1979 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1979 in the United Kingdom.
Events
- January 10 - Prime Minister James Callaghan returns from an international summit to a Britain in a state of industrial unrest. The Sun newspaper reported his comments with a famous headline: "Crisis? What Crisis?" [1]
- January 22 - tens of thousands of public-workers strike in the beginning of what became known as the Winter of Discontent. [2]
- February 9 - Trevor Francis signs for Nottingham Forest in British football's first £1 million deal. [3]
- February 22 - Saint Lucia becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
- March 1 - Scotland votes narrowly for home rule, which is not implemented, and Wales votes against it.
- March 18 - An explosion at the Golborne colliery in Wigan kills three men. [4]
- March 22 - Sir Richard Sykes, ambassador to the Netherlands, shot dead by IRA in The Hague. [5]
- March 28 - James Callaghan's government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election. [6]
- March 30 - Airey Neave, World War Two veteran and Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman, is killed by an INLA bomb in the House of Commons parking lot. [7]
- March 31 - The Royal Navy withdraws from Malta.
- April 23 - Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protestor Blair Peach. [8]
- May 4 - Conservatives win the general election; Margaret Thatcher becomes the new Prime Minister. [9]
- May 25 - price of milk increases more than 10% to 15 pence a pint. [10]
- June 22 - former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe cleared in court of the allegations of attempted murder which ruined his career. [11]
- July 5 - The Queen attends the 1000th annual sitting of the Isle of Man's Parliament, the Tynwald. [12]
- August 9 - The first British nudist beach is established in Brighton. [13]
- August 14 - A storm in the Irish Sea hits the Fastnet yacht race. Three lives and dozens of yachts are lost. [14]
- August 14 - disgraced MP John Stonehouse released from jail. [15]
- August 27 - Lord Mountbatten and three others are assassinated by the I.R.A.. He was an admiral, statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. [16]
- August 27- Warrenpoint Ambush: eighteen British soldiers killed in Northern Ireland by IRA. [17]
- September 2 - Police discover twelth victim of Yorkshire Ripper. [18]
- September 5 - The Queen leads the mourning at the funeral of Lord Mountbatten.[19]
- September 21 - a RAF Harrier jet crashes into a house in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire killing two men and a boy. [20]
- October 27 - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence.
- October 28 - Chairman Hua Guofeng becomes the first Chinese leader to visit Britain. [21]
- November 13 - The Times published for the first time in nearly a year after a dispute between management and unions over staffing levels and new technology. [22]
- November 16 - Anthony Blunt named as the fourth man in the Cambridge Spy Ring. [23]
- November 23 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.
- December 4 - The Hastie Fire in Hull leads to the deaths of 3 boys and begins the hunt for Bruce George Peter Lee, the UK's most prolific killer.
- December 7 - Lord Soames appointed as the transitional governor of Rhodesia to oversee its move to independence.[24]
- December 10 - Daredevil Eddie Kidd performs an 80ft jump on a motorcycle. [25]
- December 20 - Thatcher government publishes Housing Bill which would give Council House tenants the right to buy their homes. [26]
Births
- January 27 - Rosamund Pike, actress
- March 12 - Pete Doherty, singer and guitarist (The Libertines and Babyshambles)
- April 10 - Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singer
- May 25 - Jonny Wilkinson, rugby union player
- July 4 - Martin Shearman-Brettle, composer
- July 26 - Johnson Beharry, war hero
- July 30 - Graeme McDowell, professional golfer
- August 5 - David Healy, footballer
- September 14 - Stuart Fielden, rugby league player
- November 8 - Aaron Hughes, footballer
- December 3 - Daniel Bedingfield, pop singer and songwriter
- December 14 - Michael Owen, footballer
Deaths
- February 2 - Sid Vicious, musician (Sex Pistols) (drug overdose) (born 1957)
- February 14 - Reginald Maudling, politician (born 1917)
- March 19 - Richard Beckinsale, actor (born 1947)
- March 23 - Ted Anderson, footballer (born 1911)
- March 30 - Airey Neave, politician (assassinated) (born 1916)
- July 16 - Alfred Deller, countertenor (born 1912)
- August 27 - Earl Mountbatten, last Viceroy of India (assassinated) (born 1900)
- October 10 - Dr Christopher Evans, psychologist and computer scientist (born 1931)
- October 13 - Rebecca Helferich Clarke, composer and violist (born 1886)
- October 30 - Barnes Wallis, aeronautical engineer (born 1887)
References
- ^ 1979: 'No chaos here' declares Callaghan
- ^ 1979: Public sector strike paralyses country
- ^ 1979: Forest break football transfer record
- ^ 1979: Three die in Golborne mine blast
- ^ 1979: British ambassador assassinated in Holland
- ^ 1979: Early election as Callaghan defeated
- ^ 1979: Car bomb kills Airey Neave
- ^ 1979: Teacher dies in Southall race riots
- ^ 1979: Election victory for Margaret Thatcher
- ^ 1979: Price of milk shoots up
- ^ 1979: Thorpe cleared of murder charges
- ^ 1979: Queen oversees Manx millennium
- ^ 1979: Brighton bares all
- ^ 1979: Freak storm hits yacht race
- ^ 1979: Disgraced ex-MP released from jail
- ^ 1979: IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten
- ^ 1979: Soldiers die in Warrenpoint massacre
- ^ 1979: Ripper suspected of 12th murder
- ^ 1979: Mountbatten buried after final parade
- ^ 1979: Harrier crash kills three
- ^ 1979: Chairman Hua arrives in London
- ^ 1979: Times returns after year-long dispute
- ^ 1979: Blunt revealed as 'fourth man'
- ^ 1979: Lord Soames to govern Rhodesia
- ^ 1979: Daredevil Kidd's 80ft river jump
- ^ 1979: Council tenants will have 'right to buy'
Categories
1979 in the United Kingdom
1979 in the United Kingdom: 
England | 
Scotland