Historical Figure
Margaret Thatcher
1925–2013
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990
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"10th G7 Summit Statement" — 1984
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Key Dates
Birth
1925 October 13, 1925 →Biography
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the position. As prime minister, she implemented policies that came to be known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady," a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.
Timeline
After the general election, Margaret Thatcher forms her first government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
May 3 →Margaret Thatcher wins the United Kingdom general election. The following day, she becomes the first female British Prime Minister.
May 3 →Brighton hotel bombing: Margaret Thatcher survives an IRA bomb, which shredded her bathroom barely two minutes after she had left it.
October 12 →The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing, China by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
December 19 →Brighton hotel bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Thatcher escapes but the bomb kills five people and wounds 31.
October 12 →The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.
November 15 →British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the last stretch of the M25 motorway.
October 29 →British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
July 29 →Margaret Thatcher holds her controversial Sermon on the Mound before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
May 21 →More from the Interwar & WWII
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