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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 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
|
| 2 | 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
|
| 3 | 1962 | - 1962: Commonwealth Immigrants Act
Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
- 1962: Thalidomide
Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies
- 1962: Concorde
Britain and France agree to construct 'Concorde'
- 25 May 1962: Coventry Cathedral
Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
- 15 Jun 1962: Berkeley Power Station
First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley Glos)
- Jul 1962: Hovercraft
First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast from Moreton to Rhyl
- 10 Jul 1962: Telstar
First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar) - first live broadcast on 23 Jul
- 24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis
Cuba missile crisis - brink of nuclear war
|
| 4 | 1963 | - 1963: EEC
France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC
- Jan 1963: Cold weather
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: Beeching Axe
Richard Beeching Report on British Railways - 'The Reshaping of British Railways' published (the 'Beeching Axe')
- 1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age
Minimum prison age raised to 17
- 8 Aug 1963: Great Train Robbery
'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. £2.6 Million stolen
- 17 Sep 1963: Fylingdales
Fylingdales (Yorkshire) early warning radar system operational
- 18 Nov 1963: Dartford Tunnel
Dartford Tunnel opens
- 23 Nov 1963: Dr Who
First episode of 'Dr Who' on BBC TV
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| 5 | 1964 | - 1 Jan 1964: Top of the Pops
First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV
- 9 Apr 1964: GLC
First Greater London Council (GLC) election
- 21 Apr 1964: BBC 2
BBC2 TV launched
- 22 Aug 1964: Match of the Day
'Match of the Day' starts on BBC2
- 4 Sep 1964: Forth road bridge
Forth road bridge opens
|
| 6 | 1965 | - 1965: Race Relations Act
Britain enacts first Race Relations Act
- 7 Feb 1965: North Vietnam
First US raids against North Vietnam
- 7 Apr 1965: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill dies
- 1 Aug 1965: Cigarette advertising
TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain
- 8 Oct 1965: Post Office Tower
Post Office Tower operational in London
- 28 Oct 1965: Death penalty
Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then
abolished 18 Dec 1969
- 22 Dec 1965: 70mph speed limit
70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
|
| 7 | 1966 | - 14 Feb 1966: Australia currency
Australia converts from £ to $
- 3 May 1966: The Times
'The Times' begins to print news on its front page in place of classified
Advertisements
- 30 Jul 1966: World Cup
World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
- 8 Sep 1966: Severn road bridge
First Severn road bridge opens
- 21 Oct 1966: Aberfan disaster
Aberfan disaster - colliery slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children
- 1 Dec 1966: Stamps
First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
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| 8 | 1967 | - 4 Jan 1967: Donald Campbell
Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on
Conniston Water - his body and Bluebird recovered in 2002
- 18 Mar 1967: Torrey Canyon
'Torrey Canyon' oil tanker runs aground off Lands End first major oil spill
- 28 May 1967: Francis Chichester
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: ATM
First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain - at Enfield branch of Barclays
- 1 Jul 1967: TV
First colour TV in Britain
- 14 Aug 1967: Pirate Radio
Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK
- 20 Sep 1967: QE2
'QE2' launched on Clydebank
- 27 Sep 1967: RMS Queen Mary
'Queen Mary' arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage
- 30 Sep 1967: BBC Radio
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: Majority Verdicts
Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
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| 9 | 1968 | - 18 Feb 1968: BST
British Standard Time introduced - Summer Time became permanent but arguments prevailed and Britain reverted to GMT in October 1971
- 18 Apr 1968: London Bridge
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: Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
- 23 Apr 1968: Decimal Coins
Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
- 29 May 1968: Manchester United
Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
- 11 Aug 1968: Steam Trains
Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle- Liverpool)
- 16 Sep 1968: Royal Mail
Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
- 5 Oct 1968: The Troubles
Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
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| 10 | 1969 | - 2 Mar 1969: Concorde
Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse
- 7 Mar 1969: Victoria Line
Victoria Line tube opens in London
- 17 Apr 1969: Voting age
Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
- 2 May 1969: RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
- 31 Jul 1969: Halfpenny
Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain
- 14 Aug 1969: Civil disturbances
Civil disturbances in Ulster - Britain sends troops to support civil authorities
- 7 Sep 1969: Monty Python's Flying Circus
First episode of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' recorded
- 14 Oct 1969: 50p coin
50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
|
| 11 | 1970 | - 1970: Boeing 747
Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service
- 17 Jun 1970: Decimal postage stamps
Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
- 19 Jun 1970: Edward Heath
Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
- 30 Jul 1970: Thalidomide
Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
- 19 Sep 1970: Glastonbury
First Glastonbury Festival held
- 20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note
Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
|
| 12 | 1971 | - 1971: Banking and Financial Dealings Act
Banking and Financial Dealings Act - replaced the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
- 1971: Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week
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
'Greenpeace' founded
- 1971: Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt
- 3 Jan 1971: Open University
Open University starts
- 15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation
Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
- 9 Aug 1971: Internment
Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
- 28 Oct 1971: Common Market
Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973)
- 28 Oct 1971: UK launches its first satellite
UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero on the Black Arrow rocket
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| 13 | 1972 | - 1972: Northern Ireland
Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland
- 1972: Anti-hijack measures
Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports
- 1972: Dutch Elm disease
Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK
- 1972: VCR
Domestic video cassette recorders introduced
- 30 Jan 1972: Bloody Sunday
'Bloody Sunday' in Londonderry, Northern Ireland
- 28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor
Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
|
| 14 | 1973 | - 1 Jan 1973: Britain enters Common Market
Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
- 17 Mar 1973: London Bridge
Modern London Bridge opened by the Queen
- 1 Apr 1973: VAT
VAT introduced in Britain
- 26 Sep 1973: Concorde
Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking
time
- 14 Oct 1973: Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips
Marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey
- 31 Dec 1973—9 Mar 1974: Three-day week
Miners strike and oil crisis precipitate 'three-day week' (till 9 Mar 1974) to
conserve power
|
| 15 | 1974 | - 1974: New counties formed
New counties formed in Britain after re-organisation of some county boundaries
- 1 Jun 1974: Flixborough disaster
Flixborough disaster: explosion at chemical plant kills 28 people
- 7 Nov 1974: Lord Lucan
Lord Lucan disappears
- 21 Nov 1974: IRA
Birmingham pub bombings by the IRA
|
| 16 | 1975 | - 1975: Unemployment
Unemployment in Britain rises above 1M for first time since before WW2
- 11 Feb 1975: Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative party (in opposition)
- 28 Feb 1975: Moorgate tube crash
Moorgate tube crash in London - over 43 deaths, greatest loss of life on the
Underground in peacetime. The cause of the incident was never conclusively determined
- 4 Mar 1975: Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin knighted
- 5 Jun 1975: Referendum
UK votes in a referendum to stay in the European Community
- 29 Oct 1975: Yorkshire Ripper
'Yorkshire Ripper' commits his first murder
- 3 Nov 1975: North Sea oil
First North Sea oil comes ashore
- 29 Nov 1975: Bill Gates
The name 'Micro-soft' coined by Bill Gates ('Microsoft' became a Trademark the
following year)
- 27 Dec 1975: Equal Pay Act
Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force
|
| 17 | 1976 | - 1976: Cod War
'Cod War' between Britain and Iceland
- 1976: Deaths exceeded live births
Deaths exceeded live births in England & Wales for first time since records began in 1837
- 1976: National Theatre
National Theatre opens in London
- 21 Jan 1976: Concorde
Concorde enters supersonic passenger service
- 1 Apr 1976: Apple Computer
Apple Computer formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
- 5 Apr 1976: James Callaghan
James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister
- 6 Aug 1976: Drought Act
Drought Act 1976 comes into force during the long, hot summer
|
1960 - 1976 (16 years)