1964 in the United Kingdom

UK-related events during the year of 1964

1964 in the United Kingdom
Other years
1962 | 1963 | 1964 (1964) | 1965 | 1966
Constituent countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Popular culture

1964 British Grand Prix
1964 English cricket season
Football: England | Scotland
1964 in British television
1964 in British music
1964 in British radio
UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964

Events from the year 1964 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Events

Forth Road Bridge.
  • 1 January – Top of the Pops first airs on BBC TV.
  • 11 January – The teen girls magazine Jackie is first published.[1]
  • 20 January – Eleven men go on trial at Buckinghamshire Assizes in Aylesbury charged in connection with the Great Train Robbery five months ago.
  • 21 January – Government figures show that the average weekly wage is £16.[2]
  • 22 January – The film Zulu is released.
  • 28 January – Families from Springtown Camp make a silent march through Derry, Northern Ireland, to demand rehousing.[3]
  • 29 January–9 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria and win one gold medal.
  • 6 February – The British and French governments agree a deal for the construction of a Channel Tunnel. The twin-tunneled rail link is expected to take five years to build.[4]
  • 11 February – Southampton is granted city status, the first such designation of the current reign.[5]
  • 19 February – The actor Peter Sellers marries actress Britt Ekland.
  • 21 February – £10 banknotes are issued for the first time since the Second World War.
  • 9 March – The London Fisheries Convention is signed.
  • 10 March – The Queen gives birth to her fourth child and third son whose name is registered on 20 April as Edward.
  • 19 March
    • Power dispute talks break down and it is feared that supply disruptions will follow industrial action.[6]
    • The government announces plans to build three new towns in South East England to act as overspill for overpopulated London.[7] One of these is centred on the village of Milton Keynes in north Buckinghamshire.[8]
  • 26 March – Verdicts are passed on ten men for their role in the Great Train Robbery after one of the longest criminal trials and longest jury retirals in English legal history.
  • 28 March – "Pirate" radio station Radio Caroline begins regular broadcasting from a ship anchored just outside UK territorial waters off Felixstowe.[9]
  • 29 March – The first purpose-built gurdwara in Britain opens, the Guru Gobind Singh Ji Gurdwara in Bradford.[10]
  • 30 March – Violent disturbances between Mods and Rockers occur at Clacton beach.[11]
  • 31 March – Minister of Labour Joseph Godber appoints Lord Justice Pearson to chair a court of inquiry into the power dispute.[12]
  • 1 April – The Ministry of Defence takes over the duties of the War Office, Admiralty and Air Ministry which all cease to exist. The title of Lord High Admiral is revested in the Monarch.[11] The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science merge to form the Department of Education and Science.
  • 9 April – Labour wins the first elections to the Greater London Council.
  • 10 April – Runcorn, a small town in north Cheshire, is designated as a new town by Alec Douglas-Home's government. Extensive house building and industrial and commercial developments are predicted to inflate the town's population to around 70,000 by 1981.[13]
  • 11 April – The National Trust reopens the southern section of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, the first major restoration of a canal for leisure use.[14]
  • 16 April – A sentence is passed on eleven men for their role in the Great Train Robbery, seven receiving 30 years each.[9]
  • 18 April – Liverpool win the Football League First Division for the sixth time in their history.[15]
  • 20 April – The opening night of BBC2, the UK's third television channel, is disrupted by power cuts in London and all that can be screened is announcer Gerald Priestland delivering apologies from Alexandra Palace. On the same day, the BBC Television Service is renamed BBC1.[16]
  • 21 April – BBC2 begins its scheduled broadcasting, its first programme is the children's series Play School which would run until 1988.[9]
  • 29 April – All schools in Aberdeen are closed following 136 cases of typhoid being reported.
  • 1 May – Princess Margaret gives birth to a baby girl.
  • 2 May
  • 5 May – Granada Television airs the first in what will become a series of documentary interviews with a generation of children, Seven Up!
  • 6 May – Joe Orton's black comedy Entertaining Mr Sloane premieres at the New Arts Theatre in London.[18]
  • 11 May – Terence Conran opens the first Habitat store on London's Fulham Road.[9]
  • 12 May – "Pirate" radio station Radio Atlanta begins broadcasting from MV Mi Amigo anchored off Frinton-on-Sea, in July, its operations are merged with Radio Caroline.
  • 15 May – Lord Justice Pearson reports on the power dispute.[19]
  • 16–18 May – Violent disturbances between Mods and Rockers in Brighton.
  • 27 May – "Pirate" radio station Radio Sutch begins broadcasting from Shivering Sands Army Fort in the Thames Estuary.[20]
  • 29 May – The official opening of the UK's first undercover shopping centre, at the Bull Ring, Birmingham.[21]
