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Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 1898 | |
2 | 1953 | |
3 | 1958 | - 1958—1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
- 1958—1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
- 1958—1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
- 13 May 1958—13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
- 26 Jul 1958—26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
- 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
- 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
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4 | 1959 | - 3 Feb 1959—3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and
The Big Bopper
- 17 Feb 1959—17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched - first to measure cloud-cover distribution
- 24 May 1959—24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
- Aug 1959—Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
- 26 Sep 1959—30 Apr 1975: Vietnam War
- 3 Oct 1959—3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
- 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
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5 | 1960 | - 17 Mar 1960—17 Mar 1960: New ?1 notes issued by Bank of England
- 18 Mar 1960—18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
- 21 Jul 1960—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—12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
- 12 Sep 1960—12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
- 1 Oct 1960—1 Oct 1960: HMS 'Dreadnought' nuclear submarine launched
- 2 Nov 1960—2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' case
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6 | 1961 | - 1 Jan 1961—1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
- 20 Jan 1961—22 Nov 1963: John F. Kennedy U.S. Presidency
- 13 Mar 1961—13 Mar 1961: Black & White ?5 notes cease to be legal tender
- 14 Mar 1961—14 Mar 1961: New English Bible (New Testament) published
- 1 May 1961—1 May 1961: Betting shops legal in Britain
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7 | 1962 | - 1962—1962: Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
- 1962—1962: Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies
- 1962—1962: Britain and France agree to construct 'Concorde'
- 25 May 1962—25 May 1962: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
- 15 Jun 1962—15 Jun 1962: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley Glos)
- Jul 1962—Jul 1962: First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast from Moreton to Rhyl
- 10 Jul 1962—10 Jul 1962: First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar) - first live broadcast on 23 Jul
- 24 Oct 1962—24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
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8 | 1963 | - 1963—1963: France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC
- Jan 1963—Jan 1963: Cold weather forces cancellation of most football matches (only 4 English First Division matches in the month) - the first 'pools panel' created
- 27 Mar 1963—27 Mar 1963: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe')
- 1 Aug 1963—1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age raised to 17
- 8 Aug 1963—8 Aug 1963: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
- 17 Sep 1963—17 Sep 1963: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational
- 18 Nov 1963—18 Nov 1963: Dartford Tunnel opens
- 22 Nov 1963—20 Jan 1969: Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Presidency
- 23 Nov 1963—23 Nov 1963: First episode of 'Dr Who' on BBC TV
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9 | 1964 | - 1 Jan 1964—1 Jan 1964: First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV
- 9 Apr 1964—9 Apr 1964: First Greater London Council (GLC) election
- 21 Apr 1964—21 Apr 1964: BBC2 TV launched
- 22 Aug 1964—22 Aug 1964: 'Match of the Day' starts on BBC2
- 4 Sep 1964—4 Sep 1964: Forth road bridge opens
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10 | 1965 | - 1965—1965: Britain enacts first Race Relations Act
- 7 Feb 1965—7 Feb 1965: First US raids against North Vietnam
- 7 Apr 1965—7 Apr 1965: Winston Churchill dies
- 1 Aug 1965—1 Aug 1965: TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain
- 8 Oct 1965—8 Oct 1965: Post Office Tower operational in London
- 28 Oct 1965—28 Oct 1965: Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then
abolished 18 Dec 1969
- 22 Dec 1965—22 Dec 1965: 70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
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11 | 1966 | - 14 Feb 1966—14 Feb 1966: Australia converts from ? to $
- 3 May 1966—3 May 1966: 'The Times' begins to print news on its front page in place of classified
Advertisements
- 30 Jul 1966—30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
- 8 Sep 1966—8 Sep 1966: First Severn road bridge opens
- 21 Oct 1966—21 Oct 1966: Aberfan disaster - slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children
- 1 Dec 1966—1 Dec 1966: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
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12 | 1967 | - 4 Jan 1967—4 Jan 1967: Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on
Conniston Water - his body and Bluebird recovered in 2002
- 18 Mar 1967—18 Mar 1967: 'Torrey Canyon' oil tanker runs aground off Lands End first major oil spill
- 28 May 1967—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—27 Jun 1967: First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain - at Enfield branch of Barclays
- 1 Jul 1967—1 Jul 1967: First colour TV in Britain
- 14 Aug 1967—14 Aug 1967: Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK
- 20 Sep 1967—20 Sep 1967: 'QE2' launched on Clydebank
- 27 Sep 1967—27 Sep 1967: 'Queen Mary' arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage
- 30 Sep 1967—30 Sep 1967: BBC Radios 1 2 3 & 4 open first record played on Radio 1 was the controversial 'Flowers in the Rain' by 'The Move'
- 5 Oct 1967—5 Oct 1967: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
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13 | 1968 | - 18 Feb 1968—18 Feb 1968: British Standard Time introduced - Summer Time became permanent but arguments prevailed and Britain reverted to GMT in October 1971
- 18 Apr 1968—18 Apr 1968: London Bridge sold (and eventually moved to Arizona) - modern London Bridge, built around it as it was demolished, was opened in Mar 1973
- 20 Apr 1968—20 Apr 1968: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
- 23 Apr 1968—23 Apr 1968: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
- 29 May 1968—29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
- 11 Aug 1968—11 Aug 1968: Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle- Liverpool)
- 16 Sep 1968—16 Sep 1968: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
- 5 Oct 1968—5 Oct 1968: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
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14 | 1969 | - 20 Jan 1969—9 Aug 1974: Richard Nixon U.S. Presidency
- 2 Mar 1969—2 Mar 1969: Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse
- 7 Mar 1969—7 Mar 1969: Victoria Line tube opens in London
- 17 Apr 1969—17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
- 2 May 1969—2 May 1969: Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
- 20 Jul 1969: Apollo 11 Moon Landing
- 31 Jul 1969—31 Jul 1969: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain
- 14 Aug 1969—14 Aug 1969: Civil disturbances in Ulster - Britain sends troops to support civil authorities
- 7 Sep 1969—7 Sep 1969: First episode of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' recorded
- 14 Oct 1969—14 Oct 1969: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
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15 | 1970 | - 1970—1970: Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service
- 17 Jun 1970—17 Jun 1970: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
- 19 Jun 1970—19 Jun 1970: Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
- 30 Jul 1970—30 Jul 1970: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
- 19 Sep 1970—19 Sep 1970: First Glastonbury Festival held
- 20 Nov 1970—20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
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16 | 1971 | - 1971—1971: Banking and Financial Dealings Act - replaced the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
- 1971—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—1971: 'Greenpeace' founded
- 1971—1971: Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt
- 3 Jan 1971—3 Jan 1971: Open University starts
- 15 Feb 1971—15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
- 9 Aug 1971—9 Aug 1971: Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
- 28 Oct 1971—28 Oct 1971: Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973)
- 28 Oct 1971—28 Oct 1971: UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero
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17 | 1972 | - 1972—1972: Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland
- 1972—1972: Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports
- 1972—1972: Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK
- 1972—1972: Domestic video cassette recorders introduced
- 30 Jan 1972—30 Jan 1972: 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland
- 28 May 1972—28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
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