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1989 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1987| 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991

Sport and Music

British and Irish current events

1989 English cricket season

Football England | Scotland

1989 in British music

Events from the year 1989 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher, Conservative

Events

• 4 January - A memorial service is held for the 270 people who died in the Lockerbie air disaster two weeks ago. Margaret Thatcher and several other world political leaders are among more than 200 people present in the church service at Old Dryfesdale.
• 8 January - the Kegworth air disaster: A British Midland Boeing 737 crashes onto the M1 motorway on the approach to East Midlands Airport killing 44 people.^[1]
• 11 January -
  • - Accident investigators say that the Kegworth air disaster was caused when pilot Kevin Hunt, who survived the crash, accidentally shut down the wrong engine.
    • - Abbey National building society offers free shares to its 5,500,000 members.
• 14 January - Muslims demonstrate in Bradford against the Satanic Verses, a book written by Salman Rushdie, burning copies of the book in the city streets.
• 25 January - John Cleese wins libel case after the Daily Mirror described him as having become like his character Basil Fawlty in the sitcom Fawlty Towers.^[2]
• 5 February - Sky Television begins broadcasting as the first satellite TV service in Britain.^[3]
• 12 February - Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane is murdered by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.^[4]
• 14 February - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran places a fatwa (order to kill) on author Salman Rushdie following the publication of his controversial book "The Satanic Verses", which has caused outrage among the Islamic community.^[5]
• 20 February - IRA bomb the Tern Hill Barracks in Shropshire, injuring 50 soldiers of the Parachute Regiment.^[6]
• 3 March - Margaret Thatcher becomes a grandmother for the first time when her daughter-in-law Diane gives birth to a son in Dallas, Texas.
• 4 March - Purley rail crash: 2 trains collide at Purley, Surrey killing six people.^[7]
• 7 March - Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with the UK over Salman Rushdie's controversial book The Satanic Verses.
• 16 March - Britain's unemployment level is now below 7% for the first time in eight years, with just over 2,000,000 people now unemployed.
• 17 March - The three men convicted of murdering paperboy Carl Bridgewater in Staffordshire 10 years ago have their appeals rejected. A fourth man convicted in connection with the killing died in prison in 1981.
• 20 March - Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary are killed by the IRA.^[8]
• 26 March - Nigel Mansell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix.
• 5 April - 500 workers on the Channel Tunnel go on strike in a protest against pay and working conditions.
• 6 April - The government announces an end to the legislation which effectively guarantees secure work for more than 9,000 dockers over the remainder of their working lives.^[9]
• 10 April - Nick Faldo becomes the first English winner of The Masters Tournament.^[2]
• 14 April - Ford unveils the latest version of its small Fiesta hatchback, which is being built at the Dagenham plant in England and the Valencia plant in Spain.
• 15 April - 94 fans are killed in a crush during at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield during the FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool FC. Around 300 others have been taken to hospital. Some of those injured are in a serious condition and there are fears that the death toll (already the worst at any football stadium disaster in Britain) could rise even higher.^[2]
• 19 April - The Hillsborough disaster claims its 95th victim when 14-year-old Lee Nichol dies in hospital as a result of his injuries. On the same day, The Sun newspaper causes great controversy with claims that spectators stole money from the injured and dead, and that several police officers were assaulted when helping victims.
• 19 April - The Channel Tunnel workers end their 14-day strike.
• 20 April -
  • - The London Underground is at virtual standstill for a day as most of the workers go on strike in protest against plans for driver-only operated trains.
    • - A MORI poll shows Tory and Labour support equal at 41%. [1]
• 4 May - Margaret Thatcher completes 10 years as prime minister - the first British prime minister of the 20th century to do so.
• 5 May - The Vale of Glamorgan constituency in South Wales is seized by the Labour Party in a by-election after 38 years of Conservative control.
• 8 May - More than 3,000 British Rail employees launch an unofficial overtime ban, walking out in protest at the end of their eight-hour shifts.
• 18 May - Unemployment is now below 2,000,000 for the first time since 1980. The Tory government's joy at tackling unemployment is, however, marred by the findings of a MORI poll which shows Labour slightly ahead of them for the first time in almost three years. [2]
• 19 May - Walshaw Dean Lodge, West Yorkshire enters the UK Weather Records with the Highest 120-min total rainfall at 193 mm. As of July 2006 this record still stands.^[10]
• 24 May -
  • - Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, is awarded £600,000 in High Court damages against the satirical magazine Private Eye.^[11]
    • - A police raid on a suspected drugs operation at a public house in Heath Town, Wolverhampton, leads to a riot in which up to 500 people throw missiles and petrol bombs a police officers. [3]
• May 26 – Arsenal win the First Division league title against Liverpool, with a goal from Michael Thomas in the last minute of the last game of the season.
• 30 May - Passport office staff in Liverpool begin an indefinite strike in protest against staffing levels.
• 19 June - Labour wins 45 of Britain's 78 European Parliament constitieuncies in the European elections, with the Tories gaining 32 seats. The minority Green Party gains 2,300,000 votes (15% of the vote) but fails to gain a single seat.
• 22 June - London Underground workers stage their second one-day strike of the year.
• 2 July - An IRA bomb kills a British soldier in Hanover, West Germany.
• 10 July - Mo Johnston becomes the first Roman Catholic player to sign for Glasgow Rangers when he completes a £1.5million move from the French club Nantes.
• 11 July - Britain's dock workers go on strike in protest against the abolition of the Dock Labour Scheme.
• 17 July - 1,500 British tourists are delayed for up to eight hours by French air traffic control strikes.
• 19 July - The BBC programme Panorama accuses Shirley Porter, Conservative Leader of Westminster City Council, of gerrymandering.
• 25 July - The Princess of Wales opens the Landmark Aids Centre in London.^[12]
• 28 July - The industrial action by British Rail drivers is reported to be coming to an end as most of the train drivers have ended their overtime ban.
• 1 August - Charlotte Hughes of Marske-by-the-Sea in Cleveland, believed to be the oldest living person in England, celebrates her 112th birthday.^[13]
