1966 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Events from the year 1966 in the United Kingdom
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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Incumbents
- Monarch – Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister – Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Events
- 3 January
- British RailBritish RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
begins full electric passenger train services over the West Coast Main LineWest Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
from EustonEuston railway stationEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
to ManchesterManchester Piccadilly stationManchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. It serves intercity routes to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, South Wales, the south coast of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central, and routes throughout northern England...
and LiverpoolLiverpool Lime Street railway stationLiverpool Lime Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Liverpool, England. The station lies on a branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston, and on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network...
with 100 mph (160 km/h) operation from LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to RugbyRugby railway stationRugby railway station serves the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. It opened during the Victorian era, in 1885, replacing earlier stations situated a little further west...
. Services officially inaugurated 18 April. - Stop-motion children's television seriesChildren's television seriesChildren's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
Camberwick GreenCamberwick GreenCamberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
first shown on BBC1.
- British Rail
- 4 January – More than 4,000 people attend a memorial service at Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
for the broadcaster Richard DimblebyRichard DimblebyRichard Dimbleby CBE was an English journalist and broadcaster widely acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in British broadcasting history.-Early life:...
, who died last month aged 52. - 12 January – Three British MPs visiting RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
(Christopher RowlandChristopher RowlandChristopher John Salter Rowland was a British politician. He was rated one of the more effective of the Labour Party's 1964 intake to Parliament, but died at the age of 38.-Student life:...
, Jeremy BrayJeremy BrayJeremy William Bray was a British Labour politician and a Member of Parliament for 31 years.Bray was educated at Kingswood School, Bath and Jesus College, Cambridge and was a Choate Fellow at Harvard University...
and David Ennals) are assaulted by supporters of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian SmithIan SmithIan Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
. - 20 January
- The Queen commutes the death sentence on a black prisoner in RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, two months after its abolition in Britain. - Radio CarolineRadio CarolineRadio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
South pirate radioPirate radioPirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
ship MV Mi Amigo runs aground on the beach at FrintonFrinton-on-SeaFrinton-on-Sea is a small seaside town in the Tendring District of Essex, England. It is part of the Parish of Frinton and Walton.-History:...
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- The Queen commutes the death sentence on a black prisoner in Rhodesia
- 31 January – United Kingdom ceases all trade with Rhodesia.
- 9 February – A prototype Fast Reactor nuclear reactor opens at DounreayDounreayDounreay is the site of several nuclear research establishments located on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland...
on the north coast of ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. - 19 February – Naval minister, Christopher MayhewChristopher MayhewChristopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to become a Liberal...
, resigns. - 28 February – Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
calls a general election for 31 March. - 1 March – Chancellor of the ExchequerChancellor of the ExchequerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
James CallaghanJames CallaghanLeonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
announces decision to embrace decimalisation of the pound (which will be effected on 15 February 1971). - 4 March – In an interview published in The Evening StandardEvening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
of The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
comments, "We're more popular than JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
now". - 5 March – BOAC Flight 911BOAC flight 911BOAC Flight 911 was a round-the-world flight operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation.On 5 March 1966, the Boeing 707-436 operating this flight was commanded by Captain Bernard Dobson, 45, from Dorset, an experienced 707 pilot who had been flying these aircraft since November 1960.The...
crashes near Mount FujiMount Fujiis the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
in Japan killing 124 passengers and crew. - 8 March – Ronald Kray, one of the Kray twinsKray twinsReginald "Reggie" Kray and his twin brother Ronald "Ronnie" Kray were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in London's East End during the 1950s and 1960s...
, shoots rival gangster George CornellGeorge CornellGeorge Cornell was an English criminal and member of the Richardson Gang, who were scrap metal dealers and criminals.He was shot and killed by Ronnie Kray at the Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel...
; the incident leads to the brothers' incarceration. - 20 March – Theft of the football World CupFIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
whilst on exhibition in London. - 23 March – Pope Paul VIPope Paul VIPaul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
and Arthur Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, meet in Rome – the first official meeting for 400 years between the Roman CatholicRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and AnglicanAnglican CommunionThe Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
Churches. - 27 March – PicklesPickles (dog)Pickles was a black and white Collie dog renowned for his role in finding the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy in 1966.- Overview :The trophy had been stolen during a rare public stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, on the afternoon of Sunday 20 March, just four months before the 1966 FIFA World...
