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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1947 | - 1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years
Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year - heavy snow and much flooding later
- 1947: First British nuclear reactor
First British nuclear reactor developed
- 1 Jan 1947: National Coal Board
Coal Mines nationalised
- 23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
- 1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
- 1 Apr 1947: School leaving age
School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
- 26 Oct 1947: British military occupation
British military occupation ends in Iraq
- 20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten
Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in
Westminster Abbey
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| 2 | 1948 | - 1948: British Citizenship Act
British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
- 1948: Transistor radio
Transistor radio invented
- 1948: Long-playing record
Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
- 1 Jan 1948: British Railways
British Railways nationalised
- 5 Jul 1948: NHS
National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
- 29 Jul 1948: London Olympics
London Olympics begin
|
| 3 | 1949 | - 1949: Bristol Brabazon
Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
- 1949: De Haviland Comet
De Haviland produces the Comet - first jet airliner
- 15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing
Clothes rationing ends in Britain
- 4 Apr 1949: NATO
Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
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| 4 | 1950 | - 26 May 1950: Petrol rationing
Petrol rationing ends in Britain
- 11 Jul 1950: Andy Pandy
'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
- 9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing
Soap rationing ends in Britain
- 28 Dec 1950: Peak District
The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
|
| 5 | 1951 | - 3 May 1951: Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
- 28 May 1951: The Goon Show
First Goon Show broadcast
- 20 Dec 1951: Experimental Breeder Reactor
Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
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| 6 | 1952 | - 1952: Contraceptive pill
Contraceptive pill invented
- 1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb
Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
- 1952: Radioactive carbon
Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
- 1952: Bonn Convention
Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
- 6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies
King George VI dies
- 21 Feb 1952: ID Cards abolished
Identity Cards abolished in Britain
- 2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service
First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London
and Johannesburg
- 5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London
Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
- 16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth flood disaster
Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
- 6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes
DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed including Test Pilot John Derry. The DH110 was the prototype of the Royal Navy's Sea Vixen fighter jet.
- 3 Oct 1952: Tea rationing
End of tea rationing in Britain
- 1 Nov 1952: First H-bomb
The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA - the mushroom cloud
was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised.
- 25 Nov 1952: The Mousetrap
Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
- 4 Dec 1952: The Great Smog
Great smog hits London
|
| 7 | 1953 | - 31 Jan 1953: East Coast Floods
Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century -
severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives - - effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even worse affected with over a thousand deaths]
- 5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends
Sweet rationing ends in Britain
- 5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
Death of Stalin
- 26 Mar 1953: Polio vaccine
Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
- 24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
Winston Churchill knighted
- 25 Apr 1953: DNA
Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
- 2 Jun 1953: Elizabeth II
Coronation of Elizabeth II
- 26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends
Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
|
| 8 | 1954 | - 1954: Comprehensive school
First comprehensive school opens in London
- 1954: Routemaster bus
Routemaster bus starts operating in London
- 1954: Transistor radios
First transistor radios sold
- 6 May 1954: Roger Bannister
First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
- 3 Jul 1954: Food rationing
Food rationing officially ends in Britain
- 5 Jul 1954: first television news bulletin
BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
- 30 Sep 1954: USS Nautilus
First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
|
| 9 | 1955 | - 1955: Self-grip wrench
'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
- 27 Jul 1955: Allied occupation of Austria ends
Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
- 22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV
Commercial TV starts in Britain
|
| 10 | 1956 | - 1956: First nuclear power station
Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
- 1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet
Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
- 17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds
Premium Bonds first launched - first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
- 3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel
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: Suez Crisis
Britain and France invade Suez
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| 11 | 1957 | - 1957: Parking meters
Britain introduces parking meters
- 1957: Helvetica
Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
- 11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
- 14 May 1957: Petrol rationing
Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
- 15 May 1957: British hydrogen bomb
Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
- 25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome
Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became operational Jan 1958
- 4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster
Lewisham rail disaster - 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them
- 25 Dec 1957: Christmas TV broadcast
Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
|
| 12 | 1958 | - 1958: Anti-nuclear protest
Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
- 1958: Rise of Computers
Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
- 1958: ICBM
USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
- 13 May 1958: Velcro
Velcro trade mark registered
- 26 Jul 1958: Prince of Wales
Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
- 5 Dec 1958: Subscriber Trunk Dialling
Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
- 5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens
Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
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| 13 | 1959 | - 3 Feb 1959: The Day The Music Died
'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and
The Big Bopper
- 24 May 1959: Commonwealth Day
Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
- Aug 1959: Mini
BMC Mini car launched
- 3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced
Postcodes introduced in Britain
- 1 Nov 1959: M1 motorway
First section of M1 motorway opened
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| 14 | 1960 | - 17 Mar 1960: New Pound Notes
New £1 notes issued by Bank of England
- 18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive
Last steam locomotive of British Railways named 'Evening Star'
- 21 Jul 1960: Francis Chichester
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 Sep 1960: MoT tests
MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
- 1 Oct 1960: HMS Dreadnought
HMS 'Dreadnought' the Royal Navy's 1st nuclear submarine launched
- 2 Nov 1960: Lady Chatterley's Lover
Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' case
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| 15 | 1961 | - 1 Jan 1961: Farthing
Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
- 13 Mar 1961: £5 notes
Black & White £5 notes cease to be legal tender
- 14 Mar 1961: New English Bible
New English Bible (New Testament) published
- 1 May 1961: Betting shops
Betting shops legal in Britain
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1947 - 1961 (14 years)