What has happenned since 1949.
1949
Doctors subscription charges were introduced....
Mind you, they were MUCH cheaper than they are today.
1950
'Evening in Paris' was a popular perfume
in a little blue bottle.
Credit cards were introduced in the USA, invented by Frank X McNamara.
1951
Approval was give to make charges for
dental and optical appliances.
The first Miss World Contest was
held in London,
and the winner was Miss Sweden.
1952
Elizabeth the second became Queen
on Feb. 6th. ....and she made her first Christmas speech.
A BOAC (British Overseas Airway Corporation)
Comet Airliner was the first passenger jet plane
to fly from London to Johannesburgh on May 2nd.
Anne Frank's diaries were published on 15th June.
Car seat belts were introduced,
but it was not compulsory to wear them.
1953
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth the second
on June 2nd.
Heart- Lung machine was invented
by John Gibbon.
Sir Edmond Hilary and Norgay
climbed Mount Everest.
Roger Bannister broke
the 4 minute mile record.
DNA was discovered.
1954
First kidney transplant
was performed.
Commercial television arrived.
1955
Ultrasound was introduced
into obstetrics.
Independent television started
on 22nd Sept.
Test transmissions for colour television
began on Oct. 10th.
Lego invented by Gotfried Kirk Christiansen.
Author John Grisham on Feb 8th
1956
Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier the third,
of Monaco.
Polio immunisations were introduced.
T V remote controls were invented.
Velcro was also introduced, invented by George D Mestral.
Big Ben was overhauled over
a 3 month period.
1957
Space age was lauched by Russia,
when they sent the sputnik into space.
1958
Hoola Hoops were a craze.
(I see they are in the shops again now.)
Lego toy bricks were first introduced.
Premier of the film "Superman"
Buddy Holly killed in aircrash on Feb 3rd.
De Gaulle elected President of France on Dec 21st.
1960
We were wearing the mini skirt.
Hearing aids were made available
on the N.H.S.
(National Health Service.)
1961
Diana Spencer, later to become
Princess Diana, Princess of Wales,
was born on July 1st, at Park House Estate,
in Sandringham, Norfolk.
Russia's Yuri Gagarin was the first man
to be sent into space.
Contraceptive pill became available
to married women from the N.H.S.
(Clinics also made it available
to single women three years later.)
1962
Oral polio vaccine was given.
Marilyn Monroe died on Aug. 4th.
Audio cassette invented.
"Mona Lisa" exhibited in Washington.
John Steinbeck awarded Nobel prize in Literature.
1963
On Nov. 22nd of this year,
nearly everyone will remember
exactly where they were or
what they were doing,
as it was the day that the
US President John F. Kennedy
was shot in Dallas.
He had been the youngest
President to be elected
at the age of 43 years,
and was also the first
Roman Catholic President.
First liver transplant was performed.
Touch tone telephones introduced.
Ring pull can invented by Alcoa.
1964
Radio Caroline started broadcasting
from the North Sea.
BBC 2 arrived.
1965
Russia's Aleksei Leonoy was the
first person to make a space walk
outside the space craft.
C D was invented by James T. Russell.
First home video tape recorder marketed.....Sony CV- 2000
Sir Winston Churchill buried on January 30th
1966
Russia's 'Lunar 9' made the
first landing on the moon.
Vaccination against measles began.
John Lennon first met
Yoko Ono on Nov. 9th.
England won the football World cup.
Mud slide buries school in Wales on October 21st.
1967
First heart transplant performed
in Cape Town.
The Abortion Bill became law.
BBC made their first colour
TV transmission.
1968
First sextuplets to be born in Britain.
Apollo 8 launched when first humans left the earth's gravity influence and orbit another world.
1969
Concorde made her maiden flight
from the UK to France.
Apollo 11...America's Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin are first
to land and walk on the moon.
The pioneering of test-tube fertilization
by Steptoe and Edwards.
'Hole in the wall' cash machines were
introduced in Turkey.
M P's vote to abolish hanging.
1970
Nixon meets Elvis Presley.
Divorce became legal in Italy.
1971
Decimalization Day in Britain, on 15th Feb.,
when our old pennies (d)
became new pence (p)
Christian Barnard performed the
first heart and lung transplant.
Digital watch invented by George Theiss/Willy Crabtree.
