1946 in the United Kingdom explained

Events from the year 1946 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch – George VI
• Prime Minister – Clement Attlee (Labour)

Events

• 1 January
  • The first international flight from London Heathrow Airport, to Buenos Aires.
  • Atomic Energy Research Establishment established at Harwell, near Oxford.
• 4 January – Theodore Schurch is hanged at HM Prison Pentonville by Albert Pierrepoint, the only British soldier executed for treachery committed during World War II and the last person to be executed in Britain for an offence other than murder.
• 10 January – First United Nations General Assembly convenes at Methodist Central Hall Westminster.
• 17 January – The United Nations Security Council holds its first meeting at Church House in London.
• 14 February – The Bank of England is nationalised.
• 15 February – American dance craze, the Jitterbug, sweeps Britain.^[1]
• 20 February – Royal Opera House in Covent Garden re-opens after the War^[2] with The Royal Ballet (relocated from Sadler's Wells Theatre) performing The Sleeping Beauty.
• 5 March – Winston Churchill delivers his "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, United States.^[3]
• 9 March – Burnden Park disaster: A stadium disaster at Bolton Wanderers F.C.'s Burnden Park in Bolton kills 33 and injures hundreds.
• 10 March – British troops begin withdrawal from Lebanon.
• 15 March – Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee announces that Britain is granting India's wish for independence. On 24 March, the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India arrives in New Delhi for discussions.
• 22 March – The Treaty of London grants the British mandate of the Emirate of Transjordan its independence.
• 24 March – BBC Home Service radio broadcasts Alistair Cooke's first American Letter. As Letter from America, the programme would continue until a few weeks before Cooke's death in 2004.
• 27 April – 1946 FA Cup Final: the first postwar FA Cup final is won by Derby County, who beat Charlton Athletic 4–1 at Wembley Stadium.^[4]
• 4 May – First-class cricket returns, having been suspended during the War.^[2]
• 20 May – The House of Commons votes through the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 to nationalise British coal mines.
• 23 May – Terence Rattigan's drama The Winslow Boy premieres in London.^[5]
• 31 May – London Heathrow Airport opened fully for civilian use.^[1]
• 1 June – Television licence introduced.^[3]
• 7 June – Television broadcasting by the BBC, suspended during World War II, resumes.^[1]
• 8 June – A victory parade is held in London to celebrate the end of World War II.^[6] A certificate is issued to all schoolchildren.^[7]
• 27 June – Government imposes bread rationing.^[8]
• July – Homeless families squat in a former Army camp at Scunthorpe.^[9]
• August – Arthur Horner, a member of the Communist Party, becomes General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.
• 1 August
  • Finance Act receives Royal Assent,^[10] including the establishment of the National Land Fund to secure culturally significant property for the nation as a memorial to the dead of World War II.^[11]
  • Atomic Energy Act of 1946 in the United States ends co-operation between the U.K. and U.S. on development of nuclear technology.
• 6 August
  • Family allowance introduced, a cash benefit paid to mothers, under terms of the Family Allowances Act 1945 (passed under the Churchill caretaker ministry).
  • Free milk (pint daily) provided in UK state schools to all pupils under the age of 18.
• 9 August – Arts Council incorporated by royal charter.^[2]
• 31 August – League football returns, having been suspended during World War II.^[2]
• September–November – Britain Can Make It exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, promoted by the Council of Industrial Design and the Board of Trade to show off good domestic and industrial design.^[12]
• 8 September – Mass squat by homeless families at the Ivanhoe Hotel and other empty properties in London organised by the Communist Party.
• 15 September – Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command, retires.
• 16 September – Popular quiz show Have A Go! with Wilfred Pickles is first broadcast nationally on BBC Radio.^[8]
• 29 September – BBC Third Programme begins broadcasting.^[1]
• 1 October – English premiere of J. B. Priestley's drama An Inspector Calls at the New Theatre, London, starring Ralph Richardson.^[13]
• 7 October – The BBC Light Programme transmits the first episode of the daily radio magazine programme Woman's Hour (initially presented by Alan Ivimey) which will still be running more than 70 years later and of the daily adventure serial Dick Barton – Special Agent.
• 10 October – First community arts centre opened, at Bridgwater in Somerset.
• 1 November – First Royal Command Performance at a public cinema, the Empire, Leicester Square: premiere of the Powell and Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death starring David Niven.^[14]
• 9 November – Shooting of Margaret Cook in Carnaby Street, London.
• 10 November – Peter Scott opens the Slimbridge Wetland Reserve in Gloucestershire.
• 11 November – Stevenage, a village in Hertfordshire, is designated by the Attlee government as Britain's first new town to relieve overcrowding and replace bombed homes in London. The new town is set to have around 60,000 residents once it is completed and the first homes are expected to be ready by 1952 and the town fully developed by the early 1960s. The town's centerpiece will be a revolutionary pedestrianised central shopping area.^[15]
• 17 November – Eight British Army servicemen are killed in Jerusalem by Jewish terrorists.
• 22 November – Tony Benn is elected as Treasurer of the Oxford Union.
• 29 November
  • Premiere of educational documentary film The Instruments of the Orchestra containing Benjamin Britten's composition The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (concert premiere 15 October conducted by Malcolm Sargent with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool).
  • BBC Television begins airing Pinwright's Progress, the world's first regular half-hour situation comedy.^[16]
• 26 December – David Lean's film of Great Expectations, based on the Charles Dickens novel, and featuring John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness, Francis L. Sullivan, Jean Simmons, and Finlay Currie, is released to great acclaim.