  • 17 June – A missing persons investigation is launched in Fallowfield, Manchester, as police search for 12-year-old Keith Bennett who was last seen on his way to his grandmother's house yesterday evening, he is a victim of the Moors murders.
  • July
  • 6 July
    • Malawi gains its independence.[23]
    • The Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, is released.[citation needed]
  • 10 July – More than 300 people are injured in Liverpool when a crowd of some 150,000 people welcome The Beatles back to their home city.
  • 15 July – The Post Office Tower in London is completed, although it does not begin operations until October 1965.[11]
  • 27 July – Former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill is present in the House of Commons for the last time at the age of 89, having been an MP for 63 of the last 65 years. On the following day, he receives a Parliamentary resolution recording his service to the House and nation and marking his retirement.[24]
  • 4 August
  • 13 August – Peter Anthony Allen at Walton Prison in Liverpool and Gwynne Owen Evans at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, are hanged for the murder of John Alan West on 7 April, the last executions to take place in the British Isles.[25]
  • 22 August – The first Match of the Day airs on BBC2.
  • September – The British Motor Corporation launches the BMC ADO17 family saloon, initially as the Austin 1800, this again wins BMC the European Car of the Year award in its second year.
  • 4 September – The Forth Road Bridge opens over the Firth of Forth, linking Fife and Edinburgh.[9]
  • 14 September – The final edition of the left-wing Daily Herald newspaper is published.
  • 15 September
    • The Sun newspaper goes into circulation, replacing the Daily Herald.
    • Sir Alec Douglas-Home calls a general election for 15 October.
  • 17 September – Goldfinger, the third James Bond film, premieres at Odeon Leicester Square in London.
  • 20 September – At the autumnal equinox, the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) is founded in England, as the equivalent of Wales's Gorsedd of Bards.
  • 21 September – Malta obtains independence from the UK.[23]
  • 29 September – An announcement was made that American car manufacturer Chrysler is taking a substantial share in the British Rootes Group combine which includes the Hillman, Singer and Sunbeam marques.[26]
  • October – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the first British woman to win a Nobel "for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances".[27]
  • 10–24 October – Great Britain competes at the Olympics in Tokyo and wins 4 gold, 12 silver and 2 bronze medals.
  • 15 October – 1964 United Kingdom general election. The Labour Party defeats the Conservatives and Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister, having gained a majority of five seats. The election result spells the end of 13 years of Conservative government, although the Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home had entered office only 12 months ago. A surprise casualty as MP is Patrick Gordon Walker who was widely expected to become the Foreign Secretary in a future Labour government, but loses his Smethwick seat to the Conservatives following a controversial racially motivated campaign by the opposing party's supporters.[28]
  • 17 October – Harold Wilson's cabinet is announced, it includes James Callaghan (who missed out on the Labour leadership in February 1963), Denis Healey, Barbara Castle and Roy Jenkins. Jim Griffiths becomes the first Secretary of State for Wales.
  • 18 October – Harold Wilson creates the Welsh Office.[11]
  • 24 October – Northern Rhodesia, a former British protectorate, becomes the independent Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule.[23]
  • 2 November – The ITV soap opera Crossroads airs for the first time. It would run until 1988 and would be revived in 2001 and ended again in 2003.[9]
  • 9 November – The House of Commons votes to abolish the death penalty for murder in Britain. The last execution took place in August and the death penalty is set to be officially abolished before the end of next year with the number of executions having gradually fallen during the last decade.
  • 27 November – Power unions announce that they will start balloting for a strike.[29]
  • 30 November – The power dispute is settled and strike action called off.[30]
  • 16 December – Government, Trades Union Congress and employers produce a joint Statement of Intent on Productivity, Prices and Incomes.
  • 21 December – MPs vote 355 to 170 for the abolition of the death penalty, with the abolition likely to be confirmed before the end of next year. The death penalty has gradually fallen out of use over the last twenty years, with the two most recent executions having taken place in August.
  • 23 December
  • 24 December – The Beatles gain the Christmas number one for the second year running with "I Feel Fine" which has topped the singles charts for the third week running. They have now had six number one singles in the United Kingdom alone.[32]
  • 26 December – Police launch a missing persons investigation after ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey goes missing from a fairground near her home in Ancoats, Manchester, she is a victim of the Moors murders.
  • 31 December – Donald Campbell sets the world speed record on water at 276.33 mph on Dumbleyung Lake in Australia.[9]

