4 January – Racing driver and motorboat racer Donald Campbell was killed in a crash on Coniston Water in the Lake District while attempting to break his own speed record.
15 January – The United Kingdom entered the first round of negotiations for European Economic Community membership in Rome; on 16 January Italy announced support for the UK's application.
23 January – Milton Keynes, a village situated in northern Buckinghamshire, was formally designated as a new town by the government, incorporating nearby towns and villages including Bletchley and Newport Pagnell. Intended to accommodate the overspill population from London – some fifty miles away – it would become the United Kingdom's largest new town, with the area's population multiplying during the 1970s and 1980s.[1]
26 January – Parliament decided to nationalise 90% of the British steel industry.
25 February – The United Kingdom's second Polaris nuclear submarine, HMS Renown, was launched at Birkenhead.
26 February – Non-league footballer Tony Allden died after being struck by lightning on the pitch when playing for Birmingham-based side Highgate United in an FA Amateur Cup tie. Three others players were also struck but survived.
27 February – The Dutch government announced support for British EEC membership.
31 March – At the Astoria Theatre, Finsbury Park, London, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar on stage for the first time. He was taken to hospital suffering burns to his hands.
April
2 April – A United Nations delegation arrived in the State of Aden because of its approaching independence. They left five days later, accusing British authorities of a lack of cooperation. The British said the delegation did not contact them.
2 May – Harold Wilson announced that the United Kingdom had decided to apply for EEC membership
5 May
The British-designed satellite Ariel 3, the first to be developed outside the Soviet Union or United States was launched, from the US.[8]
The first motorway project of the year was completed when the elevated motorway section of the A57road was officially opened (by Prime Minister Harold Wilson) to form a bypass around the south of Manchester city area. The M1 was also being expanded this month from both termini, meaning that there would now be an unbroken motorway link between North London and South Yorkshire.[9]
Shadow Cabinet Conservative MP Enoch Powell described the United Kingdom as the "sick man of Europe" in his latest verbal attack on the Labour government.
26 May – The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was rush released in the UK as mono and stereo LPs ahead of the scheduled June 1 release date. "The closest Western Civilization has come to unity since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was the week the Sgt. Pepper album was released."[12]
5 June – The General Post Office introduced the Machin series of definitive stamps. The Arnold Machin design would be one of the most reproduced works of art in history with approximately 320 billion copies produced.[16]
Murder of Louisa Dunne: a 75-year-old woman is found murdered at her home in Bristol; no-one is charged with the crime until 2024.[17]
National Health Service (Family Planning) Act enables local health authorities to provide family planning advice more widely, including to the unmarried.[18]
29 June – Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones was jailed for a year for possession of illegal drugs. His bandmate Mick Jagger was sentenced to three months for the same offence. On appeal, Richards' conviction was overturned and Jagger was given a conditional discharge.
July
1 July – The first scheduled colour television broadcasts from six transmitters covering the main population centres in England began on BBC2 for certain programmes,[3] the first being live coverage from the Wimbledon Championships.[19] A full colour service (other than news programmes) began on BBC2 on 2 December.[19]
3 August – The inquiry into the Aberfan disaster blamed the National Coal Board for the collapse of a colliery spoil tip which claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults in South Wales in October last year.
17 August – Jimmy Hill, manager of the Coventry City team who had been promoted to the Football League First Division for the first time in their history, announced that he was leaving management to concentrate on a television career.
The first Late Summer Holiday occurred on a fixed date of the last Monday in August, replacing the former August Bank Holiday on the first Monday in England and Wales.[14]
6 September – Myrina was launched from the slipway at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, the first supertanker and (at around 192000 DWT) largest ship built in the UK up to this date.[23]
11 October – Prime MinisterHarold Wilson won a libel action against rock band The Move in the High Court after he was depicted in a compromising position on a promotional postcard for their record "Flowers in the Rain"; in settlement, royalties from the song would be donated to charity.[28]
25 October – The Abortion Act passed in Parliament, legalising abortion on a number of grounds (with effect from 1968).
30 October – British troops and Chinese demonstrators clashed on the border of China and Hong Kong during the Hong Kong Riots.
November
November – Plowden Report (Children and their Primary Schools: A Report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England)) published, influentially advocating a focus on student-centred learning.
4 November – Iberia Airlines Flight 062 from Málaga Airport, Spain, to London Heathrow Airport descended far below the flight level assigned to it and flew into the southern slope of Blackdown Hill in West Sussex, killing all 37 on board.
18 November – Movement of animals was banned in England and Wales due to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.[31]
19 November – The pound was devalued from 1 GBP = 2.80 USD to 1 GBP = US$2.40 because of the UK's economic difficulties. Prime Minister Harold Wilson defended this decision in a broadcast to the nation, assuring his audience that "Our decision to devalue attacks our problem at the root... It does not mean, of course, that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued."[32]
28 November – Horse racing events were called off due to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.[34]
30 November – British troops left the State of Aden, which they had occupied since 1839, enabling formation of the new republic of Yemen.
December
1 December – Tony O'Connor became the first non-White head teacher of a British school when appointed as head teacher of a Primary school in Smethwick, near Birmingham.
12 December – Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, 25, won a High Court appeal against a nine-month prison sentence for possessing and using cannabis. He was instead fined £1,000 and put on probation for three years.[36]
Ford announced the end of Anglia production and replaced it with an all-new car called the Escort, which like its predecessor will be built at Dagenham and sold all over Europe.
Major changes were introduced to Scouting in the UK: the name of its organisation was changed from The Boy Scout Association to The Scout Association; the youngest section was renamed Cub Scouts; the Boy Scouts became the Scouts (with a new uniform including long trousers replacing shorts); and Senior Scouts (age 16–20) became Venture Scouts.[41]
Publications
16 January – Boy's Own Paper, founded in 1879, publishes its final issue.