Undated

• Cinemagoing reaches an all-time peak, with 1,635 million admissions during the year.
• Lifting of prohibition on married women working in the Civil Service.
• Fred Pontin opens the first Pontins holiday camp, at Brean Sands, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset.
• The University of Bristol establishes the first university drama department in the UK.^[17]
• Bush DAC90 bakelite radio introduced: it becomes the best-selling model for some years.

Publications

• January – launch of Penguin Classics under the editorship of E. V. Rieu, whose translation of the Odyssey is the first published in the series^[18] and will be the country's best-selling book over the next decade.^[19]
• W. V. Awdry's children's book Thomas the Tank Engine, first in The Railway Series.
• Enid Blyton's girl school story First Term at Malory Towers, first in the Malory Towers series.
• Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novel The Hollow.
• R. G. Collingwood's collected philosophical lectures The Idea of History (posthumous).
• John Stewart Collis' memoir While Following the Plough.
• Stella Gibbons' novel Westwood.
• Philip Larkin's novel Jill.
• George Mikes' book How to be an Alien.
• Mervyn Peake's novel Titus Groan, first in the Gormenghast series.
• Thomas Sharp's book The Anatomy of the Village.
• Joint Committee of the Building Research Board and the Fire Offices' Committee's first report on fire safety General Principles and Structural Precautions.^[20]

Births

January – February

• 3 January – John Paul Jones, English bassist (Led Zeppelin)
• 6 January – Syd Barrett, English guitarist and singer (Pink Floyd) (died 2006)
• 7 January – Mike Wilds, English racing driver and pilot
• 14 January – Harold Shipman, serial killer (died 2004)
• 19 January – Julian Barnes, novelist
• 25 January – Pete Price, Merseyside radio disc jockey
• 26 January – Timothy Clifford, art historian
• 28 January – David Duckham, rugby union player (died 2023)
• 30 January – John Bird, Baron Bird, social entrepreneur and life peer
• 1 February – Elisabeth Sladen, television actress (died 2011)
• 5 February – Charlotte Rampling, actress
• 7 February
  • Brian Patten, Liverpool poet
  • Pete Postlethwaite, actor (died 2011)
• 9 February – Seán Neeson, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician
• 11 February – Malcolm Walker, English businessman
• 13 February – Colin Matthews, composer
• 15 February – Clare Short, politician
• 16 February – Ian Lavender, actor (died 2024)
• 20 February – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
• 21 February – Alan Rickman, English actor (died 2016)^[21]
• 26 February – Colin Bell, footballer (died 2021)
• 28 February – Robin Cook, Labour politician (died 2005)

