1946 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1946 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Monarch – George VI
Prime Minister – Clement Attlee

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.
20 February – Royal Opera House in Covent Garden re-opens after the War with The Royal Ballet performing The Sleeping Beauty.
5 March – Winston Churchill delivers his "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, United States.
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 May – First-class cricket returns, having been suspended during the War.
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.
31 May – London Heathrow Airport opened fully for civilian use.
1 June – Television licence introduced.
7 June – Television broadcasting by the BBC, suspended during World War II, resumes.
8 June – A victory parade is held in London to celebrate the end of World War II. A certificate is issued to all schoolchildren.
27 June – Government imposes bread rationing.
July – Homeless families squat in a former Army camp at Scunthorpe.
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, 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.
* 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.
* Free milk provided in UK state schools to all pupils under the age of 18.
9 August – Arts Council incorporated by royal charter.
31 August – League football returns, having been suspended during World War II.
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.
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.
29 September – BBC Third Programme begins broadcasting.
1 October – English premiere of J. B. Priestley's drama An Inspector Calls at the New Theatre, London, starring Ralph Richardson.
7 October – The BBC Light Programme transmits the first episode of the daily radio magazine programme Woman's Hour 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.
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.
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.
* BBC Television begins airing Pinwright's Progress, the world's first regular half-hour situation comedy.
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.
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 and will be the country's best-selling book over the next decade.
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.
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.

Births

January

3 January – John Paul Jones, bassist
6 January – Syd Barrett, guitarist and singer
7 January – Mike Wilds, racing driver and pilot
14 January – Harold Shipman, serial killer
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
30 January – John Bird, Baron Bird, social entrepreneur and life peer

February

1 February – Elisabeth Sladen, television actress
5 February – Charlotte Rampling, actress
7 February
*Brian Patten, Liverpool poet
*Pete Postlethwaite, actor
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
20 February – Brenda Blethyn, actress
21 February – Alan Rickman, actor
26 February – Colin Bell, footballer
28 February – Robin Cook, Labour politician

March

1 March – Tony Ashton, rock pianist and music producer
4 March
*Michael Ashcroft, entrepreneur
*Harvey Goldsmith, performing arts promoter
*John Virgo, snooker player and commentator
6 March
*David Gilmour, singer and guitarist
*Richard Noble, entrepreneur and land speed record holder
7 March – Matthew Fisher, singer-songwriter and producer
19 March – Steve Halliwell, actor
21 March – Timothy Dalton, actor
22 March – Richard Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Worcester, journalist and politician
23 March – Alan Bleasdale, screenwriter
25 March – Cliff Balsam, footballer
27 March – Patrick Richardson, travel writer and author

April

2 April
*Raymond Gubbay, English impresario
*Sue Townsend, novelist and playwright
4 April – Dave Hill, guitarist
5 April – Jane Asher, actress and author
9 April
*Les Gray, vocalist
*Mike Hancock, politician
*Alan Knott, cricketer
*Sara Parkin, Scottish activist and politician
11 April – Bob Harris, radio disc jockey
12 April – George Robertson, Scottish politician
15 April – Hugh Laddie, judge
19 April – Tim Curry, actor, voice artist, singer and composer
21 April – Alan Rickman, actor
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

May

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, rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
11 May – David Varney, civil servant
13 May – Tim Pigott-Smith, actor
16 May – Robert Fripp, rock guitarist
19 May – Trevor Adams, actor
20 May – Paul Hirst, sociologist
22 May – George Best, Northern Irish footballer
23 May – Stephen Marks, English businessman
27 May – Lewis Collins, actor

June

1 June – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
2 June – Peter Sutcliffe, serial killer
3 June – Penelope Wilton, actress
11 June – Jenny Pitman, horse trainer and author
14 June – Ernie Graham, Northern Irish singer-songwriter
15 June – Noddy Holder, rock singer-songwriter
19 June – Michael Jay, Baron Jay of Ewelme, English politician and diplomat, British Ambassador to France
20 June – Nigel Kalton, mathematician and academic
21 June –
*Kate Hoey, politician
*Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, businessman
22 June – Sheila Hollins, Baroness Hollins, psychiatrist
23 June – Kathy Wilkes, philosopher
25 June
*Buzz Goodbody, English theatre director
*Ian McDonald, musician
26 June – Clive Francis, actor and caricaturist
28 June – Jamie Cann, politician

July

1 July – Mick Aston, archaeologist
5 July
*Gwyneth Powell, actress
*Paul Smith, fashion designer
9 July – Mitch Mitchell, drummer
12 July – Robert Fisk, writer and journalist
14 July – Sue Lawley, broadcaster
30 July – Dixie Deans, footballer

August

3 August – Jack Straw, politician
6 August
*Ron Davies, politician
*Allan Holdsworth, guitarist and composer
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, rock drummer
*Willy Russell, playwright
26 August – Alison Steadman, actress
27 August – Peter Tobin, serial killer

September

1 September – Barry Gibb, Manx-born pop singer-songwriter
5 September - Freddie Mercury, rock singer
9 September – Adrian Smith, statistician, President of the Royal Society
10 September – Don Powell, drummer
11 September
*Mike Bull, Northern Irish pole vaulter and decathlete
*Anthony Browne, author and illustrator
*John Roberts, Welsh footballer and manager
*Jim Shoulder, footballer and manager
12 September – Neil Lyndon, journalist and author
17 September – Billy Bonds, footballer
19 September
*Michael Elphick, actor
*Oliver Foot, actor
22 September – John Tomlinson, operatic bass
25 September – Felicity Kendal, actress
28 September – Tom Bower, writer and journalist
29 September – Patricia Hodge, actress

October

8 October – Bel Mooney, author, journalist, advice columnist
10 October
*Charles Dance, actor
*Raymond Tallis, writer and poet
*Chris Tarrant, television and radio presenter
12 October – Chris Nicholl, football player and manager
13 October – Edwina Currie, Conservative politician, author and radio personality
14 October
*Justin Hayward, singer and songwriter
* Peter Jonas, opera director
*Katy Manning, English-Australian actress and production manager
17 October
*Cameron Mackintosh, theatre producer
*Vicki Hodge, actress
18 October – Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Welsh politician
19 October – Philip Pullman, author
22 October
*Eileen Gordon, Labour politician
*Kelvin MacKenzie, media executive and newspaper editor
29 October – Peter Green, blues rock guitarist and singer-songwriter
31 October – Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor

November

1 November – Ric Grech, bassist
5 November
*Caroline Jackson, politician
*Ken Whaley, Austrian-English bass player and songwriter
6 November – Susie Orbach, psychotherapist
7 November – Martin Barre, musician
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
21 November – Marina Warner, writer
22 November – Brian Cookman, musician and composer
23 November – Diana Quick, actress

December

4 December – Angela Browning, 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
*Peter Lorimer, Scottish footballer
16 December
*Christopher Ellison, actor
*Trevor Pinnock, harpsichordist and conductor
20 December – Lesley Judd, actress and television presenter
25 December – Christopher Frayling, cultural historian
27 December
*Janet Street-Porter, broadcast journalist
*Polly Toynbee, journalist and writer
29 December – Marianne Faithfull, English singer and actress
31 December – Roy Porter, medical historian
date unknown
*Alun Armstrong, actor
*Graham Gouldman, guitarist and songwriter
*Howard Kendall, footballer and football manager
*Christopher Strauli, comedy actor

Deaths

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