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Charles David RICHARDSON

Charles David RICHARDSON

Male 1945 - 1998  (53 years)

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Timeline



 
 
 




   Date  Event(s)
1945 
  • 4 Feb 1945: Yalta Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
  • 29 Mar 1945: Last V1 flying bomb attack
  • 25 Apr 1945: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
  • 30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide
  • 8 May 1945: VE Day (Victory in Europe)
  • 9 May 1945: Channel Islands liberated
  • 26 Jun 1945: UN Charter signed in San Francisco
  • 16 Jul 1945: First ever atomic bomb exploded in a test in New Mexico (although there were other forms of atomic device before that, such as the Pile at Stagg Field, first critical on 2nd Dec 1942)
  • 26 Jul 1945: Labour win UK General Election – Churchill out of office
  • 29 Jul 1945: BBC Light Programme starts
  • 6 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
  • 9 Aug 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
  • 15 Aug 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan)
  • 2 Sep 1945: Japanese surrender signed aboard USS Missouri
  • 24 Oct 1945: United Nations Organisation comes into existence
  • 4 Nov 1945: UNESCO founded
1946 
  • 1946: Transition to National Health Service starts in Britain (came into being 5th July 1948)
  • 1946: Alistair Cooke starts his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio – until 2004
  • 1 Jan 1946: First civillian flight from Heathrow Airport
  • 1 Mar 1946: Bank of England nationalised
1947 
  • 1947: Most severe winter in Britain for 53 years at start of the year – heavy snow and much flooding later
  • 1947: First British nuclear reactor developed
  • 1 Jan 1947: Coal Mines nationalised
  • 23 Feb 1947: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) founded
  • 1 Mar 1947: International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
  • 1 Apr 1947: School leaving age raised to 15 in Britain
  • 26 Oct 1947: British military occupation ends in Iraq
  • 20 Nov 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey
1948 
  • 1948: British Citizenship Act : all Commonwealth citizens qualify for British passports
  • 1948: Transistor radio invented
  • 1948: Long-playing record (LP) invented by Goldmark
  • 1 Jan 1948: British Railways nationalised
  • 5 Jul 1948: National Health Service (NHS) begins in Britain
  • 29 Jul 1948: London Olympics begin
1949 
  • 1949: Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon (broken up in 1953 for scrap)
  • 1949: De Haviland produces the Comet – first jet airliner
  • 15 Mar 1949: Clothes rationing ends in Britain
  • 4 Apr 1949: Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO
1950 
  • 19 May 1950: Points rationing ends in Britain
  • 26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ends in Britain
  • 11 Jul 1950: 'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV
  • 9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing ends in Britain
  • 28 Dec 1950: The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
1951 
  • 3 May 1951: Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London
  • 28 May 1951: First Goon Show broadcast
  • 20 Dec 1951: Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
1952 
  • 1952: Contraceptive pill invented
  • 1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia
  • 1952: Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects
  • 1952: Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany
  • 6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies
  • 21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain
  • 2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg
  • 5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross)
  • 16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster
  • 6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed
  • 3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA – the mushroom cloud was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised.