March – April

• 1 March – Tony Ashton, rock pianist and music producer (died 2001)
• 4 March
  • Michael Ashcroft, entrepreneur
  • Harvey Goldsmith, performing arts promoter
• 6 March
  • David Gilmour, English musician (Pink Floyd)
  • Richard Noble, enterpreneur and land speed record holder
• 19 March – Steve Halliwell (died 2023)
• 21 March – Timothy Dalton, actor
• 22 March – Richard Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Worcester, journalist and politician
• 25 March – Cliff Balsam, English footballer
• 27 March – Patrick Richardson, travel writer and author^[22]
• 2 April
  • Raymond Gubbay, English impresario
  • Sue Townsend, English comic novelist and playwright (died 2014)
• 4 April – Dave Hill, English guitarist (Slade)
• 9 April
  • Les Gray, English vocalist (Mud) (died 2004)
  • Mike Hancock, politician
  • Alan Knott, English cricketer^[23]
  • Sara Parkin, Scottish activist and politician^[24]
• 11 April – Bob Harris, music presenter
• 12 April – George Robertson, Scottish politician
• 15 April – Hugh Laddie, judge (died 2008)
• 19 April – Tim Curry, actor, voice artist, singer and composer
• 21 April – Alan Rickman, actor (died 2016)
• 24 April – Piers Gough, architect
• 25 April – John Fox, statistician
• 27 April – Nicholas Serota, art curator
• 28 April – Linda Knowles, high jumper
• 29 April – Humphrey Carpenter, children's writer and broadcaster (died 2005)

May – June

• 1 May – Joanna Lumley, actress
• 2 May – David Suchet, actor
• 4 May – John Watson, Northern Irish racing driver
• 7 May – Michael Rosen, writer and poet
• 8 May – Ruth Padel, poet and writer
• 10 May
  • Donovan, Scottish musician
  • Maureen Lipman, actress, columnist and comedian
  • Dave Mason, English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (Traffic)
• 11 May – David Varney, English civil servant
• 13 May – Tim Pigott-Smith, English actor (died 2017)
• 16 May – Robert Fripp, English rock guitarist
• 19 May – Trevor Adams, actor (died 2000)
• 20 May – Paul Hirst, English sociologist (died 2003)
• 22 May – George Best, Northern Irish footballer (died 2005)
• 23 May – Stephen Marks, English businessman
• 27 May – Lewis Collins, English actor (died 2013)
• 1 June – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
• 2 June – Peter Sutcliffe, English serial killer (died 2020)
• 3 June – Penelope Wilton, English actress
• 11 June – Jenny Pitman, English horse trainer and author
• 14 June – Ernie Graham, Northern Irish singer-songwriter (died 2001)
• 15 June – Noddy Holder, English rock singer-songwriter (Slade)
• 19 June – Michael Jay, Baron Jay of Ewelme, English politician and diplomat, British Ambassador to France
• 20 June – Nigel Kalton, mathematician and academic (died 2010)
• 21 June –
  • Kate Hoey, politician
  • Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, businessman
• 22 June – Sheila Hollins, Baroness Hollins, psychiatrist
• 23 June – Kathy Wilkes, English philosopher (died 2003)
• 25 June
  • Buzz Goodbody, English theatre director (died 1975)
  • Ian McDonald, musician (died 2022)
• 26 June – Clive Francis, English actor and caricaturist
• 28 June – Jamie Cann, politician (died 2001)

July – August

• 5 July – Gwyneth Powell, British actress (died 2022)
• 9 July – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (died 2008)
• 12 July – Robert Fisk, writer and journalist (died 2020)
• 3 August – Jack Straw, British politician
• 6 August
  • Ron Davies, politician
  • Allan Holdsworth, guitarist and composer (died 2017)
• 15 August
  • Tony Robinson, actor and broadcaster
  • William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill, academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• 23 August – Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (died 1978)
• 26 August – Alison Steadman, actress
• 27 August – Peter Tobin, serial killer (died 2022)

