Timeline: Christopher Roland Bourne: The Craxford Family Genealogy Magazine

1969 - 1994 (25 years)

	Date	Event(s)
1	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)
2	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
3	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
4	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
5	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
6	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
7	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
8	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
9	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
10	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)
11	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
12	1980	5 May 1980: SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages 8 Dec 1980: John Lennon assassinated in New York
13	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
14	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)
15	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
16	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
17	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)
18	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
19	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
20	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
21	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
22	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
23	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
24	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'
25	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)
26	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

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