1958: An English Roman Catholic economist, Colin Clark, condemns birth control. Clark argues that although population growth places difficult demands on agrarian societies, it also provokes greater efforts in the fields of industry, commerce, political leadership, and science.

Today: Birth control continues to be a politically charged issue, with murders, bombings, and increasing violence emerging as an increasingly frequent image in protests against abortion.

1958: Agatha Christie's Mousetra p is the longest running play in British history, with over 2000 performances. Terrance Rattigan's Variations on a Theme, which opened on May 8, is credited as the play whose lack of content inspired Delaney to write A Taste of Honey.

Today: Both Mousetrap and A Taste of Honey continue to be produced in regional theatre, but Variations on a Theme has achieved no lasting notoriety.

1958: The Clean Air Act, passed in 1956, goes into effect. It represents Britain's efforts to...