September – October

• 1 September – Barry Gibb, Manx-born pop singer-songwriter
• 9 September – Adrian Smith, statistician, President of the Royal Society
• 10 September – Don Powell, English drummer
• 11 September
  • Mike Bull, Northern Irish pole vaulter and decathlete
  • Anthony Browne, English author and illustrator
  • John Roberts, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 2016)
  • Jim Shoulder, English footballer and manager
• 12 September – Neil Lyndon, journalist and author^[25]
• 19 September
  • Michael Elphick, actor (died 2002)
  • Oliver Foot, actor (died 2008)
• 22 September – John Tomlinson, English operatic bass
• 25 September – Felicity Kendal, English actress^[26]
• 28 September – Tom Bower, writer and journalist
• 29 September – Patricia Hodge, actress
• 8 October – Bel Mooney, English author, journalist, advice columnist
• 10 October
  • Charles Dance, actor
  • Raymond Tallis, writer and poet
  • Chris Tarrant, TV and radio presenter
• 12 October – Chris Nicholl, football player and manager (died 2024)^[27]
• 13 October – Edwina Currie, British Conservative politician, author and radio personality^[28]
• 14 October
  • Justin Hayward, English singer and songwriter (Moody Blues)
  • Katy Manning, English-Australian actress and production manager^[29]
• 17 October
  • Cameron Mackintosh, English theatre producer
  • Vicki Hodge, English actress
• 19 October – Philip Pullman, English author
• 22 October
  • Eileen Gordon, British Labour politician
  • Kelvin MacKenzie, media executive and newspaper editor
• 29 October – Peter Green, blues rock guitarist and singer-songwriter (died 2020)
• 31 October – Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor

November – December

• 1 November – Ric Grech, British bassist (Family, Blind Faith, Traffic (died 1990))
• 5 November
  • Caroline Jackson, British politician
  • Ken Whaley, Austrian-English bass player and songwriter (d. 2013)^[30]
• 6 November – Susie Orbach, English psychotherapist
• 7 November – Martin Barre, English musician (Jethro Tull)
• 12 November – P. P. Arnold, born Patricia Ann Cole, American-born soul singer
• 14 November – Carola Dunn, English writer
• 18 November
  • Andrea Allan, Scottish actress
  • Chris Rainbow, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer (died 2015)
• 21 November – Marina Warner, English writer
• 22 November – Brian Cookman, English musician and composer (died 2005)
• 23 November – Diana Quick, English actress
• 4 December – Angela Browning, English Conservative politician and MP for Tiverton and Honiton
• 12 December – Barrie Rutter, actor and director
• 14 December
  • Antony Beevor, military historian
  • Jane Birkin, English-born actress and singer (died 2023)
  • Peter Lorimer, Scottish footballer (died 2021)
• 16 December – Trevor Pinnock, English harpsichordist and conductor
• 20 December – Lesley Judd, English actress and television presenter
• 25 December – Christopher Frayling, English cultural historian
• 27 December
  • Janet Street-Porter, English broadcast journalist
  • Polly Toynbee, English journalist and writer
• 29 December – Marianne Faithfull, English singer and actress
• 31 December – Roy Porter, medical historian (died 2002)

Deaths

• 2 January
  • Eleanor Rathbone, social campaigner and politician (born 1872)
  • Will Thorne, trade unionist and politician (born 1857)
• 3 January – William Joyce, Irish American fascist propagandist (born 1906) (hanged at Wandsworth Prison for treason)
• 4 January – Theodore Schurch, British-born soldier and collaborator (born 1918) (hanged at Pentonville Prison for treachery)
• 23 January – Sir Frank MacKinnon, judge (born 1871)
• 5 February – George Arliss, English film actor (born 1868)
• 8 March – Frederick W. Lanchester, automotive engineer (born 1868)
• 3 April – Alf Common, English footballer (born 1880)
• 21 April – John Maynard Keynes, economist (born 1883)
• 9 May – Connie Gilchrist, Countess of Orkney, child actress and model (born 1865)
• 25 May – Ernest Rhys, writer (born 1859)
• 26 May
  • Sir Francis Lacey, cricket administrator (born 1859)
  • Arthur Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London (born 1858)
• 14 June – John Logie Baird, Scottish-born television pioneer (born 1888)
• 11 July – Paul Nash, artist (born 1889)
• 15 July – Razor Smith, English cricketer (born 1877)
• 23 July – James Maxton, Scottish socialist, leader of the Independent Labour Party (born 1885)
• 13 August – H. G. Wells, English novelist (born 1866)
• 16 August – Sir Granville Bantock, classical composer and conductor (born 1868)
• 31 August – Harley Granville-Barker, actor, playwright and critic (born 1877)
• 16 September – Sir James Jeans, physicist, astronomer and mathematician (born 1877)
• 2 November – John Barrett, Roman Catholic bishop (born 1878)
• 18 November – Donald Meek, actor (born 1878)
• 17 December – Constance Garnett, translator (born 1861)

