1948 was a leap year. So it’s fitting that the Morris Minor should launch at the Earl’s Court motor show that year.

But what else happened in the same year our beloved little jelly moulds were presented to the world?

King George VI was on the throne. Princess Elizabeth gave birth to future monarch King Charles III. Clement Atlee (Labour) was Prime Minister. Winston Churchill of course having been (somewhat ironically) defeated following the end of the Second World War.

The basic petrol ration from June of that year was for ninety miles a month. A red dye was added to petrol for commercial vehicles. Private drivers would lose their licence for a year if caught using it. Forecourts would be shut down if caught selling red petrol to a private motorist.

Rationing, still in place since the end of the war, finally came to an end on bread in July of that year. Rationing of sweets, however, would not cease until the following year.

The Land Rover (later to become the Defender) was also launched.

The British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone. Widely recognised as the first British modern-era Grand Prix the race was won by Italian Luigi Villoresi, with fellow Italian Alberto Ascari finishing second in the other Maserati. British driver Bob Gerard completed the podium in his ERA. Stirling Moss failed to finish the sixty-five lap race due to mechanical issues.

British Railways were created with the nationalisation of the railways. Electricity supply was nationalised. Same goes for gas, with the creation of the gas board. The NHS was born.

The London Co-operative Society opened Britain’s first supermarket.

The all-time record for an English football league attendance was set, with 83,260 watching Manchester United v Arsenal. The game ended in a draw.

Rowntree’s launched the polo mint. Cheetos also made their first appearance, as did Nesquick.

The world’s first electronic stored computer programme was run in on the “Manchester Baby.”

Penal servitude, corporal punishing (birching and flogging) were abolished as means of punishment by law.

At Prestwick Airport a KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashed on approach. Much forgotten about, it was en route from Amsterdam Schipol to New York and scheduled to land for refuelling. Poor weather conditions are believed to have caused the experienced pilots to become disorientated. The aircraft collided with electricity wires, setting it ablaze and it subsequently crashed. Emergency services took over an hour-and-a-half to respond due to confusion over who was responsible. By this time all but six of the forty on board were dead. Sadly none of the six survived the next twenty-four hours.

It was quite clearly a year of social upheaval and transformation, the effects of which are still felt to this day.

The Morris Minor was was only one of many leaps, big and small, taking place in 1948.