Undated

Publications

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ^ McRobbie, Angela (1991). Feminism and youth culture: from "Jackie" to "Just Seventeen". Basingstoke: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-45263-9.
  2. ^ Equivalent to £229 in 2021, when the average will actually be around £550.
  3. ^ "Springtown Camp from the inside". Springtown Camp 1946–1967. 2006. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  4. ^ "1964: Green light for Channel Tunnel". BBC News. 6 February 1964. Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
  5. ^ "City Status For Southampton". The Times. 12 February 1964. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Power Dispute Talks Break Down Overtime Ban On Monday, Union Delegation Walks Out Of Meeting". The Times. 20 March 1964. p. 14, col.A.
  7. ^ "1964: 'Ambitious' plans for south east". BBC. 19 March 1964. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  8. ^ Those were the days Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.
  10. ^ "First places of devotion". Vaguely Interesting. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 422–423. ISBN 978-0-7126-5616-0.
  12. ^ "Lord Justice Pearson Inquiry Chairman". The Times. 1 April 1964. p. 10, col.B.
  13. ^ [1] Archived 7 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Hadfield, Charles; Norris, John (1968). Waterways to Stratford (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4231-2.
  15. ^ On this day – 18 April 1964 – Liverpool FC
  16. ^ "BBC2 Opening Night". British TV History. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  17. ^ "Announcement of the christening of Lady Louise Windsor". The British Monarchy. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  18. ^ Banham, Martin (1995). The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge University Press. p. 827. ISBN 978-0-521-43437-9.
  19. ^ "Both Sides To Blame in Power Dispute "Bury Past, Build For Future" Report Says". The Times. 16 May 1964. p. 5, col.A.
  20. ^ "Radio Sutch & City in Pictures & Audio Part 1". Bob Le-Roi. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  21. ^ Kennedy, Liam, ed. (2004). Remaking Birmingham: The Visual Culture of Urban Regeneration. Routledge Ltd. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-415-28839-2.
  22. ^ "Special events in the development of women's equality". Catherine of Siena Virtual College. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  23. ^ a b c The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. p. 502. ISBN 978-1-85986-000-7.
  24. ^ Soames, Mary (1998). Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill. London: Doubleday. p. 647. ISBN 978-03-85406-91-8.
  25. ^ "Last executions in the UK". Stephen-stratford.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  26. ^ Bullock, John (1993). The Rootes Brothers: story of a motoring empire. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-85260-454-7.
  27. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
  28. ^ "1964 General election results summary". UK Political Info. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  29. ^ "Power Dispute Talks Fail Strike Threat Draws Near, Union Ballot To Start On Monday". The Times. 28 November 1964. p. 8, col.C.
  30. ^ "Power Stations Overtime Ban Called Off – Payments Claim Settled". The Times. 1 December 1964. p. 10, col.C.
  31. ^ "1964: Beeching to leave British Railways". BBC News. 23 December 1964. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
  32. ^ "The Beatles U.K. Singles Chart Number Ones". JPGR. 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  33. ^ "Our history". Hanson. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  34. ^ Jack Galusha, "Daihatsu Sirion 1.0 S", Autocar, archived from the original on 3 April 2012, retrieved 13 April 2013
  35. ^ Lambert, Tim. "Britain Since 1948". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  36. ^ Editors of Chase's (24 September 2019). Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-64143-316-7.
  37. ^ Salewicz, Chris. "Diane Charlemagne: Vocalist who rose to fame with Urban Cookie Collective before helping Goldie to change the face of drum'n'bass". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  38. ^ "Diane Holl". The Henry Ford. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  39. ^ G. L. Hough (1989). Chambers Dates. Chambers. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-550-11831-8.
  40. ^ Upshall, Emma (22 November 2019). "Costa Coffee appoints Jill McDonald as new CEO". FoodBev Media. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  41. ^ Katie Shimmon (17 May 2005), "College days [Ben Daniels]", The Guardian (EducationGuardian)
  42. ^ "Ralph Andrew Knibbs".
  43. ^ "Paul McStay". Scottish FA. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  44. ^ Patricia Romanowski Bashe; Patricia Romanowski; Holly George-Warren; Jon Pareles (1995). The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. Fireside. p. 1981. ISBN 978-0-684-81044-7.
  45. ^ Clark Layman Bruccoli; Gale Cengage (1996). British Children's Writers, 1914-1960. Gale Research. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-8103-9355-4.
  46. ^ Asian Folklore Studies. Nanzan University Institute of Anthropology. 1964. p. 212.
  47. ^ "Ian Fleming | Biography, Novels, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
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