random retro-spective
New coins for you
to spend
The 20p coin makes
its debut, 1983
the retro hour: 1989
We've been through the archive and compiled everything we think you need to know about the year. To make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, everything is organised into categories.
the top stories
On November 10th, the Berlin Wall came down uniting East and West Germany
Moslems in Bradford burned Salmon Rushie's "Satanic Verses"
A British Midland Boeing 747 crashed in Derbyshire killing 44 passengers
and eight crew members
15,000 people protested at plans for a high-speed rail link to the Channel
Tunnel
94 people died at the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield where Liverpool
were playing Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup. Liverpool went on to win
the Cup, beating Everton 3-2.
Margaret Thatcher celebrated ten years in power
The Met. Office recorded the hottest summer since 1976
It was announced that Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were to separate
American songwriter Irving Berlin died aged 101
Interest rates rose to 15%
San Francisco was in a state of emergency after an earthquake measuring
6.9 on the Richter scale
Proceedings in the House of Commons were televised for the first time
In New York, shares on Wall Street suffered their second biggest fall
on record
on the chart
Madonna was threatened with excommunication after her video for Like
A Prayer suggested sexual attraction between the star and a vision of
Jesus - meanwhile the video for "Express Yourself" cost a record
$4 million.
Bill Wyman, aged 52, married 19-year-old Mandy Smith
Annie Lennox won the Brit award for Best Female; Phil Collins was voted
Best Male
It was revealed that Milli Vanilli hadn't sung on their records
The Eurovision Song Contest was won by Yugoslavia
Top of the Pops celebrated its 25th anniversary
Roy Orbison died
on the tv and at the cinema
Rupert Murdoch launched Sky TV, but only about 50,000 people had dishes
Dirty Den left EastEnders for the first time
Proceedings in the House of Commons were televised
The top shows of the year were: Coronation Street, EastEnders, Neighbours,
Only Fools and Horses and the Tyson v Bruno fight
Rain Man won the Oscar for Best Picture and
Dustin Hoffman was given Best Actor for his role
Pauline Collins starred in Shirley Valentine and Harry Met Sally introduced
Billy Crystal to the world alongside Meg Ryan
Other big films included: Who Framed Roger Rabbit II?, Batman, Lethal
Weapon 2, Dead Poets Society, Back To The Future Part III and Working
Girl
sports achievements and milestones
Frank Bruno was stopped by Mike Tyson in the fifth round of their World
Heavyweight Title in Las Vegas
Desert Orchid won the Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Grand National at Aintree was won by Little Polvier
Boris Becker and Steffi Graf were the Wimbledon champions
Arsenal were champions of the First Division. Liverpool won the FA Cup
Alain Prost became the Formula 1 world champion
and finally
Crop circle mania broke out in Britain's fields
Ronald Reagan was awarded an honourary knighthood by the Queen
The new craze was karaoke - Japanese style sing-a-longs
Reebok pump basketball shoes were launched