  • 25 Nov 1952: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London
  • 4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
1953 
  • 31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century – severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives –- effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even worse affected with over a thousand deaths]
  • 5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain
  • 5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin
  • 26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine
  • 24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted
  • 25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA
  • 2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II
  • 26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
10 1954 
  • 1954: First comprehensive school opens in London
  • 1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London
  • 1954: First transistor radios sold
  • 6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs)
  • 3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain
  • 5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin
  • 30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
11 1955 
  • 1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons
  • 27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends
  • 22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
12 1956 
  • 1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland
  • 1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc)
  • 17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched – first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957
  • 3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class)
  • 31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
13 1957 
  • 1957: Britain introduces parking meters
  • 1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland)
  • 11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
  • 14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends
  • 15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island
  • 25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg – became operational Jan 1958
  • 4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster – 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them
  • 25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
14 1958 
  • 1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND)
  • 1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce
  • 1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
  • 13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered
  • 26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as "Prince of Wales"
  • 5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979)
  • 5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens – UK's first stretch of motorway
15 1959 
  • 3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' – plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper
  • 17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched – first to measure cloud-cover distribution
  • 24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day
  • Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched
  • 3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain
  • 1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
16 1960 
  • 17 Mar 1960: New £1 notes issued by Bank of England
  • 18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named
  • 21 Jul 1960: Francis Chichester arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II (took 40 days), winning the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race which he co-founded
  • 12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched
  • 12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced
  • 1 Oct 1960: HMS "Dreadnought" nuclear submarine launched
  • 2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the "Lady Chatterley's Lover" case
17 1961 
  • 1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK
  • 13 Mar 1961: Black & White £5 notes cease to be legal tender
  • 14 Mar 1961: New English Bible (New Testament) published
  • 1 May 1961: Betting shops legal in Britain
18 1962 
  • 1962: Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration
  • 1962: Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies
  • 1962: Britain and France agree to construct "Concorde"
  • 25 May 1962: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz)
  • 15 Jun 1962: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley, Glos)
  • Jul 1962: First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast from Moreton to Rhyl
  • 10 Jul 1962: First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar) – first live broadcast on 23 Jul
  • 24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis – brink of nuclear war
19 1963 
  • 1963: France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC
  • Jan 1963: Cold weather forces cancellation of most football matches (only 4 English First Division matches in the month) – the first 'pools panel' created
  • 27 Mar 1963: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe')
  • 1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age raised to 17
  • 8 Aug 1963: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train
  • 17 Sep 1963: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational
  • 18 Nov 1963: Dartford Tunnel opens
  • 23 Nov 1963: First episode of "Dr Who" on BBC TV
20 1964 
