1959 in the United Kingdom explained
Events from the year 1959 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Events
- 1 April – The official name of the administrative county of Hampshire is changed from "County of Southampton" to "County of Hampshire".
- 2 April – United Dairies merges with Cow & Gate to form Unigate Dairies.[6]
- 22 April – Ballerina Margot Fonteyn is released from prison in Panama following involvement in her husband's planned coup against the government of President Ernesto de la Guardia.[7]
- 30 April – Icelandic gunboat fires on British trawlers in the first of the Cod Wars over fishing rights.
- 2 May
- 7 May – Scientist and novelist C. P. Snow delivers an influential Rede Lecture on The Two Cultures, concerning a perceived breakdown of communication between the sciences and humanities in the Senate House, University of Cambridge. It is subsequently published as The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.
- 24 May – British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day.
- 28 May – The Mermaid Theatre opens in the City of London.
- May – The first Ten Tors event is held on Dartmoor.
- June – Import tariffs are lifted in the United Kingdom.
- 1 June – The first episode of Juke Box Jury airs on BBC Television, chaired by David Jacobs.[10]
- 3 June – Singapore is granted self-governing status.
- 11 June – Christopher Cockerell's invention of the hovercraft is officially launched.[11] On 25 July, the SR.N1 craft crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over 2 hours.
- 22 June – Harrods enters talks with Debenhams over a possible £34,000,000 merger.
- 23 June – Klaus Fuchs is released from Wakefield prison having served over nine years for giving British nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union and moves to East Germany.[8]
- 9 July – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London–Cape Town flight.[12]
- 10 July – Cliff Richard and The Drifters release a recording of the song "Living Doll", written by Lionel Bart.
- 28 July – UK postcodes are introduced for the first time, albeit as an experiment, in the city of Norwich.[13]
- 29 July
- The Mental Health Act becomes law, modernising the care of mental disorders.
- The Obscene Publications Act becomes law.
- The Legitimacy Act becomes law, permitting the legitimisation of a child, one of whose parents was married to a third person at the time of their birth, by subsequent marriage of the parents.
- 4 August – Barclays become the first bank to install a computer.[14]
- 24 August – House of Fraser wins the bidding war for Harrods in a £37,000,000 deal.[15]
- 26 August – BMC launches the Mini to showrooms, a two-door, 10-foot-long car with an 848cc four-cylinder transverse engine and a top speed of 70mph, designed to carry the driver and three passengers and their luggage in comfort. The designer is Alec Issigonis who also designed the Morris Minor. It will remain in production until the year 2000 and be replaced with a BMW-made version a year later.[8]
- 31 August – Harold Macmillan and US President Dwight Eisenhower make a joint television broadcast from Downing Street.[16]
- 18 September – Auchengeich mining disaster: 47 miners die as the result of an underground fire at Auchengeich Colliery, Lanarkshire, Scotland.[17]
- 7 October – Southend Pier is damaged in a fire.[18]
- 8 October – The 1959 General Election is held resulting in a record third successive Conservative victory.[19] Harold Macmillan, running under the slogan "Life's better with the Conservatives, Don't let Labour ruin it", increases the Conservative majority in Parliament to 100 seats.[20] The Labour Party contest their first (and only) General Election under the leadership of Hugh Gaitskell.[21] Among the new Members of Parliament entering the Commons for the first time are future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who will represent Finchley in North London for 33 years and future leader of the Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe.[22]
- 12 October – A large-scale diamond robbery takes place in London.
- 21 October – Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi is arrested in Nyeri, Kenya.
- 30 October – Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club opens in the Soho district of London.
- 2 November – The first section of the M1 motorway is opened[8] between Watford and Rugby. It is set to be extended over the next few years, southwards to Edgware and northwards to Leeds.
- 5 November – Philip John Noel-Baker wins the Nobel Peace Prize.[23]
- 11 November – London Transport introduces the production AEC Routemaster double-decker bus into public service.
- 14 November – The nuclear Dounreay Fast Reactor in Scotland achieves criticality.[24]
- 17 November – Prestwick and Renfrew Airport in Scotland become the first airports in the UK with duty-free shops.[25]
- 20 November – Britain becomes a founder member of the European Free Trade Association.
- December – Health enthusiast Dr. Barbara Moore walks from Edinburgh to London.
- 6 December – Aberdeen trawler George Robb runs aground at Duncansby Head in Scotland in a severe gale with the loss of all 12 crew.[26]
- 8 December – Broughty Ferry life-boat Mona capsizes on service to North Carr Lightship in Scotland, all eight life-boat crew are lost.
- 28 December – Associated-Rediffusion first airs the children's television series Ivor the Engine, made by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms in stop motion animation using cardboard cut-outs.
