1959 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1959 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan

Events

15 January – Tyne Tees Television, the ITV franchise for North East England, goes on the air.
22 January – Racing driver Mike Hawthorn is killed after his Jaguar 3.4-litre car collides with a tree on the A3 near Guildford.
29 January – Dense fog brings chaos to Britain.
19 February – First of the London and Zürich Agreements under which the UK agrees to grant independence to Cyprus.
23 February – Prime Minister Harold Macmillan holds talks with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev on a visit to the USSR.
7 March – Independence movement leader Kanyama Chiume, wanted in the British territory of Nyasaland, flees to London and goes into hiding.
10 March – The comedy film Carlton-Browne of the F.O. is released.
30 March – 20,000 demonstrators attend a CND rally in Trafalgar Square.
1 April – The official name of the administrative county of Hampshire is changed from "County of Southampton" to "County of Hampshire".
2 April – United Dairies merges with Cow & Gate to form Unigate Dairies.
22 April – Ballerina Margot Fonteyn is released from prison in Panama following involvement in her husband's planned coup against the government of President Ernesto de la Guardia.
30 April – Icelandic gunboat fires on British trawlers in the first of the Cod Wars over fishing rights.

2 May
* The Chapelcross nuclear power station in Scotland opens.
* Nottingham Forest beat Luton Town 2–1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
7 May – Scientist and novelist C. P. Snow delivers an influential Rede Lecture on The Two Cultures, concerning a perceived breakdown of communication between the sciences and humanities in the Senate House, University of Cambridge. It is subsequently published as The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.
24 May – British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day.
28 May – The Mermaid Theatre opens in the City of London.
May – The first Ten Tors event is held on Dartmoor.
June – Import tariffs are lifted in the United Kingdom.
1 June – The first episode of Juke Box Jury airs on BBC Television, chaired by David Jacobs.
3 June – Singapore is granted self-governing status.
11 June – Christopher Cockerell's invention of the hovercraft is officially launched. On 25 July, the SR.N1 craft crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over 2 hours.
22 June – Harrods enters talks with Debenhams over a possible £34,000,000 merger.
23 June – Klaus Fuchs is released from Wakefield prison having served over nine years for giving British nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union and moves to East Germany.
9 July – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London–Cape Town flight.
10 July – Cliff Richard and The Drifters release the song "Living Doll" as a single.
28 July – UK postcodes are introduced for the first time, albeit as an experiment, in the city of Norwich.
29 July
* The Mental Health Act becomes law, modernising the care of mental disorders.
* The Obscene Publications Act becomes law.
* The Legitimacy Act becomes law, permitting the legitimisation of a child, one of whose parents was married to a third person at the time of their birth, by subsequent marriage of the parents.
4 August – Barclays become the first bank to install a computer.
24 August – House of Fraser wins the bidding war for Harrods in a £37,000,000 deal.
26 August – BMC launches the Mini to showrooms, a two-door, 10-foot-long car with an 848cc four-cylinder transverse engine and a top speed of 70 mph, designed to carry the driver and three passengers and their luggage in comfort. The designer is Alec Issigonis who also designed the Morris Minor. It will remain in production until the year 2000 and be replaced with a BMW-made version a year later.
31 August – Harold Macmillan and US President Dwight Eisenhower make a joint television broadcast from Downing Street.
18 September – Auchengeich mining disaster: 47 miners die as the result of an underground fire at Auchengeich Colliery, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
7 October – Southend Pier is damaged in a fire.
8 October – The 1959 General Election is held resulting in a record third successive Conservative victory. Harold Macmillan, running under the slogan "Life's better with the Conservatives, Don't let Labour ruin it", increases the Conservative majority in Parliament to 100 seats. The Labour Party contest their first General Election under the leadership of Hugh Gaitskell. Among the new Members of Parliament entering the Commons for the first time are future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who will represent Finchley in North London for 33 years and future leader of the Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe.
12 October – A large-scale diamond robbery takes place in London.
21 October – Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi is arrested in Nyeri, Kenya.
30 October – Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club opens in the Soho district of London.
2 November – The first section of the M1 motorway is opened between Watford and Rugby. It is set to be extended over the next few years, southwards to Edgware and northwards to Leeds.
5 November – Philip John Noel-Baker wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
11 November – London Transport introduces the production AEC Routemaster double-decker bus into public service.
14 November – The nuclear Dounreay Fast Reactor in Scotland achieves criticality.
17 November – Prestwick and Renfrew Airport in Scotland become the first airports in the UK with duty-free shops.
20 November – Britain becomes a founder member of the European Free Trade Association.
December – Health enthusiast Dr. Barbara Moore walks from Edinburgh to London.
6 December – Aberdeen trawler George Robb runs aground at Duncansby Head in Scotland in a severe gale with the loss of all 12 crew.
8 December – Broughty Ferry life-boat Mona capsizes on service to North Carr Lightship in Scotland, all eight life-boat crew are lost.
28 December – Associated-Rediffusion first airs the children's television series Ivor the Engine, made by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms in stop motion animation using cardboard cut-outs.

