random retro-spective
Did you visit it? The Millennium Dome at Greenwich
The contents of the Dome were unveiled in 1998 and the Dome was a tourist attraction throughout 2000.
welcome to the 1980s
Admission to this section is on condition that you own up to having had big hair and were a fan of Duran Duran or Nik Kershaw in the 1980s!
There's an overview of the whole decade on this page but to find out more about one particular year use the links below or to the right to take you straight to your favourite eighties year.
1980
Paul McCartney was deported from Tokyo after spending nine days in jail
suspected of importing marijuana
Sixpence pieces ceased to be legal tender
Kramer versus Kramer won the Oscar for Best Film
Inflation in the UK rose to 21.8 per cent
British Leyland launched the Mini-Metro
Find out more about the news, sport and
entertainment stories of 1980
1981
The first demonstration of the compact disc took place in Europe
Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th President of America
Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in July
Garages started selling petrol by the litre
Mrs Thatcher stepped up her privatisation programme
Find out more about the news, sport and
entertainment stories of 1981
1982
The 20p coin went into circulation
ET went home
The ITV stations Central, TV South and TV South West went on air
Mark Thatcher went missing in the Sahara desert during the Paris to Dakar
rally
The capital of Zimbabwe was renamed Harare
Find out more about the news, sport and
entertainment stories of 1982
1983
Early morning television began with Breakfast Time & TV-am
The £1 coin came into circulation
Richard Attenborough's film Ghandi won eight Oscars
Michael Foot resigned as the Labour leader: the new leader was Neil Kinnock
The first wheel clamps were introduced in London
Find out more about the news, sport and
entertainment stories of 1983
1984
Comedian Tommy Cooper died after collapsing on stage
York Minster was badly damaged by fire
Princess Diana gave birth to her second son, Henry
A nationwide miners' strike began, only 21 pits were operating as normal
Singer Marvin Gaye was shot dead during an argument with his father
Find out more about the news, sport and
entertainment stories of 1984
1985
Sir Clive Sinclair unveiled his new revolutionary form of transport,
a battery powered tricycle called the C5
Live Aid raised £50m for the famine in Africa
Unseeded Boris Becker won Wimbledon aged 17
Rupert Murdoch bought 50% of the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1985
1986
Britain and France gave the go-ahead to the Channel Tunnel
Halley's Comet made its 75-yearly visit
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson got engaged and married
The American space shuttle Challenger exploded seconds after lift-off,
killing its crew of seven
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1986
1987
Margaret Thatcher was elected for a third term backed by a massive majority
Michael Fish made one of the most famous weather forecasting blunders
Los Angeles was rocked by an earthquake, killing six people
Unemployment fell below three million
Two new London evening papers The London Daily News and The Evening News
were launched
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1987
1988
Francois Mitterand was re-elected as President of France
Michael Jackson played to a full house at Wembley, despite bad press
Peter Wright's book Spycatcher was published after much legal wrangling
MPs voted in favour of the live televising of events in The Commons
America returned to the space race with space shuttle Discovery
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1988
1989
Rupert Murdoch launched Sky TV, but only 50,000 people had dishes
Frank Bruno was stopped by Mike Tyson in the fifth round of their World
Heavyweight Title in Las Vegas
The Met. Office recorded the hottest summer since 1976
The Berlin Wall came down uniting East and West Germany
It was announced that Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were to separate
Find out more about the news,
sport and entertainment stories of 1989