1965 In The United Kingdom

Events from the year 1965 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

* Monarch – Elizabeth II
* Prime Minister – Harold Wilson (Labour)
* Parliament – 43rd

Events

*1 January – introduction of the new "Worboys Committee" road signs.
*7 January – identical twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray, 31, are arrested on suspicion of running a protection racket in London.
*14 January – the Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
*15 January – Sir Winston Churchill is reported to be seriously ill after suffering a stroke.
*24 January – Sir Winston Churchill dies aged ninety at Chartwell, his Kent home of more than forty years.
*30 January – thousands attend Winston Churchill's state funeral in London. During the three days of lying-in-state, 321,000 people have filed past the catafalque in Westminster Hall, and the funeral procession travels from here to the service at St Paul's Cathedral, attended by HM the Queen, Prime Minister Harold Wilson and representatives of 112 countries. He is buried privately at Bladon near his family's ancestral home in Oxfordshire.
*31 January – National Health Service prescription charges end.
*1 February – the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive in Ethiopia on a state visit.
*4 February – Confederation of British Industry founded.
*6 February – Sir Stanley Matthews plays his final First Division game, at the record age of 50 years and 5 days.
*12 February – Civil rights leader Malcolm X visits Smethwick in Birmingham, UK, following the racially charged 1964 general election.
*16 February – the British Railways Board (chairman: Richard Beeching) publishes ''The Development of the Major Trunk Routes'' proposing which lines should receive investment (and, by implication, which should not).
*18 February – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
*3 March – the remains of Roger Casement, from Pentonville Prison, are reburied in Dublin.
*7 March – debut of BBC Radio comedy '' Round the Horne'' hosted by Kenneth Horne. The fourth programme (28 March) introduces the camp pair Julian and Sandy (played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams) who will go on to introduce the gay and theatrical cant Polari to a regular audience which builds to 15 million.
*11 March – Goldie, a London Zoo golden eagle, is recaptured after thirteen days of freedom.
*19 March – a record price of 760,000 guineas is paid at Christie's London auction house for Rembrandt's painting ''Titus''.
*23 March – Dr. Dorothy Hodgkin is appointed a member of the Order of Merit.
*27 March – PizzaExpress opens its first restaurant, in London.
*1 April
** The Greater London Council comes into its powers, replacing the London County Council and greatly expanding the metropolitan area of the city.
** Finance Act introduces corporation tax, replacing income tax for corporate institutions.
*6 April – government publicly announces cancellation of the BAC TSR-2 nuclear bomber aircraft project.
*23 April – the Pennine Way long-distance footpath officially opens.

