1927 in the United Kingdom
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Events from the year 1927 in the United Kingdom.
1927 saw the renaming of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, recognising in name the Irish Free State's independence, it having come into existence with the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922.
That, and other events are detailed below.
Incumbents
- Monarch - George V
- Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin (Conservative)
Events
- 1 January - The British Broadcasting Company becomes the British Broadcasting Corporation, when it is granted a Royal Charter. Sir John Reith becomes the first Director-General.
- 7 January - First transatlantic telephone call from New York City to London.
- 15 January - First live sports broadcast on the BBC. The rugby union international England v Wales is commented on by Teddy Wakelam. A week later the first football match is broadcast.
- 19 January - Britain sends troops to China.
- 30 January - Gale force winds reaching 112 miles per hour batter the whole of the United Kingdom, killing twenty-three people.
- 4 February - At Pendine Sands, Sir Malcolm Campbell sets a new world land speed record covering the Flying Kilometre in a mean average of 174.883 mph (281.44 km/h) and the Flying Mile in 174.224 m.p.h. driving the Napier-Campbell Blue Bird, the last time this record will be attained on British soil.[1][2][3]
- 12 February - First British troops land in Shanghai.
- 14 February - Alfred Hitchcock's silent film thriller The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog released.
- 19 February - General strike in Shanghai in protest at the presence of British troops.
- 1 March - An underground gas and coal dust explosion at Marine Colliery, Cwm, Monmouthshire, kills 52.
- 6 March - 1000 people a week die from an influenza epidemic.
- 5 April - Trade Disputes Act forbids strikes of support.
- 12 April - The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act renames the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The change acknowledges that the Irish Free State is no longer part of the Kingdom.
- 21 April - National Museum of Wales officially opened in Cathays Park, Cardiff.
- 23 April - Cardiff City F.C., members of the English Football League despite being based in Wales, win the FA Cup beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium and taking the trophy out of England for the first time.
- 7 May - Newcastle United finish the football season as First Division champions.[4] George Camsell, centre-forward of their local rivals Middlesbrough, scores a Football League record of 59 goals this season and a total of 63 in all competitions.[5]
- 9 May - Joe Davis wins the first World Snooker Championship final held in Birmingham,[3] an event he will continue to win each year until 1940.
- 12 May - British police raid the London office of the Soviet trading company ARCOS.
- 13 May - George V proclaims the change of his style from King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 20 May - Treaty of Jeddah: Saudi Arabia becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
- 24 May - Britain severs diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union because of revelations of espionage and underground agitation.
- 9 June - Soviet Union executes twenty British for alleged espionage.
- 23 June - England and Yorkshire cricketer Wilfred Rhodes becomes the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
- 7 July
- The Diocese of Derby is created in the Church of England.
- Christopher Stone presents a record programme, becoming the first British disc jockey.[3]
- 7 September - The Television Society is founded. It will gain Royal patronage in 1966, becoming the Royal Television Society.
- 5 October - The Labour Party votes in favour of nationalisation of the coal industry.[3]
- 7 October - Mercedes Gleitzer becomes the first British woman to swim the English Channel.
- 5 November - Britain's first automatic traffic lights are deployed experimentally in Wolverhampton.[3]
- 17 November - Leyland Titan double deck bus introduced. Its low chassis sets a significant trend in bus design which lasts for forty years.[6]
- 24 November - Total solar eclipse over Northern England and Wales.
- December - Joshua Powell of Clacton begins the domestic radio relay service which will become Rediffusion.[7]
- 12 December - 1600 people hospitalised in London when they hurt themselves on the icy streets.
- 25 December - A Christmas Day blizzard affects Cardiff and much of South Wales together with the Midlands.
Undated
- Yorkshire captaincy affair: controversy over the decision (eventually reversed) to appoint a professional cricketer, Herbert Sutcliffe, as captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.[8]
- The National Gardens Scheme is established to open private gardens of interest to the public to raise money to assist the Queen's Nursing Institute.[9]
- Stanley Spencer completes his painting The Resurrection, Cookham.
Publications
- Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novel The Big Four.
- F. Tennyson Jesse's children's story Moonraker, or, The Female Pirate and Her Friends.
- H. V. Morton's travelogue In Search of England, in book form.
- Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novel Unnatural Death.
- Evelyn Sharp's The London Child about the plight of slum children in London
- Nevil Sidgwick's The Electronic Theory of Valency, an important work in chemistry.
- Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell, 2nd edition of Principia Mathematica, one of the most important and seminal works in mathematical logic and philosophy.
- Henry Williamson's novel Tarka the Otter.
- P. G. Wodehouse's short story Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey, introducing Lord Emsworth's prize pig, Empress of Blandings.
- Virginia Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse.
- The Economic History Review begins publication (January).
Births
- 13 January - Sydney Brenner, South African-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 16 February - June Brown, actress
- 18 February - Peter Fryer, English journalist and author (d. 2006)
- 15 March - Brian Shenton, track and field sprinter (died 1987)
- 29 March - John Robert Vane, pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (died 2004)
- 2 April - Kenneth Tynan, theatre critic (died 1980)
- 27 April - Sheila Scott, aviator (died 1988)
- 8 June - Anne Warburton, academic and diplomat (d. 2015)
- 12 June - Al Fairweather, jazz musician (died 1993)
- 18 June - Paul Eddington, actor (died 1995)
- 28 June - Correlli Barnett, historian
- 3 July - Ken Russell, film director (died 2011)
- 16 July - Shirley Hughes, children's book illustrator
- 9 August - Robert Shaw, actor and novelist (died 1978)
- 6 September - Jack Parker, hurdler
- 22 September - Gordon Astall, footballer
- 25 September - Colin Davis, orchestral conductor (died 2013)
- 14 October - Roger Moore, actor
- 28 October - Cleo Laine, singer
- 9 November - Ken Dodd, comedian and singer
- 15 November - Gregor Mackenzie, Labour Party politician (died 1992)
- 7 December - Helen Watts, contralto (died 2009)
- 26 December - Denis Quilley, actor (died 2003)
- 28 December - Simon Raven, novelist (died 2001)
Deaths
- 2 May - Ernest Starling, physiologist (born 1866)
- 11 June - William Attewell, cricketer (born 1861)
- 14 June - Jerome K. Jerome, writer (born 1859)
- 8 October - Mary Webb, novelist (born 1881)
References
- ^ Motor Sport March 1927 p. 282; September 1927, p. 77
- ^ Noble, Richard (1999). Thrust. Bantam Books. p. 401.
- ^ a b c d e Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ "Clubs Lose Places in English Soccer". The New York Times. 7 May 1927.
- ^ "Goal.com's Top 50 English Players: George Camsell (45)". Goal.com. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^ Townsin, Alan (1981). Leyland Titans 1927–1942. Glossop: Transport Publishing Co. ISBN 0-903839-56-3.
- ^ "1928 - 1978: The first 50 Years of Rediffusion". Rediffusion Ltd. 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- ^ Hill, Alan (2007). Herbert Sutcliffe. Cricket Maestro. Stroud: Stadia. ISBN 978-0-7524-4350-8.
- ^ "Our History". National Gardens Scheme. Retrieved 25 February 2011.