Undated

London County Council completes the first portion of Alton Estate in Roehampton, southwest London, considered a model of post-war public housing.
"Aluminium War": concluding the first hostile takeover of a public company in the UK, Tube Investments, allied with Reynolds Metals of the United States and advised by Siegmund Warburg of S. G. Warburg & Co., secure control of British Aluminium.
The iconic Bush TR82 transistor radio, by Ogle Design, is launched.
North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's Sloy-Awe Hydro-Electric Power Scheme becomes fully operational.
The Noise Abatement Society is established.
Car ownership in Britain now exceeds 30% of households.
Economic growth for the year is a very strong 7.2% while the Retail Price Index shows a zero percentage change over the year.
Approximate date, Ballads and Blues folk club founded by Ewan MacColl and others in a London pub in Soho as part of the second British folk revival.

Publications

Agatha Christie's novel Cat Among the Pigeons, featuring Hercule Poirot.
Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Goldfinger.
Colin MacInnes' novel Absolute Beginners.
Spike Milligan's collection Silly Verse for Kids.
Iona and Peter Opie's study The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren.
Mervyn Peake's novel Titus Alone, last completed of the Gormenghast series.
Alan Sillitoe's story The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
Keith Waterhouse's novel Billy Liar.

Births

January – February

4 January – John Batchelor, racing driver, businessman and political activist
5 January – David Eastwood, English historian and academic
7 January – Angela Smith, British Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Basildon
12 January – Simon Tolkien, novelist
16 January – Sade Adu, Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter and record producer
24 January – Jim Moir, English comedian and artist
29 January – Frank Key, writer
30 January – Alex Hyde-White, English actor
3 February – Lol Tolhurst, cofounder and drummer/keyboardist of rock band The Cure
4 February – John Wraw, Anglican prelate
6 February – Martyn Quayle, politician
7 February – Mick McCarthy, football player and manager
11 February – Deborah Meaden, businesswoman
15 February
* Adam Boulton, English journalist
* Ali Campbell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
* Martin Rowson, English author and illustrator
17 February – Dave Courtney, gangster, author and actor
18 February
* Jayne Atkinson, English-born actress
* David Parker, swimmer
23 February – Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
27 February – Simon Critchley, British philosopher

