Events from the year 1936 in the United Kingdom.
This year is notable for the death of George V early in the year, the accession of his son Edward VIII to the throne and his subsequent abdication, resulting in the accession to the throne of his younger brother George VI (previously Albert, Duke of York). 1936 in the United Kingdom is also known as the Year of the Three Kings.
Incumbents
Monarch – George V (until 20 January), Edward VIII (starting 20 January, until 11 December), George VI (starting 11 December) Prime Minister – Stanley Baldwin (Coalition)
Events 4 January – England celebrates its first ever win over the All Blacks in rugby union, in particular the two famous tries by "The Prince" HH Alexander Obolensky. 13 January – GPO Film Unit documentary Night Mail, incorporating poetry by W. H. Auden and music by Benjamin Britten, is premiered at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. 20 January – King George V dies at Sandringham House, Norfolk, aged 70. His eldest son, The Prince Edward, Prince of Wales succeeds as King Edward VIII. 21 January – King Edward VIII breaks royal protocol by watching the proclamation of his own accession to the throne from a window of St. James's Palace, in the company of the still-married Wallis Simpson. February – John Maynard Keynes's influential economic text The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money is published. 6–16 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and win 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals. 5 March – First test flight of the Supermarine Spitfire, from Eastleigh Aerodrome. March – K6 red telephone box introduced, together with GPO 'Jubilee concession' to provide one in every village with a post office. 11 April – Billy Butlin opens his first Butlins holiday camp, Butlins Skegness in Skegness (Ingoldmells), Lincolnshire. It is officially opened by Amy Johnson. 18 April – Ordnance Survey begins the retriangulation of Great Britain with its first triangulation station near Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire. 17 May – Barquentine Waterwitch is laid up at Par, Cornwall, the last square rigged ship to trade under sail alone in British ownership. 22 May – J. H. Thomas resigns from politics for leaking Budget proposals. 27 May – The leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. 28 May – Alan Turing submits his paper "On Computable Numbers" to the London Mathematical Society for publication, introducing the concept of the "Turing machine". It is formally published on 12 November. 3 July First flight of the Short Empire flying boat, from Rochester, Kent. Fred Perry wins his third successive men's singles tennis title at The Championships, Wimbledon, the last British player to win this title until 2013. This year he also wins his third U.S. National Championship, the last Grand Slam victory for a British men's player until 2012, and turns professional. 16 July – George McMahon makes a botched attempt to shoot King Edward VIII after the Trooping the Colour ceremony. 24 July – The General Post Office introduces the speaking clock. 26 July – Charlotte Bryant is hanged at HM Prison Exeter for the murder of her husband Frederick by arsenic in. 27 July – Opening of a new swimming pool at Morecambe, claimed to be the largest open-air example in Europe. 28 July – Great Britain wins the 1936 International Lawn Tennis Challenge at Wimbledon, the last British victory until 2015 in what becomes the Davis Cup. 31 July – Public Health Act empowers local authorities to make byelaws regulating building construction. August–September – Bournemouth typhoid outbreak: more than 700 people infected. 1–16 August – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Berlin and win 4 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals. 4 August – The Duke of Grafton is killed in a crash while competing in the Limerick Grand Prix in Ireland, aged only 22. His cousin succeeds to the main title, but the courtesy titles fall into abeyance. 6 August – An underground explosion at Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery in South Yorkshire kills 58. 26 August – Signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty which requires the withdrawal of British troops and recognises Egypt as a sovereign state. 31 August – Elizabeth Cowell becomes the first female British television presenter, making a broadcast from Alexandra Palace. 8 September – Arson attack on a bombing school building at Penyberth on the Llŷn Peninsula as part of the Tân yn Llŷn campaign led by Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and D. J. Williams of the Welsh nationalist group Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru. 30 September – Official opening of Pinewood Studios. 4 October – Battle of Cable Street between Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists and anti-fascist demonstrators in the East End of London. 14 October – The Night Ferry, a boat train service linking London with Paris, starts operation.Compagnie Internationale de Wagon-Lits et de Grands Express Europeens sleeping car National Railway Museum. 5–31 October – Jarrow March: 207 miners march from Jarrow to London in a protest against unemployment and poverty. 20 October – Prime minister Stanley Baldwin confronts King Edward VIII about his relationship with Wallis Simpson. 22 October – Dod Orsborne, captain of the fishing vessel Girl Pat, which had caused a media sensation when it went missing, is convicted of its theft and given a prison sentence. 27 October – Wallis Simpson obtains a decree nisi in her divorce from Ernest Aldrich Simpson, removing a legal barrier to her marrying Edward VIII. 2 November – The BBC launches the world's first regular television service in London, initially alternating between the 240-line Baird electromechanical and the Marconi-EMI all-electronic 405-line television systems. 3 November – The State Opening of Parliament is held; it is Edward VIII's only state opening. The ceremonial procession is cancelled due to heavy rain. 6 November – Terence Rattigan's comedy French Without Tears premieres in London. 12 November – Alan Turing's paper "On Computable Numbers" is formally presented to the London Mathematical Society, introducing the concept of the "Turing machine". 16 November – King Edward VIII informs Stanley Baldwin of his intention to marry Wallis Simpson. Baldwin responds by informing the King that any woman he married would have to become Queen, and the British public would not accept Wallis Simpson as Queen. The King tells Mr Baldwin that he is prepared to abdicate if the government opposes his marriage. 25 November – The King tells Stanley Baldwin that he would be prepared to conduct a morganatic marriage with Mrs Simpson, which would allow him to carry on as King but not install Mrs Simpson as Queen. Stanley Baldwin informs him that this would not be accepted either (such a thing has never been known in British law). 27 November – Stanley Baldwin raises the issue of a morganatic marriage in the Cabinet, where it is rejected outright. 30 November – The Crystal Palace in south London is destroyed in a fire. December – Henry Hallett Dale wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Otto Loewi "for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses".
