8 January –
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson endorses the '
I'm Backing Britain' campaign, encouraging workers to work extra time without pay or take other actions to help competitiveness, which is spreading across the United Kingdom.[3]
11 January–4 February –
Hull triple trawler tragedy: three
fishing trawlers from the port of
Hull sink in separate incidents, killing 58 crew with just one survivor and leading to major changes to safety practice in the industry.[4]
16 January – Prime Minister Wilson announces that the
Civil Defence Corps is being stood down.[5]
February
4 February – 96 Indians and Pakistanis arrive in the United Kingdom from
Kenya. Some 1,500
Asians have now arrived in the UK from Kenya, where they have been forced out by increasingly draconian immigration laws.[6]
Northampton, the county town of
Northamptonshire, is designated as a
new town, with the Labour Government hoping to double its size and population by 1980.[7]
12 March – The island of
Mauritius achieves independence from the UK.[14]
14 March – In the early hours, the Prime Minister convenes a meeting of the
privy council to declare the following day a non-statutory
bank holiday, allowing the government to suspend the
London Gold Pool to stem the losses being suffered by the pound sterling.
George Brown, the
Foreign Secretary, apparently drunk, cannot be located in time for the meeting.
15 March – George Brown resigns from the government.[15]
17 March – A demonstration in
London's
Grosvenor Square against U.S. involvement in the
Vietnam War leads to violence – 91 police injured, 200 demonstrators arrested.
7 April – Motor racing world champion
Jim Clark, 32, is killed when his car leaves the track at 170 mph and smashes into a tree during a
Formula 2 race at
Hockenheim.[16]
21 April –
Enoch Powell is dismissed from the
Shadow cabinet by Opposition leader
Edward Heath due to the Rivers of Blood Speech, despite several opinion polls stating that the majority of the public shares Mr Powell's fears.[20]
3 May – Mr. Frederick West (aged 45) becomes the United Kingdom's first
heart transplant patient, in London.[21]
8 May – The
Kray Twins, 34-year-old Ronnie and Reggie, are among 18 men arrested in dawn raids across London. They stand accused of a series of crimes including
murder,
fraud,
blackmail and
assault. Their 41-year-old brother
Charlie Kray is one of the other 16 men under arrest.[22]
7 June – Start of
Ford sewing machinists strike at the
Dagenham assembly plant: women workers strike to have their work valued as 'skilled' (Grade C) rather than 'unskilled' (Grade B). The machinists feel that they are skilled as they have had to pass a test to gain employment making car seats. They do not achieve full wage parity but are given 92% of the men's rate rather than 85%.[27][28] This influences the
Equal Pay Act 1970.
18 June – Frederick West, the United Kingdom's first heart transplant patient, dies 46 days after his operation.
20 June –
Austin Currie, Member of Parliament at
Stormont in
Northern Ireland, along with others, squats a house in Caledon to protest against discrimination in housing allocations.
29 June – The
Keighley & Worth Valley Railway runs its "Re-Opening Special", the first public service since the line's closure in 1961 on what becomes a popular heritage railway
26 July –
Theft Act 1968 (coming into effect 1 January 1969 in England and Wales) passed, simplifying offences relating to
property crime and abolishing the offence of
larceny.[31]
The new school year in England sees the first local authorities adopt three tier education, where 5–7 infant, 7–11 junior schools are replaced by 5–8 or 5–9 first schools and 8–12 or 9–13 middle schools, with the transfer age to grammar and secondary modern schools being increased to 12 or 13.[33]
A woman from
Birmingham gives birth to the first recorded instance of live
sextuplets in the UK; 5 survive.[38]
The Sound of Music soundtrack album exceeds 2 million sales in the UK, meaning that one in four homes with a record player has the recording.[8]
5 October – A civil rights march in
Derry, Northern Ireland, which includes several Stormont and British MPs, is batoned off the streets by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary.[39]
26 November – The
Race Relations Act is passed, making it illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services to people in the United Kingdom because of their ethnic background.[47]
29 November – Dawley New Town (Designation) Amendment (Telford) Order extends the boundaries of Dawley
New Town in
Shropshire and renames it
Telford.
30 November – The
Trade Descriptions Act comes into force, preventing shops and traders from describing goods in a misleading way.[48]
Late December – Cases of
Hong Kong flu, sporadic since summer in the UK, begin to rise. Over the coming year the pandemic will kill approximately 80,000.[50][51][52]
^Hewish, A.; Bell, S. J.; Pilkington, J. D. H.; Scott, P. F.; Collins, R. A. (24 February 1968). "Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source". Nature. 217 (5130): 709–713.
doi:
10.1038/217709a0.
S2CID4277613.
^Vocal Selections: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. 1994.
ISBN978-0-7935-3427-2.