, a mongrel dog, finds the World Cup wrapped in newspaper in a South LondonSouth LondonSouth London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
garden. - 31 March – The Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
under Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
win the general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1966The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
with a majority of 96 seats. At the 1964 election they had a majority of five but subsequent by-election defeats had led to that being reduced to just one seat before this election. - 6 April – HoverlloydHoverlloydHoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate, England to Calais, France. It operated four SR.N4 type hovercraft and was a rival to Seaspeed .-Company ownership:...
inaugurate the first Cross-ChannelEnglish ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
hovercraft service, from Ramsgate harbour to CalaisCalaisCalais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
using passenger-carrying SR.N6 craft. - 7 April – The United Kingdom asks the UN Security CouncilUnited Nations Security CouncilThe United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
authority to use force to stop oil tankerOil tankerAn oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
s that violate the oil embargoOil embargoOil embargo may refer to:*The 1967 Oil Embargo*The 1973 oil crisis*The 1979 energy crisis*The oil embargo placed on Japan by China, the United States, Britain, and the Dutch during the Sino-Japanese War, preceding World War II...
against RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. Authority is given on 10 April. - 9 April – Footballer Barry Butler, the 31-year-old Norwich City F.C.Norwich City F.C.Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
captain, is killed in a car accident. - 11 April – The Marquess of BathHenry Thynne, 6th Marquess of BathHenry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath JP , styled Lord Henry Thynne until 1916 and Viscount Weymouth between 1916 and 1946, was a British politician, aristocrat and landowner.-Background and education:...
, in conjunction with Jimmy Chipperfield, opens Longleat Safari ParkLongleat Safari ParkLongleat Safari Park, in Wiltshire, England was opened in 1966 and was the first drive-through safari park outside Africa. The park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, an English stately home that attracts tourists and is the current home of the 7th Marquess of Bath...
, with "the lionLionThe lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s of Longleat", at his Longleat House, the first such drive-through parkSafari parkA safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial tourist attraction where visitors can drive in their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals...
outside AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. - 15 April – TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine uses the phrase "Swinging LondonSwinging LondonSwinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...
". - 19 April – Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at ChesterChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
Crown CourtCrown CourtThe Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, charged with the three Moors Murders. - 30 April
- Regular hovercraftHovercraftA hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
service begins over the English ChannelEnglish ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
(discontinued 20002000 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2000 in the United Kingdom.-January:* Japanese carmaker Nissan adds a third model to its factory near Sunderland; the new version of the Almera hatchback and slaoon, which goes on sale in March....
due to Channel TunnelChannel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
.) - LiverpoolLiverpool F.C.Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
win the Football League First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
title for the second time in three seasons.
- Regular hovercraft
- 3 May – Swinging Radio EnglandSwinging Radio EnglandSwinging Radio England was a top 40 offshore commercial station billed as the "World's Most Powerful" that operated from 3 May 1966 to 13 November 1966 from a ship in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
and Britain Radio commence broadcasting on AMAM broadcastingAM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
with a combined potential 100,000 watts from the same ship anchored off the south coast of England in international waters. - 6 May – The Moors MurderersMoors murdersThe Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—at least...
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are sentenced to life imprisonment for three child murders committed between November 1963 and October 1965. Brady is guilty of all three murders and receives three concurrent terms of life imprisonment, while Hindley is found guilty of two murder charges and an accessory charge which receives two concurrent life sentences alongside a seven-year fixed term. - 12 May – African members of the UN Security Council say that the British army should blockade Rhodesia.
- 14 May – EvertonEverton F.C.Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
defeat Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday F.C.Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
3-2 in the FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final at Wembley Stadium, overturning a 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday lead during the final 16 minutes of the game. - 16 May–1 July – Strike called by the National Union of SeamenNational Union of SeamenThe National Union of Seamen was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers .- The National Amalgamated...
. - 18 May – Home SecretaryHome SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Roy JenkinsRoy JenkinsRoy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
announces that the number of police forces in England and WalesEngland and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
will be cut to 68. - 26 May – GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
achieves independence from the United Kingdom. - 6 June – BBC1 television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part begins its first series run.
- 23 June – The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
go top of the British singles charts for the 10th time with Paperback WriterPaperback Writer"Paperback Writer" is a 1966 song recorded and released by The Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single...
. - 29 June – Barclays Bank introduces the BarclaycardBarclaycardBarclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a global payment business. The Barclaycard was the first credit card introduced in the UK, coming into service in 1966. It enjoyed a monopoly until the introduction of the Access card in 1972....
