1957 in the United Kingdom
UK-related events during the year of 1957
Events from the year 1957 in the United Kingdom .
Incumbents
Events
1 January – Sexual Offences Act 1956 (a consolidation of the English criminal law ) comes into effect.
9 January – Resignation of Anthony Eden as Prime Minister due to ill health.[ 1]
10 January – Harold Macmillan succeeds Anthony Eden as Prime Minister[ 2] through "the customary processes of consultation".[ 3]
16 January
24 January – Sunday Express newspaper editor John Junor is called to the Bar of the House of Commons to be reprimanded for contempt of Parliament [ 5] – the last non-politician to be so called.
January
February – Norwich City Council becomes the first British local authority to install a computer (an Elliott 405).[ 8]
11 February – East Midlands earthquake .[ 9]
16 February – The "Toddlers' Truce " (an arrangement whereby there have been no television broadcasts between 18:00–19:00 to allow parents to put their children to bed) is abolished.
22 February – The Queen grants her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh , the style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom .
6 March – The Northern Territories protectorate and British Togoland are annexed to the Crown , which territories together with Ashanti and Gold Coast become Ghana which is independent of the United Kingdom.[ 10]
13 March – The Anglo-Jordanian Treaty of 1948 expires.
21 March – Homicide Act amends the common law offence of murder in English law by introducing the partial defences of diminished responsibility and suicide pact , reforming the partial defence of provocation , and largely abolishing the doctrine of constructive malice; it also restricts the application of the death penalty to aggravated murder (creating a new offence of capital murder ), allowing commutation of sentence to life imprisonment in other cases. It is no longer a requirement for the Attorney General to prosecute poisoning cases in person.
1 April – The BBC 's Panorama current affairs programme presented by Richard Dimbleby broadcasts a spaghetti tree hoax report purporting to show spaghetti being harvested in Switzerland , believed to be the first April Fool's Day joke on television.[ 11]
4 April – 1957 Defence White Paper presented by Duncan Sandys , Minister of Defence, introduces major cuts in conventional land and air forces.[ 12]
10 April – Royal Court Theatre (London ) premieres John Osborne 's The Entertainer with Laurence Olivier in the title role.[ 13]
11 April – The UK Government agrees to allow Singapore its independence.[ 14]
15 April – Suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams is controversially found not guilty at the Old Bailey after Britain's longest murder trial. Political interference is suspected.[ 15]
20 April – Manchester United retain the Football League First Division title with a 4–0 win over Sunderland .[ 16]
24 April – The first broadcast of BBC Television astronomy series The Sky at Night , presented by Patrick Moore . This will run with him as presenter until his final episode is broadcast on 7 January 2013, one month following his death.
2 May – The Hammer Film Productions ' The Curse of Frankenstein is released.
4 May – Aston Villa win the FA Cup for a record seventh time with a 2–1 win over Football League First Division champions Manchester United at Wembley Stadium . Peter McParland scores both of Villa's goals with United's consolation goal coming from Tommy Taylor . The result ends Manchester United's hopes of becoming the first team this century to win the double of the league title and FA Cup.[ 17]
14 May – The end of petrol rationing following the Suez Crisis .[ 18]
15 May
21 May – Project E : agreement for the United States to supply Thor intermediate-range ballistic missiles to Britain under US control.[ 20]
1 June – The first Premium Bond winners are selected by the computer ERNIE .[ 4]
3 June – The actor and playwright Noël Coward returns to Britain from the West Indies amid criticism that he is living abroad to avoid having to pay tax.[ 21]
13 June – Eight people are killed in Oxford Street , London after a bus on route 7 collides with a queue of people at a bus stop.[ 22]
26 June – Six miners are killed in Barnburgh Main Colliery after an underground explosion.[ 23]
27 June – A report by the Medical Research Council reveals that there is evidence to support a link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer.[ 24]
Late June – The 1957–1958 influenza pandemic ("Asian flu") which has already killed thousands of people worldwide, reaches Britain where it will kill a number estimated at between 20,000 and 33,000.[ 25]
6 July – Future members of The Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney first meet as teenagers at a garden fête at St. Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool at which Lennon's skiffle group The Quarrymen is playing.
