1950 in the United Kingdom
| 1950 in the United Kingdom |
| Other years |
| 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 |
| Individual countries of the United Kingdom |
| England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
| Sport, Television and music |
Events from the year 1950 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch — George VI
- Prime Minister — Clement Attlee (Labour)
Events
- 16 January — The BBC Light Programme first broadcasts the daily children's radio feature Listen with Mother.[1]
- 26 January
- 8 February — George Kelly is sentenced to hang for the murder of the Cameo cinema manager in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree, a conviction which will be quashed as unsafe 53 years later.[1]
- 20 February — Ealing Studios release the film The Blue Lamp, introducing the character PC George Dixon, played by Jack Warner (with Dirk Bogarde as a young criminal).[1][3]
- 21 February — Cunard liner RMS Aquitania arrives at the scrapyard in Faslane at the end of a 36-year career.
- 23 February - The general election is held. Labour is defending a triple-figure parliamentary majority in government, but its popularity took a plunge last year following the devaluation of the pound and the failure of the groundouts scheme, and many recent opinion polls have shown a comfortable Conservative lead.
- 24 February — Clement Attlee wins the general election, giving Labour a second term in government after their election triumph in 1945. However, he retains power with a majority of just five seats, a stark contrast to the 146-seat majority that he gained when he came to power five years ago.[4] Among the lost Labour seats is Bexley in Kent, which 33-year-old Conservative Party candidate Edward Heath seizes from Ashley Bramall.[5] Both Communist Party MP's lose their seats. University constituencies have been abolished at the dissolution.[6] Voter turnout is 83.9%, an all-time high for a U.K. general election under universal suffrage.
- 1 March — The German-born theoretical physicist Klaus Fuchs, working at Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment, is convicted following a confession of supplying secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.[7]
- 6 March–8 March — The World Figure Skating Championships are held in London.
- 8 March — Carmaker Rover tests a revolutionary new turbine-powered concept car.[8]
- 12 March — 80 of the 83 people on board an Avro Tudor V aircraft are killed when it crashes at Llandow in Glamorgan, making it the world's worst air disaster for the time.
- 16 March — The Gambols comic strip first appears in the Daily Express.[1]
- 1 April — Corby, a village in Northamptonshire, is designated as the first new town in central England, providing homes for up to 40,000 people by the 1960s.[9]
- 14 April — The Eagle comic first appears, featuring Dan Dare and Captain Pugwash.[1]
- 29 April — Arsenal win the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.[10]
- 13 May — First Grand Prix held at Silverstone.[11]
- 20 May — First package holiday air charter, by Vladimir Raitz of Horizon Holidays, from Gatwick Airport to Calvi, Corsica, for camping.[12]
- 21 May — A tornado tracks across England from Wendover to Blakeney, Norfolk (68 miles (109 km)), the longest ever such track in Britain.[13]
- 26 May — Motor fuel rationing comes to an end after 11 years, marking another stage in the phasing-out of rationing that was introduced in the wake of the Second World War.[14]
- 6 June — The BBC Light Programme first broadcasts the popular radio comedy feature Educating Archie, with Max Bygraves.[1]
- 7 June — Pilot episode of the series The Archers broadcast on BBC Radio. It will still be running sixty years later.[15]
- 24 June — World Cup opens in Brazil with the England national football team competing for the first time.[1]
- 28 June — In the World Cup, the England national football team is humiliated by losing 1–0 to the United States in Belo Horizonte.[1]
- 29 June — The England cricket team loses the Test Match by 326 runs to the West Indies at Lord's, an event commemorated in Lord Beginner's calypso Victory Test Match.[1]
- 11 July — First broadcast of the popular BBC Television pre-school children's programme Andy Pandy.[15]
- 19 July — Release of the film Treasure Island made in England with Robert Newton as Long John Silver.[16]
- 31 July
- Sainsbury's opens the first purpose-built supermarket, at Croydon.[17]
- Warwickshire’s Eric Hollies beats Nobby Clark’s record of 65 innings without reaching double figures when dismissed for 7 against Worcestershire. Hollies will eventually make it 71 before scoring 14 against Nottinghamshire on 16 August.
