1946 in The United Kingdom - Events

Events

  • 1 January
    • The first international flight from London Heathrow Airport, to Buenos Aires.
    • Atomic Energy Research Establishment established at Harwell, Oxfordshire.
  • 17 January - The United Nations Security Council holds its first meeting at Church House in London.
  • 14 February - The Bank of England is nationalised.
  • 15 February - American dance craze, the Jitterbug, sweeps Britain.
  • 20 February - Royal Opera House in Covent Garden re-opens after the War.
  • 5 March - Winston Churchill delivers his "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, United States.
  • 9 March - Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England: 33 killed and hundreds injured.
  • 10 March - British troops begin withdrawal from Lebanon.
  • 24 March - BBC Home Service radio broadcasts Alistair Cooke's first American Letter. As Letter from America, this programme will continue until a few weeks before Cooke's death in 2004.
  • 27 April - The first postwar FA Cup final is won by Derby County, who beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 at Wembley Stadium.
  • 4 May - First-class cricket returns, having been suspended during the War.
  • 20 May - The House of Commons votes to nationalise coal mines in the United Kingdom.
  • 23 May - Terence Rattigan's drama The Winslow Boy premieres in London.
  • 31 May - London Heathrow Airport opened fully for civilian use.
  • 1 June - Television licence introduced.
  • 7 June - Television broadcasting by the BBC, suspended during World War II, resumes.
  • 8 June - A victory parade is held in London to celebrate the end of World War II.
  • 27 June - Government imposes bread rationing.
  • July - Homeless families squat in a former Army camp at Scunthorpe.
  • August - Arthur Horner, a member of the Communist Party, becomes General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.
  • 1 August - Finance Act receives Royal Assent, including the establishment of the National Land Fund to secure culturally significant property for the nation as a memorial to the dead of World War II.
  • 6 August
    • Family allowance introduced, a cash benefit paid to mothers.
    • Free milk (â…“ pint daily) provided in UK state schools to all pupils under the age of 18.
  • 9 August - Arts Council incorporated by Royal Charter.
  • 31 August - League football returns, having been suspended during World War II.
  • September–November - Britain Can Make It exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, promoted by the Council of Industrial Design and the Board of Trade to show off good domestic and industrial design.
  • 8 September - Mass squat by homeless families of empty properties in London organised by the Communist Party.
  • 15 September - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command, retires.
  • 16 September - Popular quiz show Have a Go! with Wilfred Pickles first broadcast nationally on BBC Radio.
  • 29 September - BBC Third Programme begins broadcasting.
  • 1 October - English premiere of J. B. Priestley's drama An Inspector Calls at the New Theatre, London, starring Ralph Richardson.
  • 7 October - First episode of the daily radio serial Dick Barton - Special Agent transmitted on the BBC Light Programme.
  • 1 November - First Royal Command Performance at a public cinema, the Empire, Leicester Square: premiere of the Powell and Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death starring David Niven.
  • 10 November - Peter Scott opens the Slimbridge Wetland Reserve in Gloucestershire.
  • 11 November - Stevenage, a village in Hertfordshire, is designated by the Attlee government as Britain's first new town to relieve overcrowding and replace bombed homes in London. The new town is set to have around 60,000 residents once it is completed, and the first homes are expected to be ready by 1952 and the town fully developed by the early 1960s. The town's centerpiece will be a revolutionary pedestrianised central shopping area.
  • 17 November - Eight British Army servicemen are killed in Jerusalem by Jewish terrorists.
  • 22 November - Tony Benn is elected as Treasurer of the Oxford Union.
  • 29 November
    • Premiere of educational documentary film The Instruments of the Orchestra containing Benjamin Britten's composition The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.
    • BBC Television premieres Pinwright's Progress, the world's first regular half-hour situation comedy.
  • 26 December - David Lean's film of Great Expectations released.

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Famous quotes containing the word events:

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