, the first British credit cardCredit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
. - 3 July – 31 arrests made after a protest against the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
outside US embassy turns violent. - 12 July – ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
threatens to leave the CommonwealthCommonwealth of NationsThe Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
because of British peace overtures to RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. - 14 July – Gwynfor EvansGwynfor EvansDr Richard Gwynfor Evans , was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. President of Plaid Cymru for thirty six years, he was the first Member of Parliament to represent Plaid Cymru at Westminster ....
becomes member of Parliament for CarmarthenCarmarthenCarmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
, the first ever Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
MP, after his victory at a by-electionCarmarthen by-election, 1966The Carmarthen by-election, was held in Carmarthen, Wales on 14 July 1966. The contest was significant in that it resulted in the election of Gwynfor Evans, the first ever Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament...
. - 15 July – A ban on black workers at Euston railway stationEuston railway stationEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
is overturned. - 16 July – Prime Minister Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
flies to Moscow to try to start peace negotiations over the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. The Soviet Government refutes his ideas. - 20 July – Start of 6-month wage and price freeze.
- 26 July – Lord Gardiner issues the Practice StatementPractice StatementPractice Statement [1966] 3 All ER 77, was a statement made in the House of Lords by Lord Gardiner, L.C., on July 26, 1966 on behalf of himself and the Lords of Appeal in ordinary....
in the House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
stating that the House is not bound to follow its own previous precedentPrecedentIn common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a principle or rule established in a legal case that a court or other judicial body may apply when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts...
. - 30 July – EnglandEngland national football teamThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
beats West Germany 4-2 to win the 1966 World Cup1966 FIFA World CupThe 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
at Wembley. Geoff HurstGeoff HurstSir Geoffrey Charles Hurst MBE is a retired England footballer best remembered for his years with West Ham. He made his mark in World Cup history as the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. His three goals came in the 1966 final for England in their 4–2 win over West...
scores a hat-trick and Martin PetersMartin PetersMartin Stanford Peters, MBE is a former football player and member of the victorious England team which won the 1966 World Cup as well as playing in the 1970 FIFA World Cup....
scores the other goal in a game which attracts an all-time record UK television audience of more than 32,000,000. - 1 August – EvertonEverton F.C.Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
sign BlackpoolBlackpool F.C.Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
's World Cup winning midfield player Alan Ball, Jr. for a national record fee of £110,000.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1138348/Thirty-years-1m-transfer-Sportsmail-looks-record-breakers.html - 2 August – SpanishSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
government forbids overflights of British military aircraft. - 4 August – The Kray TwinsKray twinsReginald "Reggie" Kray and his twin brother Ronald "Ronnie" Kray were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in London's East End during the 1950s and 1960s...
are questioned in connection with a murder in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - 5 August – The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
release the album RevolverRevolver (album)Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
. - 10 August – George BrownGeorge Brown, Baron George-BrownGeorge Alfred Brown, Baron George-Brown, PC was a British Labour politician, who served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970, and served in a number of positions in the Cabinet, most notably as Foreign Secretary, in the Labour Government of the 1960s...
succeeds Michael StewartMichael Stewart, Baron Stewart of FulhamRobert Michael Maitland Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham, CH, PC was a British Labour politician and Fabian Socialist who served twice as Foreign Secretary in the first cabinet of Harold Wilson.- Early life :...
as Foreign Secretary. - 12 August – Three policemen are shot dead in Shepherd's BushShepherd's Bush-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
, West London, while sitting in their patrol car in Braybrook Street. - 15 August – John Whitney is arrested and charged with the murder of three West London policemen.
- 17 August – John Duddy is arrested in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and charged with the murder of three West London policemen. - 18 August – Tay Road BridgeTay Road BridgeThe Tay Road Bridge is a bridge across the Firth of Tay from Newport-on-Tay in Fife to Dundee in Scotland. At around , it is one of the longest road bridges in Europe, and slopes gradually downward towards Dundee...
opens. - 26 August – Tom StoppardTom StoppardSir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is first staged, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. - 29 August – The Beatles play their very last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. - 5 September – Selective Employment Tax imposed.
- 15 September – Britain's first PolarisUGM-27 PolarisThe Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
submarineSubmarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, HMS Resolution, launched at Barrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
. - 17 September – Oberon-class submarineOberon class submarineThe Oberon class was a 27-boat class of British-built diesel-electric submarines based on the successful British Porpoise-class submarine....
