1965 Class Year History
September – The British Motor Corporation launches the BMC ADO17 family saloon car, initially as the Austin 1800; this again wins BMC the European Car of the Year award, in its second year.
4 September – The Forth Road Bridge opens over the Firth of Forth, linking Fife and Edinburgh.
14 September – The final edition of the left-wing Daily Herald newspaper is published.
15 September - The Sun newspaper goes into circulation, replacing the Daily Herald.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home calls a general election for 15 October.
21 September – Malta obtains independence from the UK.
29 September – Announcement that American car manufacturer Chrysler is taking a substantial share in the British Rootes Group combine, which includes the Hillman, Singer and Sunbeam marques.
October – Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (the first British woman to win a Nobel) "for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances".
10 October–24 October – Great Britain competes at the Olympics in Tokyo and wins 4 gold, 12 silver and 2 bronze medals.
15 October – The General election is held. The Labour Party defeats the Conservatives. Harold Wilson becomes prime minister, having gained a majority of five seats. The election result spells the end of 13 years of Conservative government, although the prime minister Alec Douglas-Home had only entered office 12 months ago.
17 October – Harold Wilson's cabinet is announced; it includes James Callaghan (who missed out on the Labour leadership in February 1963), Denis Healey, Barbara Castle and Roy Jenkins. Jim Griffiths becomes the first Secretary of State for Wales.
18 October – Wilson creates the Welsh Office.
24 October – Northern Rhodesia, a former British protectorate, becomes the independent Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule.
2 November – ITV soap opera Crossroads airs for the first time.
9 November – House of Commons votes to abolish the death penalty for murder in Britain. The last execution took place in August and the death penalty is set to be officially abolished before the end of next year, with the number of executions having gradually fallen during the last decade.
27 November – Power unions announce that they will start balloting for a strike.
30 November – Power dispute settled and strike action called off.
16 December – Government, Trades Union Congress and employers produce a joint Statement of Intent on Productivity, Prices and Incomes.
21 December – MPs vote 355 to 170 for the abolition of the death penalty, with the abolition likely to be confirmed before the end of next year. The death penalty has gradually fallen out of use over the last twenty years, with the two most recent executions having taken place in August this year.
23 December -- Richard Beeching announces his intention to resign as Chairman of the British Railways Board after three-and-a-half years, during which he proposed the closure of many smaller and financially non-viable railway lines.
"Pirate" radio station Wonderful Radio London begins broadcasting from MV Galaxy anchored off Frintonon- Sea, with a Fab 40 playlist of popular records.
24 December – The Beatles gain the Christmas number one for the second year running with I Feel Fine, which has topped the singles charts for the third week running. The Beatles have now had six number ones in the United Kingdom alone.
26 December – Moors murders: Police launch a missing persons investigation after ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey goes missing from a fairground in Ancoats, Manchester.
31 December – Donald Campbell sets the world speed record on water at 276.33 mph on Dumbleyung Lake in Australia.
1 January – Introduction of new "Worboys Committee" road signs.
7 January – Identical twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray, 31, are arrested on suspicion of running a protection racket in London.
14 January – The Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
15 January – Sir Winston Churchill is reported to be seriously ill after suffering a stroke.
24 January – Sir Winston Churchill dies aged 90 at Chartwell, his Kent home of more than 40 years.
30 January – Thousands attend Winston Churchill's state funeral in London. During the three days of
lying-in-state, 321,000 people file past the catafalque, and the funeral procession travels from Westminster Hall to the service at St Paul's Cathedral, attended by the Queen, Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and representatives of 112 countries. He is buried privately at Bladon near his family's ancestral home in Oxfordshire.
31 January – National Health prescription charges end.
1 February – The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrive in Ethiopia on a state visit.
4 February – Confederation of British Industry founded.
6 February – Sir Stanley Matthews plays his final First Division game, at the record age of 50 years and 5 days.
16 February – The British Railways Board (chairman: Richard Beeching) publishes The Development of the Major Trunk Routes proposing which lines should receive investment (and, by implication, which should not).
18 February – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
3 March – The remains of Roger Casement, from Pentonville Prison, are reburied in Dublin.
10 March – Goldie, a London Zoo golden eagle, is recaptured after 13 days of freedom.
19 March – A record price of 760,000 guineas is paid at Christie's for Rembrandt's Titus
23 March – Dr Dorothy Hodgkin is awarded the Order of Merit.
1 April -- The Greater London Council comes into its powers, replacing the London County Council and greatly expanding the metropolitan area of the city.
Finance Act introduces corporation tax, replacing income tax for corporate institutions.
6 April – Government publicly announces cancellation of the BAC TSR-2 nuclear bomber aircraft project.
23 April – The Pennine Way officially opens.
26 April – Manchester United win the Football League First Division title.
1 May – Liverpool win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating Leeds United 2-1 at Wembley Stadium. Roger Hunt and Ian St John score for Liverpool, while Billy Bremner scores the consolation goal for Leeds.
7 May – The Rhodesian Front under Prime Minister Ian Smith win a landslide election victory in Rhodesia.
11 May – The National Trust officially launches its long-term Enterprise Neptune project to acquire or put under covenant a substantial part of the Welsh, English and Northern Irish coastline. Whiteford Burrows on the Gower Peninsula is considered the first property to be acquired under the campaign although its purchase was announced on 1 January.
13 May – The Conservatives make big gains in the UK local government elections.
17 May – An underground explosion at Cambrian Colliery in Clydach Vale kills 31.
18 May – The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh begin a 10-day state visit to the Federal German Republic.
19 May – West Ham United F.C. become the second British club to win a European trophy, defeating West German 1860 Munich 2-0 at Wembley Stadium.
3 June – The bank rate is reduced to 6 per cent.
