-
Battle of Britain
German attacked Britain after taking out France. Many were killed due to bombings. -
Berlin Airlift
The Sovirt Union began the blockade of Berlin which divided Germany. -
Labour wins the general election
Labour remained in government but its majority fell greatly, to only five seats, as the electorate's enthusiasm for Labour's post-war vision dwindled away. -
British Troops support US forces
British troops were sent to help the Us-led United Nations force repel the Communist invasion of South Korea by North Korea. The conflict set the pattern for the cold war. -
Festival of Britian is created
The Festival sought to sustain a mood of post-war optimism and confidence - or at least interest - in new solutions. The site chosen for the Festival, on the South Bank of the Thames, London, had been extensively bombed in World War Two. The dominant artistic mood of the Festival was neo-Romantic, apt for the traditionalist 1950s, although the Royal Festival Hall itself was a Modernistic work. -
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister Again
The labour government fell as the conservatives won a clear majority. Remarkably, Winston Churchill became prime minister again at the age of 76. He focused on foregin affairs including escilading Cold War tensions and maintaining the special relationship with America. -
Elizabeth II succeeds her father, George VI
Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya when news of her father's death reached her. She immediately returned to Britain and was crowned on 2 June 1953. Elizabeth II proved an experienced and skilful adviser of successive prime ministers, but was careful to main constitutional conventions and not take a political stand publicly. Nonetheless, she held strong opinions, not least a belief in the Commonwealth. Under Elizabeth, members of the royal family maintained their important charitable role. -
Watson and Crick publish their discovery of the structure of DNA
Scientists James Watson and Francis Crick were the first to describe the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, which makes up the genes that pass hereditary characteristics from parent to child. They received the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, which they shared with another DNA pioneer, Maurice Wilkins. A hugely important discovery, it has since formed the basis for a wide range of scientific advances. -
Winston Churchill retires as prime minister
Winston Churchill was by now 80 and his health was declining. He was succeeded as prime minister by Anthony Eden, who had also served as Churchill's Foreign Secretary and was widely recognised as his 'heir apparent'. -
Conservatives win the general election, with Sir Anthony Eden as prime minister
This Conservative victory, with 345 seats to Labour's 277, strengthened the Conservatives' parliamentary position. -
Commercial television starts with the first ITV broadcast
The monopoly of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was broken when commercial television companies, financed by advertising, began broadcasting under the name of Independent Television (ITV) following the Television Act of 1954. The BBC started broadcasting a second channel, BBC Two, in 1964, and Channel 4 started broadcasting in 1982. -
'Cambridge spies' surface in Moscow after disappearing in 1951
Two British diplomats, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, were among five men recruited by the Soviet secret service, the KGB, at Cambridge University in the 1930s. The others were Harold (Kim) Philby, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross. All had been involved in passing to the Soviets highly damaging military information, and the identities of British agents. Burgess and Maclean, who had fled Britain five years before, suddenly reappeared in the Soviet Union where they denied being spies. -
John Osborne's play 'Look Back in Anger' is staged
The 'Angry Young Men' generation of writers rejected what they saw as Britain's vulgar 'materialist' society, which they believed was disagreeable in itself and frustrating to them as individuals. Social values were lacerated by Osborne's play and in the novels 'Room at the Top' (1957) by John Braine, 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' (1958) by Alan Sillitoe, and 'This Sporting Life' (1960) by David Storey. -
Worsening pollution prompts the passing of the Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act was part of a general move towards a cleaner environment, directed in particular against the burning of coal in urban areas. The Act was in response to the severe London smog of 1952, which killed more than 4,000 people. Another Clean Air Act followed in 1968. -
Britain switches on its first nuclear power station
Calder Hall, Britain's first nuclear power station - and the first in the world to supply substantial quantities of electricity to a national system - was opened by Elizabeth II. -
Britain and France invade Egypt after nationalisation of the Suez Canal
The Suez Crisis was sparked when Britain and France, allied with Israel, invaded Egypt over its decision to nationalise the Suez Canal - a vital waterway connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. Under American pressure, the canal was handed back to Egypt and the invasion force was withdrawn. The crisis revealed Britain's declining world status and its subordination to the US. -
Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns and is replaced by Harold Macmillan
The Suez Crisis of 1956 ruined Anthony Eden's reputation and fatally compromised his political career. His health seriously diminished as a result. His successor, Harold Macmillan, had been chancellor of the exchequer under Eden. Macmillan was the third Conservative prime minister in as many years. -
Ghana becomes the first British colony in Africa to gain independence
The British colony of Gold Coast gained its independence, with Kwame Nkrumah as its first leader, following election victories for Nkrumah's nationalist Convention People's Party (CPP). The country was renamed Ghana in the declaration of independence. This event marked the beginning of rapid decolonisation in Africa. -
Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb
Following tests over Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean, the government announced that Britain had joined the Soviet Union and the US as a nuclear power, with its own hydrogen bomb. The tests led to a debate in Britain about the dangers of nuclear weapons, and to the foundation in 1958 of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). -
Motorway system opens with the M6 Preston bypass
The opening of the M6 Preston bypass by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was the first stage in the motorway system. The following year, the M1 was punched through the Midlands from Watford to Birmingham. The developing motorway system encouraged a major rise in long-distance private and goods travel by road. -
Conservatives under Harold Macmillan win the general election
In a massive personal triumph for Harold Macmillan, the Conservatives won by 365 seats (and 49.3% of the vote) to 258 for Labour. The Conservative campaign slogan 'you've never had it so good' reflected the growing affluence of the electorate. -
Olympic games in Rome
The olympic games are held in Rome, The onlympics and Rome were shown in the United States -
British Rule of Cyprus end
Cyprus gains independence -
Norway 1971
Norway decided to start the oil production in1971. It influenced Europe by ecploiting oil to be transfered -
Submariens enter Sweeden waters
They were fighting in WWII and then Soviet Union entered the Sweeden waters -
Pamen Flight 103
Killing and injuring a lot of people and the incedent happened in Scottland and it changes European lives.