*26 April – Manchester United win the Football League First Division title.
*1 May – Liverpool win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating Leeds United 2–1 at Wembley Stadium. Roger Hunt and Ian St John score for Liverpool, while Billy Bremner scores the consolation goal for Leeds.
*3 May – Asda is formed and opens its first supermarket in Castleford, Yorkshire.
*7 May – the Rhodesian Front under Prime Minister Ian Smith wins a landslide election victory in Rhodesia from the white minority electorate.
*11 May – the National Trust officially launches its long-term ''Enterprise Neptune'' project to acquire or put under covenant a substantial part of the Welsh, English and Northern Irish coastline. Whiteford Burrows on the Gower Peninsula is considered the first property to be acquired under the campaign although its purchase was announced on 1 January.
*13 May – the Conservatives make big gains at the UK local government elections.
*17 May – an underground explosion at Cambrian Colliery in Clydach Vale kills 31.
*18 May – the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh begin a 10-day state visit to the Federal German Republic.
*19 May – West Ham United F.C. become the second British club to win a European trophy, defeating West German 1860 Munich 2–0 at Wembley Stadium.
*June – Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) first examined as a school-leaving qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
*May – the first UK branch of the KFC fried chicken fast food restaurant chain opens in Preston, Lancashire.
*3 June – the bank rate is reduced to 6 per cent.
*14 June – Paul McCartney records " Yesterday".
*17 June – London premiere of Frank Marcus' farce '' The Killing of Sister George'' (at the Duke of York's Theatre), one of the first mainstream British plays with lesbian characters. Beryl Reid plays the title role. The play previewed in April at the Bristol Old Vic.
*18 June – the government announces plans for the introduction of a blood alcohol limit for drivers in its clampdown on drink driving.
*22 June – the 700th anniversary of Parliament is celebrated.
*6 July – 1965 Little Baldon Hastings accident: a Royal Air Force Handley Page Hastings crashes at Little Baldon, Oxfordshire, just after takeoff from RAF Abingdon on a parachute training exercise, killing all 41 men on board.
*8 July – Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs escapes from Wandsworth Prison.
*12 July – the Secretary of State for Education and Science, Tony Crosland, issues Circular 10/65 requesting local authorities to convert their schools to the Comprehensive system.
*22 July – Sir Alec Douglas-Home suddenly resigns as Leader of the Conservative Party.
*24 July – Freddie Mills, former British boxing champion, is found shot in his car in Soho, dying the next day.
*27 July – Edward Heath becomes Leader of the Conservative Party following its first leadership election by secret ballot.
*29 July – the Beatles film '' Help!'' debuts in London.
*1 August
**Cigarette advertising is banned from British television.
**Radio and television licence fees are increased.
*3 August – "The Queen's Award to Industry" for export and technological advancements is created.
*5 August – Redundancy Payments Act gives statutory rights to redundancy payments.
*6 August
**Elizabeth Lane appointed as the first female High Court judge, assigned to the Family Division.
** Peter Watkins' '' The War Game'', a television docu-drama depicting the aftermath of a nuclear attack on the UK, is pulled from its planned transmission as BBC1's '' The Wednesday Play'' for political reasons. It will go on to win the 1966 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It would eventually be broadcast twenty years later.
*20 August – the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is released in the UK.
*21 August – Charlton Athletic F.C. player Keith Peacock becomes the first substitute to appear in a Football League match (for an injured player).
*2 September – Sir Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the House of Commons, dies in office.
*16 September – UK release of the film ''Darling'' starring Julie Christie.
*21 September – British Petroleum's oil platform ''Sea Gem'' strikes natural gas in the North Sea oil field.
*24 September – the British governor of Aden cancels the Aden constitution and takes direct control of the protectorate, due to the bad security situation.
*30 September – first episode of ATV 'Supermarionation' series '' Thunderbirds'' airs.
*October – Corgi Toys introduce the all-time best-selling model car, James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 from the film '' Goldfinger''.
*7 October – Ian Brady, a 27-year-old stock clerk from Hyde in Cheshire, is charged with the murder of 17-year-old apprentice electrician Edward Evans at a house on the Hattersley overspill housing estate last night.
*8 October – the Post Office Tower opens in London.
*15 October – 150 police officers are drafted in to search Saddleworth Moor for the bodies of up to 11 missing people, mostly children or teenagers, who are believed to be buried there. The suspect in the murders is Ian Brady, charged with the murder of 17-year-old Edward Evans eight days ago. His 23-year-old girlfriend Myra Hindley has also since been charged with the murder, having been arrested on 11 October.