• 4 August - PC David Duckinfield, the chief superindent who took control of the FA Cup semi-final game where the Hillsborough disaster occurred on 15 April this year, is suspended from duty on full pay after an inquiry by Lord Justice Taylor blames him for the tragedy in which 95 people died. Two victims of the tragedy, Andrew Devine (aged 22) and Tony Bland (aged 19) are still unconscious in hospital.
• 14 August - The West Midlands Police Serious Crime Squad is disbaned when 50 CID detectives are transferred or suspended after repeated allegations that the force has fabricated confessions.
• 17 August - Introduction of electronic tagging to monitor and supervise crime suspects.^[2]
• 18 August - Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards agrees to sell the club to Michael Knighton for £10million.^[14]
• 20 August - Marchioness disaster: A pleasure cruiser collides with a barge in the River Thames killing 30 people.^[15]
• 29 August - Stone-throwing youths cause mayhem at the Notting Hill carnival in London, in which many innocent bystanders are injured.
• 2 September - Economy experts warn that a recession could soon be about to hit the United Kingdom.
• 7 September - Heidi Hazell, the 26-year-old wife of a British soldier, is shot dead in Dortmund, West Germany.
• 8 September - The IRA admits responsibility for the murder of Heidi Hazell. The act is condemned as "evil and cowardly" by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and as "the work a pscyhopath" by Opposition Leader Neil Kinnock.
• 12 September - 19,000 ambulance crew members across Britain go on strike.
• 15 September - SLDP leader Paddy Ashdown addresses his party's annual conference in Brighton with a vow to "end Thatcherism" and achieve a long-term aim of getting the SLDP into power.
• 22 September - Deal barracks bombing: The IRA bomb the Royal Marine School of Music in Deal, Kent killing 11 soldiers.^[16]
• 26 September - Nigel Lawson resigns as Chancellor of the Exchequer; replaced by John Major, while Douglas Hurd becomes Foreign Secretary.^[3]*
• 27 September - David Owen, leader of the Social Democratic Party "rump" which rejected a merger with the Social and Liberal Democrats, admits that his party is no longer a national force.
• 2 October - three Anglican clergy, including Ian Paisley, cause a disturbance at a church service in Rome in protest at the Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie's suggestion that the Pope could become the spiritual leader of a united church.^[17]
• 8 October - The latest CBI findings spark fear of a recession.
• 11 October -
  • - The newly-named Rover Group (Austin Rover until earlier this year) launches its new medium-sized hatchback, the 200 Series, which replaces the small four-door saloon of the same name, and gives buyers a more modern and upmarket alternative to the ongoing Maestro range.
    • - The England national football team qualifies for next summer's FIFA World Cup in Italy when drawing 0-0 with Poland in Warsaw.
• 12 October - Michael Knighton drops his takeover bid of Manchester United.
• 15 October - Recession fears deepen as stock market prices continue to fall dramatically.
• 19 October -
  • - The Guildford Four are released from prison after the High Court quashes their convictions for the 1975 terrorist atrocity.^[18]
    • - Labour now has a 10-point lead over the Tories in the last MORI poll, with 48% of the vote. [4]
• 23 October - The Police Force are now taking 999 calls in London due to the ongoing strike by ambulance crews.
• 31 October - British Rail announces that the proposed high speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel is being postponed for at least one more year.
• 2 November - Ford Motor Company takes over Jaguar in a £1.6billion deal.
• 7 November - General Assembly of the Church of England votes to allow ordination of women.^[3]
• 8 November - British Army and Royal Air Force troops are now manning London's ambulance services as the regular ambulance crews are still on strike.
• 10 November - Margaret Thatcher visits Berlin the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which brings the reunification of Germany forward after Germans were allowed to travel between West and East Berlin for the first time since the wall was built in 1961, and between West and East Germany for the first time since the partition of the country after the war.
• 14 November - The Merry Hill Shopping Centre on the Dudley Enterprise Zone in the West Midlands has become fully operational with the opening of the final shopping mall. The development, which now employs around 6,000 people, first opened to retailers five years ago with the opening of several retail warehousing units, and has gradually expanded to become one of Europe's biggest shopping complexes. Construction has now begun on the Waterfront office and leisure complex, also within the Enterprise Zone and overlooking the shopping centre, which will open to its first tenants next year. [5]
• 15 November - Scotland achieves qualification for the FIFA World Cup.
• 21 November -
  • - The House of Commons is televised live for the first time.^[3]
    • - Nigel Martyn, 23, becomes Britain's first £1million goalkeeper when he is transferred from Bristol Rovers to Crystal Palace. [6]
• 23 November - Backbencher Sir Anthony Meyer challenges Margaret Thatcher's leadership of the Tory government, reportedly fearing that the Tories will lose the next general election after falling behind Labour in several recent opinion polls.
• 3 December -
  • - Margaret Thatcher, along with American president George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, declare the end of the Cold War after 40 years.
    • - 9,000 workers at British carmaker Vauxhall threaten to go on strike - a move which could end Britain's hopes of becoming to a £200million engine plant for General Motors.
      • - A new-look Band Aid forms for a new version of the Do They Know It's Christmas? charity single for African famine relief.
• 5 December - Margaret Thatcher defeats Anthony Meyer in a leadership election for the Conservative Party, but 60 MPs do not vote for her.^[19]
• 8 December - ITV attracts a new record audience of nearly 27,000,000 for the episode of Coronation Street in which Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) is fatally run over by a Blackpool Tram.
• 12 December - Water shares achieve premiums of up to 68% in the first day of trading on the Stock Exchange.
• 18 December -
  • -The Labour Party abandons its policy on closed shops.^[20]
  • -The second phase of the M40 motorway, linking north Oxfordshire with the Warwickshire/Worcestershire border on the outskirts of the West Midlands conurbation, is opened. The final phase, which links this new motorway with the original London-Oxford section, is due to open within the next year. [7]
• 23 December - Band Aid II gain the Christmas Number One with their charity record.
• 27 December - SDP leader David Owen predicts another 10 years of Tory rule, despite Neil Kinnock's Labour Party having a seven-point lead over the Tories with 46% of the vote in the final MORI poll of the decade. [8]
• 30 December - 22 people involved in the Lockerbie disaster are among those recognised in the New Year's Honours list, while there is a knighthoods for former Liberal leader David Steel and the actress Maggie Smith becomes a Dame. Reciptents of sporting honours include the boxer Frank Bruno and the golfer Tony Jacklin, who are both credited with MBEs.

