Making Of Modern Britain - Timeline

Front 1

Nationalisation of Iron and Steel

Back 1

1951

Front 2

Death of George VI and accession of Elizabeth II

Back 2

1952

Front 3

Failure of Anglo-French invasion of Suez

Back 3

1956

Front 4

Election victory of Conservatives under Eden

Back 4

1955

Front 5

Mass TV audience for coronation of Elizabeth II

Back 5

1953

Front 6

Festival of Britain

Back 6

1951

Front 7

Britain's first atomic bomb test

Back 7

1952

Front 8

Massive financial crisis caused by Suez Crisis

Back 8

1956

Front 9

State of emergency declared in Cyprus

Back 9

1955

Front 10

Steel and transport denationalised

Back 10

1953

Front 11

Anglo-American relations damaged by Burgess and Maclean affair

Back 11

1951

Front 12

Mau Mau rebellion against British rule in Kenya

Back 12

1952

Front 13

Launch of ITV as commercial rival to BBC

Back 13

1955

Front 14

British withdrawal from Egypt

Back 14

1954

Front 15

Conservative election victory and return of Churchill

Back 15

1951

Front 16

British opt-out from plans for the EEC at the Messina Conference

Back 16

1955

Front 17

Anthony Eden replaced as Prime Minister by Harold Macmillan

Back 17

1957

Front 18

Formation of CND

Back 18

1958

Front 19

Macmillan's ruthless cabinet reshuffle, the 'Night of the Long Knives'

Back 19

1962

Front 20

Britain's EEC application blocked by De Gaulle

Back 20

1963

Front 21

Sweeping Conservative election victory

Back 21

1959

Front 22

Britain's application to join the EEC submitted

Back 22

1961

Front 23

Blue Streak missile abandoned in favour of American Polaris

Back 23

1960

Front 24

Independence achieved by Ghana and Malaya

Back 24

1957

Front 25

Serious anti-immigrant rioting in Notting Hill

Back 25

1958

Front 26

Independence granted to Kenya

Back 26

1963

Front 27

Launch of 'That Was the Week That Was' on BBC TV

Back 27

1962

Front 28

The feature film 'Sapphire', dramatises the issue of race relations

Back 28

1959

Front 29

Cold War tensions intensified by building of the Berlin Wall

Back 29

1961

Front 30

Macmillan's 'Wind of Change' speech

Back 30

1960

Front 31

Profumo scandal and resignation of Macmillan

Back 31

1963

Front 32

Independence granted to Cyprus and Nigeria

Back 32

1960

Front 33

Labour election victory

Back 33

1964

Front 34

Death penalty abolished

Back 34

1965

Front 35

Surprise election victory for Conservatives under Edward Heath

Back 35

1970

Front 36

Decimalisation of the currency

Back 36

1971

Front 37

England win the World Cup at Wembley

Back 37

1966

Front 38

Deep cuts in military commitments east of Suez

Back 38

1967

Front 39

Voting age reduced to 18

Back 39

1969

Front 40

Start of Rhodesia crisis

Back 40

1964

Front 41

Labour election victory with increased majority

Back 41

1966

Front 42

Reform of the divorce laws

Back 42

1971

Front 43

Equal Opportunities Act passed

Back 43

1970

Front 44

Devaluation of sterling by the Wilson government

Back 44

1967

Front 45

Start of 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland

Back 45

1969

Front 46

'Swinging London' featured in Time magazine

Back 46

1966

Front 47

Liberalisation of laws on abortion and homosexuality

Back 47

1967

Front 48

Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech against mass immigration

Back 48

1967

Front 49

'Bloody Sunday' in Derby

Back 49

1972

Front 50

Oil-price crisis and energy shortages

Back 50

1973

Front 51

SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)

Back 51

1977

Front 52

Industrial unrest leads to 'Winter of Discontent'

Back 52

1979

Front 53

Shock resignation of Wilson; Jim Callaghan becomes prime minister

Back 53

1976

Front 54

Heath narrowly defeated in February election

Back 54

1974

Front 55

EEC referendum brings a 2:1 majority for the 'yes' vote

Back 55

1975

Front 56

Unemployment above 1 million for first time since 1930s

Back 56

1972

Front 57

British accession to the EEC alongside Ireland and Denmark

Back 57

1973

Front 58

Devolution for Scotland and Wales rejected in referendums

Back 58

1979

Front 59

Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II

Back 59

1977

Front 60

Collapse of Sunningdale Agreement after Loyalist Workers' Strike

Back 60

1974

Front 61

Britain forced into deep spending cuts by terms of IMF loan

Back 61

1976

Front 62

Heath replaces as Conservative leader by Margaret Thatcher

Back 62

1975

Front 63

Sunning dale Agreement for power-sharing in Northern Ireland

Back 63

1973

Front 64

Start of Concorde flights to New York

Back 64

1977

Front 65

Victory of Harold Wilson and Labour in the October general election

Back 65

1974

Front 66

'Three Day Week' imposed

Back 66

1973

Front 67

Independence granted to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)