*16 October – police find a girl's body on Saddleworth Moor.
*17 October – the body found on Saddleworth Moor yesterday is identified as that of 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, who disappeared on Boxing Day last year from a fairground in the Ancoats area of Manchester.
*18 October – '' The Magic Roundabout'' premieres on BBC One at 17.50 local time.
*20 October – it is reported in the regional and national media that suspected mass murderer Ian Brady tortured his victims and tape-recorded the attacks on them. Detectives in Brady's native Scotland are also reportedly investigating the disappearance of 12-year-old Moira Anderson in Lanarkshire eight years ago as a possible link to Brady.
*21 October – Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are charged with the murder of Lesley Ann Downey and remanded in custody.
*22 October
** African countries demand that the United Kingdom use force to prevent Rhodesia from declaring unilateral independence.
** Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are charged with the murder of Lesley Ann Downey.
*24 October
** Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Arthur Bottomley travel to Rhodesia for negotiations.
** Police find the decomposed body of a boy buried on Saddleworth Moor. The body is identified as that of 12-year-old John Kilbride, who disappeared from Ashton-under-Lyne in November 1963.
*26 October – Horace King is appointed as the new Speaker of the House of Commons, the first member of the Labour Party to hold that position.
*29 October – Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley appear in court, charged with the murders of Edward Evans (17), Lesley Ann Downey (10), and John Kilbride (12) from Manchester.
*31 October – the police search of Saddleworth Moor concludes after 16 days, although media reports suggests that police suspect that more bodies may be buried on the moors. Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are expected to be tried for three murders next spring.
*1 November – the uncompleted Ferrybridge C electricity generating station in West Yorkshire collapse in high winds.
*5 November – martial law is announced in Rhodesia. The UN General Assembly accepts British intent to use force against Rhodesia if necessary by a vote of 82–9.
*8 November
** The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act suspends capital punishment for murder in England, Scotland and Wales, for five years in the first instance, replacing it with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
** The Race Relations Act makes it a civil offence to discrimate in serving people in "places of public resort" on the grounds of colour, race, ethnicity or nationality and creates the offence of "incitement to racial hatred" (Act does not apply in Northern Ireland).
** A new Rent Act introduces regulated tenancies with fair rents set by independent regional assessors and protection from eviction without a court order.
** The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands (on 23 June 1976 Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches are returned to Seychelles).
*11 November – in Rhodesia, the white minority regime of Ian Smith unilaterally declares independence.
*13 November – the word "fuck" is spoken for the first time on British television by the theatre critic Kenneth Tynan.
*20 November – the UN Security Council recommends that all states stop trading with Rhodesia.
*29 November – Mary Whitehouse founds the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association.
*December
** EMI release Jacqueline du Pré's recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto with John Barbirolli and the London Symphony Orchestra.
** National Coal Board closes the last deep coal mine in the Forest of Dean (Northern United at Cinderford).
*3 December
** The first British aid flight arrives in Lusaka; Zambia had asked for British help against Rhodesia.
** Members of the Organization of African Unity decide to sever diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, unless the British Government ends the rebellion of Rhodesia by mid-December.
*12 December – the Beatles' final live UK tour concludes with two performances at the Capitol, Cardiff.
*15 December – Tanzania and Guinea sever diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom.
*17 December – the UK government begins an oil embargo against Rhodesia; the United States joins the effort.
*22 December
** A 70 mph speed limit is imposed on UK roads.
** A reorganisation of the cabinet sees Roy Jenkins appointed Home Secretary and Barbara Castle as Minister of Transport.
*24 December – a meteorite shower falls on Barwell, Leicestershire.
*27 December – the British oil platform ''Sea Gem'' collapses in the North Sea, killing thirteen of the 32 men aboard it.
*29 December – '' Thunderball'', the fourth James Bond film, is released.
*30 December – President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia announces that Zambia and the United Kingdom have agreed to a deadline before which the Rhodesian white minority-rule government should be ousted.

