Miniskirts, the Beatles, the moon landings, England winning the World Cup and the civil rights movement have helped to crown the 1960s as the most defining decade of the 20th century.

Research commissioned by TV channel Yesterday found that almost half of UK adults polled said the swinging sixties were the most defining period because of its iconic fashion, ground-breaking music and significant historical moments.

From World Cup victory and the death of Marilyn Monroe to the rise of the Fab Four and Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, the 1960s shook up society as we knew it and rode the wave of change.

Click below for the top twenty defining moments of the sixties

Voters also chose the best records of the 1960s, a chart unsurprisingly dominated by the Beatles, who recorded their first record in 1962.

She Loves You topped the chart, while Can't Buy Me Love was the second most popular track in the poll. I Want To Hold Your Hand came in third place, We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper in fifth, and I Feel Fine was number eight.

Unfortunately The Beatles' back catalogue is unavailable on Spotify - but here's our playlist of the other acts that made the 1960s top ten.

Listen to our Spotify playlist of the best records of the 1960s

 

In the world of film, Disney classic Mary Poppins was voted the best film of the 1960s, with The Sound of Music, Psycho, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Doctor Zhivago making up the top five.

A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down - click below to watch a classic clip from Mary Poppins:

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The 1960s were not short of icons.

But two reigned supreme in the Yesterday poll - Marilyn Monroe was voted the greatest female icon of the decade, while king of rock 'n' roll Elvis Presley was voted the greatest male icon.

Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe - icons of the 1960s
Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe - icons of the 1960s

Yesterday general manager Adrian Wills said: "Regardless of whether we were around in the 1960s or not, Brits tend to have a real sense of nostalgia when it comes to the music and the history surrounding that era.

"Even teenagers of today will be aware of the significance of key figures in history like Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles and the story of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King."

The poll was conducted to mark the launch of The Sixties, a ten-episode series exploring the decade narrated by Hollywood actor Tom Hanks.

The Sixties begins tonight at 9pm on Yesterday.