4 January – Guitarist Jimi Hendrix caused complaints of arrogance from television producers after playing an impromptu version of "Sunshine Of Your Love" past his allotted timeslot on the BBC1 programme Happening for Lulu.
10 January – Protesters in Northern Ireland defy police orders to abandon a planned march.[4]
14 January – Sir Matt Busby, hugely successful manager of Manchester United F.C. for the last twenty-four years, announces his retirement as manager. He will become a director at the end of the season, and hand over first-team duties to current first team trainer and former player Wilf McGuinness.[5]
18 January – Pete Best wins his defamation lawsuit against The Beatles. He had originally sought $8,000,000 but is awarded considerably less.
24 January
Violent protests by students about the installation of steel security gates close the London School of Economics, which does not reopen for three weeks.[9]
Launch of the Ford Capri, a four-seater sporting coupe designed to compete with the likes of the MG B and which Ford expects to become a top 10 seller in the United Kingdom.[10]
Representation of the People Act lowers the voting age from 21 to 18[12] with effect from February 1970. It also permits candidates to have a party label included on the ballot paper; removes the right (theoretically restored in 1967) of convicted prisoners to vote in Parliamentary elections; and in local government elections abolishes plural voting by owners of business premises (except in the City of London).[21]
29 May – Carry On Camping is released, becoming the year's most popular film at the UK box office.[26]
June
7 June – Rock supergroup Blind Faith plays its first gig in front of 100,000 people in London's Hyde Park.
14 June – The black horse Burmese, ridden by the Queen, makes her first appearance at Trooping the Colour; the horse will continue in this role until 1986.
21 June
The showing of television documentaryThe Royal Family, attracted more than 30,600,000 viewers, more than half of the entire UK population at the time, an all-time British record for a non-current event programme.[27]
30 June – Two members of the Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (Movement for the Defence of Wales) are killed when a bomb they are planting outside government offices in Abergele in an attempt to disrupt the following day's events explodes prematurely.[28]
25 July – The Family Law Reform Act 1969 receives royal assent and comes partly into effect in England and Wales. It reduces the age of majority from 21 to 18 (with effect from 1 January 1970); allows a bastard child to inherit on the intestacy of a parent; and allows competent 16- and 17-year-olds to consent to medical treatment.[33]
14 August – British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland to restore law and order.[35]
30–31 August – The second Isle of Wight Festival attracts 150,000 pop music fans, paying £10 2s for a 3-day ticket, with the appearance of Bob Dylan a major draw.[36]
September
11 September – The housing charity Shelter releases a report claiming that there are up to 3,000,000 people in need of rehousing due to poor living conditions.[37]
26 September – The Beatles release their Abbey Road album which is an enormous commercial success and, although receiving mixed reviews at this time, comes to be viewed by many as the group's best.
28 September – The National Trust acquires ownership of the island of Lundy.
10 October – The Government accepts the recommendations of Lord Hunt's report on policing in Northern Ireland, including the abolition of the Ulster Special Constabulary.[39]
The new seven-sided fifty pence coin is introduced as replacement for the ten-shilling note, to a mixed reception from the British public, with many people complaining that it is easily confused with the 10p coin.[40]
With a general election due within the next eighteen months, opinion polls show the Conservatives comfortably ahead of Labour, by up to 24 points.[41]
25 November – John Lennon returns his MBE to protest against the British Government's involvement in Biafra and support of the U.S. war in Vietnam.[12]
Completion of the Castle Vale estate in Birmingham, the largest postwar housing estate in the United Kingdom. The new estate predominantly consists of council housing, including 34 tower blocks – the largest number on any single British housing estate. The first residents moved onto Castle Vale in 1964 when the first houses and flats were completed.[48]