- 15 August — The Princess Elizabeth gives birth to her and her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh's second child and only daughter.[18]
- 19 August — The Football League season begins with four new members, taking membership from 88 to 92 across the four divisions.[19] The new members are Colchester United, Gillingham (who lost their league status in 1938),[20] Scunthorpe & Lindsey United and Shrewsbury Town.[21]
- 24 August — Vale Park football stadium opens in Stoke-on-Trent, to serve Port Vale F.C. It has an initial capacity of more than 30,000; it had been billed as the "Wembley of the North" when first proposed, but high costs mean that the new stadium is much more basic than had been planned.[22]
- 27 August — The BBC makes its first television broadcast from the European continent.[15]
- 29 August
- 4,000 British troops are sent to Korea.[23]
- The Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh's 14-day-old daughter is named as Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise. She was then known as Princess Anne of Edinburgh and is now The Princess Royal.[18]
- 8 September — 116 miners trapped underground in a landslide at Knockshinnoch Castle colliery at New Cumnock in Ayrshire, Scotland.[24]
- 9 September
- 11 September — The rescue operation from Knockshinnoch Castle colliery is completed, with all 116 miners saved.[24]
- 1 October — Full-time military service by conscripted National Servicemen is extended to two years.
- 25 October — The Festival Ballet, later to become the English National Ballet, founded by Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, makes its debut performance.[25][26]
- 26 October — The rebuilt House of Commons, following its destruction by bombing in World War II, is used for the first time.[15]
- October — Alan Turing's paper Computing machinery and intelligence, proposing the Turing test, is published in Mind.[25]
- October — A group of Conservative politicians publishes the tract One Nation: a Tory approach to social policy.[1]
- November — Attempt to hold the Second World Peace Congress at Sheffield City Hall is thwarted by the British authorities preventing many international delegates from entering the country[1] and it is relocated to Warsaw.[27]
- 10 December
- Bertrand Russell wins the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".[28]
- Cecil Frank Powell wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method".[29]
- 25 December — The Stone of Scone, the traditional coronation stone of Scottish monarchs, English monarchs and more recently British monarchs, is stolen from London's Westminster Abbey by a group of four Scottish students.[15] It turns up in Scotland on 11 April 1951.
- 28 December — An order to designate the Peak District as the first of the National parks of England and Wales is submitted to the Minister of Town and Country Planning for approval.[30][31]
Undated
- North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board begins work on Sloy-Awe Hydro-Electric Power Scheme.
- Kenwood Chef food mixer introduced.
Publications
- Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel A Murder is Announced.
- Catherine Cookson's first novel Kate Hannigan.[1]
- William Cooper's novel Scenes from Provincial Life.[1]
- Marion Crawford's royal biography The Little Princesses: the Story of the Queen's Childhood by her Nanny.[1]
- Elizabeth David's book Mediterranean Cooking.
- C. S. Forester's novel Mr. Midshipman Hornblower.
- Doris Lessing's novel The Grass is Singing.
- C. S. Lewis's novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, first of The Chronicles of Narnia series (16 October).[32]
- Mervyn Peake's novel Gormenghast, second of the eponymous series.
- Barbara Pym's novel Some Tame Gazelle.
- Evelyn Waugh's novel Helena.