^"About The Show". The Really Useful Group. Archived from
the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
8 January –
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson endorses the '
I'm Backing Britain' campaign, encouraging workers to work extra time without pay or take other actions to help competitiveness, which is spreading across the United Kingdom.[3]
11 January–4 February –
Hull triple trawler tragedy: three
fishing trawlers from the port of
Hull sink in separate incidents, killing 58 crew with just one survivor and leading to major changes to safety practice in the industry.[4]
16 January – Prime Minister Wilson announces that the
Civil Defence Corps is being stood down.[5]
February
4 February – 96 Indians and Pakistanis arrive in the United Kingdom from
Kenya. Some 1,500
Asians have now arrived in the UK from Kenya, where they have been forced out by increasingly draconian immigration laws.[6]
Northampton, the county town of
Northamptonshire, is designated as a
new town, with the Labour Government hoping to double its size and population by 1980.[7]
12 March – The island of
Mauritius achieves independence from the UK.[14]
14 March – In the early hours, the Prime Minister convenes a meeting of the
privy council to declare the following day a non-statutory
bank holiday, allowing the government to suspend the
London Gold Pool to stem the losses being suffered by the pound sterling.
George Brown, the
Foreign Secretary, apparently drunk, cannot be located in time for the meeting.
15 March – George Brown resigns from the government.[15]
17 March – A demonstration in
London's
Grosvenor Square against U.S. involvement in the
Vietnam War leads to violence – 91 police injured, 200 demonstrators arrested.
7 April – Motor racing world champion
Jim Clark, 32, is killed when his car leaves the track at 170 mph and smashes into a tree during a
Formula 2 race at
Hockenheim.[16]
21 April –
Enoch Powell is dismissed from the
Shadow cabinet by Opposition leader
Edward Heath due to the Rivers of Blood Speech, despite several opinion polls stating that the majority of the public shares Mr Powell's fears.[20]
3 May – Mr. Frederick West (aged 45) becomes the United Kingdom's first
heart transplant patient, in London.[21]
8 May – The
Kray Twins, 34-year-old Ronnie and Reggie, are among 18 men arrested in dawn raids across London. They stand accused of a series of crimes including
murder,
fraud,
blackmail and
assault. Their 41-year-old brother
Charlie Kray is one of the other 16 men under arrest.[22]
7 June – Start of
Ford sewing machinists strike at the
Dagenham assembly plant: women workers strike to have their work valued as 'skilled' (Grade C) rather than 'unskilled' (Grade B). The machinists feel that they are skilled as they have had to pass a test to gain employment making car seats. They do not achieve full wage parity but are given 92% of the men's rate rather than 85%.[27][28] This influences the
Equal Pay Act 1970.
18 June – Frederick West, the United Kingdom's first heart transplant patient, dies 46 days after his operation.
20 June –
Austin Currie, Member of Parliament at
Stormont in
Northern Ireland, along with others, squats a house in Caledon to protest against discrimination in housing allocations.
29 June – The
Keighley & Worth Valley Railway runs its "Re-Opening Special", the first public service since the line's closure in 1961 on what becomes a popular heritage railway
26 July –
Theft Act 1968 (coming into effect 1 January 1969 in England and Wales) passed, simplifying offences relating to
property crime and abolishing the offence of
larceny.[31]
The new school year in England sees the first local authorities adopt three tier education, where 5–7 infant, 7–11 junior schools are replaced by 5–8 or 5–9 first schools and 8–12 or 9–13 middle schools, with the transfer age to grammar and secondary modern schools being increased to 12 or 13.[33]
A woman from
Birmingham gives birth to the first recorded instance of live
sextuplets in the UK; 5 survive.[38]
The Sound of Music soundtrack album exceeds 2 million sales in the UK, meaning that one in four homes with a record player has the recording.[8]
5 October – A civil rights march in
Derry, Northern Ireland, which includes several Stormont and British MPs, is batoned off the streets by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary.[39]
26 November – The
Race Relations Act is passed, making it illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services to people in the United Kingdom because of their ethnic background.[47]
29 November – Dawley New Town (Designation) Amendment (Telford) Order extends the boundaries of Dawley
New Town in
Shropshire and renames it
Telford.
30 November – The
Trade Descriptions Act comes into force, preventing shops and traders from describing goods in a misleading way.[48]
Late December – Cases of
Hong Kong flu, sporadic since summer in the UK, begin to rise. Over the coming year the pandemic will kill approximately 80,000.[50][51][52]
^Hewish, A.; Bell, S. J.; Pilkington, J. D. H.; Scott, P. F.; Collins, R. A. (24 February 1968). "Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source". Nature. 217 (5130): 709–713.
doi:
10.1038/217709a0.
S2CID4277613.
^Vocal Selections: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. 1994.
ISBN978-0-7935-3427-2.
^"About The Show". The Really Useful Group. Archived from
the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.