This timeline shows a very brief list of national and international events of the 1960s, with some events that happened during the same years in Newcastle. It is not complete by any means, and there are lots of gaps! If you’d like to suggest additions to our timeline, please email tynebridge@newcastle.gov.uk
1960
Lady Chatterley Trial. Bookshops in the UK were inundated with customers looking for copies of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D H Lawrence. The book, written in 1928, had been banned in the UK, but after a sensational obscenity trial it was made available to the general public for the first time. The trial ushered in a new era of liberalism.
Doc Martens 1460 developed. They soon become a style icon for Mods.
MOT Tests are introduced.
The first episode of Coronation Street is broadcast.
Civil rights sit in at Woolworth's lunch counter, Greensboro, USA
Newcastle
T. Dan Smith elected Council Leader. He planned to transform Newcastle into the Brasilia of the North. The Eldon Square shopping centre was the centrepiece.
Newcastle’s first comprehensive school, Kenton, opens.
Foundation stone of the Civic Centre is laid.
1961
The Beatles appear at the Cavern in Liverpool.
The pill goes on sale.
Russian Yuri Gagarin orbits the earth twice in Vostok 1 and becomes the first man in space.
Cliff Richards appears in the film The Young Ones.
1962
The first episodes of University Challenge and Steptoe and Son are broadcast.
The first James Bond film, Dr No, starring Sean Connery is released.
Newcastle
The demolition of the Royal Arcade begins, completed in 1963, for the construction of the Swan House Roundabout redevelopment
1963
Kim Philby (one of the Cambridge spies) defects to the USSR.
Sindy doll introduced.
Beeching’s Axe: In the interests of efficiency, Dr Richard Beeching, chairman of the British Transport Commission, recommended huge cuts in the rail service. In the North-East this meant the closure of 95 stations and halts.
Defence Minister John Profumo resigns over his affair with prostitute Christine Keeler.
Great Train Robbery.
Assassination of US President John F Kennedy.
First episode of Dr Who is broadcast.
Bomb in Alabama, USA, kills four black schoolgirls
Newcastle
Newcastle Development Plan is published: it included John Dobson Street, the Central Motorway, Quayside regeneration, Eldon Square, the Central Library, and the buildings that would become the Polytechnic, and the demolition of old Eldon Square.
Durham University’s King’s College, Newcastle, becomes the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, a university in its own right.
Town Hall in Groat Market shuts.
Beatles play the Majestic (28 Jan).
Rolling Stones play the Odeon (Nov 18th) and Club A‘Gogo.
The Animals get together and became resident band at the Club A‘Gogo.
Aristokats formed by Ray Laidlaw and Simon Crowe.
Junco Partners get together.
Joe Harvey joins Newcastle United.
Empire Theatre, Newgate Street closes.
1964
First Habitat store opens in London.
First episode of Top of the Pops broadcast with the Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand taking the number one spot.
Biba Boutique opens in London, eventually selling everything from clothes and home furnishings to pet food and makeup, with a bar and concert venue too.
Newcastle
The Animals move south but perform to huge crowdsin Newcastle in May.
Junco Partners take over as resident band at the Club A‘Gogo.
Beatles play Newcastle – huge queues of fans.
1965
The Who’s first single, I Can’t Explain.
Post Office Tower opens.
Britain abolishes the death penalty for murder.
Mary Quant features a miniskirt in her collection causing a sensation and giving birth to a fashion icon.
Funeral of Winston Churchill.
Pilot Episode of Till Death Do Us Part.
First number one for The Rolling Stones: I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.
Newcastle
BP discovers oil in the North Sea.
Frank Harris appointed City Centre Manager.
Bob Dylan shops at Marcus Price.
1966
England win the World Cup.
Aberfan disaster, 21 October. 144 people, mostly children, killed in tragic landslide.
Newcastle
The Who play at the A'Go Go (17 Feb).
Trolleybus system ends in Newcastle 1 October.
Downtown Faction formed.
World Cup Ball held at the Mayfair.
Animals break up.
1967
The Beatles release Sergeant Pepper.
Abortion and homosexuality legalised in England and Wales.
Newcastle
Electric train service between Newcastle and the Coast ceases before building work begins on the Tyne & Wear Metro (June).
Tyne Tunnel opens.
Jimi Hendrix (10 March), Pink Floyd (19 March) Cream (20 Oct) all play at the Club A‘Gogo.
Fruit machine collector Angus Sibbert murdered by Dennis Stafford and Michael Lavaglio in a gang-related crime.
Marcus Price opens Grey Street branch.
Footbridge erected over Northumberland Street
1968
Student unrest in Paris (May).
Dad’s Army is first broadcast on BBC1.
T. Dan Smith interviewed by police in connection with corruption charges in Wandsworth.
300 arrested in London after Vietnam War protest at US Embassy
Dr Martin Luther King assassinated, USA
Newcastle
New Central Library opens.
Pill widely available on Tyneside.
Animals perform reuinion show at City Hall.
2001 A Space Odyssey shown at Queens Cinerama.
Tyneside Cinema re-opens.
Civic Centre formally opened by King Olav of Norway.
1969
Americans land on the Moon (20 July).
Concorde’s first supersonic flight.
Newcastle
Byker Wall begun.
Newcastle wins Fairs Cup (29 May).
Esso Northumbria launched by Princess Anne, Wallsend.
Downtown Faction organise a free festival in Leazes Park. There they met Alan Hull who joined them to form Lindisfarne.
Callers Christmas display catches fire and threatens Northumberland Street.
John Dobson Street opens.