Richard Burton marries Elizabeth Taylor for the second time, five years after divorcing

The first series of Fawlty Towers, co-written by and starring John Cleese, is broadcast on British TV

David Hockney begins a new career as a set designer, with The Rake's Progress by Stravinksky at Glyndebourne

The British group the Sex Pistols launch punk rock, with their first gig at St Martin's School of Art in London

English author Ruth Prawer Jhabwala wins the Booker Prize with her novel Heat and Dust

Frederick Ashton creates a ballet based on Turgenev's play A Month in the Country, to music by Chopin

Kenneth MacMillan turns a double suicide of 1889 into a ferociously dramatic ballet, Mayerling

John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey, with Leo McKern in the title role, begins its first series of six episodes on British TV

Iris Murdoch publishes The Sea, the Sea, and wins the 1978 Booker Prize

English author Andrew Motion publishes his first collection of poems, The Pleasure Steamers

Douglas Adams creates Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a science fiction comedy series for BBC's Radio 4

Czech-born US tennis player Martina Navratilova wins the first of nine singles titles at Wimbledon

English cricketer Ian Botham sets a new Test record, scoring a century and taking eight wickets against Pakistan at Lord's

Louise Brown, born in England, is the first test-tube baby, having been conceived by IVF (In vitro fertilization)

British author Ian McEwan publishes his first novel, The Cement Garden

David Attenborough writes and presents Life on Earth, a television series on evolution – the first of his many surveys of natural history

The Conservative party wins the general election and Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female prime minister

Peter Shaffer's play about Mozart, Amadeus, has its premiere in London

British artist Richard Long lays out his Slate Circle at the Tate Gallery in London

A conference in London, at Lancaster House, finally achieves agreement on Southern Rhodesia

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan share a common economic viewpoint, following the policy known as monetarism

War Music is the first instalment of Christopher Logue's version of the Iliad

Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children uses the moment of India's independence to launch an adventure in magic realism

Australian entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch buys Britain's establishment newspaper, The Times, and its related titles

The Humber Bridge crosses the Humber estuary in Britain, and is the world's longest suspension bridge with a main span of 4626 feet (1410m)