1948 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1948 in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Events

January 1 - British Rail created when the government nationalises the railway industry. ^[1]
January 4 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
February 4 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. ^[2]King George VI becomes King of Ceylon.
May 14 - The murder of a three-year-old girl in Blackburn leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
22 June - the ship Empire Windrush arrives in Britain with 500 Jamaican immigrants. ^[1]
June 22- An order in council removes the title of Emperor of India from the Royal Style and Titles, recognising the independence of India in 1947.
July 5 - The National Health Service is founded, giving Britons the right to universal healthcare, free at point of use. ^[1]
July 15 - First London chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous
29 July–14 August - 1948 Summer Olympics held in London. ^[1]
November 8- The King issues Letters Patent granting the title of Prince or Princess of the United Kingdom, with the style Royal Highness, to the children of The Duke of Edinburgh and The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh.

Patrick Blackett wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation". ^[3]
T. S. Eliot wins the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry". ^[4]