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Date |
Event(s) |
1 | 1974 | - 1974: OPEC oil shock
- 1974: President Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal
- 1974: Halie Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, Deposed
- 1974: Mikhail Baryshnikov Defects
- 1974: Terracotta Army Discovered in China
- 1974: U.S. President Nixon Resigns
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2 | 1975 | - 1975: End of Vietnam war
- 1975: Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force in UK
- 1975: Arthur Ashe First Black Man to Win Wimbledon
- 1975: Civil War in Lebanon
- 1975: Microsoft Founded
- 1975: Pol Pot Becomes the Communist Dictator of Cambodia
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3 | 1976 | - 1976: First Apple computer
- 1976: Viking Lander lands on Mars
- 1976: NASA's Viking Lander lands on Mars, starts looking for alien life
- 1976: Long hot summer in UK. Parliament introduces Drought Act
- 1976: Nadia Comaneci Given Seven Perfect Tens
- 1976: North and South Vietnam Join to Form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- 1976: Tangshan Earthquake Kills Over 240,000
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4 | 1977 | - 1977: The Centre National d'Art et de la Culture Georges-Pompidou (Pompidou Centre or "Beaubourg"), a Hi-Tech metal-framework building designed by Richard Rogers, is completed in Paris and proves immensely popular.
- 1977: UK road speed limits set at 70mph for dual roads; 60mph single
- 1977: Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Silver Jubilee
- 1977: 'Star Wars' fever invades Britain as thousands flock to cinemas to watch the long-awaited sci-fi blockbuster
- 1977: Elvis Found Dead
- 1977: Miniseries Roots Airs
- 1977: South African Anti-Apartheid Leader Steve Biko Tortured to Death
- 1977: Star Wars Movie Released
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5 | 1978 | - 1978: World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham
- 1978: Writer and broadcaster Georgi Markov dies after an assassin stabs him with a poisoned umbrella at a London bus stop.
- 1978: Pope John Paul II elected by cardinals: first non-Italian for 450 years
- 1978: First Test-Tube Baby Born
- 1978: John Paul II Becomes Pope
- 1978: Jonestown Massacre
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6 | 1979 | - 1979: Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister to 1990 (Conservative)
- 1979: Public sector strike paralyses UK
- 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman UK Prime Minister
- 1979: Ayatollah Khomeini Returns as Leader of Iran
- 1979: Iran Takes American Hostages in Tehran
- 1979: Margaret Thatcher First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain
- 1979: Mother Theresa Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1979: Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island
- 1979: Sony Introduces the Walkman
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7 | 1980 | - 1980: Arthur Fry, a chemist for 3M, invented the Post-It note
- 1980: Failed U.S. Rescue Attempt to Save Hostages in Tehran
- 1980: John Lennon Assassinated
- 1980: Mount St. Helens Erupts
- 1980: Rubik's Cube Popular
- 1980: Ted Turner Establishes CNN
- 1980: Failed U.S. Rescue Attempt to Save Hostages in Tehran
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8 | 1981 | - 1981: First US Space Shuttle (Columbia) launched
- 1981: Worst April blizzards of 20th century in Britain
- 1981: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
- 1981: Assassination Attempt on the Pope
- 1981: Assassination Attempt on U.S. President Reagan
- 1981: Millions Watch Royal Wedding on T.V.
