1936 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1936 in the United Kingdom.
This year is notable for the death of George V early in the year, the accession of his son Edward VIII to the throne and his subsequent abdication, resulting in the accession to the throne of his younger brother George VI.

Incumbents

Monarch – George V, Edward VIII, George VI
Prime Minister – Stanley Baldwin

Events

4 January – England celebrates its first ever win over the All Blacks in rugby union, in particular the two famous tries by "The Prince" HH Alexander Obolensky.
13 January – GPO Film Unit documentary Night Mail, incorporating poetry by W. H. Auden and music by Benjamin Britten, is premiered at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.
20 January – King George V dies at Sandringham House, Norfolk, aged 70. His eldest son, The Prince Edward, Prince of Wales succeeds as King Edward VIII.
21 January – King Edward VIII breaks royal protocol by watching the proclamation of his own accession to the throne from a window of St. James's Palace, in the company of the still-married Wallis Simpson.
February – John Maynard Keynes's influential economic text The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is published.
6–16 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and win 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals.
5 March – First test flight of the Supermarine Spitfire, from Eastleigh Aerodrome.
11 April – Billy Butlin opens his first Butlins holiday camp, Butlins Skegness in Skegness, Lincolnshire. It is officially opened by Amy Johnson.
18 April – Ordnance Survey begins the retriangulation of Great Britain with its first triangulation station near Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire.
17 May – Barquentine Waterwitch is laid up at Par, Cornwall, the last square rigged ship to trade under sail alone in British ownership.
22 May – J. H. Thomas resigns from politics for leaking Budget proposals.
27 May – The leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York.
28 May – Alan Turing submits his paper "On Computable Numbers" to the London Mathematical Society for publication, introducing the concept of the "Turing machine". It is formally published on 12 November.
3 July
* First flight of the Short Empire flying boat, from Rochester, Kent.
* Fred Perry wins his third successive men's singles tennis title at The Championships, Wimbledon, the last British player to win this title until 2013. This year he also wins his third U.S. National Championship, the last Grand Slam victory for a British men's player until 2012, and turns professional.
16 July – George McMahon makes a botched attempt to shoot King Edward VIII after the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
24 July – The General Post Office introduces the speaking clock.
27 July – Opening of a new swimming pool at Morecambe, claimed to be the largest open-air example in Europe.
28 July – Great Britain wins the 1936 International Lawn Tennis Challenge at Wimbledon, the last British victory in what becomes the Davis Cup until 2015.
31 July – Public Health Act empowers local authorities to make byelaws regulating building construction.
August–September – Bournemouth typhoid outbreak: more than 700 people infected.
1–16 August – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Berlin and win 4 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals.
4 August – The Duke of Grafton is killed in a crash while competing in the Limerick Grand Prix in Ireland, aged only 22. His cousin succeeds to the main title, but the courtesy titles fall into abeyance.
6 August – An underground explosion at Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery in South Yorkshire kills 58.
26 August – Signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty which requires the withdrawal of British troops and recognises Egypt as a sovereign state.
31 August – Elizabeth Cowell becomes the first female British television presenter, making a broadcast from Alexandra Palace.
8 September – Arson attack on a bombing school building at Penyberth on the Llŷn Peninsula as part of the Tân yn Llŷn campaign led by Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and D. J. Williams of the Welsh nationalist group Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru.
30 September – Official opening of Pinewood Studios.
4 October – Battle of Cable Street between Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists and anti-fascist demonstrators in the East End of London.
14 October – The Night Ferry, a boat train service linking London with Paris, starts operation.
5–31 October – Jarrow March: 207 miners march from Jarrow to London in a protest against unemployment and poverty.
20 October – Prime minister Stanley Baldwin confronts King Edward VIII about his relationship with Wallis Simpson.
22 October – Dod Orsborne, captain of the fishing vessel Girl Pat, which had caused a media sensation when it went missing, is convicted of its theft and given a prison sentence.
27 October – Wallis Simpson obtains a decree nisi in her divorce from Ernest Aldrich Simpson, removing a legal barrier to her marrying Edward VIII.
2 November – The BBC launches the world's first regular television service, initially alternating between the 240-line Baird electromechanical and the Marconi-EMI all-electronic 405-line television systems.
6 November – Terence Rattigan's comedy French Without Tears premieres in London.
12 November – Alan Turing's paper "On Computable Numbers" is formally presented to the London Mathematical Society, introducing the concept of the "Turing machine".
16 November – King Edward VIII informs Stanley Baldwin of his intention to marry Wallis Simpson. Baldwin responds by informing the King that any woman he married would have to become Queen, and the British public would not accept Wallis Simpson as Queen. The King tells Mr Baldwin that he is prepared to abdicate if the government opposes his marriage.
25 November – The King tells Stanley Baldwin that he would be prepared to conduct a morganatic marriage with Mrs Simpson, which would allow him to carry on as King but not install Mrs Simpson as Queen. Stanley Baldwin informs him that this would not be accepted either.
27 November – Stanley Baldwin raises the issue of a morganatic marriage in the Cabinet, where it is rejected outright.
30 November – The Crystal Palace in south London is destroyed in a fire.
December – Henry Hallett Dale wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Otto Loewi "for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses".
1 December – Alfred Blunt, Bishop of Bradford, makes a speech which inadvertently leads to the abdication crisis becoming public in the British media.
2 December – Stanley Baldwin confirms in a meeting with the King that a morganatic marriage would not be accepted, and in order to marry Mrs Simpson the King would have to abdicate.
9 December – A KLM Douglas DC-2 airliner crashes in Purley shortly after takeoff from Croydon Airport, killing 14 with just two survivors.
10 December – Abdication crisis: the King signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.
11 December
* Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, providing the legislative authority for the King to abdicate.
* The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving royal assent to the Act.
* Prince Albert, Duke of York, becomes King, ruling as King George VI. His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, becomes heir presumptive.
* The abdicated King Edward VIII, now the Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate. He leaves the country for Austria.
* The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State passes the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936, removing most powers from the office of Governor-General of the Irish Free State, and the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 assenting to the abdication and restricting the power of the monarch in relation to Ireland to international affairs.
18 December – Public Order Act prevents wearing of political uniforms with effect from 1 January next.
25 December – Princess Alexandra of Kent, daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Kent, is born in London. This will be the last royal birth attended by the Home Secretary, in this case, John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon.

