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Events from the year 1958 in the United Kingdom.
[edit] Incumbents
[edit] Events
- February 6 - The Manchester United team plane flying back from a European Cup tie in Belgrade crashes on take-off after refuelling at Munich Airport in West Germany. 21 people are killed, seven of them United players. 10 other players are injured, two of them seriously. Manager Matt Busby is reported to be in a serious condition with multiple injuries. [1]
- February 20 - The government announces plans to close the 300-year-old docklands at the Isle of Sheppey, which would result in more than 2,500 workers losing their jobs. [1]
- February 21 - Duncan Edwards, 21, becomes the eighth Manchester United player to die as a result of the Munich Air Disaster.
- February 25 - Bertrand Russell launches the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
- March 2 - A British team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs completes the first crossing of the Antarctic in Snow-cat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams in 99 days. [1]
- 21 March - Opening of the London Planetarium, the first planetarium in Britain. [1]
- April 4-April 7 - The first protest march for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from Hyde Park, London to Aldermarston, Berkshire. Demonstrators demand ban of nuclear weapons
- 29 April - The musical My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, opens in London's Drury Lane theatre.
- May 21 - United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area. [2]
- 7 June - Ian Donald publishes an article in The Lancet which describes the diagnostic use of ultrasound.[3]
- 9 June - The Queen officially re-opens Gatwick Airport, which has been expanded at a cost of more than £7million.
- July 10 - First parking meters installed in Britain
- July 17 - British paratroopers arrive in Jordan; king Hussein has asked help against pressure from Iraq
- 18–26 July - 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Cardiff.
- July 24 - The first life peerage is created in Britain
- July 26 - The Queen gives her son Charles the title of Prince of Wales.
- August 30–September 1 - Riots between blacks and whites in Notting Hill, London
- October 4 - BOAC uses new Comet jets to become the first airline to fly jet passenger services across the Atlantic.
- December 5 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost. [4]
- December 5 - The Preston bypass, the United Kingdom's first motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. A new motorway linking London with Central England is set to be opened next year, and the government has plans for more motorways to be completed during the 1960s.
[edit] Unknown dates
[edit] Births
[edit] January - March
- January 24 - Jools Holland, British musician
- 27 January - Alan Milburn, British Labour politician and MP for Darlington
- 29 January - Linda Smith, comedian (died 2006)
- 1 February - Eleanor Laing, British Conservative politician, MP for Epping Forest, and Shadow Minister for Women
- 7 February - Matt Ridley, English science writer
- February 11 - Michael Jackson, British broadcast executive
- 12 February - Steve Grand, English computer scientist
- 20 February - James Wilby, British actor
- March 1 - Nik Kershaw, English singer
- March 3 - Miranda Richardson, English actress
- March 5 - Andy Gibb, English-born singer (d. 1988)
- March 8 - Gary Numan, British singer
- 13 March - Caryl Phillips, British writer
- 16 March - Chris Mole, British Labour politician and MP for Ipswich
- March 18 - Neil Brand, British writer and composer
- March 21 - Gary Oldman, English actor
[edit] April - June
- 6 April - Graeme Base, Australian children's illustrator and author
- 6 April - Jackie Gallagher, English footballer
- 12 April - Will Sergeant, English guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
- 15 April - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and musician
- 15 April - Abu Hamza al-Masri, Muslim cleric convicted of inciting racial hatred and murder
- 15 April - Sir Robert Smith, 3rd Baronet, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
- 24 April - Brian Paddick, British police commander
- 25 April - Fish, Scottish singer
- 3 May - Sandi Toksvig, Danish-born comedian, author, and radio presenter
- 4 May - Caroline Spelman, British Conservative politician, MP for Meriden, Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs
- 18 May - Toyah Willcox, actress and singer
- 25 May - Paul Weller, English singer-songwriter (The Jam, The Style Council)
- 7 June - Ivan Henderson, British Labour politician and MP for Harwich
- 23 June - John Henry Hayes, British Conservative politician, MP for South Holland and The Deepings, and Chairman of the Cornerstone Group
[edit] July - September
- 6 July - Jennifer Saunders, British comedienne
- 30 July - Kate Bush, British singer and songwriter
- 7 August - Bruce Dickinson, English musician
- 10 August - Rosie Winterton, British Labour politician, MP for Doncaster Central, and member of the Privy Council
- 13 August - Feargal Sharkey, Northern Irish musician, former lead singer of The Undertones.
- 16 August - Madonna, American-born singer, songwriter, and actress
- 29 August - Lenny Henry, British entertainer
- 18 September - Linda Lusardi, British model, actress, and television presenter
- 21 September - Simon Mayo, British radio presenter
- 23 September - Danielle Dax, British musician
- 27 September - Irvine Welsh, novelist
[edit] October-December
- October - Craig Murray, former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan
- October 14 - Thomas Dolby, English musician
- October 20 - Dave Finlay, Northern Irish professional wrestler
- October 27 - Simon Le Bon, English musician (Duran Duran)
- 26 October - Shaun Woodward, British Labour politician and MP for Bishop Auckland
- November 1 - Mark Austin, English newsreader (ITN)
- 2 November - Mark Phillip Hendrick, British Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Preston
- November 25 - Kim Ashfield, British model
- 2 December - Andrew George, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for St Ives
- December 6 - Nick Park, English filmmaker and animator
[edit] Unknown date
[edit] Deaths
-
- February 13 - Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1880)
- March 26 - Phil Mead, English cricketer (b. 1887)
- April 16 - Rosalind Franklin, British crystallographer (b. 1920)
- April 19 - Billy Meredith, Welsh footballer (b. 1874)
- May 3 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
- May 19 - Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
- June 9 - Robert Donat, English film and stage actor (b. 1905)
- June 13 - Edwin Keppel Bennett, British writer (b. 1887)
- June 28 - Alfred Noyes, English poet (b. 1880)
- July 20 - Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, political campaigner and businesswoman (b. 1883)
- August 26 - Ralph Vaughan Williams, British composer (b. 1872)
- September 25 - Henry Arthur Evans, Welsh Conservative politician (b. 1898)
- October 17 - Charlie Townsend, English cricketer (b. 1876)
- October 24 - G. E. Moore, British philosopher, author of Principia Ethica (b. 1873)
- November 24 - Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, English politician and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1864)
- December 2 - Alan McKibbin, Northern Irish politician (b. 1892)
[edit] References