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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1982 | - 26 January 1982—26 January 1982: Unemployment reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population)
- 5 February 1982—5 February 1982: Laker Airways collapses
- 19 February 1982—19 February 1982: DeLorean Car factory in Belfast goes into receivership
- 18 March 1982—18 March 1982: Argentinians raised flag in South Georgia
- 2 April 1982—2 April 1982: Argentina invades Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
- 5 April 1982—5 April 1982: Royal Navy fleet sails from Portsmouth for Falklands
- 2 May 1982—2 May 1982: British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General
Belgrano
- 28 May 1982—28 May 1982: First land battle in Falklands (Goose Green)
- 14 June 1982—14 June 1982: Ceasefire in Falklands
- 21 June 1982—21 June 1982: Prince William is born
- 20 July 1982—20 July 1982: IRA bombings in London (Hyde Park and Regents Park)
- 19 September 1982—19 September 1982: Smiley emoticon :-) said to have been used for the first time
- 11 October 1982—11 October 1982: Mary Rose' raised in the Solent (sank in 1545)
- 31 October 1982—31 October 1982: Thames Barrier raised for first time (some say first public demonstration Nov 7)
- 2 November 1982—2 November 1982: Channel 4 TV station launched - first programme 'Countdown'
- 4 November 1982—4 November 1982: Lorries up to 38 tonnes allowed on Britain's roads
- 12 December 1982—12 December 1982: Women's peace protest at Greenham Common (Cruise missiles arrived 14 Nov
1983)
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| 2 | 1983 | - 1983—1983: First female Lord Mayor of London elected (Dame Mary Donaldson)
- 17 January 1983—17 January 1983: Start of breakfast TV in Britain
- 31 January 1983—31 January 1983: Seat belt law comes into force
- 21 April 1983—21 April 1983: ?1 coin into circulation in Britain
- 7 October 1983—7 October 1983: Plans to abolish GLC announced
- 26 November 1983—26 November 1983: Brinks Mat robbery: 6,800 gold bars worth nearly ?26 million are stolen from a
vault at Heathrow Airport
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| 3 | 1984 | - 6 March 1984—6 March 1984: Miners strike begins
- 17 April 1984—17 April 1984: Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher killed by gunfire from the Libyan Embassy in
London
- 22 June 1984—22 June 1984: Inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic
- 9 July 1984—9 July 1984: York Minster struck by lightning - the resulting fire damaged much of the building
but the Rose Window' not affected
- 12 October 1984—12 October 1984: IRA bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton - 4 killed
- 24 October 1984—24 October 1984: Miners' strike ? High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets
- 3 December 1984—3 December 1984: British Telecom privatised - shares make massive gains on first day's trading
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| 4 | 1985 | - 3 March 1985—3 March 1985: Miners agree to call off strike
- 11 March 1985—11 March 1985: Al Fayed buys Harrods
- 13 July 1985—13 July 1985: Live Aid' pop concert raises over ?50M for famine relief
- 1 September 1985—1 September 1985: Wreck of Titanic' found (sank 1912)
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| 5 | 1986 | - 31 March 1986—31 March 1986: GLC and 6 metropolitan councils abolished
- 26 April 1986—26 April 1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident - radiation reached Britain on 2 Ma
- 26 May 1986—26 May 1986: The European Community adopts the European flag
- 23 July 1986—23 July 1986: Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey
- 27 October 1986—27 October 1986: 'Big Bang' (deregulation) of the London Stock Market
- 29 October 1986—29 October 1986: M25 motorway ring around London completed
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| 6 | 1987 | - 1987—1987: World population crossed the 5 billion mark
- 2 February 1987—2 February 1987: Terry Waite kidnapped in Beirut (released 17 Nov 1991)
- 6 March 1987—6 March 1987: Car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise' capsizes off Zeebrugge - 188 die
- 1 July 1987—1 July 1987: Excavation begins on the Channel Tunnel
- 19 August 1987—19 August 1987: Hungerford Massacre - Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a rifle
- 16 October 1987—16 October 1987: The 'Hurricane' sweeps southern England
