1956 in the United Kingdom
UK-related events during the year of 1956
Events from the year 1956 in the United Kingdom Suez Crisis .
Incumbents
Events
1 January – Possession of heroin becomes fully criminalised.[ 1]
4 January – Eight months after winning the General Election and barely a year after becoming Prime Minister , Anthony Eden 's position is looking under threat as opinion polls show Labour (now led by Hugh Gaitskell ) are in the lead.[ 2]
24 January – Plans are announced for the construction of thousands of new homes in the Barbican area of London, devastated by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War .[ 3]
26 January–5 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo , Italy , but do not win any medals.
February
5 February – First showing of documentary films by the Free Cinema movement, at the National Film Theatre , London.[ 5]
8 February
11 February – Two of the "Cambridge spies ", Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean , appear in Moscow after vanishing as diplomats in mysterious circumstances in 1951.[ 7]
12 February – Double yellow lines to prohibit parking introduced in Slough .[ 8]
17 February – The Midlands becomes the first region outside of London to receive ITV when ATV Midlands begins broadcasting, ABC , the weekend station, launches the following day.
23 February – A fire at Eastwood Mills, Keighley , West Yorkshire , kills eight employees.[ 9]
9 March – Archbishop Makarios is deported from Cyprus to the Seychelles by the British authorities.
10 March – Fairey Aviation test pilot Peter Twiss sets a new airspeed record in the Fairey Delta 2 , also becoming the first person to exceed 1,000 mph (1,610 km/h) in level flight. His top speed is 1,132 mph (1,821 km/h), 310 mph (499 km/h) in excess of the previous (US) record.
14 March – A memorial to Karl Marx is unveiled at the new site of his grave in Highgate Cemetery , London, by Harry Pollitt , General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain .[ 10]
24 March – In the Grand National , Devon Loch , owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis , is in a clear lead when the horse inexplicably collapses fifty yards (45 m) from the finish, giving victory to E.S.B. at 100/7, ridden by Dave Dick and trained by Fred Rimell . Stan Mellor is the second placed jockey.[ 11]
7 April – Manchester United , with an average team age of just 24, win the Football League First Division title.[ 12]
17 April
19 April – Diver Lionel Crabb (working for MI6 ) dives into Portsmouth Harbour to investigate visiting Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze and vanishes during a state visit by Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin . On 9 May, Anthony Eden who had refused permission for the operation, makes a statement refusing to reveal any details surrounding the mystery of Crabb's disappearance.[ 14]
20 April – Humphrey Lyttelton and his band record his trad jazz composition "Bad Penny Blues " in London with sound engineer Joe Meek . This will be the first British jazz record to get into the Top Twenty .
22 April – The 2i's Coffee Bar opens in Old Compton Street , Soho (London); its basement rapidly becomes a pioneering venue for rock and roll music in Britain.
27 April – Doubts about the future of Anthony Eden as Prime Minister continue as his personal ratings in opinion polls remain low.[ 15]
3 May – Granada Television begins broadcasting with a base in Manchester, extending ITV's coverage to Northern England and later Yorkshire .[ 8]
5 May – Manchester City F.C. win the FA Cup with a 3–1 win over Birmingham City at Wembley Stadium . German-born Manchester goalkeeper Bert Trautmann plays through the game despite an injury 15 minutes from time[ 16] [ 17]
7 May – Minister of Health Robin Turton rejects a call for the government to lead an anti-smoking campaign, arguing that no ill-effects have yet been proven.[ 18]
8 May – First performance of John Osborne 's play Look Back in Anger English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre .[ 8] Alan Bates has his first major role as Cliff. The theatre's press release describes the dramatist as among the angry young men of the time.
9 May – The Gower Peninsula of Wales becomes the first area in the British Isles to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty .[ 19]
1 June – Elsie Stephenson becomes founding Director of the Nurse Teaching Unit, University of Edinburgh , the first nurse teaching unit within a British university.
3 June
4 July – The National Library of Scotland 's first purpose-built premises are opened on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh .[ 21]
5 July – Parliament passes the Clean Air Act in response to the Great Smog of 1952.[ 22]
9 July – Mettoy introduce Corgi Toys model cars, manufactured in South Wales .[ 23]
10 July – A private member's bill to abolish the death penalty is vetoed in the House of Lords; however, no capital punishment is carried out in the UK this year.
