bridge sold (and eventually moved to Arizona)
- 20 Apr 1968: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
- 23 Apr 1968: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
- 29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
- 11 Aug 1968: Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle
- 16 Sep 1968: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
- 5 Oct 1968: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
|
| 20 | 1969 | - 20 Jan 1969—9 Aug 1974: Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the United States
Richard Milhous Nixon
- 2 Mar 1969: Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse
- 7 Mar 1969: Victoria Line tube opens in London
- 17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
- 2 May 1969: Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
- 31 Jul 1969: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain
- 14 Aug 1969: Civil disturbances in Ulster
- 7 Sep 1969: First episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" recorded
- 14 Oct 1969: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
|
| 21 | 1970 | - 1970: Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service
- 17 Jun 1970: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
- 19 Jun 1970: Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
- 19 Jun 1970—4 Mar 1974: Sir Edward Heath, UK Prime Minister (Conservative)
Sir Edward Heath
- 30 Jul 1970: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
- 19 Sep 1970: First Glastonbury Festival held
- 20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
|
| 22 | 1971 | - 1971: Banking and Financial Dealings Act
- 1971: Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week as UK adopts decision of the International
Standardisation Organisation (ISO) to call Monday the first day
- 1971: 'Greenpeace' founded
- 1971: Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt
- 3 Jan 1971: Open University starts
- 15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
- 9 Aug 1971: Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
- 28 Oct 1971: Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973)
- 28 Oct 1971: UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero
|
| 23 | 1972 | - 1972: Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland
- 1972: Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports
- 1972: Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK
- 1972: Domestic video cassette recorders introduced
- 30 Jan 1972: 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland
- 28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
|
1952 - 1972 (20 years)