Date unknown

K6 red telephone box introduced, together with GPO 'Jubilee concession' to provide one in every village with a post office.
Peter Jones (department store) in London, designed by William Crabtree, is completed as a pioneering example in the UK of glass curtain wall architecture.

Publications

The Left Book Club is founded by Stafford Cripps, Victor Gollancz, John Strachey and Harold Laski.
W. H. Auden's poems Look, Stranger!.
A. J. Ayer's philosophical study Language, Truth, and Logic.
Alfred Bestall's text comic The New Adventures of Rupert, the first Rupert Bear annual.
Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels The A.B.C. Murders, Murder in Mesopotamia and Cards on the Table.
T. S. Eliot's Collected Poems 1909-35, including "Burnt Norton", first of the Four Quartets.
The Geographers' Map Co.'s first A to Z Atlas and Guide to London and the Suburbs.
Aldous Huxley's novel Eyeless in Gaza.
Michael Innes' novel Death at the President's Lodging.
John Maynard Keynes' text The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
F. R. Leavis’ critical work Revaluation: tradition & development in English poetry.
A. E. W. Mason's historical adventure novel Fire Over England.
H. J. Massingham's English Downland and Hugh Quigley's The Highlands of Scotland, first in Batsford's The Face of Britain series.Lancashire: cradle of our prosperity and Warwickshire: Shakespeare's country, first in The King's England series edited by Arthur Mee.
George Orwell's novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
Michael Roberts edits the anthology The Faber Book of Modern Verse.
Dylan Thomas’ Twenty-five Poems, including "And death shall have no dominion".
W. B. Yeats edits the anthology The Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935.

