Queen Elizabeth II officially opens London Gatwick Airport, (LGW) in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom.

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.

The Preston bypass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.

The United Kingdom grants Cyprus independence, which is then formally proclaimed on August 16, 1960.

Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.

The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".

The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland .

Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

Nigeria gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

Sierra Leone is granted its independence from the United Kingdom, with Milton Margai as the first Prime Minister.

Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom.

The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.

The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.

Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.

Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony)

In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.

The British protectorate of Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana. Seretse Khama takes office as the first President.

Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and is renamed Lesotho.

Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

Dominica gains independence from the United Kingdom.

UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal.

The Hither Green rail crash in the United Kingdom kills 49 people. The survivors include Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.

The United Kingdom government devalued the Pound sterling from $2.80 to £2.40.

The convert 385 tall TV-mast at Emley Moor, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build-up.

British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom introduces the British fifty-pence coin, which replaced, over the following years, the British ten-shilling note, in anticipation of the decimalization of the British currency in 1971, and the abolition of the shilling as a unit of currency anywhere in the world. (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, etc., had already abolished the shilling in favor of a decimal currency with exactly 100 pence per pound sterling or dollar, whichever was applicable.}

A British airliner is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and flown to Dawson's Field in Jordan.

The first Glastonbury Festival is held at Michael Eavis's farm in Glastonbury, United Kingdom.

Montreal, Quebec: British Trade Commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group, triggering the October Crisis.

Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.

Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Britain launches its first satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket.

The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday.

The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.

The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.