1926 in the United Kingdom
| 1926 in the United Kingdom |
| Other years |
| 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 |
| Individual countries of the United Kingdom |
| England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
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Events from the year 1926 in the United Kingdom. The year is dominated by the general strike.
Incumbents
Events
- 2 January – contributory old age pensions payable to those between 65 and 70 years of age under the provisions of the Widows', Orphans', and Old-Age Contributory Pensions Act of 1925.
- 16 January – BBC radio play about worker's revolution causes a panic in London.
- 26 January – John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system in London.[1]
- 31 January – British and Belgian troops leave Cologne.
- 9 February – flooding of London suburbs.
- 6 March – the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is destroyed by fire.
- 17 March – University of Reading chartered, the only institution to be newly granted full university status in the U.K. in the interwar period.[2]
- 1 May – coal miners' strike begins in Britain over planned pay reductions.
- 3 May – general strike begins in support of the coal strike.
- 4 May – the BBC broadcasts five news bulletins a day as no newspapers are published due to the general strike.
- 9 May – martial law in Britain because of the general strike.
- 10 May – talks between government and strikers begin.
- 12 May – the general strike ends.[3]
- 24 July – first greyhound racing track in Britain opens in Manchester.[4]
- 25 July – BBC history: The previously experimental long-wave station 5XX moves from Chelmsford to Daventry and becomes the first station to achieve near national coverage. The Daventry station will later become the main transmitter of the BBC National Programme.
- 6 August – American swimmer Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel from France to England.[3]
- 7 August – the first British Grand Prix held at the Brooklands circuit near Weybridge.[3]
- 18 August – the Miners' Federation of Great Britain begins negotiations with the government.
- 30 August – cricketer Jack Hobbs scores 316 runs at match at Lord's, the highest individual total scored at that ground.[3]
- 29 November – coal miners agree to end the national dispute and return to work. A majority of the Miners Federation have voted to continue the strike but with less than the required two-thirds majority.
- December – Imperial Chemical Industries formed by merger of Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives, the United Alkali Company, and the British Dyestuffs Corporation.
- 2 December – the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin ends the martial law that had been declared due to the general strike.
- 3 December – Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey; on 14 December she is found in a Harrogate hotel (under her husband's mistress's surname) by journalist Ritchie Calder.
- 7 December – the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, later the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), is founded by Patrick Abercrombie to limit urban sprawl and ribbon development.
- 15 December – Legitimacy Act 1926 permits the legitimisation of a child born to unmarried parents by their subsequent marriage to each other.
Undated
- Electricity (Supply) Act creates the Central Electricity Board to set up the National Grid.[5]
- K2 red telephone box introduced, chiefly in London area.[6]
- New Ways, a house for Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in Northampton, is designed by German architect Peter Behrens; it is "a pioneer of modern architecture in Britain".[7]
- First appearance of the Gill Sans sans-serif typeface, designed by Eric Gill for Douglas Cleverdon.[8][9]
Publications
- Patrick Abercrombie's tract The Preservation of Rural England.
- Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
- Georgette Heyer's historical romance novel These Old Shades.
- D. H. Lawrence's novel The Plumed Serpent.
- Hugh MacDiarmid's Scots language poem A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle.
- A. A. Milne's children's book Winnie-the-Pooh.