  • 1 Jan 1964: First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV
  • 9 Apr 1964: First Greater London Council (GLC) election
  • 21 Apr 1964: BBC2 TV launched
  • 22 Aug 1964: "Match of the Day" starts on BBC2
  • 4 Sep 1964: Forth road bridge opens
21 1965 
  • 1965: Britain enacts first Race Relations Act
  • 7 Feb 1965: First US raids against North Vietnam
  • 7 Apr 1965: Winston Churchill dies
  • 1 Aug 1965: TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain
  • 8 Oct 1965: Post Office Tower operational in London
  • 28 Oct 1965: Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then abolished 18 Dec 1969
  • 22 Dec 1965: 70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
22 1966 
  • 14 Feb 1966: Australia converts from £ to $
  • 3 May 1966: "The Times" begins to print news on its front page in place of classified advertisements
  • 30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany)
  • 8 Sep 1966: First Severn road bridge opens
  • 21 Oct 1966: Aberfan disaster – slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children
  • 1 Dec 1966: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
23 1967 
  • 4 Jan 1967: Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on Conniston Water – his body and Bluebird recovered in 2002
  • 18 Mar 1967: "Torrey Canyon" oil tanker runs aground off Lands End – first major oil spill
  • 28 May 1967: Francis Chichester arrives in Plymouth after solo circumnavigation in Gipsy Moth IV (he was knighted 7th July at Greenwich by the queen using the sword with which Elizabeth I had knighted Sir Francis Drake four centuries earlier
  • 27 Jun 1967: First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain – at Enfield branch of Barclays
  • 1 Jul 1967: First colour TV in Britain
  • 14 Aug 1967: Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK
  • 20 Sep 1967: "QE2" launched on Clydebank
  • 27 Sep 1967: "Queen Mary" arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage
  • 30 Sep 1967: BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 & 4 open – first record played on Radio 1 was the controversial "Flowers in the Rain" by 'The Move'
  • 5 Oct 1967: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
24 1968 
  • 18 Feb 1968: British Standard Time introduced – Summer Time became permanent but arguments prevailed and Britain reverted to GMT in October 1971
  • 18 Apr 1968: London Bridge sold (and eventually moved to Arizona) – modern London Bridge, built around it as it was demolished, was opened in Mar 1973
  • 20 Apr 1968: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration
  • 23 Apr 1968: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain
  • 29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup
  • 11 Aug 1968: Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle–Liverpool)
  • 16 Sep 1968: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain
  • 5 Oct 1968: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
25 1969 
  • 2 Mar 1969: Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse
  • 7 Mar 1969: Victoria Line tube opens in London
  • 17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18
  • 2 May 1969: Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2)
  • 31 Jul 1969: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain
  • 14 Aug 1969: Civil disturbances in Ulster – Britain sends troops to support civil authorities
  • 7 Sep 1969: First episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" recorded
  • 14 Oct 1969: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
26 1970 
  • 1970: Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service
  • 17 Jun 1970: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain
  • 19 Jun 1970: Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister
  • 30 Jul 1970: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims
  • 19 Sep 1970: First Glastonbury Festival held
  • 20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
27 1971 
  • 1971: Banking and Financial Dealings Act – replaced the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
  • 1971: Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week as UK adopts decision of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) to call Monday the first day
  • 1971: 'Greenpeace' founded
  • 1971: Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt
  • 3 Jan 1971: Open University starts
  • 15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland
  • 9 Aug 1971: Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland
  • 28 Oct 1971: Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973)
  • 28 Oct 1971: UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero
28 1972 
  • 1972: Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland
  • 1972: Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports
  • 1972: Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK
  • 1972: Domestic video cassette recorders introduced
  • 30 Jan 1972: 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland
  • 28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
29 1973 
  • 1 Jan 1973: Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark)
  • 17 Mar 1973: Modern London Bridge opened by the Queen
  • 1 Apr 1973: VAT introduced in Britain
  • 26 Sep 1973: Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time
  • 14 Oct 1973: Marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey
  • 31 Dec 1973: Miners strike and oil crisis precipitate 'three-day week' (till 9 Mar 1974) to conserve power