Undated

*The Council for National Academic Awards begins validation of degree courses outside the university sector.
*First national Building Regulations for England and Wales are made.
* Mary Quant introduces the miniskirt from her shop ''Bazaar'' on the Kings Road in Chelsea, London.
*The motorway network continues to expand with the Preston- Lancaster section of the M6 opening in January, the M4 being expanded from Slough to London in March, a motorway section of the A1 opening in County Durham in May, the M1 being expanded from Rugby to Kegworth (Leicestershire) in November, along with a four-mile stretch of the M5 west of Birmingham, as well as the first phase of motorway in Scotland with the M8 as well as the expansion of the M2 through Kent.
* The Rotunda landmark office building completed in Birmingham city centre.
*German carmaker Audi begins importing cars to Britain, with its F103 range of family saloon cars.
*Toyota, the Japanese industrial giant, begins importing passenger cars to the United Kingdom when its Corona family saloon – similar in size to the Ford Cortina – is launched.
*The first hatchback production car, the French built Renault 16, goes on sale in Britain.
*In fiction – Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright return to the earth after travelling with The Doctor (''Doctor Who'').

Publications

*Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel '' At Bertram's Hotel''.
*Ian Fleming's James Bond novel '' The Man with the Golden Gun''.
* John Fowles's novel '' The Magus''.
* David Lodge's novel '' The British Museum Is Falling Down''.
*W. Keble Martin's flora ''The Concise British Flora in Colour''.

Births

*4 January
**Beth Gibbons, trip hop singer ( Portishead)
**Cait O'Riordan, Nigeria-born British-Irish folk punk bass guitar player and songwriter
**Julia Ormond, actress
**Rob Wilson, politician
*5 January – Vinnie Jones, footballer and actor
*6 January – Laurence Hurst, biologist and academic
*9 January – Joely Richardson, actress
*14 January
** Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef
** Slick Rick, British-American rapper
*15 January
** James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
**Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (died 2017)
*16 January – Rufus Norris, theatre director
*20 January – Sophie, Countess of Wessex, née Rhys-Jones
*21 January – Robert Del Naja, artist and musician
*25 January – Mark Jordon, actor
*27 January – Alan Cumming, Scottish actor
*February – Alison Brittain, née Hopkins, business executive
*2 February – Carl Airey, footballer
*5 February – Martha Fiennes, film director
*9 February – Keith Wickham, voice actor
*15 February – Mickey Lewis, English former footballer and manager (d. 2021)
*26 February – Alison Armitage, English model and actress
*28 February – Norman Smiley, wrestler
*2 March – Martin Gilks, musician and band manager (d. 2006)
*4 March
**Paul W. S. Anderson, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
** Andrew Collins, radio DJ and journalist
** John Murphy film composer
*8 March – Claudia Webbe, Labour politician and MP
*11 March – Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen, television presenter
*14 March – Caroline Foot, butterfly swimmer
*15 March – Michael Watson, boxer
*26 March – Kerry McCarthy, Labour politician and MP for Bristol East
*28 March – Steve Bull, footballer
*29 March – Louise Casey, social welfare administrator
*30 March – Piers Morgan, tabloid journalist
*1 April – Robert Steadman, composer
*4 April – Sean Wilson, actor
*27 April – Anna Chancellor, actress
*1 May – Alice Beer, television presenter
*3 May – Michael Marshall Smith, novelist, screenwriter and short story writer
*10 May – Darren Matthews, professional wrestler
*15 May – Christina Lamb, journalist
*17 May – Jeremy Vine, BBC radio and television presenter
*26 May – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
*31 May – Steve White, drummer (The Style Council)
*1 June – Nigel Short, chess player
*3 June – Jonathan Djanogly, lawyer and politician
*7 June – Damien Hirst, artist
*10 June – Elizabeth Hurley, model and actress
*17 June – David Longdon, multi-instrumentalist and singer (died 2021)
*19 June – Sadie Frost, fashion designer and actress
*22 June – Maurice Core, boxer
*23 June – Paul Arthurs, rock guitarist (Oasis)
*24 June – Richard Lumsden, actor, writer, composer and musician
*25 June – Anne McElvoy, journalist
*26 June – Catherine White, swimmer
*28 June – Saul Davies, musician
*30 June
** Gary Pallister, footballer
** Adam Roberts, science fiction and fantasy novelist
*2 July
** Tim Breacker, English footballer and coach
** James Turner, tennis player
*4 July
** Gérard Watkins, English-French actor, playwright, director, and songwriter
** Jo Whiley, radio DJ
*9 July – David O'Hara, Scottish actor
*10 July
** David Ross, businessman
** Doreen Waddell, singer (died 2002)
*11 July – Tony Cottee, footballer
*15 July – David Miliband, Labour MP
*16 July – Dinah Rose, QC
*17 July – Martin Kelly (Heavenly), musician, music manager, record label boss, music publisher and author
*18 July – Steve Webb, English academic and politician
*31 July – J. K. Rowling, born Joanne Rowling, English author
*1 August – Sam Mendes, English stage and film director
*4 August – Adam Afriyie, Conservative politician and MP for Windsor
*6 August – Mark Speight, television presenter (died 2008)
*15 August – Mark Labbett, mathematician and television personality
*28 August – Paul Brummell, diplomat and Ambassador to Kazakhstan
*2 September – Lennox Lewis, boxer
*29 September – Phylis Smith, athlete and Olympic medallist
*October – Philip Day, fashion retailing billionaire businessman
*4 October – Marcus Bentley, actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist
*11 October – Lennie James, actor, screenwriter, and playwright
*14 October – Steve Coogan, comedian and actor
*15 October – Stephen Tompkinson, actor
*16 October – Steve Lamacq, radio DJ
*22 October – John Wesley Harding (singer), John Wesley Harding, born Wesley Stace, singer-songwriter
*30 October – Gavin Rossdale, English musician
*31 October
** Denis Irwin, footballer
** Rob Rackstraw, voice actor
*4 November – Shaun Williamson, actor
*7 November –Steve Parkin, English former footballer and manager
*10 November
**Sean Hughes (comedian), Sean Hughes, comedian (died 2017)
**Eddie Irvine, Northern Irish racing driver
*12 November – Eddie Mair, BBC radio and television presenter
*14 November – Greg Hands, politician
*16 November
** Mark Benton, actor
** Walter Stern (director), Walter Stern, music video and film director
*21 November
** Magnus Fiennes, composer
** Alexander Siddig, Sudanese-born actor
*28 November – Peter Beagrie, English footballer
*29 November – Lauren Child, children's fiction writer and illustrator
*8 December – Ned Dennehy, actor
*9 December – Paul Jenkins (writer), Paul Jenkins, comic book writer
*12 December – Will Carling, English rugby player
*13 December – Kate Peyton, journalist (murdered 2005)
*25 December – Edward Davey, Liberal Democrat politician, MP for Kingston and Surbiton (UK Parliament constituency), Kingston and Surbiton