Email invented by Ray Tomlinson.
Pocket calculator by Sharp.
Personal Computer by MITS.
1972
The Sinclair Executive Pocket calculator
was launched.
First kidney and pancreatic tissue
transplant was performed.
Kidney Donor cards were introduced.
"Bloody Sunday" in Northern Ireland.
1973
First Cat scans.
First true mobile phone call was made by
Dr. Martin Cooper on Oct. 17th.
General Motors invented the Air Bags for cars,
and first offered them as an option
in the Chevrolet.
1974
N.H.S. provided free Family Planning.
Nurses received a 58% pay rise.
The rubiks cube was invented in Hungary,
but didn't become a craze until the early 80's.
Art thieves snatched "The Scream"
1975
Microsoft was founded
by William H. Gates the third
and Paul G. Allen.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
was first sold for watches and calculators.
Digital camera invented by Steven Sasson/Kodak.
First woman leader was chosen by the Tories (UK)
1976
The VHS video recorder was introduced.
Apple Computers was born.
The Canon AE 1, was introduced,..
the first camera with a
micro processor controlled exposure.
Figure skater John Curry wins Olympic gold.
1978
In Oldham, Greater Manchester,
the first test tube baby was born.
A Polish Holy Man
by the name of Karol Wojtyla,
became Pope John Paul the second.
1979
Margaret Thatcher was elected to be
Prime Minister on May 9th.
First fallopian tube transplant.
Mobile phone invented by NTT.
1980
John Lennon was shot on Dec. 8th.
It was claimed that the deadly disease,
Smallpox,
had been wiped out.
The rubiks cube was puzzling everyone.
Pacman was invented.
1981
IBM launched the Personal Computer.
End of an era...telegrams were stopped.
Prince Charles married Diana on July 29th.
Compact Disc invented by Phillips.
1982
Sony launched the first flat screen TV
and the first CD player, and Camcorder.
Channel 4 was launched.
First time a patient was given
a mechanical heart.
Prince William, Arthur, Phillip, Louis,
was born on June 21st.
1983
The racehorse, Shergar,
was kidnapped.
1984
AIDS virus was discovered.
Prince Harry was born in Sept.
Britain signs over Hong Kong to China on Dec 19th.
1985
Wreck of Titanic found.
1986
Worlds first heart-lungs-liver triple
transplant took place.
The Chernobyl disaster.
1987
B.T. announced that they were
going to replace the
red telephone boxes.
1988
Introduction of the MMR
(Measles, Mumps,Rubella)vaccine.
This vaccine is very much linked
to the cause of Autism in young children,
but proof is not 100% yet.
Nurses protest for better pay.
Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland on Dec 21st.
1989
Discovery of Hepatitus C virus.
The Berlin Wall came down.
World Wide Web introduced by Tim Berners-lee.
1990
Margaret Thatcher quit from her post
as Prime Minister.
Sony introduced the first writable CD.
Nelson Mandela released from prison.
1991
Gorbachev resigns as President of the USSR on Dec 25th
1993
Intel launched the Pentium Processor.
1994
Big scare over Necrotising fascitus
(the flesh eating bug.)
The English Channel Tunnel
was opened.
1995
Microsoft launched Windows 95.
Playstation was launched.
1996
In Tokyo, the first DVD players were sold,
and then launched in the USA.
A link was established between
BSE and CJD.
Former French President Mitterand dies on January 8th.
1997
On Aug. 31st.,in Paris,
Princess Diana died after
a tragic car accident.
MP3.com was launched.
Dolly the sheep was the
first mammal to be cloned.
50th anniversary of the N.H.S.
Tamagotchis were a big craze.
Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi Previn on Dec 24th.
1998
The first desk top films
were shown on the web.
1999
We saw the first Digital Video Recorders.
2000
Casio made the first watch camera.
2001
Sept 11th was a great disaster day in the USA,
when two planes crashed into the twin towers,
killing many people.
2002
Dr. Serverino Antinori made
the first clone of a baby.
The Queen held a Classical Concert
in Buckingham Palace gardens
on June 1st, and a Pop Concert on June 3rd.
Both were for part of her
Golden Jubilee celebrations.
2005
Charles and Camilla announce their engagement this year on Feb 10th.
NOTE
If you have any more events to add to this list,
please email me via my Contact page.