HMCS OkanaganHMCS Okanagan (S74)HMCS Okanagan was an that served in the Canadian Forces .Okanagan was laid down on 25 March 1965 at Chatham Dockyard, Chatham, England and launched on 17 September 1966. She was commissioned into the CF on 22 June 1968 with pennant number 74.In July 1973, Okanagan collided with the Royal Fleet...
launched at Chatham DockyardChatham DockyardChatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
, the last warship to be built there. - 19 September – Scotland YardScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
arrests Ronald "Buster" EdwardsBuster EdwardsBuster Edwards was a British criminal who was a member of the gang that committed the Great Train Robbery. He had also been a boxer and nightclub owner.-Early and private life:...
, suspected of being involved in the Great Train Robbery three years agoGreat Train Robbery (1963)The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered...
. - 27 September – BMCBritish Motor CorporationThe British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
makes 7,000 workers redundant. - 30 September – BotswanaBotswanaBotswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
achieves independence. - 4 October – BasutolandBasutolandBasutoland or officially the Territory of Basutoland, was a British Crown colony established in 1884 after the Cape Colony's inability to control the territory...
becomes independent and takes the name LesothoLesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
. - 18 October – Launch of the Ford CortinaFord CortinaAs the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
MK2. - 20 October – 437,229 people are reported to be unemployed in Britain – a rise of some 100,000 on last month's figures.
- 21 October – Aberfan disaster in South WalesSouth WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, 144 (including 116 children) killed by collapsing coal spoil tip. - 22 October
- British spy George BlakeGeorge BlakeGeorge Blake is a former British spy known for having been a double agent in the service of the Soviet Union. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the USSR...
escapes from Wormwood ScrubsWormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
prison; he is next seen in Moscow. - Spain demands that United Kingdom stop military flights to GibraltarGibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
– Britain says "no" the next day.
- British spy George Blake
- 25 October – Spain closes its GibraltarGibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
border against vehicular traffic. - 5 November – 38 African states demand that the United Kingdom use force against RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
n government. - 9 November – The Rootes Group launches the Hillman HunterHillman HunterRootes Arrow was the manufacturer's name for a range of cars produced under several badge-engineered marques by the Rootes Group from 1966 to 1979. It is amongst the last Rootes designs, developed with no influence from future owner Chrysler...
, a four-door family saloon to compete with the Austin 1800Austin 1800BMC ADO17 was the model code used by the British Motor Corporation for a range of cars produced from September 1964 to 1975 and sold initially under its Austin marque as the Austin 1800. The car was also sold as the Morris 1800 and Wolseley 18/85, and later as the Austin 2200, Morris 2200 and...
, Ford CortinaFord CortinaAs the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...
and Vauxhall VictorVauxhall VictorThe original Victor, launched on 28 February 1957, was dubbed the F series and saw a production run totalling over 390,000 units. The car was of unitary construction and featured a large glass area with heavily curved windscreen and rear window. Following then current American styling trends, the...
. - 15 November – Harry RobertsHarry Roberts (murderer)Harry Maurice Roberts is a career criminal who instigated the Shepherd's Bush Murders in which three police officers were shot dead in 1966. The killings happened after the plain-clothed officers approached the van which Roberts and two other men were sitting in, in Braybrook Street, near Wormwood...
is arrested near London and charged with the murder of three policemen in August. - 16 November – BBC television dramaBBC television dramaBBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
Cathy Come HomeCathy Come HomeCathy Come Home is a 1966 BBC television play by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, about homelessness. An industry poll rated it as the best British television drama ever made. Filmed in a gritty, realistic drama documentary style, it was first broadcast on 16...
, filmed in a docudramaDocudramaIn film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
style, is broadcast on BBC1BBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. Viewed by a quarter of the British population, it is considered influential on public attitudes to homelessnessHomelessnessHomelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
and the related social issues it deals with. - 24 November – Unemployment sees another short rise, now standing at 531,585.
- 30 November – BarbadosBarbadosBarbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
achieves independence. - 1 December – Prime Minister Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
n Prime minister Ian SmithIan SmithIan Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
negotiate on HMS Tiger in Mediterranean. - 12 December – Harry Roberts, John Whitney and John Duddy are sentenced to life imprisonmentLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
(each with a recommended minimum of thirty years) for the murder of three policemen in West London. - 20 December – Harold Wilson withdraws all his previous offers to RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
n government and announces that he agrees to independenceIndependenceIndependence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
only after the founding of black majority government. - 22 December – Rhodesian Prime minister Ian Smith declares that he considers that Rhodesia is already a republic.