20 July
20–28 July – The Transport and General Workers' Union stages a national strike by provincial (non-municipal) bus crews; some violence against non-strikers is reported.[ 28]
31 July – The Tryweryn Bill, permitting Liverpool City Council to build a reservoir which will drown the village of Capel Celyn , becomes law. Every Welsh MP votes against (or, in one case, abstains).
5 August – The cartoon character Andy Capp first appears in northern editions of the Daily Mirror .
31 August
August – The ZETA fusion reactor begins operating at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment , Harwell, Oxfordshire .
4 September – Publication of the Wolfenden report , recommending "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offence".[ 30]
10 September – Tony Lock becomes the last bowler to reach 200 wickets in a first-class season,[ 31] a feat subsequently impossible due to limited-overs cricket and covered pitches.
1 October
1957–1958 influenza pandemic : The UK introduces a vaccine against the "Asian flu".[ 32] Deaths from the condition will peak in week ending 17 October at 600 in England and Wales.[ 25]
Which? magazine is first published by The Consumers' Association.
2 October – David Lean 's Academy Award-winning film The Bridge on the River Kwai is released.
10 October – Windscale fire : The graphite core of the nuclear reactor at Windscale , Cumbria , catches fire, releasing substantial amounts of radioactive contamination into the surrounding area.[ 33]
11 October – Jodrell Bank Observatory becomes operational.[ 4]
28 October – Today is first broadcast as a daily early-morning topical radio show on the BBC Home Service . It will still be running more than 60 years later.
30 October – The government unveils plans which will allow women to join the House of Lords for the first time.[ 34]
8 November
Operation Grapple : First successful (test) explosion of a British hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island in the Pacific.[ 35]
An inquiry into last month's fire at Windscale nuclear power plant blames the accident on a combination of human error, poor management and faulty instruments.[ 36]
15 November – 1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash : A flying boat crash on the Isle of Wight kills 45.
4 December – The Lewisham rail crash kills 90 and injures 173.[ 37]
10 December – Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes".[ 38]
12 December – Wales gets its own minister of state in the Westminster government for the first time.
25 December – The Royal Christmas Message is broadcast on television with the Queen on camera for the first time.[ 4]
28 December – A case of foot-and-mouth disease is found at an abattoir in Liverpool .[ 39]
Undated – Minting of the sovereign as a bullion piece resumes.
Publications
Births
4 January – Charles Allen , television magnate
6 January – Michael Foale , astronaut
11 January – Bryan Robson , footballer
15 January – Patrick Dixon , business guru and author
16 January – Mark Pawsey , businessman and politician
17 January – Keith Chegwin , actor and television presenter (died 2017)
22 January – Francis Wheen , English journalist and author
24 January – Adrian Edmondson , comedian and actor
27 January – Janick Gers , heavy metal guitarist
28 January – Frank Skinner , English comedian, actor and television personality
9 February – Gordon Strachan , footballer and manager
10 February – Helen Alexander , businesswoman
19 February – Ray Winstone , actor
22 February – Robert Bathurst , actor
27 February – Timothy Spall , character actor
5 March – Mark E. Smith , singer-songwriter (died 2018)
7 March – Robert Harris , novelist and journalist
10 March
21 March – Haydn Gwynne , actress (died 2023)[ 40]
22 March – Michael Mosley , broadcaster and medic (died 2024)[ 41]
25 March – Christina Boxer , middle-distance runner
31 March – Alan Duncan , politician
1 April
3 April – Julia Hills , actress
7 April – Simon Climie , English singer-songwriter (Climie Fisher )
17 April – Nick Hornby , novelist
20 April – Graeme Fowler , English cricketer, coach and sportscaster
23 April – Richard Keys , sport presenter
24 April
25 April – Eric Bristow , darts player (died 2018)
29 April – Daniel Day-Lewis , actor
8 May – Eddie Butler , Welsh rugby union player and commentator (died 2022)
10 May
13 May
18 May – Constance Briscoe , barrister disbarred and jailed for perverting the course of justice[ 43]
21 May
23 May – Craig Brown , satirist
25 May – Alastair Campbell , journalist
27 May – Siouxsie Sioux , born Susan Ballion, singer (Siouxsie and the Banshees )
4 June – Sue Hodge , actress