1 December – Alfred Blunt, Bishop of Bradford, makes a speech which inadvertently leads to the abdication crisis becoming public in the British media. 2 December – Stanley Baldwin confirms in a meeting with the King that a morganatic marriage would not be accepted, and in order to marry Mrs Simpson the King would have to abdicate. 9 December – A KLM (Netherlands airline) Douglas DC-2 airliner crashes in Purley shortly after takeoff from Croydon Airport, killing 14 (including Juan de la Cierva and Admiral Arvid Lindman) with just two survivors. 10 December – Abdication crisis: the King signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent. 11 December Parliament passes His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, providing the legislative authority for the King to abdicate. The King performs his last act as sovereign by giving royal assent to the Act. Prince Albert, Duke of York, becomes King, ruling as King George VI. His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, becomes heir presumptive. The abdicated King Edward VIII, now the Prince Edward, makes a broadcast to the nation explaining his decision to abdicate. He leaves the country for Austria. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State passes the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936, removing most powers from the office of Governor-General of the Irish Free State, and the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 assenting to the abdication and restricting the power of the monarch in relation to Ireland to international affairs. 18 December – Public Order Act prevents wearing of political uniforms with effect from 1 January next. 25 December – Princess Alexandra of Kent, daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Kent, is born in London. This will be the last royal birth attended by the Home Secretary, in this case, John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon. Date unknown – Peter Jones (department store) in London, designed by William Crabtree, is completed as a pioneering example in the UK of glass curtain wall architecture.
Publications The Left Book Club is founded by Stafford Cripps, Victor Gollancz, John Strachey and Harold Laski. W. H. Auden's poems Look, Stranger!. A. J. Ayer's philosophical study Language, Truth, and Logic. Alfred Bestall's text comic The New Adventures of Rupert, the first Rupert Bear annual. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels The A.B.C. Murders, Murder in Mesopotamia and Cards on the Table. T. S. Eliot's Collected Poems 1909–35, including "Burnt Norton", first of the Four Quartets. The Geographers' Map Co.'s first A to Z Atlas and Guide to London and the Suburbs. Aldous Huxley's novel Eyeless in Gaza. Michael Innes' novel Death at the President's Lodging. John Maynard Keynes' text The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. F. R. Leavis’ critical work Revaluation: tradition & development in English poetry. A. E. W. Mason's historical adventure novel Fire Over England. H. J. Massingham's English Downland and Hugh Quigley's The Highlands of Scotland, first in Batsford's The Face of Britain series. Lancashire: cradle of our prosperity and Warwickshire: Shakespeare's country, first in The King's England series edited by Arthur Mee. George Orwell's novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying. Michael Roberts edits the anthology The Faber Book of Modern Verse. Dylan Thomas’ Twenty-five Poems, including "And death shall have no dominion". W. B. Yeats edits the anthology The Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935.
Births 7 January – Hunter Davies, Scottish-born author and journalist 8 January – Dennis Gillespie, Scottish footballer (died 2001) 12 January – Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet, engineering construction executive (died 2018) 15 January – Richard Franklin, actor (died 2023) 16 January – Michael White, impresario and film producer (died 2016) 20 January – Frances Shand Kydd, mother of Diana, Princess of Wales (died 2004) 28 January – Bill Jordan, economist and politician 29 January – Patrick Caulfield, painter and printmaker (died 2005) 7 February William Bennett, flautist (died 2022) Keith Rowlands, rugby union player (died 2006) 9 February – Clive Swift, actor (died 2019) 10 February – Joss Naylor, fell runner (died 2024) 17 February – John Leyton, actor and singer 18 February – Philip Jones Griffiths, photojournalist (died 2008) 24 February – Lance Reventlow, playboy, entrepreneur and racing driver (died 1972) 13 March Michael Davies, writer on Roman Catholicism (died 2004) Mary Susan McIntosh, sociologist, feminist, political activist and campaigner for lesbian and gay rights (died 2013)