- 31 December – Thieves steal millions of pounds worth of paintings from Dulwich Art Gallery in London.
Undated
- Centre PointCentre PointCentre Point is a substantial concrete and glass office building in central London, England, occupying 101-103 New Oxford Street, WC1, close to St Giles Circus and almost directly above Tottenham Court Road tube station. The site was once occupied by a gallows...
, a 32-floor office building at St Giles Circus in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, designed by Richard SeifertRichard SeifertReubin Seifert - normally known as Richard Seifert was a British architect, best known for designing the Centrepoint tower and Tower 42 , once the tallest building in the City of London...
for property speculator Harry HyamsHarry HyamsHarry Hyams is an English millionaire who made his fortune as a speculative property developer. He is best known as the developer of the Centre Point office building in London. He is considered to be reclusive, and is the long-term owner and resident of Ramsbury Manor, near Marlborough in Wiltshire...
, is completed. It remains empty for around a decade. - London School of Contemporary DanceLondon School of Contemporary DanceLondon Contemporary Dance School is a contemporary dance school located in London, United Kingdom. LCDS was founded by Robin Howard in 1966 in order to train new dancers for his company, London Contemporary Dance Theatre....
founded. - Mathematician Michael AtiyahMichael AtiyahSir Michael Francis Atiyah, OM, FRS, FRSE is a British mathematician working in geometry.Atiyah grew up in Sudan and Egypt but spent most of his academic life in the United Kingdom at Oxford and Cambridge, and in the United States at the Institute for Advanced Study...
wins a Fields MedalFields MedalThe Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union , a meeting that takes place every four...
. - The motorway network continues to grow as the existing M1M1 motorwayThe M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
, M4M4 motorwayThe M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
(including the Severn BridgeSevern BridgeThe Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...
on the border of England and Wales) and M6 motorwayM6 motorwayThe M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
s are expanded and new motorways emerge in the shape of the M32M32 motorwayThe M32 is a motorway in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, England. It provides a link from Bristol city centre to the M4 and is part of the Bristol Parkway. At about , it is one of Britain's shortest motorways...
linking the M4 with BristolBristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, and the M74M74 motorwayThe A74 and M74 motorways form a major motorway in Scotland. Following an extension opened on 28 June 2011, it connects the M8 motorway west of Glasgow to the English border at Gretna, creating an alternative route for traffic moving from the south to the west of the city...
near HamiltonHamilton, South LanarkshireHamilton is a town in South Lanarkshire, in the west-central Lowlands of Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It is the fifth-biggest town in Scotland after Paisley, East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld...
in Scotland.http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/chronologymaps/1966.shtml - JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese manufacturer Nissan begins importing its range of DatsunDatsunDatsun was an automobile marque. The name was created in 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Co. for a new car model, spelling it as "Datson" to indicate its smaller size when compared to the existing, larger DAT car. Later, in 1933 after Nissan Motor Co., Ltd...
branded cars to the United Kingdom.
Publications
- Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's Hercule PoirotHercule PoirotHercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
novel Third GirlThird GirlThird Girl is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50.It features her Belgian...
. - Len DeightonLen DeightonLeonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine....
's novel Billion-Dollar BrainBillion-Dollar BrainBillion-Dollar Brain is a Cold War spy novel by Len Deighton, and the fourth protagonised by an anonymous secret agent working for the British WOOC intelligence agency. It follows The IPCRESS File , Horse Under Water , and Funeral in Berlin...
. - Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
short story collection Octopussy and The Living DaylightsOctopussy and The Living DaylightsOctopussy and The Living Daylights is the fourteenth and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series...
. - Seamus HeaneySeamus HeaneySeamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
's poetry collection Death of a NaturalistDeath of a NaturalistDeath of a Naturalist is a collection of poems written by Irish Nobel winner Seamus Heaney. The collection was Heaney's second major published volume, and includes ideas which he had presented at meetings of The Belfast Group...
. - Mary RenaultMary RenaultMary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...
's novel The Mask of ApolloThe Mask of ApolloThe Mask of Apollo is a historical novel written by Mary Renault. It is set in ancient Greece shortly after the Peloponnesian War. The story involves the world of live theatre and political intrigue in the Mediterranean at the time...