March – April

1 March – Nick Griffin, British politician, chairman of the British National Party
9 March – Mark Carwardine, British zoologist
15 March – Ben Okri, Nigerian-born poet and novelist
19 March – Terry Hall, British singer
20 March
*Steve McFadden, British actor
*Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, Labour politician and peer
21 March – Colin Jones, Welsh boxer
29 March – Richard Cousins, English businessman
30 March – Andrew Bailey, English banker
4 April – Gordon Dunne, Northern Irish politician
5 April – Ian Pearson, British Labour politician and MP for Dudley South
7 April – Nigel Walker, footballer
8 Apri – Martin Weston, cricketer
9 April – Bernard Jenkin, politician
11 April – John Myers, radio executive
14 April – Ali Brownlee, radio sports broadcaster
15 April – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian and screenwriter
16 April
* Yvonne Carter, general practitioner and academic
* Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
17 April
* Imogen Bain, actress
* Sean Bean, actor
* Peter Doig, British painter
19 April – Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, disability rights campaigner
21 April – Robert Smith, gothic rock singer-songwriter
24 April – Paula Yates, television presenter
25 April – Adrian Sanders, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for Torbay
27 April – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer

May – June

1 May – David Cordier, countertenor
3 May – Ben Elton, English comedian and writer
4 May – Dick Bradsell, bartender
5 May – Ian McCulloch, English rock singer-songwriter
8 May
* Kevin McCloud, television presenter
*David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland, aristocrat and politician
12 May
*Mark Davies, Roman Catholic bishop of Shrewsbury
*Deborah Warner, stage director and producer
13 May – Peter Longbottom, cyclist
15 May – Andrew Eldritch, English gothic rock singer-songwriter
16 May – Tracy Hyde, English actress and model
17 May – Richard Barrons, English general
18 May
* Graham Dilley, cricketer
* Rupert Soames, businessman
20 May
* Annabel Giles, broadcaster and actress
* Gregory Gray, Northern Irish singer-songwriter
22 May
* Graham Fellows, English comedy performer
* Morrissey, English alternative rock singer-songwriter
* Jon Sopel, journalist and television presenter
23 May – Bob Mortimer, English comedian and actor
24 May – Sharon Peacock, microbiologist
25 May – Julian Clary, comedian
27 May – Gerard Kelly, Scottish actor
28 May
* Bernardine Evaristo, author and academic
* John Morgan, writer and etiquette expert
29 May
* Rupert Everett, English actor
* Adrian Paul, English-born actor
* Tessa Tennant, English green investment campaigner
30 May – David Thomas, cricketer
1 June
* Martin Brundle, English Formula One motor racing driver
* John Pullinger, English statistician and librarian
* Peter Skinner, English Labour politician and MEP for South East England
6 June – Lindsay Posner, English theatre director and manager
11 June – Hugh Laurie, English actor, comedian and writer
19 June
* Ray Deakin, footballer
* Sophie Grigson, English cookery writer and celebrity chef
21 June – John Baron, English Conservative politician and MP for Billericay
24 June – Andy McCluskey, musician and songwriter
26 June – Lucy Kellaway, English columnist at the Financial Times and teacher
27 June – Clint Boon, English rock keyboardist and DJ
28 June – Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton, English Labour politician and educationalist
29 June – Richard Vranch, English comedian, actor and television panel show participant
30 June – Jane Gregory, Olympic equestrian

July – August

3 July
*Julie Burchill, journalist
*Graham Roberts, footballer and manager
4 July – Jan Brittin, cricketer
8 July – Pauline Quirke, actress
9 July
* Jim Kerr, singer
* Clive Stafford Smith, civil rights activist
11 July – Steve Whatley, actor and television presenter
13 July – Richard Leman, field hockey player
15 July – Charles Farr, civil servant
16 July
* Joanna MacGregor, pianist
* James MacMillan, composer and conductor
18 July – Jonathan Dove, operatic composer
29 July – John Sykes, guitarist
31 July – Kim Newman, journalist, film critic and fiction writer
1 August
* Joe Elliott, rock singer
* Desmond Noonan, gangster
5 August – Pete Burns, pop singer
19 August – Russell Foster, neuroscientist
20 August – Andrew Pelling, Conservative politician and MP for Croydon Central
24 August – Meg Munn, Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Sheffield Heeley
27 August – Jeanette Winterson, novelist
28 August – John Yems, football manager
29 August – Stephen Wolfram, scientist