10 June – Lindsay Hoyle , politician
14 June
15 June – Stephen Lloyd , Kenyan-born English businessman and politician[ 44]
22 June – Danny Baker , broadcaster and music journalist
5 July – David Hanson , politician
9 July
11 July
15 July – Kate Kellaway , journalist and literary critic
17 July – Fern Britton , television presenter
18 July
20 July – Paul Daisley , politician (died 2003)
23 July – Jo Brand , comedian
10 August – Michael J. Todd , police officer (died 2008)
17 August – Robin Cousins , figure skater
20 August – Simon Donaldson , mathematician
22 August – Steve Davis , snooker player
24 August – Stephen Fry , comedian, author and actor[ 45]
25 August – Simon McBurney , actor and director
27 August – Johnny Cunningham , Scottish composer (died 2003)
31 August – Glenn Tilbrook , Squeeze singer songwriter
7 September – John McInerney , singer songwriter
8 September – Dave Myers , television presenter (died 2024)
10 September – Mark Naylor , high jumper
12 September – Rachel Ward , actress
13 September – Mal Donaghy , footballer
27 September – John Inverdale , broadcaster
3 October – Tim Westwood , DJ and presenter
7 October – Jayne Torvill , ice skater
11 October
15 October – Michael Caton-Jones , Scottish film director
19 October – Karl Wallinger , muisician (died 2024)
21 October – Julian Cope , musician and author
3 November – Gary Olsen , actor (died 2000)
13 November
30 November – Colin Mochrie , comedian
6 December – Adrian Borland , English musician and producer (The Sound ) (died 1999)
8 December – Phil Collen , singer and guitarist (Def Leppard )
10 December – Gerard Bramwell Long , Christian minister, evangelist, author and motivational speaker, previously banking executive
13 December – Gary Davies , disc jockey
20 December
Unknown – Jacquie de Creed , stunt woman (died 2011)
Deaths
16 January – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone , great-uncle of Queen Elizabeth II (born 1874)
21 January – Harry Gordon , popular entertainer (born 1893)
9 February – John Axon , railwayman (born 1900)
14 February – Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart , diplomat (born 1881)
16 February – Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha , statesman after whom Belisha beacons are named (born 1893)
7 March – Wyndham Lewis , painter and author (born 1882, Canada)
21 March – Charles Kay Ogden , linguist, philosopher and writer (born 1889)
23 March – Sir Patrick Abercrombie , town planner (born 1879)
21 April – John Graham Kerr , embryologist and politician (born 1869)
17 June – Dorothy Richardson , feminist writer (born 1873)
27 June – Malcolm Lowry , novelist (born 1909)
1 August 1 – Rose Fyleman , English writer and poet (born 1877 )[ 46]
19 August – David Bomberg , painter (born 1890)
20 August – Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans , explorer and admiral (born 1880)
1 September – Dennis Brain , horn player (born 1921)
11 September – James Burns , cricketer (born 1866)
29 September – Jane Carr , actress (born 1909)
14 October – Fred Russell , "The Father of Modern Ventriloquism " (born 1862)
20 October – Jack Buchanan , actor, singer and film director (born 1891)[ 47]
2 November – William Haywood , architect (born 1876)
9 December – Llewellyn Henry Gwynne , first bishop of Egypt and Sudan (born 1863)
13 December – Michael Sadleir , novelist (born 1888)
17 December – Dorothy L. Sayers , writer (born 1893)
21 December – Eric Coates , composer (born 1886)
31 December – Sir Archibald Bodkin , Director of Public Prosecutions (born 1862)
Undated – Michael Arabian (c.1876–1957), playwright and novelist (born c. 1876)[ 48]
See also
References
^ "Sir Anthony Eden resigns" . BBC News . 9 January 1957. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "Macmillan becomes Prime Minister" . BBC News . 10 January 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ Roth, Andrew (1972). Heath and the Heathmen . London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 173. ISBN 0-7100-7428-X .
^ a b c d e Penguin Pocket On This Day . Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0 .
^ "Committee of Privileges (Second Report) (Hansard, 23 January 1957)" . api.parliament.uk .
^ Crosby, Francis (2006). The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World . London: Anness Publishing. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-84476-917-9 .
^ "St Kilda" . National Trust for Scotland . Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010 .
^ "Our Computer Heritage" . Computer Conservation Society. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012 .
