1936 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1936 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Events
- 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.[1][2][3]
- 20 January - King George V dies at Sandringham House, Norfolk, aged 70.[4] 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.
- 6 February–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.[5]
- 11 April - Billy Butlin opens his first Butlins holiday camp, Butlins Skegness in Skegness (Ingoldmells), Lincolnshire.[6] It is officially opened by Amy Johnson.
- 17 May - Barquentine Waterwitch is laid up at Par, Cornwall, the last square rigged ship to trade under sail alone in British ownership.[7]
- 27 May - The RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York.
- 3 July
- 16 July - George McMahon tries to shoot King Edward VIII during the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
- 24 July - The General Post Office introduces the speaking clock.[10]
- 27 July - Opening of new swimming pool at Morecambe, claimed to be the largest open-air example in Europe.[11]
- 31 July - Public Health Act empowers local authorities to make byelaws regulating building construction.
- 1 August–16 August - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Berlin and win 4 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals.
- 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.[10]
- 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.[12]
- 30 September - Official opening of Pinewood Studios.[10]
- 4 October - Battle of Cable Street between Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists and anti-fascist demonstrators.[5]
- 5–31 October - Jarrow March: 207 miners march from Jarrow to London in a protest against unemployment and poverty.[10]
- 20 October - Prime minister Stanley Baldwin confronts King Edward VIII about his relationship with Wallis Simpson.
- 27 October - Wallis Simpson divorces Ernest Aldrich Simpson, removing the legal barrier to her marrying Edward VIII.[10]
- 31 October - Elizabeth Cowell becomes the first female British television presenter making a broadcast from Alexandra Palace.[10]
- 2 November - BBC launch world's first regular television service,[5] 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.[13]
- 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 (such a thing has never been known in British laws).
- 27 November - Stanley Baldwin raises the issue of a morganatic marriage in the Cabinet, where it is rejected outright.
- 30 November - The Crystal Palace is destroyed in a fire.[10]
The Instrument of Abdication
Date unknown
Publications
- The Left Book Club is founded by Stafford Cripps, Victor Gollancz, John Strachey and Harold Laski.[18][19]
- Eric Ambler's novel The Dark Frontier.[20]
- W. H. Auden’s poems Look, Stranger!.[21]
- A. J. Ayer's philosophical study Language, Truth, and Logic.
- 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,[21] including "Burnt Norton", first of the Four Quartets.
- Aldous Huxley's novel Eyeless in Gaza.
- Michael Innes’ novel Death at the President’s Lodging.[20]
- John Maynard Keynes' book 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,[21] including "And death shall have no dominion".
- W. B. Yeats edits the anthology The Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892-1935.
Births
- 9 February - Clive Swift, actor
- 10 April - John Howell, Olympic long jumper
- 9 May
- 17 June - Ken Loach, British film director
- 1 August - Donald Neilson, British serial killer known as the Black Panther
- 17 August - Arthur Rowe, English shot putter (died 2003)
- 24 August - A. S. Byatt, novelist and poet
- 3 September - Mike Ellis, hammer thrower
- 24 October - Bill Wyman, rock bassist
- 25 October - Martin Gilbert, historian (died 2015)
- 25 December - Princess Alexandra of Kent, daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Kent
Deaths
- 18 January - Rudyard Kipling, writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1865)
- 20 January - King George V (born 1865)
- 2 March - Princess Victoria, granddaughter of Queen Victoria (born 1876, Malta)
- 30 April - A. E. Housman, poet (born 1859)
- 14 June - G. K. Chesterton, English author (born 1874)
- 21 September - Frank Hornby, inventor, businessman and politician (born 1863)
- 2 November - Martin Lowry, chemist (born 1874)
- 10 December - Bobby Abel, English cricketer (born 1857)
References
- ↑ Morrison, Blake (1 December 2007). "Stamp of excellence". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ↑ "Night Mail". Britmovie.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ↑ "Night Mail (1936)". screenonline. BFI. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ↑ "George V (1865-1936)". History. BBC. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 380–381. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ↑ "Skegness". Butlins Memories. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ↑ Bouquet, Michael (1971). Westcountry Sail: Merchant Shipping 1840-1960. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5033-1.
- ↑ "Lawn Tennis: F. J. Perry Wins Again". The Times (47418). 4 July 1936. p. 7.
- ↑ Burton, Mark (3 February 1995). "Fred Perry, Wimbledon's true champion, dies at 85". The Independent. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ↑ Riddell, Jonathan; Tomkinson, Nicolette. This Is Your Way Sir. Capital Transport. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-85414-343-3.
- ↑ Davies, John (1994). A History of Wales. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014581-8.
- ↑ Ellis, Samantha (30 July 2003). "French without Tears, London, 1936". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1936". Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ↑ Cooke, Alistair (1995). Six Men. ISBN 1-55970-317-2.
- ↑ "Edward VIII: Abdication timeline". BBC News. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ↑ Johannessen, Neil (1994). Telephone Boxes. Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. ISBN 0-7478-0250-5.
- ↑ Lewis, John (1970). The Left Book Club: an historical record. London: Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-00586-6.
- ↑ Laity, Paul, ed. (2001). The Left Book Club Anthology. London: Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-07221-0.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Keating, H. R. F. (1982). Whodunit? – a guide to crime, suspense and spy fiction. London: Windward. ISBN 0-7112-0249-4.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.
See also