1976 in the United Kingdom

1976 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1974 | 1975 | 1976 (1976) | 1977 | 1978

Sport and Music

1976 English cricket season Football England | Scotland 1976 in British music

Events from the year 1976 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister – Harold Wilson (until 5 April; Labour), James Callaghan (Labour)

Events

• January - Korean cars are officially imported to the United Kingdom for the first time, as Hyundai launches its Pony family saloon on the British market.^[1]
• 2 January - Hurricane-force winds of up to 105 mph kill 22 people across Britain and cause millions of pounds worth of damage to buildings and vehicles.[12]
• 5 January - Ten Protestant men are killed in the Kingsmill massacre at South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".^[2]
• 7 January - Cod War: British and Icelandic ships clash at sea.^[3]
• 18 January - The Scottish Labour Party is formed.
• 20 January - 42-year-old married woman Emily Jackson is stabbed to death in Leeds; it is revealed that she was a part-time prostitute. Police believe she may have been killed by the same man who murdered Wilma McCann in the city three months ago.^[4]
• 21 January - The first commercial Concorde flight takes off.^[5]
• 29 January - Twelve Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs explode in London's West End.^[6]
• 2 February - The Queen opens the new National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, situated near the city's airport.[13]
• 4 February–15 February - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, and win one gold medal.
• 11 February - John Curry becomes Britain's first gold medalist in skating at the Winter Olympics.^[5]
• 19 February - Iceland breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain over the Cod War.^[5]
• March - Production of the Hillman Imp ends after 13 years.^[7] It is due to be replaced next year by a three-door hatchback based on a shortened Avenger floorpan.^[8]
• 1 March - Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.
• 4 March
  • The Maguire Seven are found guilty of the offence of possessing explosives and subsequently jailed for 14 years.^[9]
  • The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London via the British parliament.
• 16 March - Harold Wilson announces his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,^[10] to take effect on 5 April.
• 19 March - Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon announce that they are to separate after 16 years of marriage.^[11]
• 26 March - Anita Roddick opens the first branch of The Body Shop in Brighton.^[12]
• April - British Leyland launches its innovative new Rover SD1, a large five-door hatchback that replaces the ageing P6 series.
• 5 April - James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom upon the retirement of Harold Wilson,^[13]defeating Roy Jenkins and Michael Foot in the leadership contest. Callaghan, 64, was previously Foreign Secretary and had served as a chancellor and later Home Secretary under Wilson in government from 1964 until 1970.^[14]
• 7 April - Cabinet minister John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party leaving the Government without a majority in the House of Commons.^[15]
• 9 April - Young Liberals president Peter Hain is cleared of stealing £490 from a branch of Barclays Bank.^[16]
• 1 May - Southampton F.C. win the first major trophy of their 91-year history when a goal from Bobby Stokes gives the Football League Second Division club a surprise 1-0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.
• 4 May - Liverpool F.C. clinch their ninth Football League title with a 3-1 away win over relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers, fighting off a close challenge from underdogs Queen's Park Rangers.[14]
• 9 May - 20-year-old Leeds prostitute Marcella Claxton is badly injured in a hammer attack.^[17]
• 10 May - Jeremy Thorpe resigns as leader of the Liberal party.^[18]
• 19 May - Liverpool win the UEFA Cup for the second time by completing a 4-3 aggregate victory over the Belgian side Club Brugge K.V..^[19]
• 27 May - Harold Wilson's Resignation Honours List is published. It controversially awards honours to many wealthy businessmen, and comes to be known satirically as the "Lavender List".
• 1 June - UK and Iceland end the Cod War.^[5]
• 14 June - The trial begins at Oxford Crown Court of Donald Neilson, the killer known as the "Black Panther".
• 22 June–16 July - Heat wave reaches its peak with the temperature attaining 80°F (26.7°C) every day of this period. For 15 consecutive days, 23 June–7 July inclusive, it reaches 90°F (32.2°C) somewhere in England; and five days - the first being 26 June - see the temperature exceed 95°F (35°C). This is contributing to the worst drought in the United Kingdom since the 1720s.[15]
• 28 June - In the heat wave, the temperature reaches 35.6°C (96.1°F) in Southampton, the highest recorded for June in the UK.
• 29 June - The Seychelles become independent of the UK.^[20]
• 3 July - Heat wave peaks with temperatures reaching 35.9°C (96.6°F) in Cheltenham.
• 7 July - David Steel elected as new leader of the Liberal Party.^[18]
• 10 July - Three British and one American mercenaries are shot by firing squad in Angola.
• 14 July - Ford launches a new small three-door hatchback, the Fiesta - its first front-wheel drive transverse engined production model - which is similar in concept to the Vauxhall Chevette and German carmaker Volkswagen's new Polo. It will be built in several factories across Europe, including the Dagenham plant in Essex (where 3,000 jobs will be created), and continental sales begin later this year, although it won't go on sale in Britain until January 1977.^[21]
• 17 July–1 August - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Montreal, Canada, and win 3 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals.
• 21 July - Christopher Ewart-Biggs, UK ambassador to Ireland, and a civil servant, Judith Cooke, are killed by a landmine at Sandyford, Co. Dublin.
• 27 July - United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Uganda.
• 29 July - A fire destroys the pierhead at Southend Pier.^[22]
• August
  • Drought at its most severe. Parts of South West England go for 45 days with no rain in July and August.
  • Government and Trades Union Congress agree a more severe Stage II one-year limit on pay rises.
• 5 August - The Great Clock of Westminster (or Big Ben) suffers internal damage and stops running for over nine months.^[5]
• 6 August - The last Postmaster General, John Stonehouse, is sentenced to seven years jail for fraud.
• 14 August - 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland.
• 30 August - 100 police officers and 60 carnival-goers are injured during riots at the Notting Hill Carnival.^[23]
• 1 September - Drought measures introduced in Yorkshire.^[24]
• 3 September - Riot at Hull Prison ends.^[25]
• 4 September - Peace March in Derry attracts 25,000 people in a call to end violence in Northern Ireland.^[18]
• 9 September - The Royal Shakespeare Company opens a memorable production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the lead roles, directed by Trevor Nunn.
• 12 September - Portsmouth football club, who were FA Cup winners in 1939 and league champions in 1949 and 1950 but are now in the Football League Third Division, are reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy with huge debts.[16]
• 23 September - A fire on HMS Glasgow kills eight men.^[26]
• 29 September - The Ford Cortina MK4 is launched.^[27]
• 4 October - InterCity 125 trains introduced on British Rail between London and Bristol.^[28]
• 15 October - Two members of the Ulster Defence Regiment jailed for 35 years for murder of the members of the Republic of Ireland cabaret performers Miami Showband.^[29]
• 22 October - The Damned release New Rose, the first ever single marketed as "punk rock".
• 24 October - Racing driver James Hunt becomes Formula One world champion.^[5]
• 25 October - Opening of Royal National Theatre on the South Bank in London, in premises designed by Sir Denys Lasdun.^[30]
• 29 October - Opening of Selby Coalfield.^[31]
• 16 November - The seven perpetrators of an £8 million van robbery at the Bank of America in Mayfair sentenced to a total of 100 years in jail.^[32]
• 1 December - The Sex Pistols achieve public notoriety as they unleash several swearwords live on Bill Grundy's TV show.
• 10 December - Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan win the Nobel Peace Prize.^[33]
• 15 December - Denis Healey announces to Parliament that he has successfully negotiated a £2.3bn loan for Britain from the International Monetary Fund.^[34]

