1961 in the United Kingdom

1961 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963

Individual countries of the United Kingdom

England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales

Sport, Television and music

1961 British Grand Prix 1961 English cricket season Football: England | Scotland 1961 in British television 1961 in British music 1961 in British radio UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961

Events from the year 1961 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister - Harold Macmillan (Conservative)

Events

January - March

• 1 January
  • The farthing coin, used since the 13th century, ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
  • The Conservative Monday Club is established.^[1][2][3][4]
• 7 January - The Avengers television series first screened on ITV.
• 9 January - British authorities announce that they have discovered a large Soviet spy ring in London.
• 5 February - Sunday Telegraph first published.^[5]
• 19 February - Police break up a demonstration outside the Belgian embassy in London protesting about the murder of the ex-Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba.^[6]
• 8 March - Edwin Bush is arrested in London for the capital stabbing of Mrs. Elsie May Batten. He is the first British criminal identified by the Identikit facial composite system.
• 13 March
  • The five members of the Portland Spy Ring go on trial at the Old Bailey accused of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.^[7]
  • Black and white £5 notes cease to be legal tender.^[5]
• 20 March - Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, becomes the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and its company the Royal Shakespeare Company (Peter Hall (director)).^[8]
• 21 March - The Beatles perform at the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time.

April - June

• 3 April - The Jaguar E-Type, a sports car capable of 150 mph, is launched as a two-seater roadster or 2+2 coupé.^[9]
• 17 April - Tottenham Hotspur win the Football League First Division for the second time, with a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. They have failed to win it since.^[10]
• 27 April - Sierra Leone gains independence from the UK.^[11]
• 1 May
  • Betting shops become legal under terms of the Betting and Gaming Act 1960.^[12]
  • A fire at the Top Storey Club in Bolton results in nineteen deaths.^[13] A new Licensing Act is rapidly passed to improve fire safety.
• 2 May - The United Kingdom becomes a member of the OECD.^[14]
• 6 May - Tottenham Hotspur becomes the first English football team this century, and only the third in history, to win the double of the league title and FA Cup, with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City in the FA Cup Final.^[15] (The last previous team to achieve this were Aston Villa in 1897.)
• 8 May - George Blake is sentenced to 42 years imprisonment for spying, having been found guilty of being a double agent in the pay of the Soviet Union.
• 17 May - Consecration of Guildford Cathedral.^[16]
• 28 May - Peter Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners" is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
• 8 June - Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, marries Katharine Worsley at York Minster.
• 14 June - The government unveils new "panda" crossings with push button controls for pedestrians. The new crossings appeared on Britain's roads in April 1962.^[17]
• 19 June - The British protectorate ends in Kuwait and it becomes an emirate.^[5]
• 27 June
  • Michael Ramsey enthroned as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, in succession to Geoffrey Fisher.^[5]
  • Kuwait requests British help; the United Kingdom sends in troops.

July - September

• July - Government calls for a voluntary 'pay pause' in wage increases (continuing to April 1962).
• 4 July - Barclays open their 'No. 1 Computer Centre' in Drummond Street, London, with an EMI mainframe computer, Britain’s first bank with an in-house computing centre.^[18][19]
• 8 July - In an all-British women's final to The Championships, Wimbledon in tennis, Angela Mortimer beats Christine Truman.^[20]
• 21 July - The Runcorn Widnes Bridge (later known as the Silver Jubilee Bridge) over the River Mersey opened by Princess Alexandra.^[5]
• 25 July - The Lancashire-set film Whistle Down the Wind, starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates, opens.
• 10 August - Britain applies for membership in the EEC.
• 16 August - The play Lady Chatterley by John Harte - based on D. H. Lawrence's novel - opens at the Arts Theatre in London and is well reviewed by West End theatre critic Harold Hobson.
• 23 August - Police launch a manhunt for the perpetrator of the A6 murder, who shot dead 36-year-old Michael Gregsten and paralysed his mistress Valerie Storie.^[21]
• 25 August - Police in Birmingham launch a murder inquiry after the body of missing teenager Jacqueline Thomas is found on an allotment in the Alum Rock area of the city.^[22]
• 31 August - Premiere of the film Victim, notable as the first in English to use the word "homosexual".^[23]
• September - First Mothercare shop opens, in Kingston upon Thames.^[24]
• 4 September - James Pitman's Initial Teaching Alphabet is tested in a number of schools.^[5]
• 14 September - Film A Taste of Honey, including themes of interracial relationship, unmarried pregnancy and homosexuality, released.
• 16 September - Three people die and 35 are injured when a stand collapses during a Glasgow Rangers football match at Ibrox Park.^[25]
• 17 September - Police arrest over 1,300 protesters in Trafalgar Square during a CND rally.^[12]

