1976 in the United Kingdom

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II

Prime Minister – Harold Wilson (until 5 April) (Labour), James Callaghan (starting 5 April) (Labour)

January

January – Korean cars are officially imported to the United Kingdom for the first time, as Hyundai launches its Pony family saloon on the British market.

2 January – Hurricane-force winds of up to 105 mph kill 22 people across Britain and cause millions of pounds worth of damage to buildings and vehicles.

5 January – Ten Protestant men are killed in the Kingsmill massacre at South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".

7 January – Cod War: British and Icelandic ships clash at sea.

18 January – The Scottish Labour Party is formed.

20 January – 42-year-old married woman Emily Jackson is stabbed to death in Leeds; it is revealed that she was a part-time prostitute. Police believe she may have been killed by the same man who murdered Wilma McCann in the city three months ago.

21 January – The first commercial Concorde flight takes off.

29 January – Twelve Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs explode in London's West End.

February

2 February – The Queen opens the new National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, situated near the city's airport.

4–15 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, and win one gold medal.

11 February – John Curry becomes Britain's first gold medalist in skating at the Winter Olympics.

19 February – Iceland breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain over the Cod War.

March

March – Production of the Hillman Imp ends after 13 years. It is due to be replaced next year by a three-door hatchback based on a shortened Avenger floorpan.

1 March – Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.

4 March

The Maguire Seven are found guilty of the offence of possessing explosives and subsequently jailed for 14 years.

The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London via the British parliament.

16 March – Harold Wilson announces his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to take effect on 5 April.

19 March – Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon announce that they are to separate after 16 years of marriage.

26 March – Anita Roddick opens the first branch of The Body Shop in Brighton.

April

April – Anne Warburton becomes the first female British ambassador to take up her post (to Denmark).

3 April – The United Kingdom wins the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me", sung by Brotherhood of Man. It remains one of the biggest-selling Eurovision songs ever.

5 April – James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom upon the retirement of Harold Wilson, defeating Roy Jenkins and Michael Foot in the leadership contest. Callaghan, 64, was previously Foreign Secretary and had served as a chancellor and later Home Secretary under Wilson in government from 1964 until 1970.

7 April – Cabinet minister John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party leaving the Government without a majority in the House of Commons.

9 April – Young Liberals president Peter Hain is cleared of stealing £490 from a branch of Barclays Bank.

26 April – Comedy actor and Carry On star Sid James dies on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre having suffered a fatal heart attack.

May

1 May – Southampton F.C. win the first major trophy of their 91-year history when a goal from Bobby Stokes gives the Football League Second Division club a surprise 1-0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

4 May – Liverpool F.C. clinch their ninth Football League title with a 3-1 away win over relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers, fighting off a close challenge from underdogs Queen's Park Rangers.

6 May – Local council elections produce disappointing results for the Labour Party, who won just 15 seats and lost 829 that they had held, compared to the Conservatives who won 1,044 new seats and lost a mere 22. This setback came despite the party enjoying a narrow lead in the opinion polls under new leader James Callaghan.

9 May – 20-year-old Leeds prostitute Marcella Claxton is badly injured in a hammer attack.

10 May – Jeremy Thorpe resigns as leader of the Liberal party.

19 May – Liverpool win the UEFA Cup for the second time by completing a 4-3 aggregate victory over the Belgian side Club Brugge K.V..

19 May - a Royal Charter is granted to the Chartered Society of Designers

27 May – Harold Wilson's Resignation Honours List is published. It controversially awards honours to many wealthy businessmen, and comes to be known satirically as the "Lavender List".

June

June – British Leyland launches its innovative new Rover SD1, a large five-door hatchback that replaces the ageing P6 series.

