24 February – A big freeze across Britain results in more than 70 roads being blocked with snow and in some parts of the country, rail services are cancelled for several days. The
Royal Air Force works to deliver food and medical supplies to the worst affected areas.[7]
25 February – Aircraft carrier
HMS Ark Royal (launched
1950) commissioned, the first constructed with an angled flight deck and steam catapults from new.[8]
EOKA starts a terrorist campaign against British rule in the
Crown colony of
Cyprus, leading to a state of emergency being declared by the Governor on 26 November.
2 April –
Duncan Edwards, the 18-year-old
Manchester United left-half, becomes the youngest full
England international in a 7–2 win over
Scotland at Wembley.
Dudley-born Edwards is already being tipped by many observers to become the next England captain upon the eventual retirement of
Billy Wright.[10]
6 April –
Foreign SecretaryAnthony Eden is named as the new Prime Minister. Eden, 58, has held government and shadow cabinet ministerial roles for the last 20 years and was first tipped for the role of Prime Minister as long ago as
Stanley Baldwin's resignation.[12] Eden's previous office of
Deputy Prime Minister is not refilled.
27 May – Anthony Eden wins the
General Election for the Conservative Party with a majority of 31 seats,[20] an improvement on the 17-seat majority gained by his predecessor Sir Winston Churchill four years ago.[21] Between them, the Conservative and Labour parties take 96.1% of the popular vote. Notable newcomers to the Conservative benches in the House of Commons include
William Whitelaw and
Geoffrey Rippon.
13 July –
Ruth Ellis becomes the last woman to be hanged in the UK, at
HM Prison Holloway, for shooting dead a lover, David Blakely, outside a pub in
Hampstead (north London) on 10 April (Easter Sunday).[26]
19 November –
C. Northcote Parkinson first articulates "
Parkinson's Law", the semi-serious adage Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.[38]
20 November –
Milton rail crash: an excursion train takes a
crossover too fast and derails at Milton, near
Didcot: 11 killed, 157 injured.
14 December –
Hugh Gaitskell becomes leader of the Labour Party. The 49-year-old MP was previously the treasurer of the party and served as chancellor during the final year of the previous Labour government.[42]
^This total was reported for the Meteorological Day from 0900–0900 GMT. Other 24 hour periods have exceeded this value (November 2009 and December 2015), but not during the meteorological day.
^Gloag, Kenneth (2013). "Tippett's operatic world: from The Midsummer Marriage to New Year". In Gloag, Kenneth; Jones, Nicholas (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett. Cambridge University Press. pp. 230–31.
ISBN978-1-107-60613-5.
^
abcPenguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006.
ISBN0-14-102715-0.
^Hannah, Leslie (1982). Engineers, Managers and Politicians: The First Fifteen Years of Nationalised Electricity Supply in Britain. London: Macmillan.
ISBN978-0-333-22087-0.
^Contrary to his later recollection of the event. Burnett, Archie, ed. (2012). The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin. London: Faber. p. 411.
ISBN978-0-571-24006-7.
^Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble. p. 89.
ISBN978-0-7607-0592-6.
^Craig, Dennis (1964). Breeding Racehorses from Cluster Mares. London: J.A. Allen.
24 February – A big freeze across Britain results in more than 70 roads being blocked with snow and in some parts of the country, rail services are cancelled for several days. The
Royal Air Force works to deliver food and medical supplies to the worst affected areas.[7]
25 February – Aircraft carrier
HMS Ark Royal (launched
1950) commissioned, the first constructed with an angled flight deck and steam catapults from new.[8]
EOKA starts a terrorist campaign against British rule in the
Crown colony of
Cyprus, leading to a state of emergency being declared by the Governor on 26 November.
2 April –
Duncan Edwards, the 18-year-old
Manchester United left-half, becomes the youngest full
England international in a 7–2 win over
Scotland at Wembley.
Dudley-born Edwards is already being tipped by many observers to become the next England captain upon the eventual retirement of
Billy Wright.[10]
6 April –
Foreign SecretaryAnthony Eden is named as the new Prime Minister. Eden, 58, has held government and shadow cabinet ministerial roles for the last 20 years and was first tipped for the role of Prime Minister as long ago as
Stanley Baldwin's resignation.[12] Eden's previous office of
Deputy Prime Minister is not refilled.
27 May – Anthony Eden wins the
General Election for the Conservative Party with a majority of 31 seats,[20] an improvement on the 17-seat majority gained by his predecessor Sir Winston Churchill four years ago.[21] Between them, the Conservative and Labour parties take 96.1% of the popular vote. Notable newcomers to the Conservative benches in the House of Commons include
William Whitelaw and
Geoffrey Rippon.
13 July –
Ruth Ellis becomes the last woman to be hanged in the UK, at
HM Prison Holloway, for shooting dead a lover, David Blakely, outside a pub in
Hampstead (north London) on 10 April (Easter Sunday).[26]
19 November –
C. Northcote Parkinson first articulates "
Parkinson's Law", the semi-serious adage Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.[38]
20 November –
Milton rail crash: an excursion train takes a
crossover too fast and derails at Milton, near
Didcot: 11 killed, 157 injured.
14 December –
Hugh Gaitskell becomes leader of the Labour Party. The 49-year-old MP was previously the treasurer of the party and served as chancellor during the final year of the previous Labour government.[42]
^This total was reported for the Meteorological Day from 0900–0900 GMT. Other 24 hour periods have exceeded this value (November 2009 and December 2015), but not during the meteorological day.
^Gloag, Kenneth (2013). "Tippett's operatic world: from The Midsummer Marriage to New Year". In Gloag, Kenneth; Jones, Nicholas (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Michael Tippett. Cambridge University Press. pp. 230–31.
ISBN978-1-107-60613-5.
^
abcPenguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006.
ISBN0-14-102715-0.
^Hannah, Leslie (1982). Engineers, Managers and Politicians: The First Fifteen Years of Nationalised Electricity Supply in Britain. London: Macmillan.
ISBN978-0-333-22087-0.
^Contrary to his later recollection of the event. Burnett, Archie, ed. (2012). The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin. London: Faber. p. 411.
ISBN978-0-571-24006-7.
^Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble. p. 89.
ISBN978-0-7607-0592-6.
^Craig, Dennis (1964). Breeding Racehorses from Cluster Mares. London: J.A. Allen.