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1961 - 19701961 January 1: Farthing ceases to be legal tender March 8: First US Polaris submarines arrive at Holy Loch March 13: Black & White £5 notes cease to be legal tender March 14: New English Bible (New Testament) published April 12: Yuri Gagarin flight into space and back April 23: Census: Pop. E&W 46M, Scot 5.1M, NI 1.4M May 1: Betting shops legal in Britain October 10: Volcanic eruption on Tristan da Cunha – whole population
evacuated to Britain 1962 May 25: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in
WW2 blitz) June 15: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid
(from Berkeley, Glos) July 10: First live TV between US and Europe (Telstar) October 24: Cuba missile crisis – brink of nuclear war December 22: No frost-free nights in Britain till 5 March 1963 1963 March 27: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe') Aug 1: Minimum prison age raised to 17 Aug 8: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train September 17: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational September 25: Denning Report on Profumo affair November 18: Dartford Tunnel opens November 22: President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas 1964 April 9: First Greater London Council (GLC) election April 21: BBC2 TV starts September 4: Forth road bridge opens 'Beatlemania' begins 1965 February 7: First US raids against N Vietnam April 6: Launch of Early Bird commercial communications satellite Aug 1: TV ban on cigarette advertising in Britain September 21: Oil strike by BP in North Sea October 28: Death penalty abolished in Britain for murder [some say 18 December
1969] November 11: Declaration of UDI in Rhodesia December 22: 70mph speed limit on British roads Common Land Registration Act – people who thought they still held
common rights had to register them 1966 February 3: Soft landing on moon by unmanned Luna 9 March 23: Archbishop of Canterbury meets Pope in Rome May 16: Seamen's strike (ended 1 July) July 30: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time
v West Germany) September 8: First Severn road bridge opens October 21: Aberfan disaster – slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116
children December 1: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain 1967 January 27: Three US astronauts killed in fire during launch pad test March 18: Torrey Canyon oil tanker runs aground off Lands End May 28: Francis Chichester arrives in Plymouth after solo non-stop
circumnavigation (knighted 7 July) July 1: First colour TV in Britain July 13: Public Record Act – records now closed for only 30 years
(but census still closed for 100 years) July 18: Withdrawal from East of Suez by mid-70s announced September 3: Sweden changes rule of road to drive on right September 20: QE2 launched on Clydebank September 27: Queen Mary arrives Southampton at end of last transatlantic
voyage October 5: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts December 3: First human heart transplant (in S Africa) 1968 February 18: British Summer Time introduced April 23: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins May 6: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration May 10: Student riots in Paris July 29: Pope encyclical condemns all artificial forms of birth
control September 15: Severe flooding in England September 16: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain October 5: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland 1969 March 2: Maiden flight of Concorde March 7: Victoria Line tube opens in London April 17: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18 July 1: Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon
Castle July 21: First men land on the moon. The United States launched Apollo 11 towards the moon on July 16. On
July 20, astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and (Buzz) Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. walked on the moon's
surface. As Armstrong took his first step, he radioed a message to the world: "That's
one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." July 31: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender October 14: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998) 1970 March 16: Publication of complete New English Bible June 17: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain July 30: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
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