- 19 October 1987—19 October 1987: 'Black Monday' in the City of London - Stock Market crash
- 8 November 1987—8 November 1987: Enniskillen bombing at a Remembrance Day ceremony
- 18 November 1987—18 November 1987: King's Cross fire in London - 31 people die
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| 7 | 1988 | - 5 February 1988—5 February 1988: First 'Red Nose Day' in UK, raising money for charity
- 6 July 1988—6 July 1988: Piper Alpha disaster - North Sea oil platform destroyed by explosion and fire
killing 167 men
- 15 November 1988—15 November 1988: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act - reformulated the statutory basis of
copyright law (including performing rights) in the UK
- 12 December 1988—12 December 1988: Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures hundreds after two collisions of
three commuter trains
- 21 December 1988—21 December 1988: Lockerbie disaster - Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland
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| 8 | 1989 | - 1989—1989: Poll Tax implemented in Scotland
- 14 February 1989—14 February 1989: The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit
- 2 March 1989—2 March 1989: EU decision to ban production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of
the century
- 9 November 1989—9 November 1989: Berlin Wall torn down
- 21 November 1989—21 November 1989: Proceedings of House of Commons first televised live
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| 9 | 1990 | - 11 February 1990—11 February 1990: Nelson Mandela released in South Africa
- 31 March 1990—31 March 1990: Riots in London against Poll Tax which had been implemented in England &
Wales
- 25 April 1990—25 April 1990: Hubble space telescope launched
- 22 November 1990—22 November 1990: Margaret Thatcher resigns as Conservative party leader (and Prime Minister)
- 1 December 1990—1 December 1990: Channel Tunnel excavation teams meet in the middle
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| 10 | 1991 | - 1991—1991: Poll Tax replaced (by Council Tax)
- 1991—1991: The 'Internet' comes into existence
- 18 May 1991—18 May 1991: Helen Sharman is first British Astronaut in Space
- August 1991—August 1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union
- 6 September 1991—6 September 1991: Leningrad renamed St Petersburg
- 5 November 1991—5 November 1991: Robert Maxwell drowns at sea
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| 11 | 1992 | - 7 February 1992—7 February 1992: European Union formed by The Maastricht Treaty
- 22 April 1992—22 April 1992: Betty Boothroyd elected as first female Speaker of the House of Commons
- 15 August 1992—15 August 1992: Football Premier League kicks off in England
- 16 September 1992—16 September 1992: 'Black Wednesday' as Pound leaves the ERM
- 20 November 1992—20 November 1992: Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle causing over ?50 million worth of damage
- 24 November 1992—24 November 1992: The Queen describes this year as an 'Annus Horribilis'
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| 12 | 1993 | - 1993—1993: Betty Boothroyd first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (to 2000)
- 1993—1993: Elizabeth II becomes first British Monarch to pay Income Tax
- July 1993—July 1993: Ratification of Maastricht Treaty, established the European Union (EU)
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| 13 | 1994 | - 1994—1994: 15 million people now connected to the Internet
- 12 March 1994—12 March 1994: Church of England ordains its first female priests
- 6 May 1994—6 May 1994: Channel Tunnel open to traffic
- 19 November 1994—19 November 1994: National Lottery starts
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| 14 | 1995 | - 26 February 1995—26 February 1995: Nick Leeson brings down Barings Bank
- 15 July 1995—15 July 1995: First item sold on Amazon.com
- 16 November 1995—16 November 1995: The Queen Mother has a hip replacement operation at 95 years old
- 22 November 1995—22 November 1995: Toy Story' released - first feature-length film created completely using
computer-generated imagery
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| 15 | 1996 | - 9 February 1996—9 February 1996: IRA bomb explodes in London Docklands - ends 17 month ceasefire
- 13 March 1996—13 March 1996: Dunblane massacre
- 15 June 1996—15 June 1996: IRA bomb explodes in Manchester