Back 67

1980

Front 68

Formation of SDP

Back 68

1981

Front 69

Resignation of Michael Heseltine after the Westland Affair

Back 69

1986

Front 70

Third election victory of Thatcher

Back 70

1987

Front 71

Victory in the Falklands War

Back 71

1982

Front 72

Miners' Strike called off amid bitterness

Back 72

1985

Front 73

IRA bomb at Brighton

Back 73

1984

Front 74

Conservative victory in the general election

Back 74

1983

Front 75

Violent riots in Brixton and Liverpool

Back 75

1981

Front 76

Stock market crash in London and New York

Back 76

1987

Front 77

Deregulation of financial markets in the 'Big Bang'

Back 77

1986

Front 78

Unemployment above 3 million

Back 78

1982

Front 79

Miners' strike and Battle of Orgreave

Back 79

1984

Front 80

Michael Foot replaced as Labour leader by Neil Kinnock

Back 80

1983

Front 81

Big gains in opinion polls by Liberal-SDP alliance

Back 81

1981

Front 82

Fall of the Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War

Back 82

1988

Front 83

First satellite broadcasts by Sky TV

Back 83

1989

Front 84

Major challenges his own party to a leadership election

Back 84

1995

Front 85

Death of John Smith; Tony Blair becomes Labour leader

Back 85

1994

Front 86

Rioting in London against the Poll Tax

Back 86

1990

Front 87

Rebellion against Maastricht Treaty by Conservative Eurosceptics

Back 87

1993

Front 88

Victory of coalition forces in the Gulf War

Back 88

1991

Front 89

Surprise election victory of Major

Back 89

1992

Front 90

96 Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster

Back 90

1989

Front 91

IRA ceasefire suspended and new bombings campaign begins

Back 91

1995

Front 92

First women priests ordained at Bristol

Back 92

1994

Front 93

Resignation of Thatcher; John Major becomes Prime Minister

Back 93

1990

Front 94

Downing Street Declaration by John Major and Albert Reynolds

Back 94

1993

Front 95

Resignation of Kinnock; John Smith becomes Labour leader

Back 95

1992

Front 96

Unification of Germany agreed at Two-plus-Four talks

Back 96

1990

Front 97

'Black Wednesday' forces British withdrawal from the ERM

Back 97

1992

Front 98

Peace settlement at Dayton Ohio ends Bosnian War

Back 98

1995

Front 99

Renewal of IRA ceasefire

Back 99

1996

Front 100

Landslide election victory 'New Labour'

Back 100

1997

Front 101

Invasion of Iraq by US-led coalition forces

Back 101

2003

Front 102

UN resolution directed against WMD in Iraq

Back 102

2002

Front 103

Good Friday Agreement brings an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland

Back 103

1998

Front 104

Labour election victory with big majority

Back 104

2001

Front 105

Intervention by British forces to stabilise Sierra Leone

Back 105

2000

Front 106

Launch of the Euro in nine states of the EU but not Britain

Back 106

1999

Front 107

Death of Princess Diana

Back 107

1997

Front 108

Iain Duncan-Smith replaced as Conservative leader by Michael Howard

Back 108

2003

Front 109

Al Qaeda attacks on New York, 9/11

Back 109

2001

Front 110

Human Rights Act

Back 110

1998

Front 111

Devolved parliaments for Scotland and Wales established

Back 111

1999

Front 112

Hong Kong handed to China

Back 112

1997

Front 113

NATO bombing campaign expels Serb forces from Kosovo

Back 113

1999

Front 114

NATO invasion of Afghanistan and overthrow of the Taliban

Back 114

2001

Front 115

Publication of the Hutton Report

Back 115

2004

Front 116

Agreement on power-sharing government for Northern Ireland

Back 116

2007

Front 117

G8 summit at Heiligendamm

Back 117

2006

Front 118

Third successive election victory for Blair and Labour

Back 118

2005

Front 119

Expansion of EU to include Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia

Back 119

2004

Front 120

Resignation of Blair; Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister

Back 120

2007

Front 121

David Cameron becomes Prime Conservative leader

Back 121

2005

Front 122

Growing financial crisis heralded by collapse of Northern Rock

Back 122

2007

Front 123

56 people killed by terror attacks in London, 7/7

Back 123

2005