Undated

• After spending most of the decade closed down, Whiteleys in London re-opens as a shopping centre.
• Remains of The Rose and Globe Theatre discovered in London.^[21]
• Inflation has increased significantly this year, standing at 7.8% - the highest for seven years. [9]

Publications

• Iain Banks' novel Canal Dreams.
• Julian Barnes' novel A History of the World in 10½ Chapters.
• William Golding's novel Fire Down Below, third in the To the Ends of the Earth trilogy.
• Mathematician Roger Penrose's book The Emperor's New Mind.^[21]
• Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels Pyramids and Guards! Guards!; and The Bromeliad novel Truckers.
• Rose Tremain's novel Restoration

Births

• 17 February - Rebecca Adlington, 2008 Olympic gold medal winning swimmer
• 16 March - Theo Walcott, footballer
• 23 July - Daniel Radcliffe, actor (Harry Potter films)
• 9 November - Jennifer Pike, violinist
• 12 December - Harry Eden, actor

Deaths

• 7 January - Frank Adams, mathematician (born 1930)
• 18 January - Bruce Chatwin, novelist and travel writer (born 1940)
• 27 January - Thomas Sopwith, aviation pioneer and yachtsman (born 1888)
• 6 March - Harry Andrews, actor (born 1911)
• 12 April - Gerald Flood, actor (born 1927)
• 19 April - Daphne du Maurier, novelist (born 1907)
• 19 May - C.L.R. James, writer and journalist (born 1901)
• 20 May - John Hicks, economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)
• 27 June - Alfred Ayer, philosopher (born 1910)
• 11 July - Lord Laurence Olivier, acclaimed actor, director and producer (born 1907)
• 29 August - Peter Scott, ornithologist, conservationist and painter (born 1909)
• 4 October - Graham Chapman, comedian (born 1941)
• 5 December - John Pritchard, conductor (born 1921)
• 19 December - Stella Gibbons, novelist, journalist, poet and short-story writer (born 1902)

References

See also