October - December

• October - Acker Bilk's Stranger on the Shore released.
• 1 October - Religious programme Songs of Praise first broadcast on BBC Television; it will still be running fifty years later.
• 9 October - Skelmersdale, a small Lancashire town 15 miles north-east of Liverpool, is designated as a new town and its population will expand over the coming years, bolstered by large council housing developments to re-house families from inner city slums on Merseyside.^[26]
• 10 October - The population of the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha is evacuated to Britain because of a volcanic eruption.^[5]
• 25 October - The first edition of Private Eye, the satirical magazine, is published.^[5]
• 8 November - In a referendum on Sunday opening of public houses in Wales, the counties of Anglesey, Cardiganshire, Caernarfonshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire and Pembrokeshire all vote to stay "dry", that is, opposed to alcohol.
• 9 November - At the Lyceum Theatre, London, Miss United Kingdom, Welsh-born Rosemarie Frankland, becomes the first British winner of the Miss World beauty pageant.
• 27 November - Royal Air Force participates in air drops of food to flood victims in Somalia.^[27]
• 4 December - Birth control pills become available on the National Health Service after their availability is backed by Health Minister Enoch Powell.^[28]
• 9 December - Tanganyika gains independence from the UK.^[29]

Undated

• Park Hill Flats, Sheffield, opened.^[30]
• Release of short documentary film Seawards the Great Ships, which will be the first Scottish film to win an Academy Award.

Publications

• Agatha Christie's novel The Pale Horse.
• Ian Fleming's novel Thunderball.
• Richard Hughes' novel The Fox in the Attic.
• John le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead, introducing the character George Smiley.
• Iris Murdoch's novel A Severed Head.
• Muriel Spark's short novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
• Evelyn Waugh's novel Unconditional Surrender, last of the Sword of Honour trilogy.
• Parker Morris Committee's report Homes for Today and Tomorrow.
• Raymond Williams's The Long Revolution sets out the importance of cultural change.

Births

January - April

• 1 January - Mark Wingett, British actor
• 12 January - Simon Russell Beale, British actor
• 13 January - Suggs, British singer (Madness)
• 18 January - Peter Beardsley, English footballer and football coach
• 31 January - Lloyd Cole, British singer and songwriter
• 16 February - Andy Taylor, British musician (Duran Duran)
• 17 February
  • Angela Eagle, politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
  • Maria Eagle, politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
• 19 February - Justin Fashanu, black British footballer (suicide 1998)
• 20 February - Imogen Stubbs, British actress
• 24 February - John Grogan, British Labour politician
• 3 March - Fatima Whitbread, British javelin thrower and Olympic medallist
• 12 March - Betty Sworowski, English racewalker
• 26 March - William Hague, British statesman
• 27 March - Ellery Hanley, English rugby league footballer and coach
• 29 March - Michael Winterbottom, British filmmaker
• 14 April - Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor
• 17 April - Bella Freud, British fashion designer and columnist
• 18 April - Jane Leeves, English actress
• 20 April - Nicholas Lyndhurst, actor

May - August

• 2 May - Phil Vickery, British celebrity chef
• 4 May - Jay Aston, English singer
• 8 May - Janet McTeer, actress
• 12 May - Billy (William H) Duffy, English guitarist (The Cult)
• 14 May - Tim Roth, English actor
• 30 May - Harry Enfield, English comedian
• 5 June - Rosie Kane, member of Scottish Parliament
• 6 June - George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven, English polo player and businessman
• 13 June - Bob Crow, trade union leader
• 14 June - Boy George, English musician
• 15 June - Dave McAuley, Northern Irish boxer
• 25 June - Ricky Gervais, English comedian
• 27 June - Meera Syal, British comedian and writer
• 1 July - Diana, Princess of Wales (died 1997)
• 17 July - Jeremy Hardy, English comedian and broadcaster
• August - Saskia Reeves, English actress
• 3 August - Nicholas Harvey, English politician
• 7 August - Brian Conley, English comedian, television presenter, singer and actor
• 22 August - Roland Orzabal, English musician (Tears for Fears)