Undated
Publications
Births
January – February
- 4 January – John Batchelor, racing driver, businessman and political activist (died 2010)
- 5 January – David Eastwood, English historian and academic
- 7 January – Angela Smith, British Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Basildon
- 12 January – Simon Tolkien, novelist
- 16 January – Sade Adu, Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter and record producer
- 24 January – Jim Moir (Vic Reeves), English comedian and artist
- 29 January – Frank Key, writer (died 2019)
- 30 January – Alex Hyde-White, English actor
- 3 February – Lol Tolhurst, cofounder and drummer/keyboardist of rock band The Cure
- 4 February – John Wraw, Anglican prelate (died 2017)
- 6 February – Martyn Quayle, politician (died 2016)
- 7 February – Mick McCarthy, football player and manager
- 11 February – Deborah Meaden, businesswoman
- 15 February
- 17 February – Dave Courtney, gangster, author and actor (died 2023)
- 18 February
- 23 February – Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
- 27 February – Simon Critchley, British philosopher
March – April
- 1 March – Nick Griffin, British politician, chairman of the British National Party (BNP)
- 9 March – Mark Carwardine, British zoologist
- 15 March – Ben Okri, Nigerian-born poet and novelist
- 19 March – Terry Hall, British singer (died 2022)
- 20 March
- 21 March – Colin Jones, Welsh boxer
- 29 March – Richard Cousins, English businessman (died 2017)
- 30 March – Andrew Bailey, English banker
- 4 April – Gordon Dunne, Northern Irish politician (died 2021)
- 5 April – Ian Pearson, British Labour politician and MP for Dudley South
- 7 April – Nigel Walker, footballer (died 2014)
- 9 April – Bernard Jenkin, politician
- 11 April – John Myers, radio executive (died 2019)
- 14 April – Ali Brownlee, radio sports broadcaster (died 2016)
- 15 April – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian and screenwriter[33]
- 16 April
- 17 April
- 19 April – Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, disability rights campaigner
- 21 April – Robert Smith, gothic rock singer-songwriter (The Cure)
- 24 April – Paula Yates, television presenter (died 2000)[36]
- 25 April – Adrian Sanders, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for Torbay
- 27 April – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer[37]
May – June
- 3 May – Ben Elton, English comedian and writer[38]
- 4 May – Dick Bradsell, bartender (died 2016)
- 5 May – Ian McCulloch, English rock singer-songwriter (Echo & the Bunnymen)
- 8 May – Kevin McCloud, television presenter
- 12 May
- 13 May – Peter Longbottom, cyclist (died 1998)
- 15 May – Andrew Eldritch, né Taylor, English gothic rock singer-songwriter (The Sisters of Mercy)
- 16 May – Tracy Hyde, English actress and model
- 17 May – Richard Barrons, English general
- 18 May
- 20 May
- 22 May
- 23 May – Bob Mortimer, English comedian and actor
- 24 May – Sharon Peacock, microbiologist
- 25 May – Julian Clary, comedian
- 27 May – Gerard Kelly, Scottish actor (died 2010)
- 28 May
- 29 May
- 30 May – David Thomas, cricketer (died 2012)
- 1 June
- 6 June – Lindsay Posner, English theatre director and manager
- 11 June – Hugh Laurie, English actor, comedian and writer[41]
- 19 June
- 21 June – John Baron, English Conservative politician and MP for Billericay
- 24 June – Andy McCluskey, musician and songwriter (OMD)
- 26 June – Lucy Kellaway, English columnist at the Financial Times and teacher
- 27 June – Clint Boon, English rock keyboardist (Inspiral Carpets) and DJ
- 28 June – Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton, English Labour politician and educationalist
- 29 June – Richard Vranch, English comedian, actor and television panel show participant
- 30 June – Jane Gregory, Olympic equestrian (died 2011)
July – August
- 3 July
- 4 July – Jan Brittin, cricketer (died 2017)
- 8 July – Pauline Quirke, actress
- 9 July – Clive Stafford Smith, civil rights activist
- 11 July – Steve Whatley, actor and television presenter (died 2005)
- 13 July – Richard Leman, field hockey player
- 15 July – Charles Farr, civil servant (died 2019)
- 16 July – James MacMillan, composer and conductor
- 18 July – Jonathan Dove, operatic composer
- 31 July – Kim Newman, journalist, film critic and fiction writer[42]
- 1 August
- 5 August – Pete Burns, pop singer (died 2016)
- 19 August – Russell Foster, neuroscientist
- 20 August – Andrew Pelling, Conservative politician and MP for Croydon Central
- 24 August – Meg Munn, Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Sheffield Heeley
- 27 August – Jeanette Winterson, novelist
- 28 August – John Yems, football manager