22 July – The first UK Albums Chart is published, in Record Mirror [ 24] Frank Sinatra 's Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
26 July – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser announces the nationalisation of the Suez Canal triggering the Suez Crisis .[ 25]
27 July – First Berni Inn steakhouse opens in Bristol .[ 26]
31 July – Jim Laker sets a record by taking 19 wickets in a first class cricket match, at Old Trafford in the fourth Test between England and Australia.
9 August–9 September – Art exhibition This Is Tomorrow ICA Independent Group , at the Whitechapel Art Gallery , London. Among the exhibits is Richard Hamilton 's collage Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? pop art .[ 27]
17 August – Scotland Yard are called to Eastbourne to investigate the activities of society doctor John Bodkin Adams . The case is reported around the world and press reports claim up to 400 patients may have been murdered.[ 28]
4 September – Opening of the first Welsh-medium secondary school Ysgol Glan Clwyd in Rhyl .[ 29]
10 September – Guy Mollet visits London and proposes a merger of France and the United Kingdom. However, the idea is rejected by Anthony Eden.[ 30]
12 September – Manchester United become the first English team to compete in the European Cup , a competition for the champions of domestic leagues across Europe , when they play the first leg of the preliminary round in Belgium and beat R.S.C. Anderlecht 2–0.[ 31]
25 September – The TAT-1 transatlantic telephone cable between the UK and North America is inaugurated.[ 8]
26 September – Manchester United qualify for the first round of the European Cup in style with a 10–0 win over R.S.C. Anderlecht at Maine Road in the second leg of the preliminary round.[ 32]
28 September – Anthony Eden considers allowing France to join the Commonwealth of Nations , but this idea is also rejected.[ 30]
11 October – Kite test: a Vickers Valiant jet bomber of No. 49 Squadron RAF piloted by Squadron Leader Ted Flavell drops the UK's first live air-dropped atomic bomb , a Blue Danube , over Maralinga , South Australia, as part of the 'Operation Buffalo' British nuclear tests at Maralinga by a team of Australian, British and Canadian scientists.[ 33]
15 October – The RAF retires its last Lancaster bomber .[ 8]
17 October – The Queen opens the world's first commercial nuclear power station at Calder Hall .[ 34]
24 October – Protocol of Sèvres , a secret agreement between the UK, France and Israel allowing the latter to invade Sinai with the support of the two former governments. Anthony Eden subsequently denies existence of an agreement.[ 35]
5 November
6 November – British and French forces seize control of two major ports in the Suez Canal in Egypt before declaring a ceasefire.[ 36]
9 November – At the Lord Mayor's Show in London, the first AEC Routemaster forms part of the procession, advertised as "London's Bus of the Future".[ 6]
15 November – The Manchester Guardian
21 November – DIDO heavy water enriched uranium nuclear reactor opens at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment , Harwell, Oxfordshire .[ 37]
22 November–8 December – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Melbourne , Australia and wins 6 gold, 7 silver and 11 bronze medals.
29 November – Petrol rationing introduced because of petrol blockades from the Middle East due to the Suez Crisis.[ 38]
10 December – Cyril Norman Hinshelwood wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Nikolay Semyonov "for their researches into the mechanism of chemical reactions".[ 39]
12 December – The Irish Republican Army launches its Border Campaign in Northern Ireland with co-ordinated attacks on official premises.[ 40]
19 December
Six people die and several more are injured in car crashes caused by heavy fog in Northern England.[ 41]
Eastbourne GP Dr John Bodkin Adams is arrested for the murder of patient Edith Alice Morrell.[ 28]
21 December – The Government of Northern Ireland under Basil Brooke uses the Special Powers Act to intern several hundred republican suspects without trial.
23 December – British and French troops withdraw from Suez under United Nations and United States pressure.[ 42]
25 December – PG Tips launches its long-running ITV advertising campaign using a chimpanzees' tea party with voices provided by Peter Sellers .
