Independence of Malta
Malta is given independence after 140 years of British colonial rule
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1964 in Great Britain — Page 2
Explore 260 historical events and records for Great Britain in 1964.
Historical records for Great Britain in 1964
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 40 of 260 unique records.
260Unique records
2 of 7Page
25Named events on this page
24Named people on this page
8Places on this page
September
October
Kinks Album
The Kinks release their debut album Kinks.
Election
The Conservatives win 43.4% of votes cast & 304 MPs
Election
The Liberals win 2 seats from the Conservatives in Scotland. The Liberals win 11% of the vote & return 9 Members of Parliament
Election
Contests Finchley against Margaret Thatcher but loses by 9,000 votes
Election
Stands unsuccesfully for the leadership of the Conservative Party, wins 15 votes
Election
The Labour Party wins the general election by 4 seats. The Labour Party wins 44.1 percent of votes cast & 317 MPs
Election
Is re-elected as Member of Parliament for Huyton while leading Labour to national victory.
Election
Defeats Alec Douglas-Home's Conservatives and ends thirteen years of Conservative government.
Election
Leads Labour to 317 Commons seats against 304 for the Conservatives and 9 for the Liberals.
Election
Leads Labour to a narrow general election victory.
General Election
Retains Coventry East as Labour returns to government.
General Election
Retains Birmingham Stechford as Labour returns to government under Harold Wilson.
Member of Parliament
Geoffrey Howe is elected Member of Parliament for Bebington on 15 October 1964.
Opposition Return
Returns to opposition after Labour wins the 1964 general election.
Cabinet
Healey enters Harold Wilson's cabinet as Secretary of State for Defence.
Defence Secretary Appointment
Healey joins Harold Wilson’s Cabinet as Secretary of State for Defence.
Foreign Secretary of Great Britain
Appointed Foreign Minister
Minister of Housing and Local Government
Appointed Minister of Housing and Local Government in Harold Wilson's first government.
Polaris Programme
Wilson enters office and reviews inherited nuclear policy including Polaris
Prime Minister of United Kingdom
Appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain, first term
Home Secretary of Great Britain
Appointed Home Secretary
Ministerial Appointment
Joins Harold Wilson's government as Minister of State at the Ministry of Aviation.
Higgs Boson
Publishes Broken Symmetries and the Masses of Gauge Bosons, explicitly identifying the massive scalar excitation later called the Higgs boson.
Higgs Boson
Shows that spontaneous symmetry breaking in a gauge theory can avoid an unwanted massless particle while leaving a massive scalar particle in the theory.
All Day and All of the Night
The Kinks release All Day and All of the Night.
Shadow Minister
Appointed shadow spokesman on pensions
Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)
Brown was appointed to the newly created Department of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in October 1964 hoping to institute long-term economic planning and remove some of the power of the Treasury
Devaluation
Brown was told that the budget deficit for the coming year was forecast at pounds 800 million, double what the Labour Party had predicted as the worst possible figure before the election, leading economic ministers were presented with three options, including devaluation of the pound sterling, to meet the crisis, they decide on a temporary surcharge on imported goods
Economy of Great Britain
Brown was appointed to the newly created Department of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in October 1964 hoping to institute long-term economic planning and remove some of the power of the Treasury
Economy of Great Britain
Brown was told that the budget deficit for the coming year was forecast at pounds 800 million, double what the Labour Party had predicted as the worst possible figure before the election, leading economic ministers were presented with three options,
Economy of Great Britain
including devaluation of the pound sterling, to meet the crisis, they decide on a temporary surcharge on imported goods.
November
Strong Adds Versatility to Champions
Geoff Strong joined Liverpool from Arsenal in November 1964 and subsequently played several positions for Shankly’s team.
Budget
Announces increases in social benefits & the introduction of capital gains tax
Maiden Speech
Delivers his maiden speech in the House of Commons during debate on the Budget, discussing taxation, pensions and economic policy.
Higgs Boson
Coauthors a third independent 1964 paper explaining spontaneous symmetry breaking in relativistic gauge theory and the generation of gauge-boson masses.
Higgs Boson
Publishes with Gerald Guralnik and Tom Kibble an independent formulation of the gauge-symmetry-breaking mechanism.
Higgs Boson
Coauthors Global Conservation Laws and Massless Particles, completing one of the independent 1964 formulations associated with the Higgs mechanism.
Crisis
A sterling crisis
I Can't Explain Sessions
Produces The Who's recording of I Can't Explain.
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.