Births
- 1 January — Chris Black, Scottish hammer thrower
- 19 January — David Tredinnick, politician
- 4 February — Pamela Franklin, actress
- 13 February — Peter Gabriel, musician
- 16 February — Peter Hain, politician
- 19 February — Andy Powell, musician (Wishbone Ash)
- 22 February — Julie Walters, actress
- 27 March — Terry Yorath, footballer and football manager
- 30 March — Robbie Coltrane, actor and comedian
- 3 April — Sally Thomsett, actress
- 22 April — Peter Frampton, musician
- 1 May — Danny McGrain, footballer
- 3 May — Mary Hopkin, singer
- 11 May — Jeremy Paxman, television presenter and author
- 12 May — Jenni Murray, radio presenter
- 17 May — Alan Johnson, politician
- 22 May — Bernie Taupin, songwriter
- 22 May — Mary Tamm, actress (died 2012)
- 1 June — Tom Robinson, singer and musician
- 13 June — Nick Brown, politician
- 14 June — Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 30 June — Olly Flynn, race walker
- 6 July — Jonathon Porritt, English environmentalist and academic
- 8 July — Sarah Kennedy, television presenter
- 14 July — Bruce Oldfield, fashion designer
- 18 July — Richard Branson, entrepreneur
- 19 July — Simon Cadell, actor
- 23 July — Len McCluskey, trade unionist
- 26 July — Susan George, actress
- 27 July — Simon Jones, actor
- 30 July — Harriet Harman, politician
- 15 August — Anne, Princess Royal
- 14 September — Paul Kossoff, guitarist (Free) (died 1976)
- 21 September — Charles Clarke, politician
- 25 October — Steve Barry, race walker
- 14 November — Sarah Radclyffe, production manager and producer
- 6 December — Helen Liddell, politician
- 10 December — Nicky Henderson, horse trainer
- 28 December — Clifford Cocks, cryptographer
Deaths
- 21 January — George Orwell, author (born 1903)
- 9 March — Timothy Evans hanged by Albert Pierrepoint for the murder of his baby daughter (pardoned in 1960s) (born 1924)
- 19 March — Walter Haworth, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1883)
- 30 March — Joe Yule, Scottish-born comedian (born 1894)
- 6 September — Olaf Stapledon, author and philosopher (born 1886)
- 21 September — Arthur Milne, physicist (born 1896)
- 2 November — George Bernard Shaw, playwright (born 1856)
- 12 November — Julia Marlowe, English-American actress (born 1865)
- 23 November — Percival Mackey, pianist, composer and bandleader (born 1894)
- 28 November — James Corbitt hanged for murder by Albert Pierrepoint (born c. 1913)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kynaston, David (2007). Austerity Britain 1945–1951. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-7985-4.
- ^ "India becomes a republic". BBC News. 26 January 1950. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ The Blue Lamp at IMDb
- ^ "Labour wins slim majority". BBC News. 24 February 1950. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ [1]
- ^ Representation of the People Act 1948.
- ^ "Communist spy jailed for 14 years". BBC News. 1 March 1950. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Gas turbine car gets road test". BBC News. 8 March 1950. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ "The Lost Decade Timeline, BBC". Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ Calder, Simon (10 January 2004). "Heroes & Villains: Vladimir Raitz". The Independent.
- ^ Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. pp. 35–6. ISBN 978-0-00-728463-4.
- ^ "UK drivers cheer end of fuel rations". BBC News. 26 May 1950. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ Konstam, Angus (2008). Piracy: The Complete History. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 313. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
- ^ a b Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 401–402. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ a b BBC On this Day — 15 August
- ^ "Results : Saturday 19th August 1950". statto.com. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "The Fall and Rise of Gillingham Football Club - from non-league wilderness to league status". 22 September 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "1950-51 Football League". F.C.H.D. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "History". Port Vale F.C. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "British troops arrive in Korea". BBC News. 29 August 1950. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Miners trapped underground by landslide". BBC News. 8 September 1950. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
- ^ Meisner, Nadine (3 December 2004). "Dame Alicia Markova". The Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ Roche, T.W.E. (1969). The Key in the Lock. London: Murray. pp. 176–7. ISBN 0-7195-1907-1.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1950". Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1950". Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ "National Park In The Peak". The Times. No. 51885. London. 29 December 1950. p. 3.
- ^ Robertson, Patrick (1974). The Shell Book of Firsts. London: Ebury Press. p. 242. ISBN 0-7181-1279-2.
- ^ "Lucy Barfield: The Real Lucy of Narnia". Into the Wardrobe. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2010.