1 June – UK and Iceland end the Cod War.

14 June – The trial for murder of Donald Neilson, known as the "Black Panther", begins at Oxford Crown Court.

22 June–16 July – Heat wave reaches its peak with the temperature attaining 26.7 °C (80 °F) every day of this period. For 15 consecutive days, 23 June–7 July inclusive, it reaches 32.2 °C (90 °F) somewhere in England; and five days - the first being 26 June - see the temperature exceed 35 °C (95 °F). This is contributing to the worst drought in the United Kingdom since the 1720s.

28 June – In the heat wave, the temperature reaches 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) in Southampton, the highest recorded for June in the UK.

29 June – The Seychelles become independent of the UK.

July

3 July – Heat wave peaks with temperatures reaching 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) in Cheltenham.

7 July – David Steel is elected as new leader of the Liberal Party.

10 July – Three British and one American mercenaries are shot by firing squad in Angola.

14 July – Ford launches a new small three-door hatchback, the Fiesta - its first front-wheel drive transverse engined production model - which is similar in concept to the Vauxhall Chevette and German car maker Volkswagen's new Polo. It will be built in several factories across Europe, including the Dagenham plant in Essex (where 3,000 jobs will be created), and continental sales begin later this year, although it will not go on sale in Britain until January 1977.

17 July–1 August – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and win 3 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals.

21 July – Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the UK ambassador to Ireland, and a civil servant, Judith Cooke, are killed by a landmine at Sandyford, Co. Dublin.

22 July – Dangerous Wild Animals Act requires licences for the keeping of certain animals in captivity.

27 July – United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Uganda.

29 July – A fire destroys the pier head at Southend Pier.

August

August

Drought at its most severe. Parts of South West England go for 45 days with no rain in July and August.

Government and Trades Union Congress agree a more severe Stage II one-year limit on pay rises.

5 August – The Great Clock of Westminster (or Big Ben) suffers internal damage and stops running for over nine months.

6 August – The last Postmaster General, John Stonehouse, is sentenced to seven years in jail for fraud.

14 August – 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland.

30 August – 100 police officers and 60 carnival-goers are injured during riots at the Notting Hill Carnival.

September

September – Chrysler Europe abandons the 69-year-old Hillman marque for its British-built cars and adopts the Chrysler name for the entire range.

1 September – Drought measures introduced in Yorkshire.

3 September – Riot at Hull Prison ends.

4 September – Peace March in Derry attracts 25,000 people in a call to end violence in Northern Ireland.

9 September – The Royal Shakespeare Company opens a memorable production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the lead roles, directed by Trevor Nunn.

12 September – Portsmouth football club, who were FA Cup winners in 1939 and league champions in 1949 and 1950 but are now in the Football League Third Division, are reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy with huge debts.

23 September – A fire on the destroyer HMS Glasgow while being fitted out at Swan Hunter' yard at Wallsend on Tyne kills eight men.

29 September – The Ford Cortina Mark IV is launched.

October

4 October – InterCity 125 trains are introduced on British Rail between London and Bristol.

15 October – Two members of the Ulster Defence Regiment jailed for 35 years for murder of the members of the Republic of Ireland cabaret performers Miami Showband.

22 October – The Damned release New Rose, the first single marketed as "punk rock".

24 October – Racing driver James Hunt becomes Formula One world champion.

25 October – Opening of the Royal National Theatre on the South Bank in London, in premises designed by Sir Denys Lasdun.

29 October – Opening of Selby Coalfield.

November

16 November – The seven perpetrators of an £8 million van robbery at the Bank of America in Mayfair are sentenced to a total of 100 years in jail.

December

1 December – Punk rock band the Sex Pistols achieve public notoriety as they unleash several swearwords live on Bill Grundy's TV show, following the release of their debut single Anarchy in the U.K. on 26 November.

10 December – Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan win the Nobel Peace Prize.

15 December – Denis Healey announces to Parliament that he has successfully negotiated a £2.3 billion loan for Britain from the International Monetary Fund on condition that £2.5 billion is cut from public expenditure: the NHS, education and social benefit sectors are not affected by these cuts.