September – October

5 September – Michael Lord-Castle, business person
8 September – Judy Murray, tennis coach
11 September – Colin Butts, novelist and screenwriter
12 September
* Mike Barrett, footballer
* Julia Samuel, psychotherapist
13 September – Andy Gray, Scottish actor
18 September
* Ian Arkwright, English footballer
* Lucy Birley, model, photographer and socialite
20 September – Kevin Stonehouse, footballer
21 September – Corinne Drewery, singer-songwriter and fashion designer
23 September
* Frank Cottrell-Boyce, writer
* Karen Pierce, British diplomat
24 September – Drummie Zeb, reggae musician
28 September – Paul 'Trouble' Anderson, DJ
4 October – Chris Lowe, synth-pop singer-songwriter
7 October – Simon Cowell, English music producer and television talent show judge
10 October
*Mark Johnston, Scottish-born racehorse trainer
*Kirsty MacColl, British singer-songwriter
15 October
* Sarah, Duchess of York
* Tibor Fischer, British fiction writer
* Andy Holmes, rower
16 October
* Gary Kemp, English pop artist
* John Whittingdale, British Conservative politician and MP for Maldon and Chelmsford East
20 October – Niamh Cusack, Irish-born actress
21 October – Cleveland Watkiss, jazz vocalist
24 October – Ruth Perednik, English-Israeli psychologist and academic
27 October – Liz Howe, ecologist

November – December

1 November – Susanna Clarke, British writer
2 November
*Kevin Ashman, English quiz player
*Peter Mullan, Scottish actor
9 November
*Andy Kershaw, British music broadcaster
*Frances O'Grady, British trades union leader
*Tony Slattery, actor and comedian
13 November – Caroline Goodall, actress
14 November – Paul McGann, British actor
18 November – Jimmy Quinn, Irish footballer and football manager
23 November – Maxwell Caulfield, British actor
25 November
* Mark Andrews, rower
* Charles Kennedy, Scottish Liberal Democrat politician
26 November – Dai Davies, Welsh politician and independent MP
30 November – Lorraine Kelly, Scottish presenter and journalist
1 December – Billy Childish, English painter, writer and musician
2 December – Gwyneth Strong, British actress
5 December – Robbie France, drummer
6 December – Stephen Hepburn, British Labour MP for Jarrow
10 December – Kevin Ash, journalist and author
11 December – Phil Woolas, disgraced Labour MP
12 December – Jasper Conran, English designer
28 December – Andy McNab, British soldier turned novelist
29 November – Richard Borcherds, mathematician
30 December
* Antonio Pappano, conductor and pianist
* Tracey Ullman, English comedian, actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author

Unknown dates

Amanda Craig, British novelist
Edith Hall, classicist
Mick Hume, British journalist and organiser of the Revolutionary Communist Party
Mick Manning, British children's author and illustrator
Jasper Morrison, English product and furniture designer

Deaths

14 January – G. D. H. Cole, political and economic theorist, historian and detective fiction writer
22 January – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver
15 February – Sir Owens Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
20 February – Laurence Housman, playwright and writer
21 February – Kathleen Freeman, classical scholar
24 February – Arthur Young, actor
26 February – Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, member of the royal family
25 April – Janet Philip, academic administrator
16 May – Elisha Scott, Northern Irish footballer
17 May – George Albert Smith, English film pioneer
11 June – Gordon Selwyn, educator and Anglican priest
11 July – Charlie Parker, English cricketer
5 August – Edgar A. Guest, English poet
19 August
*Jacob Epstein, American-born British sculptor
*Claude Grahame-White, English aviator
6 September – Kay Kendall, English actress
21 September – Agnes Nicholls, operatic soprano
25 September
* Gerard Hoffnung, German-born humorist
* Vera Laughton Mathews, naval officer
15 November – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
26 November – Albert Ketèlbey, pianist, conductor and composer
14 December – Stanley Spencer, painter