. - Jean RhysJean RhysJean Rhys , born Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams, was a mid 20th-century novelist from Dominica. Educated from the age of 16 in Great Britain, she is best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea , written as a "prequel" to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.-Early life:Rhys was born in Roseau, Dominica...
's novel Wide Sargasso SeaWide Sargasso SeaWide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 postcolonial parallel novel by Dominica-born author Jean Rhys. Since her previous work, Good Morning, Midnight, was published in 1939, Rhys had lived in obscurity. Wide Sargasso Sea put Rhys into the limelight once more, and became her most successful novel.The novel...
. - Paul Scott's novel The Jewel in the CrownThe Jewel in the Crown (novel)The Jewel in the Crown is the 1966 novel by Paul Scott that starts his Raj Quartet.-Plot introduction:Much of the novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations and research from the point of view of a narrator. Other portions are in the form of letters from one character...
, first in the Raj QuartetRaj QuartetThe Raj Quartet is a four-volume novel sequence, written by Paul Scott, about the concluding years of the British Raj in India. The series was written during the period 1965–75. The Times called it "one of the most important landmarks of post-war fiction."The story of The Raj Quartet begins...
. - Leslie ThomasLeslie ThomasLeslie Thomas, OBE is a British author.- Virgin Soldiers :His novels about 1950s British National Service such as "The Virgin Soldiers" spawned two film versions, in 1969 and 1977, whilst his Tropic of Ruislip and Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective have been adapted for television Leslie...
' comic novel The Virgin SoldiersThe Virgin SoldiersThe Virgin Soldiers is a 1966 comic novel by Leslie Thomas, inspired by his own experiences of National Service in the British Army.The novel was turned into a film The Virgin Soldiers in 1969, directed by John Dexter, with a screenplay by the British screenwriter John Hopkins. It starred Hywel...
. - Soft-core pornographic magazinePornographic magazinePornographic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines, sex magazines or top-shelf magazines are pornographic magazines that contain content of a sexual nature. Adult magazines are mainly aimed towards men, and in some parts of the world, many men's first sight of a naked woman has been in an...
FiestaFiesta (magazine)Fiesta magazine is a British soft-core pornographic magazine, published by Galaxy Publications. It is a sister publication of Knave.Launched in 1966, Fiesta quickly became Britain’s top selling adult magazine...
.
January – March
- 3 January – Martin GalwayMartin GalwayMartin Galway is one of the best known composers of music for the Commodore 64 sound chip, the SID soundchip, and for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum...
, Northern Irish composer - 25 Jaanuary – Donal MacIntyreDonal MacIntyreDonal MacIntyre is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in investigations, undercover operations and television exposés. His work is in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled...
, Irish born journalist - 6 February – Rick AstleyRick AstleyRichard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
, British singer - 4 March – Patrick Hannan, English pop drummer with The Sundays
- 6 March – Alan DaviesAlan DaviesAlan Davies is an English comedian, writer and actor best known for starring in the TV mystery series Jonathan Creek and as the permanent panellist on the TV panel show QI.- Early life :...
, comedian and actor - 8 March – Gregory BarkerGregory BarkerGregory Leonard George "Greg" Barker is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he currently serves as the Member of Parliament for Bexhill and Battle...
, British Conservative politician and MP for Bexhill and Battle - 17 March – Andrew RosindellAndrew RosindellAndrew Richard Rosindell is an English Conservative politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Romford constituency in Greater London...
, British Conservative politician and MP for RomfordRomford (UK Parliament constituency)Romford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :... - 19 March - Nigel CloughNigel CloughNigel Howard Clough is an English former footballer and the current manager of Derby County. Playing predominately as a striker, but later in his career was used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by England 14 times in the early 1990s....
, English footballer and football manager - 24 March – Mark WilliamsMark Williams (politician)Mark Fraser Williams is a British Welsh Liberal Democrat politician and the Member of Parliament for the Ceredigion constituency, a seat he gained from Plaid Cymru in 2005...
, Welsh Liberal Democrat politician, Shadow Minister for Wales, and MP for CeredigionCeredigion (UK Parliament constituency)Ceredigion, formerly Cardiganshire, is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1536, the boundaries have remained remarkably unchanged for nearly five centuries... - 25 March – Anton RoganAnton RoganAnton Rogan is a former professional association football player. His playing career included spells at Lisburn Distillery, Celtic, Sunderland, Oxford United, Millwall and Blackpool.- Career :...