Undated

• Inflation stands at 16.5% - lower than last year's level, but still one of the highest since records began in 1750.^[35] However, at one stage during this year inflation exceeded 24%.^[36]
• Opening of Rutland Water, the largest reservoir in England by surface area (1,212 hectares (2,995 acres)).^[37]

Publications

• Kingsley Amis's novel The Alteration.
• Jeffrey Archer's first novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
• Agatha Christie's last published novel, the final Miss Marple story Sleeping Murder (posthumous).
• Richard Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene.
• Terry Pratchett's novel The Dark Side of the Sun.

Births

• 19 January — Marsha Thomason, actress
• 21 January — Emma Bunton, singer (Spice Girls)
• 2 February — James Hickman, swimmer
• 10 February — Keeley Hawes, actress
• 20 February — Ed Graham, drummer (The Darkness)
• 23 March — Chris Hoy, Olympic gold medal winning cyclist
• 10 April — Clare Buckfield, actress
• 15 April — Steve Williams, rower
• 18 April — Sean Maguire, actor and singer
• 8 May — Ian Watkins, pop singer
• 14 May — Martine McCutcheon, actress and singer
• 6 June — Ross Noble, comedian
• 13 June — Jason "J" Brown, musician (5ive)
• 16 June — Cian Ciaran, musician
• 25 June — Iestyn Harris, rugby player
• 8 July — Ellen MacArthur, yachtswoman
• 12 July — Anna Friel, actress
• 14 July — Geraint Jones, cricketer
• 9 August
  • Rhona Mitra, actress
  • Aled Haydn-Jones, radio producer
• 13 August — Roddy Woomble, musician
• 6 September — Naomie Harris, actress
• 8 September — Abi Titmuss, television presenter and model
• 11 September — Neil Willey, backstroke swimmer
• 16 September — Tina Barrett, singer (S Club 7)
• 13 October — Jennie Bimson, field hockey player
• 23 October — Cat Deeley, television presenter
• 25 October — Steve Jones, footballer
• 29 October — Stephen Craigan, footballer
• 7 November — Andrew Davies, cricketer
• 8 December — Dominic Monaghan, actor
• 12 December — Dan Hawkins, guitarist (The Darkness)
• 18 December — Jaime King, breaststroke swimmer
• 20 December — Adam Powell, inventor
• date unknown — Steffan Cravos, musician

Deaths

• 5 January - Mal Evans, Beatles' former roadie and patron of Badfinger (born 1935)
• 12 January - Agatha Christie, writer (born 1890)
• 13 January - Margaret Leighton, actress (born 1922)
• 11 February - Charlie Naughton, actor (born 1886)
• 12 February - John Lewis, Marxist philosopher (born 1889)
• 23 February - L. S. Lowry, artist (born 1887)
• 19 March - Paul Kossoff, guitarist (Free) (born 1950)
• 24 March - Bernard Montgomery, field marshal (born 1897)
• 22 April - Colin MacInnes, novelist (born 1914)
• 28 April – Richard Hughes, novelist (born 1900)
• 14 May - Keith Relf, musician (The Yardbirds) (born 1943)
• 9 June - Sybil Thorndike, actress (born 1882)
• 28 June - Sir Stanley Baker, actor (born 1928)
• 19 August - Alastair Sim, actor (born 1900)
• 30 August - David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore, politician (born 1903)
• 14 October - Edith Evans, actress (born 1888)
• 4 December - Benjamin Britten, composer (born 1913)

References

See also