30 1974 
  • 1974: New counties formed in Britain after re-organisation of some county boundaries
  • 1 Jun 1974: Flixborough disaster: explosion at chemical plant kills 28 people
  • 7 Nov 1974: Lord Lucan disappears
  • 21 Nov 1974: Birmingham pub bombings by the IRA
31 1975 
  • 1975: Unemployment in Britain rises above 1M for first time since before WW2
  • 11 Feb 1975: Margaret Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative party (in opposition)
  • 28 Feb 1975: Moorgate tube crash in London – over 43 deaths, greatest loss of life on the Underground in peacetime. The cause of the incident was never conclusively determined
  • 4 Mar 1975: Charlie Chaplin knighted
  • 5 Jun 1975: UK votes in a referendum to stay in the European Community
  • 29 Oct 1975: 'Yorkshire Ripper' commits his first murder
  • 3 Nov 1975: First North Sea oil comes ashore
  • 29 Nov 1975: The name 'Micro-soft' coined by Bill Gates (Microsoft' became a Trademark the following year)
  • 27 Dec 1975: Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force
32 1976 
  • 1976: 'Cod War' between Britain and Iceland
  • 1976: Deaths exceeded live births in E&W for first time since records began in 1837
  • 1976: James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister
  • 1976: National Theatre opens in London
  • 21 Jan 1976: Concorde enters supersonic passenger service
  • 1 Apr 1976: Apple Computer formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
  • 6 Aug 1976: Drought Act 1976 comes into force — the long, hot summer
33 1977 
  • 2 Mar 1977: "Red Rum" wins a third Grand National
  • 25 May 1977: George Lucas' film "Star Wars" released
  • 5 Jun 1977: Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale
  • 7 Jun 1977: Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in London
  • 22 Nov 1977: Regular supersonic Concorde service betweeen London and NY inaugurated
34 1978 
  • 8 Apr 1978: Regular broadcast of proceedings in Parliament starts
  • 1 May 1978: First May Day holiday in Britain
  • 25 Jul 1978: World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham
  • 30 Nov 1978: Publication of The Times suspended – industrial relations problems (until 13 Nov 1979)
35 1979 
  • 1 Mar 1979: 32.5% of Scots vote in favour of devolution (40% needed) – Welsh vote overwhelmingly against
  • 30 Mar 1979: Airey Neave killed by a car bomb at Westminster
  • 31 Mar 1979: Withdrawal of the Royal Navy from Malta
  • 4 May 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman UK Prime Minister
  • 1 Jul 1979: Sony introduces the Walkman
  • 27 Aug 1979: Lord Mountbatten and 3 others killed in bomb blast off coast of Sligo, Ireland
  • 18 Sep 1979: ILEA votes to abolish corporal punishment in its schools
36 1980 
  • 5 May 1980: SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages
  • 8 Dec 1980: John Lennon assassinated in New York
37 1981 
  • 25 Jan 1981: Launch of SDP by 'Gang of Four' in Britain
  • 29 Mar 1981: First London marathon run
  • 11 Apr 1981: Brixton riots in South London – 30 other British cities also experience riots
  • 25 Apr 1981: Worst April blizzards this century in Britain
  • 27 Apr 1981: First use of computer mouse (by Xerox PARC system)
  • 29 Jul 1981: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (divorced 28 Aug 1996)
  • 12 Aug 1981: IBM launches the first PC
  • 12 Aug 1981: IBM launches its PC — starts the general use of personal computers
38 1982 
  • 26 Jan 1982: Unemployment reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population)
  • 5 Feb 1982: Laker Airways collapses
  • 19 Feb 1982: DeLorean Car factory in Belfast goes into receivership
  • 18 Mar 1982: Argentinians raised flag in South Georgia
  • 2 Apr 1982: Argentina invades Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
  • 5 Apr 1982: Royal Navy fleet sails from Portsmouth for Falklands
  • 2 May 1982: British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General Belgrano
  • 28 May 1982: First land battle in Falklands (Goose Green)
  • 14 Jun 1982: Ceasefire in Falklands
  • 21 Jun 1982: Prince William is born
  • 20 Jul 1982: IRA bombings in London (Hyde Park and Regents Park)
  • 19 Sep 1982: Smiley emoticon :-) said to have been used for the first time
  • 11 Oct 1982: "Mary Rose" raised in the Solent (sank in 1545)
  • 31 Oct 1982: Thames Barrier raised for first time (some say first public demonstration Nov 7)
  • 2 Nov 1982: Channel 4 TV station launched – first programme 'Countdown'
  • 4 Nov 1982: Lorries up to 38 tonnes allowed on Britain's roads
  • 12 Dec 1982: Women's peace protest at Greenham Common (Cruise missiles arrived 14 Nov 1983)
39 1983 
  • 1983: First female Lord Mayor of London elected (Dame Mary Donaldson)
  • 17 Jan 1983: Start of breakfast TV in Britain
  • 31 Jan 1983: Seat belt law comes into force
  • 21 Apr 1983: £1 coin into circulation in Britain
  • 7 Oct 1983: Plans to abolish GLC announced
  • 26 Nov 1983: Brinks Mat robbery: 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from a vault at Heathrow Airport
40 1984 
  • 6 Mar 1984: Miners strike begins
  • 17 Apr 1984: Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher killed by gunfire from the Libyan Embassy in London
  • 22 Jun 1984: Inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic
  • 9 Jul 1984: York Minster struck by lightning – the resulting fire damaged much of the building but the "Rose Window" not affected
  • 12 Oct 1984: IRA bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton – 4 killed