31 December – The Flanders and Swann revue At the Drop of a Hat
Undated
Publications
Births
2 January – Storm Constantine , science fiction and fantasy author
4 January – Bernard Sumner , guitarist (Joy Division and New Order )
6 January
7 January – Johnny Owen , né Owens, Welsh bantamweight boxer (died 1980)
9 January – Imelda Staunton , English actress[ 49]
14 January – Ronan Bennett , Northern Irish writer
17 January – Paul Young , pop singer and guitarist
21 January – Ian McMillan , poet
29 January – Anton Otulakowski , footballer
31 January – John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), punk rock singer-songwriter (Sex Pistols )
2 February – Philip Franks , actor and director
4 February – Jon Walmsley , television actor and guitarist
8 February – Richard Sharp , banker and Chairman of the BBC
12 February – Joe Dever , fantasy author (died 2016)
13 February – Peter Hook , bass guitar player (Joy Division and New Order )
16 February – Paul Gilroy , academic
19 February – Dave Wakeling , rock singer-songwriter
22 February – Stuart Peach , Air Chief Marshal
24 February – Fiona Graham-Mackay , née Bain, portrait painter
25 February – Davie Cooper , Scottish footballer (died 1995)
28 February – Terry Leahy , businessman
7 March – Andrea Levy , novelist (died 2019)
8 March – Lesley Regan , gynaecologist
11 March – Helen Rollason , television sports presenter (died 1999)
12 March
17 March – Frank McGarvey , footballer (died 2023)
20 March – Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland , politician
23 March
9 April – Nigel Slater , food writer
19 April
25 April – Greg Richards , decathlete
26 April – Koo Stark , actress
13 May – Richard Madeley , television presenter
14 May – Hazel Blears , politician
15 May – Kjartan Poskitt , author
18 May – John Godber , dramatist
24 May – Joe Casely-Hayford , fashion designer (died 2019)
26 May
6 June – Christopher Adamson , film actor
20 June – Simon Bryant , air marshal
5 July – Terry Chimes , rock drummer (The Clash )
14 July – Cornelia Parker , visual artist
15 July – Ian Curtis , post-punk singer-songwriter (Joy Division ) (died 1980)
16 July – Anthony Julius , solicitor advocate
19 July – Nikki Sudden , guitarist and singer-songwriter (Swell Maps ) (died 2006)
25 July – Andy Goldsworthy , sculptor and photographer
28 July – Robert Swan , polar explorer
29 July – Viv Anderson , footballer
8 August – Chris Foreman , rock guitarist
14 August – Jonathan Powell , civil servant and diplomat
17 August – Dave Jones , footballer and manager
21 August – Kim Cattrall , screen actress
2 September – Angelo Fusco , Provisional IRA member
7 September – Robert Reed, Baron Reed of Allermuir , Scottish judge, President of the Supreme Court of the UK
14 September – Ray Wilkins , footballer and coach (died 2018)
15 September – Ross J. Anderson , computer security expert (died 2024)
18 September – Tim McInnerny , actor
20 September – John Harle , saxophonist
29 September – Sebastian Coe , athlete, co-ordinator of London 2012 Olympic Games
1 October – Theresa May , Prime Minister, Conservative Party leader, MP for Maidenhead
10 October – David Hempleman-Adams , adventurer
20 October – Danny Boyle , film director
27 October – Hazell Dean , singer
30 October – Juliet Stevenson , actress
November – Teresa Borsuk , architect
5 November – Rob Fisher , keyboardist and songwriter (Climie Fisher ) (died 1999)
8 November – Richard Curtis , screenwriter
23 November – Jimmy Hibbert , comedian and scriptwriter
26 November – John McCarthy , journalist and hostage
28 November – Lucy Gutteridge , film actress
7 December – Anna Soubry , politician
19 December – Jimmy Cauty , electronic musician (The KLF ), graphic and performance artist
23 December
28 December – Nigel Kennedy , violinist
29 December – Fred MacAulay , Scottish comedian
Deaths
4 January – R. Williams Parry , Welsh poet (born 1884)
13 January – Wickham Steed , journalist, editor and historian (born 1871)
14 January – Sheila Kaye-Smith , novelist (born 1887)
31 January – A. A. Milne , author (born 1882)
10 February – Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard , marshal of the Royal Air Force (born 1873)
25 March – Robert Newton , film actor (born 1905)
30 March – Edmund Clerihew Bentley , writer (born 1875)
24 April – Henry Stephenson , character actor (born 1871)
29 April – Harold Bride , Titanic survivor (born 1890)
2 May – Violet Gibson , Irish-born attempted assassin (born 1876)
3 May
17 May – Austin Osman Spare , magician (born 1886)
18 May – Maurice Tate , cricketer (born 1895)
20 May – Max Beerbohm , theatre critic (born 1872)
24 May – Martha Annie Whiteley , chemist and mathematician (born 1866)
6 June – Margaret Wycherly , actress (born 1881)
11 June – Frank Brangwyn , artist (born 1867)
22 June – Walter de la Mare , poet and fiction writer (born 1873)
28 June – Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster , civil servant (born 1869)
11 July – Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington , socialite, author, poet and literary editor (born 1889)
5 August – J. M. Andrews , second Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (born 1871)
