1951

• March


  Dennis the Menace appears in The Beano comic.
• 17th April


  The Peak District becomes the first national park.
• 23rd April


  Bevan, Wilson and Freeman resign over prescription charges.
• May


  Festival of Britain begins
• May


  Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean (spies) leave Britain for the USSR.
• November


  UK bank rate is raised from 2% to 2.5%
• December


  Churchill sets off for the USA to meet with president Truman.
• Trade Union membership peaks at 9.3 million members
• The first tower block in Essex is built to Sir Frederick Gibbard's design.