1959 in the United Kingdom

Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 1959 in the United Kingdom: Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Other years
1957 \| 1958 1959 \| 1960 \| 1961
Sport and Music
British and Irish current events
1959 English cricket season
Football Image:Flag of England.svg England \| Image:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
1959 in British music

Events from the year 1959 in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Events

February 19 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence.
May - First Ten Tors event held in Dartmoor.
late May / early June - import tariffs lifted in the United Kingdom.
May 24 - British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day.
October 12 - Large scale diamond robbery in London.
October 21 - Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi is arrested in Nyeri, Kenya.
November 2 - The first section of the M1 motorway was opened between the present junctions 5 and 18.
November 8 - Leeds City Tramways closes down

7 January - Angela Evans Smith, British Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Basildon
16 January - Sade Adu, Nigerian-born British singer, composer, songwriter and record producer
30 January - Alex Hyde-White, English actor
February 3 - Laurence Tolhurst, cofounder and former drummer/keyboardist of The Cure
February 23 - Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
27 February - Simon Critchley, British philosopher

9 March - Mark Carwardine, British zoologist
15 March - Ben Okri,Nigerian-born poet and novelist.
March 20 - Steve McFadden, British actor
21 March - Colin Jones, Welsh boxer, who represented Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics
5 April - Ian Pearson,British Labour politician and MP for Dudley South
15 April - Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, and screenwriter.
April 16 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
April 21 - Robert Smith, British musician (The Cure)
25 April - Adrian Sanders, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for Torbay
April 27 - Sheena Easton, Scottish singer

May 3 - Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
May 5 - Ian McCulloch, English singer (Echo & the Bunnymen)
May 15 - Andrew Eldritch, British musician (The Sisters of Mercy)
17 May - Paul Whitehouse, Welsh comedian and actor
May 22 - Steven Morrissey, British singer
29 May - Rupert Everett, English actor
May 29 - Adrian Paul, British actor
1 June - Martin Brundle, English motor racing and former Formula One driver
1 June - Peter Skinner, British Labour politician and MEP for South East England
11 June - Hugh Laurie , English actor, comedian and writer
19 June - Sophie Grigson, British cookery writer and celebrity chef
21 June - John Baron, British Conservative politician and MP for Billericay
June 27 - Clint Boon, British musician (Inspiral Carpets)
29 June - Richard Vranch, British comedian, actor, and TV panel show participant

July 3 - Julie Burchill, British journalist
July 13 - Richard Leman, British field hockey player
26 July - Kevin Spacey, American actor and director
31 July - Kim Newman, English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer
August 1 - Joe Elliott, British singer (Def Leppard)
20 August - Andrew Pelling, British Conservative politician and MP for Croydon Central
24 August - Meg Munn, British Labour Co-operative politician and MP for Sheffield Heeley
27 August - Jeanette Winterson, British novelist.

September 18 - Ian Arkwright, English footballer
October 7 - Simon Cowell, English music producer and television talent show judge
October 10 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (d.2000)
October 15 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
16 October - Gary Kemp, English pop artist (Spandau Ballet)
16 October - John Whittingdale, British Conservative politician and MP for Maldon and Chelmsford East
20 October - Niamh Cusack, Irish-born actress
October 26 - Brian Bovell, British actor

November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
15 November - Tibor Fischer, British novelist and short story writer
November 18 - Jimmy Quinn, Irish footballer and football manager
November 25 - Charles Kennedy, British Liberal Democrat politician
November 30 - Lorraine Kelly, British presenter and journalist
2 December - Gwyneth Strong, British actress
6 December - Stephen Hepburn, British Labour politician and MP for Jarrow
12 December - Jasper Conran, English fashion designer
28 December - Andy McNab, is a British soldier turned novelist
30 December - Tracey Ullman, is an English comedian, actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, and author

Dilly Braimoh, African-British television presenter and producer.
Amanda Craig, British novelist.
Susanna Clarke, British writer (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell)
Peter Doig, British painter.
Mick Hume, British journalist and former organiser of the Revolutionary Communist Party
WPC Yvonne Fletcher, British policewoman shot and killed during a protest outside the Libyan embassy (d. 1984)
Nick Griffin, British politician and chairman of the British National Party (BNP).
Lucy Kellaway, British columnist at the Financial Times
Mick Manning, British children's author and illustrator
Peter Mullan, Scottish actor
Jasper Morrison, English product and furniture designer.
Yvonne Ridley, British journalist and Respect Party politician