1964 in the United Kingdom
| 1964 in the United Kingdom |
| Other years |
| 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 |
| Constituent countries of the United Kingdom |
| England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
| Popular culture |
Events from the year 1964 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch – Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister - Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative) (until 16 October), Harold Wilson (Labour) (starting 16 October)
Events
- 1 January – Top of the Pops first airs on BBC TV.
- 11 January – teen girls' magazine Jackie 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 – film Zulu 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 – actor Peter Sellers marries actress Britt Ekland.
- 21 February – £10 banknotes are issued for the first time since the Second World War.
- 9 March – London Fisheries Conventionsigned.
- 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 – first purpose-built gurdwara in Britain opens, the Guru Gobind Singh Ji Gurdwara in Bradford.[10]
- 30 March – violent disturbances between 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 Admiralty and Air Ministry, which cease to exist. The title of Lord High Admiral is re-vested 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 – 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 – 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 scheduled opening night of BBC Two, 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 BBC One.[16]
- 21 April – BBC Two begins scheduled broadcasting; its first programme is Play School.[9]
- 29 April – all schools in typhoidbeing reported.
- 1 May – Princess Margaret gives birth to a baby girl.
- 2 May
- Preston North End 3–2 at Wembley Stadium.
- The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's seven-week-old son is christened Edward Antony Richard Louis – later he is created Earl of Wessex and Duke of Edinburgh.[17]
- 5 May – 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 at Brighton.
- 27 May – "pirate" radio station Radio Sutch begins broadcasting from Shivering Sands Army Fort in the Thames Estuary.[20]
- 29 May – 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
- Resale Prices Act ends most resale price maintenance.
- teenage contraception and sexual health advice.[22]
- 6 July
- Malawi gains its independence.[23]
- The Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, is released.[24]
- 10 July – more than 300 people are injured in Beatlesback to their home city.
- 15 July – the Post Office Tower in London is completed, although it does not begin operation 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; the following day he receives a Parliamentary resolution recording his service to the House and nation and marking his retirement.[25]
- 4 August
- The first portable televisions go on sale.
- Release of London group The Kinks' successful single You Really Got Me, written by Ray Davies.
- 13 August – John Alan West on 7 April, the last executions to take place in the British Isles.[26]
- 22 August – the first Match of the Day airs on BBC Two television.
- September – the British Motor Corporation launches the BMC ADO17 family saloon car, 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 Heraldnewspaper 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 – Odeon Leicester Squarein London.
- 20 September – at the Gorsedd of Bards.
- 21 September – Malta obtains independence from the UK.[23]
- 29 September – announcement that American car manufacturer Chrysler is taking a substantial share in the British Rootes Group combine, which includes the Hillman, Singer and Sunbeam marques.[27]
- 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".[28]
- 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 who loses his Smethwick seat to the Conservatives following a controversial racially motivated campaign by the opposing party's supporters.[29]
- 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 – 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 – ITV soap opera Crossroads airs for the first time.[9]
- 9 November – 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.[30]
- 30 November – power dispute settled and strike action called off.[31]
- 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 this year.
- 23 December
- proposed the closure of many smaller and financially non-viable railway lines as well as many passenger services on surviving lines.[32]
- "Pirate" radio station Wonderful Radio London begins broadcasting from MV Galaxy anchored off Frinton-on-Sea, with a Fab 40 playlist of popular records.
- 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. The Beatles have now had six number one singles in the United Kingdom alone.[33]
- 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
- Gordon White to purchase underperforming companies and turn them around.[34]
- Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies established at the University of Birmingham by Richard Hoggart.
- Daihatsu becomes the first Japanese carmaker to import passenger cars to the United Kingdom, launching its Compagno on the British market.[35]
- Some 90% of British households now own a television, compared to around 25% in 1953 and 65% in 1959.[36]
Publications
- Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel A Caribbean Mystery.
- J. W. B. Douglas's cohort studyThe Home and the School: a study of ability and attainment in the primary school.
- Ian Fleming's James Bond novel You Only Live Twice and his children's novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (the latter posthumously).
- William Golding's novel The Spire.
- The Whitsun Weddings.
- Ruth Rendell's first novel From Doon with Death.
- The research study London: aspects of change, introducing Ruth Glass's concept of gentrification.