Births

7 January – Hunter Davies, Scottish-born author and journalist
8 January – Dennis Gillespie, Scottish footballer
12 January – Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet, engineering construction executive
15 January – Richard Franklin, actor
16 January – Michael White, impresario and film producer
20 January – Frances Shand Kydd, mother of Diana, Princess of Wales
28 January – Bill Jordan, economist and politician
29 January – Patrick Caulfield, painter and printmaker
7 February
* William Bennett, flautist
* Keith Rowlands, rugby union player
9 February – Clive Swift, actor
10 February – Joss Naylor, fell runner
18 February – Philip Jones Griffiths, photojournalist
24 February – Lance Reventlow, playboy, entrepreneur and racing driver
13 March
* Michael Davies, writer on Roman Catholicism
* Mary Susan McIntosh, sociologist, feminist, political activist and campaigner for lesbian and gay rights
26 March – John Malcolm, actor
28 March – Peter Mayer, publisher
29 March – Richard Rodney Bennett, composer
3 April – Tony Garnett, television producer
7 April – Peter Eckersley, television producer
10 April – John Howell, Olympic long jumper
21 April – Edna Savage, singer
24 April – Vera Rich, poet and translator
29 April – Jacob Rothschild, investment banker
30 April – Bernie Clifton, comedian and entertainer
2 May – Engelbert Humperdinck, singer
4 May – Stanley McMurtry, cartoonist
9 May
* Terry Downes, middleweight boxer
* Albert Finney, actor
* Glenda Jackson, actress and politician
10 May
* Anthea Bell, translator
* Timothy Birdsall, cartoonist
13 May – Matt Simpson, poet
15 May – Ralph Steadman, caricaturist
16 May – Roy Hudd, comedian
23 May
* Tom Burlison, footballer and trade unionist
* Robert Sangster, racehorse owner
26 May
* David Hirst, journalist
* David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, politician
27 May
* Eric Anderson, Scottish-born teacher, Provost of Eton College
* Benjamin Bathurst, admiral of the fleet, First Sea Lord
1 June – Gerald Scarfe, cartoonist and illustrator
2 June – Richard Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth, bishop and theologian
7 June – Chris Bryant, screenwriter
17 June – Ken Loach, film director
20 June – Philip Lowrie, actor
22 June
* Dick Huddart, English-Australian professional rugby league footballer
* Derek Porter, English footballer
23 June – Gordon Lewis, Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer
24 June – Tony Brown, cricketer and administrator
26 June – Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, Scottish politician
27 June – Shirley Anne Field, actress
28 June – Malcolm Harding, English-born Canadian Anglican bishop
30 June – Malcolm Hickman, English cricketer
3 July – Anthony Lester, barrister and politician
5 July – James Mirrlees, Scottish economist and winner of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
7 July – Christopher Mallaby, diplomat
8 July – Tony Warren, television screenwriter
9 July – Richard Wilson, Scottish actor and director
11 July – John Stride, actor
16 July – Mary Parkinson, journalist and television presenter
20 July – John Sillett, football player and manager
26 July – Mary Millar, actress
30 July – Ted Rogers, comedian and game show host
1 August
* W. D. Hamilton, evolutionary biologist
* Donald Neilson, serial killer known as the "Black Panther"
2 August
* Christopher Hogg, business executive
* Anthony Payne, composer
3 August – Edward Petherbridge, actor, writer and artist
7 August – Brian Barry, philosopher
8 August – Jan Pieńkowski, author and artist
11 August – Jim Thompson, Anglican bishop
14 August – Trevor Bannister, actor
17 August – Arthur Rowe, Olympic shot putter
24 August – A. S. Byatt, novelist and poet
3 September – Mike Ellis, hammer thrower
5 September – Robert Alexander, Baron Alexander of Weedon, barrister, banker and life peer
7 September - George Cassidy, jazz musician, music teacher of Van Morrison
10 September – Michael Hartshorn, British-New Zealand organic chemist
11 September – Brian Plummer, writer and dog breeder
14 September – Nicol Williamson, actor
19 September
* Frank Barrie, actor, director and writer
* Anna Karen, actress
20 September – Andrew Davies, Welsh writer
30 September – Meg Johnson, actress
1 October
* Duncan Edwards, footballer
* John Gray, diplomat
4 October – Giles Radice, politician
6 October – Bob White, cricketer
9 October – Brian Blessed, actor
17 October – Dolores Mantez, actress
21 October – Simon Gray, playwright
24 October – Bill Wyman, rock bassist
25 October – Martin Gilbert, historian
30 October – George Sassoon, scientist and writer
31 October – Gordon Beningfield, wildlife artist and broadcaster
2 November – Eddie Colman, footballer
7 November – Gwyneth Jones, soprano
8 November – Bob Holman, Christian socialist
16 November – Geoffrey Thompson, businessman
22 November – John Bird, satiric actor
23 November – Robert Barnard, writer, critic and lecturer
16 December – Maurice Setters, footballer
17 December – Tommy Steele, actor and singer
21 December – Peter Tinniswood, scriptwriter
22 December – James Burke, broadcaster, science historian, author and television producer
25 December – Princess Alexandra of Kent, daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Kent

Deaths

18 January – Rudyard Kipling, writer, Nobel Prize laureate
20 January – King George V
2 March – Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria
20 March – Cunninghame Graham, politician, adventurer and writer
30 April – A. E. Housman, poet
14 May – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, Field-Marshal
29 May – Percy Dearmer, Christian socialist Anglican priest and liturgist
4 June – Mathilde Verne, pianist and educator
14 June – G. K. Chesterton, writer
25 July – Sir Henry Wellcome, pharmaceutical entrepreneur and philanthropist
4 August – John FitzRoy, 9th Duke of Grafton, peer and racing driver
19 August – Hugh Lygon, aristocrat
21 September – Frank Hornby, inventor, businessman and politician
14 October – Edmond Holmes, educationalist, writer and poet
2 November – Martin Lowry, chemist
11 November – Sir Edward German, composer
10 December – Bobby Abel, cricketer
29 December – Lucy, Lady Houston, political activist, suffragette, philanthropist and promoter of aviation