DATE

UNITED KINGDOM

REST OF THE WORLD

DUDLEY

AGE

OF

ST JOHN’S

CHURCH

ST JOHN’S CHURCH

1957

·          Anthony Eden resigns as Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan takes over

·          Jodrell Bank Radio telescope

·          All Shook Up first UK number one for Elvis Presley

·          Treaty of Rome signed, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, beginning the Common Market

·          Soviet space satellite, Sputnik, launched

·          Humphrey Bogart dies, USA

117 years old

·          Rev John Smith appointed, previously at the Church of the Ascension, Wallheath, replacing Rev Jones

·          Rev Smith is the first Vicar to live in the new, smaller vicarage, the old one having been sold

1958

·          Seven members of Manchester United football team killed in aircrash, Munich

·          First stereo discs sold

·          First 625 parking meters installed, London

·          Barbie Doll, Mattell, USA

·          First electric piano, USA

·          USA space satellite s Explorer launched.

·          US scientists measure ozone levels, fearing damage

118 years old

·          Organist Mr G.R. Baxter takes over from Mr F.M. Franks

1959

·          Prince Andrew born

·          First section of M1 opened

·          British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day

·          Hugh Laurie, Ben Elton, Paul Whitehouse, Sheena Easton, born

·          Fidel Castro becomes Prime Minister of Cuba

·          Errol Flynn dies, USA

·          Russian Double agent Colonel Peter Popove thrown live into a furnace as punishment

119 years old

1960

·          Nan Winton first woman to read the national news on BBC

·          60,000 protest against nuclear weapons, London

·          Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity, Lady Chatterleys Lover

·          Computer aided design, USA

·          France explodes an atomic bomb in the Sahara

·          Brezhnev becomes president of USSR

120 years old

1961

·          Britain applies for membership of the EEC (Common Market)

·          Farthing ceases to be legal tender

·          Beatles perform at the Cavern for the first time

·          Birth control pills become available on NHS

·          Major Yuru Gagarin becomes first man to travel in space, USSR

·          East Germans close the east/west Berlin border, Berlin wall built

·          Soviets explode a hydrogen bomb

121 years old

1962

·          Graham Hill world champion, motor racing

·          New Coventry Cathedral completed

·          First hit for the Beatles ‘Love Me Do’

·          Start of Satellite television

·          First industrial robot, USA

·          Marilyn Monroe dies, USA

122 years old

·          Rev John Smith leaves, to Weston Flavell, Northampton, Diocese of Peterborough

·          No vicar appointed for a year

1963

·          Great Train robbery, £2,500,000, Glasgow-London mail train

·          Prime Minister Harold Macmillan resigns having been told he is terminally ill with cancer. He is not.

·          Johnny Depp, actor, born, Kentucky

·          President John F. Kennedy assassinated

·          Martin Luther speech ‘I have a dream.’, Washington

123 years old

·          Rev Wilfred Bates appointed, a local man from Cradley Heath, previously spent 10 years as Rector of St Nicholas and St Peter, Droitwich, before that 6 years as Vicar of Catshill

·          Rev Bates forms St John’s Social Group (still active) (replacing the A.Y.P.A Anglican Young People’s Association)

·          Sunday School very active, three coaches needed for the annual outing

·          Youth club

·          Amateur drama group

·          Over 20 Club

1964

·          Pirate Radio Caroline begins broadcasting

·          Terence Conran opens first Habitat store, London

·          First issue of the Sun newspaper

·          Mary Poppins, film

·          Beatlemania sweeps North America

·          Malta obtains independence from UK

124 years old

1965

·          Mary Quant creates the mini skirt, London

·          Sir Winston Churchill dies, aged 90 years

·          Cigarette advertising on TV banned

·          First computer mouse, USA

·          Synthesizer, USA

·          The Sound of Music, film

·          Dr Zhivago, film

125 years old

1966

·          Archbishop of Canterbury visits Rome, first meeting between Anglican and Roman Catholic churches for 400 years

·          England wins World Cup at Wembley

·          Aberfan disaster, 124 killed including 118 children

·          Miniskirts come into fashion

·          Walt Disney dies, USA

·          Elizabeth Arden (cosmetics) dies, USA

·          International Day of Protest against US policy in Vietnam

126 years old