Births
- 8 January – Marc Quinn, sculptor
- 14 January – Mark Addy, actor
- 17 January – Andy Rourke, musician (d. 2023)
- 18 January
- Richard Dunwoody, jockey
- Jane Horrocks, actress[37]
- 26 January – Adam Crozier, businessman
- 29 January – John Anthony Gallagher, English-New Zealand rugby player
- 5 February – Martha Fiennes, film director
- 7 February – Ray Mears, woodman and television presenter
- 9 February – Mark Carleton-Smith, soldier, Chief of the General Staff
- 16 February – Christopher Eccleston, actor
- 18 February – Space
- 22 February – Diane Charlemagne, singer (52nd Street, Urban Cookie Collective) (died 2015)[38]
- 25 February – Lee Evans, comedian and actor
- 29 February – Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Lady Ogilvy and Sir Angus Ogilvy
- 10 March – Prince Edward (later Earl of Wessex and Duke of Edinburgh), youngest son of the Queen
- 11 March
- Emma Chambers, actress (d. 2018)
- Shane Richie, actor
- 17 March – Lee Dixon, English footballer
- 18 March – Courtney Pine, jazz saxophonist
- 19 March – Jake Weber, actor
- 27 March – Clive Rowe, actor
- 26 March – Martin Donnelly, Northern Irish racing driver
- 27 March – Clive Rowe, actor
- 28 March – Karen Lumley, politician (d. 2023)
- 3 April – United Kingdom Independence Party leader and MEP for South East England
- 4 April – Paul Parker, footballer
- 9 April – Dan Pearson, landscape designer
- 13 April
- Andy Goram, Scottish footballer (d. 2022)
- John Swinney, Scottish politician
- 18 April – Niall Ferguson, Scottish historian
- 20 April – Andy Serkis, English film actor
- 25 April – Andy Bell, singer-songwriter (band Erasure)
- 28 April – Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent
- 1 May – Lady Sarah Chatto, daughter of Antony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret
- 6 May – Diane Holl, engineer[39]
- 8 May – Dave Rowntree, drummer (Blur)
- 11 May – John Parrott, snooker player and broadcaster[40]
- 15 May – Jill McDonald, businesswoman[41]
- 20 May
- Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, aristocrat, author, print journalist and broadcaster, younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales
- Mike Gregory, English rugby player and coach (d. 2007)
- 21 May – Danny Bailey, English footballer
- 24 May – Adrian Moorhouse, swimmer
- 28 May – Clive Oppenheimer, vulcanologist
- 30 May – Mark Sheppard, British-American actor and musician
- 10 June – Ben Daniels, actor[42]
- 13 June – Kathy Burke, actress and comedian
- 14 June – Peter Gilliver, lexicographer and academic
- 19 June – Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022
- 21 June
- Sammi Davis, actress
- Tania Mathias, ophthalmologist and Conservative Party politician
- David Morrissey, actor, director, producer and screenwriter
- Keith Stevens, English footballer
- 22 June
- Paterson Joseph, actor
- John Penrose, politician, Minister for Tourism and Heritage
- 23 June – Jane Garvey, radio presenter
- 24 June
- Hamish Harding, businessman, pilot and explorer (d. 2023)
- Christopher Steele, intelligence officer
- 25 June – Johnny Herbert, racing driver and commentator
- 3 July – Joanne Harris, novelist
- 7 July – Rob Newman, comedian, actor and author
- 11 July – Craig Charles, actor, comedian and broadcaster
- 12 July – Gaby Roslin, TV presenter
- 14 July – Matt Pritchett, pocket cartoonist
- 17 July – Andy Abraham, singer
- 21 July – Ross Kemp, actor
- 22 July – Bonnie Langford, actress and entertainer
- 23 July
- Dom Phillips, journalist (d. 2022)
- Matilda Ziegler, actress
- 25 July – Martin Samuel, sports journalist
- 3 August – Ralph Knibbs, rugby union player[43]
- 16 August – Barry Venison, English footballer and journalist
- 20 August – Flaminia Cinque, actress
- 22 August – Diane Setterfield, novelist and educator
- 25 August – Clive Myrie, journalist and television presenter
- 26 August – Allegra Huston, English-American author
- 1 September
- Sue Carr, judge
- Gary Mavers, actor
- Nigel Rhodes, actor and guitarist
- 8 September – Peter Murrell, Scottish politician
- 10 September – Edmund de Waal, potter and writer
- 13 September – Richard Tice, businessman and politician
- 19 September – Simon Singh, popular science author
- 23 September – Clayton Blackmore, footballer
- 30 September – Ian McCall, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1 October – Harry Hill, comedian, writer and actor
- 3 October – Clive Owen, English actor
- 7 October – Paul Stewart, English footballer
- 8 October – Martin Marquez, English actor
- 10 October – Sarah Lancashire, English actress
- 17 October – Gregg Wallace, English broadcaster
- 21 October – Mark Sedwill, Cabinet Secretary
- 22 October
- Mick Hill, English javelin thrower and coach
- Craig Levein, Scottish footballer
- Paul McStay, Scottish footballer[44]
- 24 October