- 5 July 1996—5 July 1996: Scientists in Scotland clone a sheep (Dolly)
- 28 August 1996—28 August 1996: Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales are divorced
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| 16 | 1997 | - 30 March 1997—30 March 1997: Channel 5 TV begins in UK (launched by the Spice Girls)
- 1 May 1997—1 May 1997: 'New' Labour landslide victory in Britain (Tony Blair replaces John Major as
Prime Minister)
- 6 May 1997—6 May 1997: Announcement that Bank of England to be made independent of Government
control
- 11 May 1997—11 May 1997: First time a computer beats a master at chess (IBM's Deep Blue v Garry
Kasparov)
- 1 July 1997—1 July 1997: Hong Kong returned to China
- 19 July 1997—19 July 1997: IRA declares a ceasefire
- 31 August 1997—31 August 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales killed in car crash in Paris
- 25 September 1997—25 September 1997: Land speed record breaks sound barrier for first time
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| 17 | 1998 | - 10 April 1998—10 April 1998: Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland - effectively implemented in
May 2007
- 14 August 1998—14 August 1998: Car bomb explodes in Omagh killing 29 people
- 27 September 1998—27 September 1998: 'Google' search engine founded
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| 18 | 1999 | - 1999—1999: World population reaches 6 billion
- 1 January 1999—1 January 1999: European Monetary Union begins - UK opts out - by the end of the year the
Euro has approximately the same value as the US Dollar
- 1 July 1999—1 July 1999: The Scottish Parliament is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth - powers are
officially transferred from the Scottish Office in London to the new devolved Scottish
Executive in Edinburgh
- 11 August 1999—11 August 1999: Total eclipse of the sun visible in Devon and Cornwall
- 11 November 1999—11 November 1999: Hereditary Peers no longer have right to sit in House of Lords
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| 19 | 2000 | - 1 January 2000—1 January 2000: The year in Britain started with a 'flu bug rather than a millennium bug
- March 2000—March 2000: London Eye opens, late but popular
- 22 April 2000—22 April 2000: The Big Number Change takes place in the UK - affected telephone dialling
codes assigned to Cardiff, Coventry, London, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth and Southampton
- 4 May 2000—4 May 2000: Ken Livingstone elected first Mayor of London (not to be confused with Lord
Mayor of London!)
- 10 June 2000—10 June 2000: Millennium footbridge over the Thames opens, but wobbles and is quickly
declared dangerous and closed - finally reopened Feb 2002
- 25 July 2000—25 July 2000: A chartered Air France Concorde crashes on take-off at Paris with the loss of all lives
- September 2000—September 2000: 'People Power' emerged suddenly as protestors against high Road Fuel Tax used
mobile phones and the Internet to co-ordinate blockades on fuel depots - resulted in
nationwide panic buying of fuel and service stations running out across the country
- October 2000—October 2000: Heavy rains cause worst flooding since records began (1850s) in many
parts of Britain (Oct-Dec)
- 17 October 2000—17 October 2000: Derailment at speed on the main London-North eastern line at Hatfield caused
by a broken rail
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| 20 | 2001 | - February 2001—February 2001: Outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease in UK - lasted until October - caused
postponement of local and general elections from May to June
- 12 May 2001—12 May 2001: FA Cup Final played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - first time away from Wembley since 1922
- 7 June 2001—7 June 2001: General Election - Labour returned again with a large majority, the first time
they had succeeded in gaining a second term
- 1 September 2001—1 September 2001: New-style number plates on road vehicles in UK [eg. AB 51 ABC]
- 7 November 2001—7 November 2001: Concorde flights resume after modifications to tyres and fuel tanks
- December 2001—December 2001: UK Christmas stamps self-adhesive for the first time (self-adhesive 1st & 2nd class
definitives already on sale)
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1982 - Abt 2001 (18 years) 
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