See also

• List of British films of 1946
• The Winter of 1946–47 in the U.K.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Lost Decade Timeline, BBC . 29 January 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060821133044/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/lostdecade/timeline_html.shtml . 21 August 2006 .
2. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer . Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 395–396. 0-7126-5616-2.
3. Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
4. Web site: FA Cup Final 1946 . fa-cupfinals.co.uk . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080521034526/http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1946.htm . 2008-05-21.
5. Web site: Plays. Terence Rattigan. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172440/http://www.terencerattigan.com/html/home.html. dead. 3 March 2016. 16 July 2010.
6. Web site: Victory Celebrations, 8th June 1946 by Ron Goldstein, BBC. 29 January 2008.
7. Book: Ruddy, Austin J.. The Home Front 1939–1945 in 100 Objects. Barnsley. Frontline Books. 2019. 9-781-52674-086-1. 198-9.
8. Book: Kynaston, David. David Kynaston. Austerity Britain 1945–1951. London. Bloomsbury. 2007. 978-0-7475-7985-4.
9. Book: Marr, Andrew. Andrew Marr. A History of Modern Britain. London. Macmillan. 2007. 978-1-4050-0538-8. 71–2.
10. Web site: Finance Act 1946. 1 August 1946. 18 March 2011.
11. Web site: Finance Act 1946–48 The National Land Fund. 1 August 1946. 18 March 2011.
12. Book: Paul. Evans. Doyle. Peter. The 1940s Home. Oxford. Shire Publications. 2009. 978-0-7478-0736-0.
13. News: Samantha. Ellis. JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls, October 1946. The Guardian. 7 May 2003. 18 July 2011.
14. Book: Robertson, Patrick. The Shell Book of Firsts. London. Ebury Press. 1974. 0-7181-1279-2. 158.
15. Web site: Stevenage New Town . Stevenage Borough Council . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090614051824/http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/leisureandculture/museum/historyofstevenage/stevenagethroughtheages/stevenagenewtown . 2009-06-14.
16. Book: Lewisohn, Mark. Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy. BBC Worldwide Ltd. 2003.
17. Web site: Bristol University History. History of the University. University of Bristol. 13 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070616190353/http://www.bristol.ac.uk/university/history/. 16 June 2007. live.
18. Web site: Penguin Classics in translation. Penguin Archive Project. University of Bristol. 17 August 2009. 21 August 2011.
19. News: John. Sutherland. John Sutherland (author). Pick up a Penguin?. The Guardian. 24 January 2005. 5.
20. Web site: History of Fire Safety. FireNet. 2009. 19 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20101215182743/http://fire.org.uk/history-of-fire-safety.html. 15 December 2010. dead.
21. Web site: Alan Rickman obituary . The Guardian . 14 January 2021 . en . 14 January 2016.
22. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/excessbaggage/index_20081011.shtml BBC Excess Baggage Program
23. Book: Ashley Alexander Mallett. Eleven: The Greatest Eleven of the 20th Century. 2001. Univ. of Queensland Press. 978-0-7022-3258-9. 93.
24. Book: Elizabeth Sleeman. The International Who's Who of Women 2002. 2001. Psychology Press. 978-1-85743-122-3. 435.
25. Web site: From Trump to Ranieri: is this the era of the older man?. Neil. Lyndon. 10 May 2016. The Daily Telegraph. 19 October 2017.
26. Book: Newcomb . Horace . Encyclopedia of Television . 3 February 2014 . Routledge . 978-1-135-19472-7 . 1246 . en.
27. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/02/27/chris-nicholl-footballer-aston-villa-southampton-obituary/ Chris Nicholl, hard-tackling footballer who won silverware with Aston Villa – obituary
28. Book: Rubinstein . William D. . Jolles . Michael . Rubinstein . Hilary L. . The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History . 22 February 2011 . Palgrave Macmillan . 978-1-4039-3910-4 . 189 . en.
29. Birth Indices. General Register Office for England and Wales. General Register Office for England and Wales. 1946. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Surrey. 5g. 1388. Birth: 1946, Dec Qtr, Catherine A Mannin maiden surname Jenkins.
30. Web site: Cross. Nigel. Kenneth John Whaley (obit). Shagrat Records. 15 June 2013.