- 29 August – Stephen Wolfram, scientist
September – October
- 5 September – Michael Lord-Castle, business person[43]
- 8 September – Judy Murray, tennis coach
- 11 September – Colin Butts, novelist and screenwriter (died 2018)
- 12 September
- 13 September – Andy Gray, Scottish actor (died 2021)
- 18 September
- 20 September – Kevin Stonehouse, footballer (died 2019)
- 21 September – Corinne Drewery, singer-songwriter and fashion designer
- 23 September
- 24 September – Drummie Zeb, reggae musician (died 2022)
- 28 September – Paul 'Trouble' Anderson, DJ (died 2018)
- 4 October – Chris Lowe, synth-pop singer-songwriter[44]
- 7 October – Simon Cowell, English music producer and television talent show judge
- 10 October
- 15 October
- 16 October
- 20 October – Niamh Cusack, Irish-born actress
- 21 October – Cleveland Watkiss, jazz vocalist
- 24 October – Ruth Perednik, English-Israeli psychologist and academic
- 27 October – Liz Howe, ecologist (died 2019)
November – December
- 1 November – Susanna Clarke, British writer
- 2 November
- 9 November
- 13 November – Caroline Goodall, actress
- 14 November – Paul McGann, British actor
- 18 November – Jimmy Quinn, Irish footballer and football manager
- 25 November
- 26 November – Dai Davies, Welsh politician and independent MP[46]
- 30 November – Lorraine Kelly, Scottish presenter and journalist
- 1 December – Billy Childish, English painter, writer and musician
- 2 December – Gwyneth Strong, British actress
- 5 December – Robbie France, drummer (died 2012)
- 6 December – Stephen Hepburn, British Labour MP for Jarrow
- 10 December – Kevin Ash, journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 11 December – Phil Woolas, disgraced Labour MP[47]
- 12 December – Jasper Conran, English designer
- 28 December – Andy McNab, British soldier turned novelist
- 29 November – Richard Borcherds, mathematician
- 30 December
Unknown dates
Deaths
- 14 January – G. D. H. Cole, political and economic theorist, historian and detective fiction writer (born 1889)
- 22 January – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (car crash) (born 1929)
- 15 February – Sir Owens Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)
- 20 February – Laurence Housman, playwright and writer (born 1865)
- 21 February – Kathleen Freeman, classical scholar (born 1897)
- 24 February – Arthur Young, actor (born 1898)
- 26 February – Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife (Princess Arthur of Connaught), member of the royal family (born 1891)
- 25 April – Janet Philip, academic administrator (born 1876)
- 16 May – Elisha Scott, Northern Irish footballer (born 1894)
- 17 May – George Albert Smith, English film pioneer (born 1864)
- 11 June – Gordon Selwyn, educator and Anglican priest (born 1885)
- 11 July – Charlie Parker, English cricketer (born 1882)
- 5 August – Edgar A. Guest, English poet (born 1881)
- 19 August
- Jacob Epstein, American-born British sculptor (born 1880)
- Claude Grahame-White, English aviator (born 1879)
- 6 September – Kay Kendall, English actress (born 1926) (leukaemia)
- 21 September – Agnes Nicholls, operatic soprano (born 1877)
- 25 September
- 15 November – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869)
- 26 November – Albert Ketèlbey, pianist, conductor and composer (born 1875)
- 14 December – Stanley Spencer, painter (born 1891)
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: The Guardian . The Guardian.
- Web site: Death details .
- Web site: 1959: Fog brings transport chaos. BBC News. 2009-07-02. 29 January 1959.
- Web site: 1959: Macmillan and Khrushchev talk peace. BBC News. 2008-02-05. 23 February 1959. https://web.archive.org/web/20080226161647/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/23/newsid_2752000/2752737.stm. 26 February 2008 . live.
- Web site: 1959: African activist flees to UK . BBC News. 2009-07-02. 7 March 1959.
- News: Cow & Gate Limited. The Times. 1 April 1959.
- Web site: 1959: Dame Margot Fonteyn released from jail. BBC News. 2009-07-02. 22 April 1959.
- Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
- Web site: FA Cup Final Results. FA Cup Finals. 27 November 2015.
- Web site: June anniversaries. The BBC Story. BBC. 2011-03-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20110128104134/http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/great_moments/archive/june.shtml. 28 January 2011. live.
- Web site: 1959: Hovercraft marks new era in transport. BBC News. 2008-02-05. 11 June 1959. https://web.archive.org/web/20080106211645/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11/newsid_4333000/4333329.stm. 6 January 2008. live.
