1953 - 1959 (5 years)
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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1953 | - 31 Jan 1953—31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century -
severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives - - effects travelled from the
west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even
worse affected with over a thousand deaths]
- 5 Feb 1953—5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain
- 5 Mar 1953—5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
- 26 Mar 1953—26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
- 24 Apr 1953—24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
- 25 Apr 1953—25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
- 2 Jun 1953—2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
- 26 Sep 1953—26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
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| 2 | 1954 | - 1954—1954: First comprehensive school opens in London
- 1954—1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
- 1954—1954: First transistor radios sold
- 6 May 1954—6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
- 3 Jul 1954—3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
- 5 Jul 1954—5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
- 30 Sep 1954—30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
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| 3 | 1955 | - 1955—1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
- 27 Jul 1955—27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
- 22 Sep 1955—22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
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| 4 | 1956 | - 1956—1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
- 1 Mar 1956—1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
- 17 Apr 1956—17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched - first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
- 3 Jun 1956—3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second
Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class)
- 31 Oct 1956—31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
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| 5 | 1957 | - 1957—1957: Britain introduces parking meters
- 1957—1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
- 11 Jan 1957—11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
- 14 May 1957—14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
- 15 May 1957—15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
- 25 May 1957—25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six
countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg - became
operational Jan 1958
- 4 Dec 1957—4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster - 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct
collapses on top of them
- 25 Dec 1957—25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
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| 6 | 1958 | - 1958—1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
- 1958—1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
- 1958—1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
- 13 May 1958—13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
- 26 Jul 1958—26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as 'Prince of Wales'
- 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
- 5 Dec 1958—5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens - UK's first stretch of motorway
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| 7 | 1959 | - 3 Feb 1959—3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' - plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and
The Big Bopper
- 17 Feb 1959—17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched - first to measure cloud-cover distribution
- 24 May 1959—24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
- Aug 1959—Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
- 3 Oct 1959—3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
- 1 Nov 1959—1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
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