  • 24 Oct 1984: Miners' strike — High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets
  • 3 Dec 1984: British Telecom privatised – shares make massive gains on first day's trading
41 1985 
  • 3 Mar 1985: Miners agree to call off strike
  • 11 Mar 1985: Al Fayed buys Harrods
  • 13 Jul 1985: "Live Aid" pop concert raises over £50M for famine relief
  • 1 Sep 1985: Wreck of "Titanic" found (sank 1912)
42 1986 
  • 31 Mar 1986: GLC and 6 metropolitan councils abolished
  • 26 Apr 1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident – radiation reached Britain on 2 Ma
  • 26 May 1986: The European Community adopts the European flag
  • 23 Jul 1986: Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey
  • 27 Oct 1986: 'Big Bang' (deregulation) of the London Stock Market
  • 29 Oct 1986: M25 motorway ring around London completed
43 1987 
  • 1987: World population crossed the 5 billion mark
  • 2 Feb 1987: Terry Waite kidnapped in Beirut (released 17 Nov 1991)
  • 6 Mar 1987: Car ferry "Herald of Free Enterprise" capsizes off Zeebrugge – 188 die
  • 1 Jul 1987: Excavation begins on the Channel Tunnel
  • 19 Aug 1987: Hungerford Massacre – Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a rifle
  • 16 Oct 1987: The 'Hurricane' sweeps southern England
  • 19 Oct 1987: 'Black Monday' in the City of London – Stock Market crash
  • 8 Nov 1987: Enniskillen bombing at a Remembrance Day ceremony
  • 18 Nov 1987: King's Cross fire in London – 31 people die
44 1988 
  • 5 Feb 1988: First 'Red Nose Day' in UK, raising money for charity
  • 6 Jul 1988: Piper Alpha disaster – North Sea oil platform destroyed by explosion and fire killing 167 men
  • 15 Nov 1988: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act – reformulated the statutory basis of copyright law (including performing rights) in the UK
  • 12 Dec 1988: Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains
  • 21 Dec 1988: Lockerbie disaster – Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland
45 1989 
  • 1989: Poll Tax implemented in Scotland
  • 14 Feb 1989: The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit
  • 2 Mar 1989: EU decision to ban production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century
  • 9 Nov 1989: Berlin Wall torn down
  • 21 Nov 1989: Proceedings of House of Commons first televised live
46 1990 
  • 11 Feb 1990: Nelson Mandela released in South Africa
  • 31 Mar 1990: Riots in London against Poll Tax which had been implemented in England & Wales
  • 25 Apr 1990: Hubble space telescope launched
  • 22 Nov 1990: Margaret Thatcher resigns as Conservative party leader (and Prime Minister)
  • 1 Dec 1990: Channel Tunnel excavation teams meet in the middle
47 1991 
  • 1991: Poll Tax replaced (by Council Tax)
  • 1991: The 'Internet' comes into existence
  • 18 May 1991: Helen Sharman is first British Astronaut in Space
  • Aug 1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union
  • 6 Sep 1991: Leningrad renamed St Petersburg
  • 5 Nov 1991: Robert Maxwell drowns at sea
48 1992 
  • 7 Feb 1992: European Union formed by The Maastricht Treaty
  • 22 Apr 1992: Betty Boothroyd elected as first female Speaker of the House of Commons
  • 15 Aug 1992: Football Premier League kicks off in England
  • 16 Sep 1992: 'Black Wednesday' as Pound leaves the ERM
  • 20 Nov 1992: Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle causing over £50 million worth of damage
  • 24 Nov 1992: The Queen describes this year as an 'Annus Horribilis'
49 1993 
  • 1993: Betty Boothroyd first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (to 2000)
  • 1993: Elizabeth II becomes first British Monarch to pay Income Tax
  • Jul 1993: Ratification of Maastricht Treaty, established the European Union (EU)
50 1994 
  • 1994: 15 million people now connected to the Internet
  • 12 Mar 1994: Church of England ordains its first female priests
  • 6 May 1994: Channel Tunnel open to traffic
  • 19 Nov 1994: National Lottery starts
51 1995 
  • 26 Feb 1995: Nick Leeson brings down Barings Bank
  • 15 Jul 1995: First item sold on Amazon.com
  • 16 Nov 1995: The Queen Mother has a hip replacement operation at 95 years old
  • 22 Nov 1995: "Toy Story" released – first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery
52 1996 
  • 9 Feb 1996: IRA bomb explodes in London Docklands – ends 17 month ceasefire
  • 13 Mar 1996: Dunblane massacre
  • 15 Jun 1996: IRA bomb explodes in Manchester
  • 5 Jul 1996: Scientists in Scotland clone a sheep (Dolly)
  • 28 Aug 1996: Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales are divorced
53 1997 
  • 30 Mar 1997: Channel 5 TV begins in UK (launched by the Spice Girls)
  • 1 May 1997: 'New' Labour landslide victory in Britain (Tony Blair replaces John Major as Prime Minister)
  • 6 May 1997: Announcement that Bank of England to be made independent of Government control
  • 11 May 1997: First time a computer beats a master at chess (IBM's Deep Blue v Garry Kasparov)
  • 1 Jul 1997: Hong Kong returned to China
  • 19 Jul 1997: IRA declares a ceasefire
  • 31 Aug 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales killed in car crash in Paris
  • 25 Sep 1997: Land speed record breaks sound barrier for first time
54 1998 
  • 10 Apr 1998: Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland – effectively implemented in May 2007
  • 14 Aug 1998: Car bomb explodes in Omagh killing 29 people
  • 27 Sep 1998: 'Google' search engine founded