DATE

UNITED KINGDOM

REST OF THE WORLD

DUDLEY

AGE

OF

ST JOHN’S

CHURCH

ST JOHN’S CHURCH

1947

·          Coal industry nationalised

·          Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh

·          David Bowie born, Brixton

·          First transistor ,USA

·          India becomes independent

·          A Bedouin boy discovers the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a text of the Book of Isaiah

107 years old

·          Third edition of The Story of the Church ofJohn the Evangelist, Dudley issued, complied by F.Baugh, with thanks to Mrs A. Noott and the vicar. Typeset by Miss F. Bennett. Price of the booklet one shilling.

1948

·          British railways nationalised, British Rail created

·          Charles, Prince of Wales, born

·          National Health Service founded

·          First McDonald hamburgers outlet, California

·          Velcro invented, Swiss

·          Gandhi assassinated

108 years old

·          Rev Wallace Francis Cox leaves to become Rector of St Leonard’s, Bridgnorth

·          Replaced by Rev Harold Ernest Jones (serves 8 years)

1949

·          Council of Europe set up in London

·          British iron and steel industries nationalised

·          The British recognise Eire’s independence but reaffirm Northern Ireland’s position within the UK

·          USSR explodes an atomic bomb in tests

·          India becomes a federal republic within the Commonwealth

·          Mao Tse Tung turns China into a communist state

109 years old

1950

·          First self service store, a Sainsburys, opens

·          Petrol rationing following WW2 ends

·          First Grand Prix, Silverstone

·          Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Princess Anne, born

·          George Orwell dies

·          First credit card, USA

·          Chinese forces occupy Tibet

·          Black people in Johannesburg protest against apartheid laws

·          India becomes a republic severing all ties with Britain

110 years old

1951

·          First Miss World beauty contest

·          Winston Churchill wins general election

·          Festival of Britain

·          Phil Collins, Jane Seymour, Gordon Brown, Sting, Kevin Keegan, born

·          First nuclear power station, USA

·          Colour TV introduced, USA

·          Japan regains indepence after 6 years of military occupation

111 years old

1952

·          King George VI dies, Queen Elizabeth accedes to throne

·          Britain first atomic bomb tests

·          Great Smog, fog causes chaos and at least 4000 deaths in London

·          British troops to Kenya to try and suppress the Mau Mau, trying to drive out white settlers

·          Contraceptive pill introduced

112 years old

1953

·          Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

·          Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

·          Ian Fleming first James Bond book, Casino Royale

·          North Sea flood, east coast, kills hundreds

·          Edmund Hillary and Norkey Tenzing climb Mount Everest

·          Stalin dies, age 73 years, Russia

·          Lung cancer reported linked to smoking

·          Hugh Hefner founds Playboy

113 years old

1954

·          Roger Bannister runs the mile in less than 4 minutes

·          Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkein

·          Rationing following WW2 ends

·          Launch of first nuclear submarine, USA

·          First contraceptive pill, USA

·          First atomic power station, Moscow

114 years old

1955

·          Commercial TV begins

·          81 year old Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister, suceeded by Anthony Eden

Ruth Ellis last woman to be hanged

·          Lego invented, Danish

115 years old

1956

·          First transantlantic telephone cable (Britain and Canada)

·          Parliament votes to end the death penalty

·          Third class abolished on trains and re-named second class

·          Prince Rainier III, Monaco, marries Grace Kelly

·          Sudan, Morocco and Tunisia become independent

·          The King and I, film

116 years old