, Northern Irish footballer - 31 March – Roger BlackRoger BlackRoger Anthony Black MBE is a retired British athlete. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4x400 metres relay gold medals at both the...
, British athlete
April – June
- 1 April
- Chris Evans, British radio disc-jockey
- Sharon HodgsonSharon HodgsonSharon Hodgson is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West since 2010...
, British Labour politician and MP for Gateshead East and Washington West
- 2 April - Teddy SheringhamTeddy SheringhamEdward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...
, English footballer - 11 April – Lisa StansfieldLisa StansfieldLisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
, British soul singer - 15 April – Samantha FoxSamantha FoxSamantha Karen "Sam" Fox is an English dance-pop singer, actress, and former glamour model. In 1983, at the age of 16, she began her topless modeling career on Page Three of The Sun, and went on to become a popular pin-up girl...
, British model and singer - 29 April – Phil TufnellPhil TufnellPhilip Clive Roderick Tufnell is a former English cricketer turned television personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, "Tuffers" as he was known played 42 Tests and 20 One Day International matches for England, as well as playing for Middlesex from 1986 to 2002...
, British cricketer - 10 May – Jonathan EdwardsJonathan Edwards (athlete)Jonathan David Edwards, CBE, is a former British triple jumper. He is a former Olympic, Commonwealth, European and World champion, and has held the world record in the event since 1995....
, British athlete - 26 May
- Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
, English actress - Zola BuddZola BuddZola Pieterse, better known by her maiden name of Zola Budd , is a former Olympic track and field competitor who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross Country Championships...
, South African athlete
- Helena Bonham Carter
- 4 June – Bill WigginBill WigginWilliam David Wiggin is a British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament and a former Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries. He held the seat of Leominster from the 2001 election until the 2010 election, when the seat of Leominster was abolished...
, British Conservative politician, Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries, and MP for LeominsterLeominster (UK Parliament constituency)Leominster was, until 2010, a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.From 1295 to 1868, it was a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election. Under the Reform Act 1867 its... - 3 June – Jonathan ShawJonathan ShawJonathan Rowland Shaw is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Chatham and Aylesford from 1997 to 2010...
, British Labour politician and MP for Chatham and Aylesford - 7 June – Mark RavenhillMark RavenhillMark Ravenhill is an English playwright, actor and journalist.His most famous plays include Shopping and Fucking , Some Explicit Polaroids and Mother Clap's Molly House . He made his acting debut in his monologue Product, at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe...
, English playwright (Shopping and FuckingShopping and FuckingShopping and Fucking is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995...
) - 19 June – Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
, British actor - 22 June – Michael Park, British rally co-driver (d. 2005)
July – September
- 12 July – Tamsin GreigTamsin GreigTamsin Greig is an English actress principally known for two Channel 4 television comedy parts: Fran Katzenjammer in Black Books and Dr. Caroline Todd in Green Wing...
, actress - 25 July – Diana JohnsonDiana JohnsonDiana Ruth Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hull North since 2005; she was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for Schools in the Department for Children, Schools and Families until the resignation of Gordon Brown as...
, British Labour politician and MP for Kingston upon Hull NorthKingston upon Hull North (UK Parliament constituency)Kingston upon Hull North is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:... - 7 August – John David CairnsDavid Cairns (politician)John David Cairns was a Scottish Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament from 2001 until his death. He represented the constituency of Inverclyde. He was the Minister of State at the Scotland Office until he resigned on 16 September 2008...
, Scottish Labour politician, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and MP for InverclydeInverclyde (UK Parliament constituency)Inverclyde is a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced Greenock and Inverclyde and the Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm areas from West Renfrewshire for the 2005 general election....
(d. 2011) - 12 August – Tobias EllwoodTobias EllwoodTobias Martin Ellwood is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East.-Early life:Ellwood was born in New York City and educated at schools in Bonn and Vienna...
, British Conservative politician and MP for Bournemouth East - 26 August – Shirley MansonShirley MansonShirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
, Scottish musician and GarbageGarbage (band)Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
frontwoman - 23 September – Adam PriceAdam PriceAdam Price is a politician in Wales, and former Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr. He was elected to Parliament in the 2001 general election and re-elected in 2005 but stood down at the 2010 election...
, Welsh Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
politician and MP for Carmarthen East and DinefwrCarmarthen East and Dinefwr (UK Parliament constituency)Carmathen East and Dinefwr is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It was created in 1997 mostly from the former seat of Carmarthen...