- Web site: Records set by the RAF. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. June 10, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20110812152044/http://www.rafweb.org/Records.htm. August 12, 2011. dead.
- "Norwich to use postal codes – Experimenting in automation", The Times, 29 July 1959
- Web site: 1959. Those were the days. Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 2014-07-23.
- Web site: 1959: Harrods in £34m merger talks . BBC News. 2009-07-02. 22 June 1959.
- Web site: 1959: Anglo-US TV debate makes history. BBC News. 2008-02-05. 31 August 1959. https://web.archive.org/web/20080203135114/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/31/newsid_3034000/3034678.stm. 3 February 2008. live.
- News: Community pays tribute to Auchengeich mining disaster victims. https://archive.today/20120906091544/http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk/news/Community-pays-tribute-to-Auchengeich.3192264.jp. dead. 6 September 2012. Kirkintilloch Herald. 11 September 2007. 2010-07-14.
- Web site: 1959: Southend Pier fire traps hundreds. BBC News. 2008-02-05. 7 October 1959. https://web.archive.org/web/20080307122122/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/7/newsid_3151000/3151625.stm. 7 March 2008. live.
- Web site: 1959: 'Supermac' leads Tories to victory. BBC News. 2008-02-05. 9 October 1959. https://web.archive.org/web/20080307122135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/9/newsid_3095000/3095531.stm. 7 March 2008. live.
- Web site: 1959 General election results summary. UK Political Info. 2014-07-23.
- Book: Rees, Nigel. Nigel Rees. Sayings of the Century. London. Unwin Paperbacks. 1987. 0-04-440080-2.
- Web site: History of Baroness Margaret Thatcher. GOV.UK. 27 November 2015.
- Web site: The Nobel Peace Prize 1959. 2008-02-05.
- Book: The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. 1-85986-000-1.
- Web site: Chronology of Scottish History. A Timeline of Scottish History. Rampant Scotland. 2014-07-23.
- Web site: MFV George Robb (A406). 2012. WreckSite. 2014-07-23.
- Book: Harwood, Elain. England: a Guide to Post-War Listed Buildings. rev.. London. Batsford. 2003. 0-7134-8818-2.
- Outsider who changed the City . https://web.archive.org/web/20091103111958/http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/411031/uk-outsider-changed-city . dead . 3 November 2009 . Management Today . 1 November 1998 . 2010-07-09 .
- Web site: Britain Since 1948. Tim. Lambert. A World History Encyclopedia. 2014-07-23.
- Web site: Consumer Price Indices - RPI annual percentage change: 1948 to 2015. Office for National Statistics. 2015-03-24. 2015-03-24.
- Book: Boyes, Georgina. The Imagined Village: Culture, Ideology, and the English Folk Revival. Manchester University Press. 1993. 0-7190-2914-7. 231.
- Web site: Mr Peter Truscott (Hansard). api.parliament.uk.
- News: Emma Thompson . https://web.archive.org/web/20131016063025/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/70692/Emma-Thompson/biography . dead . 16 October 2013 . Rebecca Flint Marx . Movies & TV Dept. . . 2013 . 12 October 2013.
- Web site: Alison Ramsay MBE at the British Olympic Committee . 16 June 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070830160740/http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=2583 . 30 August 2007 . dmy-all .
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- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1355814/Paula-Yates.html "Paula Yates"
- Book: Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Bernan Press. 2019. 9781641433167. 245.
- Web site: Ben Elton. 2020-11-13. British Comedy Guide. en-GB.
- Book: Simpson, Mark . Saint Morrissey . London . SAF Publishing . 2004 . 0-946719-65-9. 32.
- Web site: Everett, Rupert (1959-) Biography . BFI Screenonline . 29 May 1959 . 17 September 2022. Brian McFarlane .
- Book: Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Bernan Press. 2019. 9781641433167. 318.
- Web site: Biography. The Kim Newman Web Site. Kim. Newman. August 4, 2021.
- Web site: Andy Hopper . Cambridge Network . 16 May 2001 . All-business airline promises new era . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120214211844/http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/article/default.aspx?objid=23971 . February 14, 2012 .
- Web site: Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section . Petshopboys.co.uk . 28 October 2010.
- Web site: Charles Kennedy obituary . the Guardian . 31 May 2021 . en . 2015-06-02.
- Book: Dod's Parliamentary Companion. 2010. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Limited. 978-0-905702-89-6.
- Web site: BBC News - Politics - Find Your MP - Oldham East & Saddleworth - Phillip Woolas. https://web.archive.org/web/20060524055126/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/445.stm. dead. 24 May 2006. 24 May 2006.