Timeline of events
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April 1
British authority in Rhodesia ends and the former colony becomes the independent republic of Zimbabwe
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May 5
The government announces plans for a fleet of five Trident submarines
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July 22
Unemployment stands at 1,896,634: the highest since 1936
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August 8
Housing Act: Council house tenants may buy their homes
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September 21
First CND rally at Greenham Common, Berkshire, against proposed siting of US Cruise missiles
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November 4
Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter in US presidential election
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February 10
The Coal Board announces that it is to close 50 pits employing 30,000 miners
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March 26
Social Democratic Party is formed
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July 29
Prince of Wales marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral
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September 15
Government announces £10 million to redevelop the South Docks area of Liverpool
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January 12
Spain calls off its 12-year siege of Gibraltar
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April 2
Argentina invades and annexes Falkland Islands and their dependencies
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April 5
Navy task force sails from Portsmouth
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April 7
Exclusion zone of 200 miles around Falklands is announced by Defence Ministry
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June 13-14
Pincer attack on Port Stanley leads to Argentinian surrender
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June 21
Prince William is born – third in line to the throne
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January 31
Wearing of seatbelts is made compulsory
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May 16
Wheel clamps introduced in London
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June 9
Conservatives win the general election with a majority of 144
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July 6 & 7
The government announces a rise in defence spending (including £624 million for the Falklands) and the new Chancellor Nigel Lawson announces public spending cuts of £500 million
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January 9
Index of share prices tops 600 for the first time
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March 5
Miner’s strike against threatened pit closures, begun in Scotland on 21 Feb, spreads to Yorkshire
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April 12
Telecommunications Act: privatises British Telecom
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December 3
British Telecom shares go public, great gains on first day of trading
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January 25
Debate in House of Lords televised for the first time
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March 5
NUM calls off year-long miners strike
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April 11
First British baby dies of AIDS, an 18-month old boy
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August 20
Amstrad launches its PCW 8256 word processor
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September 26
The government announces it has allotted £1 million to counter the spread of the AIDS virus
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January 20
Channel Tunnel project confirmed
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March 2
The Queen signs the Australia Bill, formally severing the nation’s last constitutional ties with Britain
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July 31
Three-and-a-quarter million are unemployed, the highest recorded figure
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November 6
The Chancellor announces £4.6 billion rise in public spending
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December 8
Trading in British Gas shares begins
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June 11
General election cuts Conservative overall majority to 101
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October 19
Black Monday: the Stock Market crashes
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March 3
Liberals and SDP merge as Social and Liberal Democratic Party (SLD)
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December 21
Pan Am jumbo jet blown up by bomb above the Scottish borders; wreckage falls on Lockerbie; 270 passengers and crew and 11 townsfolk are killed
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May 8
Labour Party National Executive drops nationalisation as a fundamental objective of policy
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October
Withering away of communism in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary
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November 9
Demolition of the Berlin Wall begins
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March 31
Violent demonstrations against the Poll Tax in London
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September 6 to 7
Parliament recalled: MPs back government’s anti-Iraq stance in the Gulf Crisis after Iraq invaded Kuwait
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November 22
Mrs Thatcher announces her intention to resign
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November 28
John Major succeeds Thatcher as Prime Minister
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December 1
Channel Tunnel: pilot tunnels from English and French coasts meet
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January 16 to 17
RAF planes collaborate with UN allies in concentrated bombing of Iraqi airfields and strategic bases
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January 28
British advance on Baghdad stops when UN operations are halted by Iraqi acceptance of provisional cease-fire
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April 9
General election cuts Conservative overall majority to 21
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October 15
British troops begin peace-keeping duties in Bosnia
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December 9
Major announces that the Prince and Princess of Wales are to split
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October 8
John Major promotes his ‘Back to Basics’ campaign for Britain at the Tory Party conference
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May 6
President Mitterrand and Elizabeth II open the Channel Tunnel
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July 21
Tony Blair elected leader of the Labour Party
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October 17 to 21
Elizabeth II makes the first state visit by a reigning British monarch to Russia
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April 29
Labour party special conference accepts modification of the 1918 party constitution: ‘Clause 4’ commitment to nationalisation of production, distribution and exchange is dropped
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May 31
British government announces formation of five-nation rapid action force to impose peace in Bosnia
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June 22
Prime Minister Major resigns as Conservative leader in order to seek a party vote of confidence
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July 4
Major receives vote of confidence in leadership contest
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March 20
The British Government announces that Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is likely to have been transmitted to people
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May 1
The Labour Party end 18 years of Conservative rule in the 1997 UK general election
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May 2
Tony Blair appointed Prime Minister
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August 31
Diana, Princess of Wales is taken to a hospital after a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 the next morning
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September 11
Referendum in Scotland in favour of Scottish parliament
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September 18
The referendum held in Wales sees a narrow vote in favour of devolution
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January 1
Euro currency introduced across participating European Union Countries
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March 24
NATO forces led by Britain and the United States began air attacks on Serbia – transforming NATO from a defensive to an offensive alliance
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September 7 to 14
The UK fuel protests take place, with refineries blockaded, and supply to the country’s network of petrol stations halted
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February 20
Foot-and-mouth crisis begins
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April 29
Census of British population
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June 7
Tony Blair’s Labour Party elected for second term in UK General Election
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September 11
Almost 3,000 killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City, The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania
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October 7
The American attack on Afghanistan begins. The United Kingdom participates
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April 9
Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother takes place in Westminster Abbey, London
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March 20
2003 Iraq war: land troops from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invade Iraq
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May 1
The largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by 10 member states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus
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April 9
The marriage of The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles takes place, after being briefly postponed after Pope John Paul II’s death. Camilla assumes the titles Her Royal Highness and The Duchess of Cornwall
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May 5
In the 2005 general election the Labour Party is re-elected
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July 7
Four explosions rock the transport network in London, three on the London Underground and one on a bus. Over 50 people died, and over 200 were injured
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October 21
200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; celebrations held around the United Kingdom
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