Deaths

*4 January – T. S. Eliot, poet, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888 in the United States)
*11 January – A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, politician (born 1885)
*24 January – Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (born 1874)
*28 January – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (born 1888)
*23 February – Stan Laurel, English-born comic film actor (born 1890)
*10 March – Beatrice Harrison, cellist (born 1892)
*28 March
**Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, 6th Princess Royal (born 1897)
**Richard Beesly, British Olympic gold medal rower (born 1907)
*9 April – Sarah Ward (politician), Sarah Ward, politician (born 1895)
*21 April – Sir Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892)
*3 May – Howard Spring, Welsh-born novelist (born 1889)
*21 May – Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, aircraft designer (born 1882)
*5 June – Eleanor Farjeon, children's writer (born 1881)
*8 June – Cecil L'Estrange Malone, British politician, first communist Member of Parliament (born 1890)
*29 June – Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, admiral, recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1883)
*1 July – Wally Hammond, English cricketer (born 1903)
*25 July – Freddie Mills, English boxer (born 1919)
*2 September – Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the House of Commons (born 1905)
*14 September – Jack Hearne (John William Hearne), J. W. Hearne, English cricketer (born 1891)
*20 September – Arthur Holmes, geologist (born 1890)
*25 September – Major-General Sir Henry Hugh Tudor, British soldier (born 1871)
*27 September – Sir William Stanier, railway engineer and steam locomotive designer (LMS Coronation Class) (born 1876)
*22 October – William Williams (VC), William Williams, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1890)
*4 November – Ifor Williams, academic (born 1881)
*8 November – George Hall, 1st Viscount Hall, George Hall, politician (born 1881)
*11 November – James Chuter Ede, Labour politician, Home Secretary (born 1882)
*25 November – Dame Myra Hess, English pianist (born 1890)
*16 December – W. Somerset Maugham, English novelist (born 1874)
*17 December – Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay, army officer (born 1887)
*22 December – Richard Dimbleby, journalist and broadcaster (born 1913)
*24 December – David Margesson, politician (born 1890)
*26 December – Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1878)
*28 December – Jeremy Wolfenden, journalist and spy (born 1934)
*30 December – Lilias Margaret Frances, Countess Bathurst, newspaper proprietor (born 1871)

See also

* 1965 in British music
* 1965 in British television
* List of British films of 1965

References

{{Year in Europe, 1965

1965 in the United Kingdom,
Years of the 20th century in the United Kingdom