- Grant Gee, film maker, photographer and cinematographer
- Paul Vigay, computer programmer (died 2009)
- 28 October – Andrew Bridgen, politician
- 29 October – Yasmin Le Bon, model
- 7 November – Philip Hollobone, Conservative politician and MP for Kettering
- 19 November
- Susie Dent, lexicographer
- Nicholas Patrick, astronaut
- 21 November
- Sean Foley, director, writer, comedian and actor
- Liza Tarbuck, actress and broadcaster
- 24 November – Alistair McGowan, actor and comedian
- 26 November – Gary Love, actor and film director
- 7 December – Hugo Blick, filmmaker
- 18 December – Robson Green, actor and television presenter
- 21 December – Rob Kelly, footballer and manager
- 25 December
- Ian Bostridge, tenor
- Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer, manager and coach
- Kevin Simms, English rugby player
- Bob Stanley, English keyboard player, songwriter, producer, and journalist
- 30 December – Sophie Ward, actress
- Undated
- Gillian Reid, Scottish-born chemist
- Nitin Sawhney, British Indian musician, producer and composer
Deaths
- 7 January – Cyril Davies, blues musician (born 1932)[45]
- 9 January – Hubert Phillips, economist, journalist, bridge player and composer of puzzles (born 1891)
- 17 January – T. H. White, novelist (born 1906)[46]
- 20 February – Verena Holmes, mechanical engineer and inventor (born 1889)
- 22 February – Verrier Elwin, anthropologist and missionary (born 1902)[47]
- 26 February – F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, World War II hero (born 1901)
- 21 March – Nancy Spain (born 1917) and Joan Werner Laurie (born 1920), journalists, in the crash of a light plane near Aintree
- 9 June – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-British business tycoon, politician and writer (born 1879)
- 27 June – Mona Barrie, English actress (born 1909)
- 21 July – John White, footballer (born 1937)
- 12 August – Ian Fleming, author and journalist (born 1908)[48]
- 31 August – Peter Lanyon, painter (born 1918)
- 9 September – Sir George Abercromby, 8th Baronet (born 1886)
- 18 September – Clive Bell, art critic (born 1881)
- 2 November – Charles Walter Allfrey, general (born 1895)
- 5 November – Mabel Lucie Attwell, illustrator (born 1879)
- 1 December – J. B. S. Haldane, geneticist (born 1892)
- 8 December – Simon Marks, 1st Baron Marks of Broughton, businessman (born 1888)
- 9 December – Edith Sitwell, poet (born 1887)
- 21 December – Algernon Kingscote, tennis champion (born 1888)
- 24 December – Claudia Jones, black activist (born 1915)
See also
References
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- ^ Equivalent to £229 in 2021, when the average will actually be around £550.
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- ^ "City Status For Southampton". The Times. 12 February 1964. p. 5.
- ^ "Power Dispute Talks Break Down Overtime Ban On Monday, Union Delegation Walks Out Of Meeting". The Times. 20 March 1964. p. 14, col.A.
- ^ "1964: 'Ambitious' plans for south east". BBC. 19 March 1964. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
- ^ Those were the days Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.
- ^ "First places of devotion". Vaguely Interesting. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
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- ^ "Lord Justice Pearson Inquiry Chairman". The Times. 1 April 1964. p. 10, col.B.
- ^ [1] Archived 7 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
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- ^ "Power Dispute Talks Fail Strike Threat Draws Near, Union Ballot To Start On Monday". The Times. 28 November 1964. p. 8, col.C.
- ^ "Power Stations Overtime Ban Called Off – Payments Claim Settled". The Times. 1 December 1964. p. 10, col.C.
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- ^ "The Beatles U.K. Singles Chart Number Ones". JPGR. 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
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- ^ Jack Galusha, "Daihatsu Sirion 1.0 S", Autocar, archived from the original on 3 April 2012, retrieved 13 April 2013
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- ^ 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.
- ^ "Diane Holl". The Henry Ford. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
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- ^ Upshall, Emma (22 November 2019). "Costa Coffee appoints Jill McDonald as new CEO". FoodBev Media. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Katie Shimmon (17 May 2005), "College days [Ben Daniels]", The Guardian (EducationGuardian)
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- ^ Asian Folklore Studies. Nanzan University Institute of Anthropology. 1964. p. 212.
- ^ "Ian Fleming | Biography, Novels, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