September - December

• 7 September - Kevin Kennedy, British actor
• 13 September - Tom Holt, British author
• 22 September - Liam Fox, British Conservative politician and Shadow Defence Secretary
• 26 September - Will Self, English novelist, reviewer and columnist
• 29 September - Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia
• 9 October - Julian Bailey, Formula 1 driver
• 10 October - Martin Kemp, actor and musician
• 11 October - Neil Buchanan, English TV presenter
• 20 October - Ian Rush, Welsh footballer and football manager
• 25 October - Pat Sharp, English radio DJ
• 3 November - David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley, chairman of Christie's U.K. auction house
• 4 November - Nigel Worthington, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
• 9 November - Jill Dando, television newsreader (died 1999)
• 16 November - Frank Bruno, British boxer
• 20 November - Dave Watson, English footballer
• 26 November - Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, British Asian entrepreneur and university chancellor
• 28 November - Martin Clunes, actor
• 11 December - Marco Pierre White, British chef and restaurateur
• 12 December
  • Sarah Sutton, British actress
  • Philip Parkin, Welsh golfer
• 19 December - Matthew Waterhouse, British actor
• 29 December - Jim Reid, Scottish musician
• 31 December - Sharon Gibson, English javelin thrower

Unknown dates

• Sexton Ming, British artist, poet and musician
• Gerard Woodward, British novelist and poet

Deaths

• 26 January - Stan Nichols, English cricketer (born 1900)
• 6 March - George Formby, Lancashire singer, comedian and actor (born 1904)
• 8 March - Thomas Beecham, English conductor (born 1879)
• 7 April - Vanessa Bell, English artist and interior designer (born 1879)
• 28 June - Huw Menai, Welsh poet (born 1886)
• 1 October - Sir William Reid Dick, Scottish sculptor (born 1879)
• 13 October
  • Augustus John, Welsh artist (born 1878)
  • John MacCormick, Scottish lawyer (born 1904)
• 24 December - Charles Hamilton, English children's story writer (born 1876)

References

1. Marr, Andrew (2007). A History of Modern Britain. London: Macmillan. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-4050-0538-8.
2. Thurlow, Richard (1987). Fascism in Britain. London. p. 246. ISBN 1-86064-337-X.
3. Wall, Patrick (1968). "The Monday Club - Organization & Membership". Student Power.
4. Seyd, Patrick (1972). "Factionalism within the Conservative Party: The Monday Club". Government and Opposition 7 (4).
5. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
6. "Lumumba rally clashes with UK police". BBC News. 19 February 1961. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
7. "Five Britons accused of spying for Moscow". BBC News. 13 March 1961. Archived from the original on 5 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
8. "Key Dates". Royal Shakespeare Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
9. "1961". Those were the days. Express & Star. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
10. "English Premier League 1960/1961". Tottenham Hotspur Mad. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
11. "Sierra Leone wins independence". BBC News. 27 April 1961. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
12. Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
13. Bolton Evening News, 2 May 1961.
14. "Ratification of the Convention on the OECD". Archived from the original on 17 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
15. "Tottenham Hotspur results 1960/1961". Tottenham Hotspur Mad. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
16. Basset, Anita (1963). A Factual Guide to Guildford Cathedral.
17. "Panda replaces zebra at road crossing". BBC News. 14 June 1961. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
18. "The Computer Centre Opens". Spread Eagle: 252. 1961.
19. Barclays Group Archives. Barclays Fact Sheet: Principal Events, 2.
20. "Dramatic End to Britain's Memorable Wimbledon". The Times (London). 10 July 1961. p. 3.
21. "Couple found shot in A6 lay-by". BBC News. 23 August 1961. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
22. Cowan, Mark (3 June 2010). "Did this man escape justice for Jackie's murder?". Birmingham Mail (Trinity Mirror). Retrieved 18 February 2012.
23. "Intelligent Film On Homosexuality". The Times (London). 30 August 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
24. "Special events in the development of women's equality". Catherine of Siena Virtual College. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
25. "Worldwide Disasters". Hillsborough Football Disaster. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
26. "Skelmersdale Development Corporation records". Access to Archives. The National Archives. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
27. "RAF flies aid to flood-stricken Somalia". BBC News. 27 November 1961. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
28. "Birth control pill available to all". BBC News. 4 December 1961. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
29. Tanzania entry at The World Factbook. Retrieved on 10 February 2008.
30. Harwood, Elain (2003). England: a Guide to Post-War Listed Buildings (rev. ed.). London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8818-2.

See also

• UK No.1 Hits of 1961
• List of Statutory Instruments of the United Kingdom, 1961
• Society of Film and Television Arts Television Awards 1961