- 1981: New Plague Identified as AIDS
- 1981: Pac-Man is Extremely Popular
- 1981: Personal Computers (PC) Introduced by IBM
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9 | 1982 | - 1982: Argentina invades Falkland Islands
- 1982: Unemployment reaches 3 million in Britain
- 1982: Women's peace protests against cruise missiles begin at Greenham Common
- 1982: E.T. Movie Released
- 1982: Falkland Islands Invaded by Argentina
- 1982: King Henry VIII's Ship the Mary Rose Raised After 437 Years
- 1982: Reverend Sun Myung Moon Marries 2,075 Couples at Madison Square Garden
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10 | 1983 | - 1983: Margaret Thatcher wins landslide second term election victory, taking 397 seats to Labour's 209
- 1983: ?1 coin goes into circulation in Britain
- 1983: Reagan Announces Defense Plan Called Star Wars
- 1983: Soviets Shoot Down a Korean Airliner
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11 | 1984 | - 1984: Miners' strike in UK - High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets
- 1984: Huge Poison Gas Leak in Bhopal, India
- 1984: Indira Gandhi, India's Prime Minister, Killed by Two Bodyguards
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12 | 1985 | - 1985: BBC launches 'EastEnders' as soap rival to 'Coronation Street'
- 1985: Famine in Ethiopia
- 1985: Hole in the Ozone Layer Discovered
- 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev Calls for Glasnost and Perestroika
- 1985: Wreck of the Titanic Found
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13 | 1986 | - 1986: US bombing of Libya
- 1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident in USSR
- 1986: LiveAid, the biggest music event staged to date
- 1986: Seven dead in 'Challenger' space shuttle disaster
- 1986: Challenger Space Shuttle Explodes
- 1986: Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
- 1986: Ferdinand Marcos Flees the Philippines
- 1986: Iran-Contra Scandal Unfolds
- 1986: U.S. Bombs Libya
- 1986: U.S.S.R. Launches Mir Space Station
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14 | 1987 | - 1987: Margaret Thatcher wins record third term as UK prime minister
- 1987: DNA First Used to Convict Criminals
- 1987: Klaus Barbie, the Nazi Butcher of Lyons, Sentenced to Life in Prison
- 1987: New York Stock Exchange Suffers Huge Drop on 'Black Monday'
- 1987: West German Pilot Lands Unchallenged in Russia's Red Square
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15 | 1988 | - 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 Is Bombed Over Lockerbie
- 1988: U.S. Shoots Down Iranian Airliner
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16 | 1989 | - 1989: Berlin Wall Falls
- 1989: Exxon Valdez Spills Millions of Gallons of Oil on Coastline
- 1989: Students Massacred in China's Tiananmen Square
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17 | 1990 | - 1990: John Major Prime Minister to 1997 (Conservative)
- 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait, triggering first gulf war
- 1990: Violence flares in London Poll Tax demonstration
- 1990: Margaret Thatcher quits as UK prime minister
- 1990: Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela freed from prison in South Africa after 27 years
- 1990: Hubble Telescope Launched Into Space
- 1990: Lech Walesa Becomes First President of Poland
- 1990: Nelson Mandela Freed
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18 | 1991 | - 1991: Bronze Age Man Found Frozen in Glacier
- 1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union
- 1991: Operation Desert Storm
- 1991: South Africa Repeals Apartheid Laws
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19 | 1992 | - 1992: Official End of the Cold War
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20 | 1993 | - 1993: Cult Compound in Waco, Texas Raided
- 1993: Use of the Internet Grows Exponentially
- 1993: World Trade Center Bombed
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21 | 1994 | - 1994: Channel Tunnel Opens, Connecting Britain and France
- 1994: Lorena Bobbit Takes Brutal Revenge
- 1994: Nelson Mandela Elected President of South Africa
- 1994: O.J. Simpson Arrested for Double Murder
- 1994: Rwandan Genocide Begins
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22 | 1995 | - 1995: Ebola Virus Spreads in Zaire
- 1995: Gas Attack in Tokyo Subway
- 1995: Yitzhak Rabin Assassinated
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23 | 1996 | - 1996: Mad Cow Disease Hits Britain
- 1996: Two Royal Divorces
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24 | 1997 | - 1997: UK General Election: Labour routs Tories and Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister
- 1997: Hale-Bopp Comet Visible
- 1997: Hong Kong Returned to China
- 1997: Pathfinder Sends Back Images of Mars
- 1997: Princess Diana Dies in Car Crash
- 1997: Scientists Clone Sheep
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25 | 1998 | - 1998: India and Pakistan Test Nuclear Weapons
- 1998: Titanic Most Successful Movie Ever
- 1998: U.S. President Clinton Impeached
- 1998: Viagra on the Market
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26 | 1999 | - 1999: The Euro the New European Currency
- 1999: Fear of Y2K Bug
- 1999: Killing Spree at Columbine High School
- 1999: NATO Attacks Serbia
- 1999: Panama Canal Returns to Panama
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27 | 2000 | - 2000: Fuel protests paralyse Britain for seven days
- 2000: World celebrates New Millennium: UK opens unpopular dome visitor attraction at Greenwich
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28 | 2001 | - 2001: 11 SEP attacks on US
- 2001: Outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease in UK. Millions of animals slaughtered and burned across the nation
- 2001: General Election - Labour returned to power in UK
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29 | 2002 | - 2002: The Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon dies, aged 101 years
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30 | 2005 | - 2005: UK General election returns Labour to power for third term under Tony Blair
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