^ Dollar, A. T. J. (1957). "The Midlands earthquake of February 11, 1957". Nature . 179 (4558): 507–510. Bibcode :1957Natur.179..507D . doi :10.1038/179507a0 . S2CID 4186065 .
^ "Ghana celebrates independence" . BBC News . 6 March 1957. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "BBC fools the nation" . BBC News . 1 April 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ Defence: The Outline of Future Policy. Cmd.124.
^ The Daily Express , 10 April 1957, p. 4.
^ "Britain agrees to Singapore self-rule" . BBC News . 11 April 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ Cullen, Pamela (2006). Stranger in Blood: the case files on Doctor John Bodkin Adams .
^ "Manchester United retains English soccer supremacy" . Leader-Post . Regina, Saskatchewan. 22 April 1957. p. 19. Retrieved 10 December 2012 .
^ "FA Cup Final 1957" . 25 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008.
^ "Cheers as petrol rationing ended" . BBC News . 14 May 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "Britain drops its first H-bomb" . BBC News . 15 May 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ Lamb, Richard (1995). The Macmillan Years 1957–1963 . London: John Murray. pp. 284–5. ISBN 071955392X .
^ "Noel Coward comes home" . BBC News . 3 June 1957. Retrieved 22 November 2013 .
^ Marshall, Prince (1972). Wheels of London . The Sunday Times Magazine. p. 124. ISBN 0-7230-0068-9 .
^ "Report on the causes of, and circumstances attending, the Explosion which occurred at Barnburgh Main Colliery, Barnburgh, in the County of York, on 26th June, 1957" . Durham Mining Museum . Retrieved 3 March 2016 .
^ "Smoking 'causes lung cancer' " . BBC News . 27 June 1957. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ a b Honigsbaum, Mark (13 June 2020). "Revisiting the 1957 and 1968 influenza pandemics" . The Lancet . 395 (10240): 1824–1826. doi :10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31201-0 . ISSN 0140-6736 . PMC 7247790 . PMID 32464113 .
^ Originally reported by Michael Freedland . "Britons 'have never had it so good' " . BBC News . 20 July 1957. Retrieved 13 February 2012 .
^ "Grand Prix Results: British GP, 1957" . grandprix.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012 .
^ "Bus dispute turns violent" . BBC News . 23 July 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "Malaya celebrates independence" . BBC News . 31 August 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "Homosexuality 'should not be a crime' " . BBC News . 4 September 1957. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "The Home of CricketArchive" . cricketarchive.com .
^ "British public gets 'Asian Flu' vaccine" . BBC News . 1 October 1957. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009 .
^ "Inquiry publishes cause of nuclear fire" . BBC News . 8 November 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "Lords to admit first women peers" . BBC News . 30 October 1957. Retrieved 13 February 2012 .
^ Arnold, Lorna ; Pyne, Katherine (2001). Britain and the H-bomb . Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-230-59977-2 . OCLC 753874620 .
^ "Inquiry publishes cause of nuclear fire" . BBC News . 8 November 1957. Retrieved 13 February 2012 .
^ "Lewisham rail crash dead honoured" . BBC News . 2 December 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1957" . Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ "Foot-and-mouth shuts down abattoir" . BBC News . 28 December 1957. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .
^ Haydn Gwynne, star of stage and screen, dies aged 66
^ Dr Michael Mosley obituary
^ "Mr Nazir Ahmed (Hansard)" . api.parliament.uk .
^ Briscoe, Constance (13 November 2008). Ugly . Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781848940512 – via Google Books.
^ "Lloyd, Stephen, (born 15 June 1957), MP (Lib Dem) Eastbourne, since 2017 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO" . WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO . doi :10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U251155 . ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4 .
^ Rubinstein, W. D. (2011). The Palgrave dictionary of Anglo-Jewish history . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 307. ISBN 9781403939104 .
^ Hay, Ann G. (1978). "Fyleman, Rose (Amy)". In Kirkpatrick, D.L. (ed.). Twentieth-century Children's Writers . London: Macmillan. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-33323-414-3 .
^ Hardy, Phil (1995). The Da Capo companion to 20th-century popular music . New York: Da Capo Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780306806407 .
^ "Obituary" . The Guardian . 12 September 1957. Retrieved 13 September 2022 .