1954 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1954 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
* Prime Minister - Winston Churchill Conservative Party

Events

* 10 January - A British Airways comet jet flying from Singapore to London crashes in the Mediterranean, killing 35 people. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/10/newsid_2709000/2709957.stm|title="Comet jet crashes with 35 on board", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-01-05]
* 25 January - First broadcast of Dylan Thomas's radio play "Under Milk Wood", two months after its author's death.
* 12 February
** United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority founded. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/12/newsid_2540000/2540781.stm|title="New authority for atomic energy", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
** British Medical Committee report suggests the existence of a link between smoking and lung cancer.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 407-408|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 3 April - Oxford wins the 100th Boat Race. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/3/newsid_2889000/2889013.stm|title="Oxford wins 100th Boat Race", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
* 6 May - Roger Bannister becomes the first person to break the four-minute mile. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511575.stm|title="Bannister breaks four-minute mile", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
* 6 June
** J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" first published.cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/lostdecade/timeline_html.shtml|title=The Lost Decade Timeline, BBC|accessdate=2008-02-06]
** First broadcast on the Eurovision Network founded by Britain, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland of a message from Pope Pius XII.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 4 July - fourteen years of rationing following World War II comes to an end. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_3818000/3818563.stm|title="Housewives celebrate end of rationing", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
* 15 July - Donald McGill, a publisher of saucy seaside postcards, found guilty of breaching the Obscene Publications Act of 1857.
* 4 August - Maiden flight of the English Electric Lightning P-1 supersonic fighter plane.
* 3 September - the National Trust for Scotland acquires Fair Isle. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/newsid_3020000/3020298.stm|title="National Trust buys remote island", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
* 13 October - Chris Chataway breaks the world record for the 5000 metres by five seconds. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/13/newsid_3150000/3150709.stm|title="Chataway beats 5,000m world record", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
* 14 October - the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie visits the United Kingdom. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/14/newsid_2532000/2532907.stm|title="Ethiopian emperor visits UK", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-06]
* 19 October - Britain agrees to end its military occupation of the Suez Canal.
* 2 November - Radio comedy series "Hancock's Half Hour" first aired.
* 30 November - Sir Winston Churchill becomes the first serving British Prime Minister to reach their 80th birthday while still in office.

Publications

* Kingsley Amis's novel "Lucky Jim".
* William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies".
* Agatha Christie's novel "Destination Unknown".
* Ian Fleming's James Bond novel "Live and Let Die".
* C. S. Lewis' novel "The Horse and His Boy".
* Iris Murdoch's novel "Under the Net".
* J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers", the first two volumes of the "The Lord of the Rings".

Births

* 4 January - Dave Ulliott, professional poker player
* 6 January - Anthony Minghella, film director (died 2008)
* 9 February - Kevin Warwick, scientist
* 16 February - Iain Banks, writer
* 20 February - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
* 4 March - Willie Thorne, snooker player
* 8 March - David Wilkie, swimmer
* 13 March - Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, politician
* 17 March - Lesley-Anne Down, actress
* 19 April - Trevor Francis, footballer
* 1 May - Archie Norman, politician and businessman
* 10 July - Neil Tennant, musician
* 2 August - Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
* 11 August - Joe Jackson, singer
* 25 August - Elvis Costello, singer
* September 15 - Colin Cunningham, swimmer
* 3 November - Adam Ant, singer
* 8 November - Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese-born author
* 5 December - Hanif Kureishi, novelist and screenwriter
* 8 December - Louis de Bernières, author
* 25 December - Annie Lennox, singer
* 31 December - Alex Salmond, Scottish National Party leader

Deaths

* 18 January - Sydney Greenstreet, actor (born 1879)
* 20 January - Fred Root, cricketer (born 1890)
* 8 February - Ronald Niel Stuart, Royal Navy Captain (born 1886)
* 6 May - B.C. Forbes, Scottish-born publisher (born 1880)
* 7 June - Alan Turing, mathematician, logician and cryptographer (born 1912)
* 11 July - Henry Valentine Knaggs, physician and author (born 1859)
* 24 September - Edward Pilgrim, victim of bureaucracy (born 1904)
* 20 December - James Hilton, novelist (born 1900)

References

ee also