October – December
- 9 October – David CameronDavid CameronDavid William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, British Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader, Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, MP for WitneyWitney (UK Parliament constituency)Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election....
and formerly Leader of the OppositionLeader of the Opposition (UK)The Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom. There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords...
in the House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. - 10 October – Tony AdamsTony Adams (footballer)Tony Alexander Adams, MBE is an English football manager and former player.Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends...
, English footballer - 11 October – Stephen WilliamsStephen Williams (politician)Stephen Roy Williams is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Bristol West in the 2005 general election, being re-elected with an increased majority in May 2010...
, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for Bristol West - 26 October – Steve ValentineSteve ValentineSteven John Valentine is a Scottish actor, singer and magician who has performed on stage and screen, but is best known for his role as the eccentric Nigel Townsend on NBC's crime drama Crossing Jordan...
, British actor - 1 November – Jeremy Hunt, British Conservative politician and MP for South West Surrey
- 16 December - Dennis WiseDennis WiseDennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....
, English footballer and football manager - 21 December – Kiefer SutherlandKiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
, Canadian actor - 22 December – David WrightDavid Wright (politician)David Wright is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Telford since 2001. He was an assistant government whip from June 2009 to May 2010.-Early and personal life:...
, British Labour politician and MP for TelfordTelford (UK Parliament constituency)Telford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:... - 29 December – Martin OffiahMartin OffiahMartin Offiah MBE is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer.He is known as "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire...
, English former rugby league and, briefly, rugby union footballer of the 1980s, 90s and 2000s
Deaths
- 20 January – Gordon MacdonaldGordon Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald of GwaenysgorGordon Macdonald, PC, 1st Baron Macdonald of Gwaenysgor, was a British Labour Party politician and Newfoundland's final British governor as well as the last chairman of the Commission of Government serving from 1946 until the colony joined Confederation in 1949 and became a province of Canada...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician (born 18851885 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1885 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal , Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 27 January – Ronald Armstrong-JonesRonald Armstrong-JonesMajor Ronald Owen Lloyd Armstrong-Jones, MBE, QC was a British soldier and the father of Antony Armstrong-Jones, the 1st Earl of Snowdon....
, barrister (born 18991899 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1899 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:* 6 January — Lord Curzon becomes Viceroy of India....
) - 18 February – Thomas Williams, 1st Baron WilliamsThomas Williams, 1st Baron WilliamsThomas Edward Williams, 1st Baron Williams , was a peer of the United Kingdom.He was ennobled on 24 June 1948 as Baron Williams, of Ynyshir in the County of Glamorgan. The peerage became extinct on his death in 1966....
(born 18921892 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1892 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
) - 8 March – Viscount AstorWilliam Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount AstorWilliam Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Biography:...
, politician (born 19071907 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1907 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal-Events:* January - The steamship Pengwern founders in the North Sea: crew and 24 men lost....
) - 2 April – C.S. Forester, author (born 18991899 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1899 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:* 6 January — Lord Curzon becomes Viceroy of India....
) - 10 April – Evelyn WaughEvelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, author (born 19031903 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1903 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Arthur Balfour, Conservative-Events:* 1 January - Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India....
) - 14 May – Megan Lloyd GeorgeMegan Lloyd GeorgeLady Megan Arfon Lloyd George CH was a British politician, the first female Member of Parliament for a Welsh constituency, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. She later became a Labour MP....
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician (born 1902) - 22 May – Tom GoddardTom GoddardTom Goddard was the fifth highest wicket taker in first-class cricket....
, cricketer (born 19001900 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1900 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 13 July – Princess BeatricePrincess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-GothaPrincess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She later married into the Spanish Royal Family, and was the wife of Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, Infante of Spain...
(born 18841884 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1884 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 4 January — The Fabian Society is founded in London....
), granddaughter of Queen Victoria. - 26 October – Alma CoganAlma CoganAlma Cogan was an English singer of traditional pop music in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed "The Girl With the Laugh/Giggle/Chuckle In Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era...
, singer (born 19321932 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1932 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, national coalition-Events:* 8 January - The Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees....
) - 24 December – Sir Donald MacGillivrayDonald MacGillivraySir Donald Charles MacGillivray, KCMG, MBE was the last Colonial Administrator to serve in Malaya. He was the British High Commissioner in Malaya and also the Governor of Straits Settlements.-Life:...
, last colonial governor of Malaya (born 19061906 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1906 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal-Events:...
)