1949 in the United Kingdom
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| 1949 in British music |
Events from the year 1949 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch - George VI of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Clement Attlee, Labour
[edit] Events
- January - a national sex survey is carried out into the sexual behaviour of 4,000 Brits. [1] The results were considered outrageous and suppressed for over 50 years. [2]
- 4 January - RMS Caronia of the Cunard Line departs Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage.
- 1 February - Rationing of clothes ends.
- 25 March - Laurence Olivier's film Hamlet becomes the first British film to win an Oscar. [3]
- 20 April - Royal Navy frigate HMS Amethyst goes up the Yangtze River to evacuate British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of the Mao's communist forces. Under heavy fire it runs aground off Rose Island. After an aborted rescue attempt at April 26 it anchors 10 miles upstream. Negotiations with the communist forces to let the ship leave drag on for weeks.
- May - EDSAC, the first stored-program computer, begins operation at University of Cambridge.
- 8 June - George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.
- 29 June - Dock strike.
- 31 July - Captain Kerans of the HMS Amethyst decides to make a break after nightfall under heavy fire from the Chinese People's Liberation Army both sides of the Yangtze River and successfully rejoins the fleet at Woosung the next day.
- 19 September - the pound devalued by 30% against the United States dollar. [1]
[edit] Unknown dates
- Manchester Mark I computer built at University of Manchester.
- John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr wins the Nobel Peace Prize. [4]
[edit] Births
- 19 January - Robert Palmer, singer (d. 2003)
- January 29 - Andrew Carter, middle distance runner
- 16 February - Lyn Paul, singer
- 2 March - J. P. R. Williams, rugby player
- 6 March - Martin Buchan, footballer
- 3 April - Richard Thompson, musician and songwriter
- 13 May - Zoë Wanamaker, actress
- 18 May - Rick Wakeman, musician and songwriter (Yes)
- 2 June - Heather Couper, astronomer
- 14 June - Jimmy Lea, musician (Slade)
- 21 June - John Agard, writer
- 15 July - Trevor Horn, singer and producer
- 26 July - Roger Taylor, musician (Queen)
- 6 August - Alan Campbell, clergyman
- 12 August - Mark Knopfler, guitarist {Dire Straits)
- 15 August - Richard Deacon, sculptor
- 25 August - Martin Amis, novelist
- 18 September - Mo Mowlam, politician (d. 2005)
- 19 September - Twiggy, model
- 14 October - Katy Manning, actress
- 24 November - Nicholas Richard Ainger, politician
- 12 December - Bill Nighy, actor
- 13 December - Robert Lindsay, actor
- 17 December - Paul Rodgers, singer (Free)
[edit] Deaths
- 11 February - John Buchan, Scottish novelist (b. 1875)
- 18 April - Will Hay, comedian and actor (b. 1888)
- 30 August - Arthur Fielder, cricketer (b. 1877)
- 26 September - W. H. Davies, poet and author (b. 1871)
- 9 October - Sir Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador (b. 1865)
- 24 October - Thomas Rowland Hughes, writer (b. 1903)
- 16 December - George Maitland Lloyd Davies, pacifist politician (b. 1880)
[edit] References
- ^ a b The Lost Decade Timeline, BBC
- ^ "Britain's secret sex survey", BBC
- ^ (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 1949