Births
- 3 January – George Martin, producer of The Beatles (died 2016)
- 13 January – Michael Bond, author and creator of Paddington Bear (died 2017)
- 14 January – Warren Mitchell, actor (died 2015)
- 17 January – Moira Shearer, actress and dancer (died 2006)
- 10 February – Danny Blanchflower, footballer and football manager (died 1993)
- 11 February – Alexander Gibson, conductor and founder of Scottish Opera (died 1995)
- 16 February – John Schlesinger, film director (died 2003)
- 20 February – Gillian Lynne, choreographer (died 2018)
- 22 February – Kenneth Williams, actor (died 1988)
- 8 March – Edith MacArthur, actress (died 2018)
- 14 March – Lita Roza, singer (died 2008)
- 27 March – Louis Blom-Cooper, lawyer
- 31 March – John Fowles, novelist (died 2005)
- 6 April – Ian Paisley, politician (died 2014)
- 11 April – Gervase de Peyer, clarinetist (died 2017)
- 21 April – HRH Princess Elizabeth of York, later Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms
- 22 April – James Stirling, architect (died 1992)
- 26 April – David Coleman, television sports broadcaster (died 2013)
- 30 April – Edmund Cooper, author and poet (died 1982)
- 8 May – David Attenborough, broadcaster and naturalist
- 12 May – John Shipley Rowlinson, chemist and academic (died 2018)
- 14 May – Eric Morecambe, comedian (died 1984)
- 23 June – Lawson Soulsby, parasitologist (died 2017)
- 15 May – Anthony Shaffer (died 2001) and Peter Shaffer (died 2016), playwrights
- 26 June – Sir Rex Hunt, diplomat (died 2012)
- 8 July – Ian Gilmour, Conservative politician (died 2007)
- 18 July – Robert Sloman, actor and journalist (died 2005)
- 21 July – Bill Pertwee, actor (died 2013)
- 22 July – Bryan Forbes, film director (died 2013)
- 30 July – Thomas Patrick Russell, High Court judge (died 2002)
- 3 August – Anthony Sampson, journalist and biographer (died 2004)
- 17 August – George Melly, jazz singer (died 2007)
- 4 September – George William Gray, Scottish-born chemist, pioneer of liquid crystal technology (died 2013)
- 6 September – Maurice Cowling, historian (died 2005)
- 7 September – Patrick Jenkin, Conservative politician (died 2016)
- 12 September – Dave Valentine, Scottish representative rugby union and rugby league footballer (died 1976)
- 18 September – Thomas Hetherington, barrister (died 2007)
- 21 October – Leonard Rossiter, actor (died 1984)
- 31 October – Jimmy Savile, television and radio personality (died 2011)
- 5 November – John Berger, art critic, novelist and painter (died 2017)
- 6 November – Frank Carson, comedian (died 2012)
- 12 November – Robert Goff, Baron Goff of Chieveley, lawyer and judge (died 2016)
- 25 November – Terry Hall, ventriloquist (died 2007)
- 20 December – Geoffrey Howe, politician (died 2015)
Deaths
- 6 January – John Bowers, Anglican suffragan Bishop of Thetford (born 1854)
- 7 February – William Evans Hoyle, director of the National Museum of Wales (born 1855)
- 8 February – William Bateson, geneticist (born 1861)
- 13 February – Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish political economist (born 1845)
- 3 March – Sir Sidney Lee, biographer (born 1859)
- 29 March – Charles Williamson Crook, teacher, trade unionist and politician (born 1862)
- 9 May – J. M. Dent, publisher (born 1849)
- 21 May – Ronald Firbank, novelist (born 1886)
- 8 June – Emily Hobhouse, welfare campaigner (born 1860)
- 12 July – Gertrude Bell, archaeologist, writer, spy, and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq" (born 1868)
- 1 August – Israel Zangwill, novelist, poet and playwright (born 1864)
- 25 September – Herbert Booth, Salvationist, third son of William and Catherine Booth (born 1862)
- 28 September – Helen Allingham, watercolour painter and illustrator (born 1848)
- 5 October – Dorothy Tennant (Lady Stanley), artist (born 1855)
- 12 October – Edwin Abbott Abbott, schoolmaster and theologian (born 1838)
- 13 October – Eliseus Williams ("Eifion Wyn"), poet (born 1867)
- 4 November – John Owen, Bishop of St David's (born 1854)
- 8 December – Sarah Doudney, novelist, children's writer and hymnist (born 1841)
See also
References
- ^ The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
- ^ "The University's History". University of Reading. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
- ^ a b c d Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 366–368. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ "Lighting by electricity". The National Trust. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Johannessen, Neil (1994). Telephone Boxes. Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. ISBN 0-7478-0250-5.
- ^ The Twentieth Century Society (2017). "1926". 100 Houses 100 Years. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-1-84994-437-3.
- ^ Townsend, Paul (20 October 2009). "Douglas Cleverdon Book Publishers". Flickr.com. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ "Eric Gill & The Cockerel Press". Itcfonts.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
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