From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 death in December 2012.
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 –
Ade 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" .
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 .