Undated

Inflation stands at 16.5% - lower than last year's level, but still one of the highest since records began in 1750. However, at one stage during this year inflation exceeded 24%.

Opening of Rutland Water, the largest reservoir in England by surface area (1,212 hectares (2,995 acres)).

First purpose-built (Thai style) Buddhist temple built in Britain, the Wat Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon, London.

Publications

Kingsley Amis's novel The Alteration.

Jeffrey Archer's first novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

Agatha Christie's last published novel, the final Miss Marple story Sleeping Murder (posthumous).

Richard Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene.

Terry Pratchett's novel The Dark Side of the Sun.

Births

19 January – Marsha Thomason, actress

21 January – Emma Bunton, singer (Spice Girls)

2 February – James Hickman, swimmer

4 February – Stevie Knight, wrestler and promoter

10 February – Keeley Hawes, actress

20 February – Ed Graham, drummer (The Darkness)

22 March – Reese Witherspoon, actress

23 March – Chris Hoy, Olympic gold medal winning cyclist

10 April – Clare Buckfield, actress

15 April – Steve Williams, rower

18 April – Sean Maguire, actor and singer

8 May – Ian Watkins, pop singer

14 May – Martine McCutcheon, actress and singer

6 June – Ross Noble, comedian

13 June – Jason "J" Brown, musician (5ive)

16 June – Cian Ciaran, musician

25 June – Iestyn Harris, rugby player

8 July – Ellen MacArthur, yachtswoman

12 July – Anna Friel, actress

13 July – Lisa Riley, actress and television presenter

14 July – Geraint Jones, cricketer

19 July – Benedict Cumberbatch, actor

9 August

Rhona Mitra, actress

Aled Haydn-Jones, radio producer

13 August – Roddy Woomble, musician

6 September – Ian Ashbee, footballer

6 September – Naomie Harris, actress

8 September – Abi Titmuss, television presenter and model

11 September – Neil Willey, backstroke swimmer

16 September – Tina Barrett, singer (S Club 7)

13 October – Jennie Bimson, field hockey player

23 October – Cat Deeley, television presenter

25 October – Steve Jones, footballer

29 October – Stephen Craigan, footballer

7 November – Andrew Davies, cricketer

19 November – Dianne Meyer, nutter

8 December – Dominic Monaghan, actor

12 December – Dan Hawkins, guitarist (The Darkness)

17 December – Andrew Simpson, competition sailor (died 2013)

18 December – Jaime King, breaststroke swimmer

20 December – Adam Powell, inventor

date unknown – Steffan Cravos, musician

Deaths

5 January – Mal Evans, Beatles' former roadie and patron of Badfinger (born 1935)

12 January – Agatha Christie, writer (born 1890)

13 January – Margaret Leighton, actress (born 1922)

11 February – Charlie Naughton, actor (born 1886)

12 February – John Lewis, Marxist philosopher (born 1889)

23 February – L. S. Lowry, artist (born 1887)

19 March – Paul Kossoff, guitarist (Free) (born 1950)

24 March

Bernard Montgomery, field marshal (born 1897)

E. H. Shepard, artist and book illustrator (born 1879)

22 April – Colin MacInnes, novelist (born 1914)

28 April – Richard Hughes, novelist (born 1900)

7 May – Alison Uttley, writer (born 1884)

14 May – Keith Relf, musician (The Yardbirds) (born 1943)

9 June – Sybil Thorndike, actress (born 1882)

11 June – Amy Gentry, rower (born 1903)

28 June – Sir Stanley Baker, actor (born 1928)

19 August – Alastair Sim, actor (born 1900)

30 August – David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore, politician (born 1903)

14 October – Edith Evans, actress (born 1888)

20 November – Martin D'Arcy, Catholic intellectual (born 1888)

4 December – Benjamin Britten, composer (born 1913)