19 August – Bernard Griffin , Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church; Archbishop of Westminster from 1943 until his death (born 1873)
6 September – Michael Ventris , co-decipherer of Linear B (car accident) (born 1922)
7 September – C. B. Fry , cricketer (born 1872)
21 September – Jack de Leon , Panamanian-born theatre manager, impresario and playwright (heart attack) (born 1902)[ 51]
22 September – Frederick Soddy , chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1877)
16 October – Jack Southworth , footballer (born 1866)
17 October – Anne Crawford , film actress (leukemia) (born 1920)
22 October – Hannah Mitchell , socialist and suffragette (born 1872)
19 November – Francis L. Sullivan , actor (born 1903)
24 November – Sir Lionel Whitby , haematologist, clinical pathologist, pharmacologist and army officer (born 1895)
6 December – Helen Duncan , Scottish medium (born 1897)
9 December – Charles Joughin , Titanic survivor (born 1878)
13 December
16 December – Nina Hamnett , artist (born 1890)
See also
References
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"The posthumous life of Karl Marx, Highgate Cemetery" . The London Dead . Retrieved 14 July 2015 . ^ Philip, Robert (5 April 2002). "Grand National: Devon Loch's place in history" . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 30 June 2010 . ^ "Manchester United Clinches First Division Soccer Title" . Saskatoon Star-Phoenix . Retrieved 13 October 2012 .^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History . London: Century Ltd. pp. 410–411. ISBN 978-0-7126-5616-0 ^ "Mystery of missing frogman deepens" . On This Day . BBC. 9 May 1956. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .^ "Eden Loses Ground" . Owosso Argus-Press . Michigan. 27 April 1956. p. 4. Retrieved 5 February 2016 .^ "1956" . The FA Cup . Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2016 .^ "Bert Trautmann" . football-england.com . 4 January 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012 .^ "Minister rejects anti-smoking lobby" . On This Day . BBC. 7 May 1956. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .^ "Gower national park status call" . BBC News . 9 May 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2010 .^ "Commonwealth heads honoured" . On This Day . BBC. 3 July 1956. Retrieved 31 January 2010 .^ "Bute Collection for Scotland: Library Opening by The Queen". The Times ^ Weinreb, Ben; Christopher Hibbert (1995). The London Encyclopaedia . London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-57688-5 ^ "Corgi History" . Retrieved 17 August 2010 .^ Warwick, Neil; Kutner, Jon; Brown, Tony (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums (3rd ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84449-058-5 ^ "Egypt seizes Suez Canal" . On This Day . BBC. 26 July 1956. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .^ "Brothers Frank and Aldo Berni revolutionised how we ate out with their 'Temperance Bars' . Western Daily Press the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2015 .^ Livingstone, Marco (1990). Pop Art: a Continuing History . New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ^ a b Cullen, Pamela V. (2006). A Stranger in Blood: the Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams . London: Elliott & Thompson. ISBN 978-1-904027-19-5 ^ "Teaching through Welsh". Western Mail ^ a b "France and UK considered 1950s 'merger' . The Guardian . London. 16 January 2007. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .^ "Manchester United vs Anderlecht – 12 Sep 1956" . Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012 .^ Marshall, Adam (26 September 2011). "Reds' record win" . Manchester United. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2016 . ^ "British Nuclear Testing" . Nuclear Weapons Archive. Retrieved 30 April 2010 .^ "Sellafield Sites, Site history" . Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2007 .^ Black, Ian (11 July 2006). "Secrets and lies at the heart of Britain's Middle Eastern folly" . The Guardian . London. 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Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2024 .^ "Tesco Plc: Overview" . Archived from the original on 30 July 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2007 .^ "Tesco: Our History" . tescocorporate.com . Tesco plc. Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2007 .^ Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-854099-1 ^ Evans, Roger (2006). Blame it on the vicar . Halsgrove. p. 31. ISBN 9781841145686 ^ Jeffreys, Kevin (March 2006). "Tony Crosland, The Future of Socialism and New Labour" . History Review : 37–38. Retrieved 17 July 2009 . [dead link ] ^ "Imelda Staunton" . BFI . Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2022 .^ Dyer, Clare (3 May 2021). "She can give people straight answers, often ones they don't want to hear, in such a way that they take it from her" . guardian.co.uk . Retrieved 24 September 2012 . ^ Taylor, C. M. P. "Leon, Jack de". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/74652 . (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)