1992 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1992 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
* Prime Minister - John Major, Conservative

Events

* 9 January - Alison Halford, Britain's most senior policewoman, is suspended from duty for a second time following a police authority meeting. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/9/newsid_4063000/4063817.stm|title="1992: Top policewoman suspended from duty", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 6 February - The Queen celebrates her Ruby Jubilee.
* 7 February - signature of the Maastricht Treaty.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 8 February–23 February - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, but do not win any medals.
* 20 February - The Football Association launches the new Premier League which will begin in August, at the start of the next football season. Its founder members will be the teams finishing in the top 19 of this season's Football League First Division as well as the Second Division champions, runners-up and playoff winners.
* 6 March - Parliament passes the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.
* 13 March - The first ecumenical church in Britain, the Christ the Cornerstone Church in Milton Keynes is opened.
* 19 March - Buckingham Palace announces that Duke and Duchess of York are to separate after six years of marriage. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/19/newsid_2543000/2543667.stm|title="1992: Fergie and Andrew split", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 24 March - The editors of "Punch", Britain's oldest satirical magazine, announce that the magazine will be discontinued due to massive losses. It has been in circulation since 1841. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/24/newsid_2531000/2531249.stm|title="1992: Punch ends 150 years of satire", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 25 March - Aldershot Football Club, bottom of the Football League, go out of business after a two-year financial crisis that saw them unable to pay off hundreds of thousands of pounds of debts.
* 26 March - Television entertainer Roy Castle (59), who currently presents Record Breakers, announces that he is suffering from lung cancer.
* 9 April - United Kingdom general election, 1992: The Conservative Party (UK) under Prime Minister John Major are re-elected for a fourth term.
* 10 April - Provisional Irish Republican Army detonates two bombs at the Baltic Exchange in central London, killing three.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages=460|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 13 April - Neil Kinnock resigns as leader of the Labour Party following the defeat of his party in the General Election. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/13/newsid_2830000/2830895.stm|title="1992: Labour's Neil Kinnock resigns", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 27 April - Betty Boothroyd is elected as Speaker of the House of Commons, the first woman to hold the position.
* May - 22 "Maastricht Rebels" vote against the government the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill.
* 22 May - Stephen Owen is cleared of attempted murder at Maidstone Crown Court, six months after shooting the man who had caused his son's death in a drink-fuelled road accident.
* 16 June - "Diana: Her True Story", a controversial new book about the Princess of Wales is published. Revelations in the book include Diana's five suicide attempts in the last 10 years, and that Prince Charles had resumed an affair with his former girlfriend Camilla Parker-Bowles shortly after Prince William's birth in 1982. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/16/newsid_2514000/2514329.stm|title="1992: Controversial Diana book published", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 30 June - Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher takes her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2523000/2523395.stm|title="1992: Thatcher takes her place in Lords", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 2 July - The IRA admits to murdering three men whose bodies were found by the army at various locations around Armagh last night. The men are believed to have been informers employed by MI5. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/2/newsid_2491000/2491893.stm|title="1992: IRA murders 'informers'", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 25 July–9 August - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and win 5 gold, 3 silver and 12 bronze medals.
* 15 August - The first Premier League football matches are played. Brian Deane of Sheffield United is the scorer of the first Premier League goal. Meanwhile, financially-troubled Division Three side Maidstone United have their first game of the season cancelled and are given 48 hours to guarantee that they will be able to fulfill this season's fixtures.
* 17 August - Maidstone United resign from the Football League after the club's directors gave up hope of being able to fulfill this season's fixtures.
* 20 August - Intimate photographs of the Duchess of York and a Texan businessman, John Bryan, are published in the "Daily Mirror". [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/20/newsid_2499000/2499781.stm|title="1992: Duchess of York in photos row", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 16 September - Black Wednesday: The government suspends Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism following a wave of speculation against the Pound. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/16/newsid_2519000/2519013.stm|title="1992: UK crashes out of ERM", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 24 September - David Mellor resigns as Heritage Minister amid tabloid press speculation that he had been conducting an adulterous affair with actress Antonia de Sancha. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/24/newsid_2529000/2529115.stm|title="1992: Mellor resigns over sex scandal", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 13 October - The government announces the closure of a third of Britain's deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/13/newsid_2532000/2532765.stm|title="1992: Thousands of miners to lose their jobs", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 11 November - The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_2518000/2518183.stm|title="1992: Church of England votes for women priests", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 19 November - The High Court rules that doctors can disconnect feeding tubes from Tony Bland, 21, a man who has been in a coma since the Hillsborough disaster more than three years ago. Mr Bland, of Liverpool, suffered massive brain damage in the disaster which claimed the lives of 95 people and doctors treating him say that there is no reasonable possibility that he could recover consciousness. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/19/newsid_2520000/2520581.stm|title="1992: Hillsborough victim allowed to die", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 20 November - Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_2551000/2551107.stm|title="1992: Blaze rages in Windsor Castle", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 24 November - the Queen describes this year as an "Annus Horribilis" (horrible year) due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family, as well as the Windsor Castle fire.
* 26 November - The Queen is to be taxed from next year, marking the end of almost 60 tax-free years for the British monarchy. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/26/newsid_2529000/2529209.stm|title="1992: Queen to be taxed from next year", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 3 December - 65 people are injured by an IRA bomb in Manchester city centre. There are no fatalities. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/3/newsid_2519000/2519715.stm|title="1992: Bomb explosions in Manchester", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]
* 9 December - Separation of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales.
* 12 December - Marriage of Anne, Princess Royal, and Timothy Laurence.
* 23 December - The Queen's Royal Christmas Message is leaked in The Sun newspaper, 48 hours ahead of its traditional Christmas Day broadcast on television. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/23/newsid_2540000/2540347.stm|title="1992: Queen's Christmas speech leaked", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-13]

Publications

* Douglas Adams' novel "Mostly Harmless".
* Iain Banks' novel "The Crow Road".
* Louis de Bernières' novel "The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman".
* Nick Hornby's novel "Fever Pitch".
* Ian McEwan's novel "Black Dogs".
* Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels "Small Gods" and "Lords and Ladies"; and his Johnny Maxwell novel "Only You Can Save Mankind".
* Barry Unsworth's novel "Sacred Hunger".

Births

* 14 February - Freddie Highmore, actor
* 16 March - Michael Perham, youngest person to sail the Atlantic Ocean single-handed
* 3 December - Joseph McManners, actor

Deaths

* 2 January - Joyce Butler, Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament (born 1910)
* 9 January - Bill Naughton, playwright (born 1910)
* 11 January - W. G. Hoskins, historian (born 1908)
* 23 January - Freddie Bartholomew, actor (born 1924)
* 16 February - Angela Carter, novelist and journalist (born 1940)
* March - Elfrida Vipont, children's author (born 1902)
* 2 March - Jackie Mudie, footballer (born 1930)
* 3 March - G. L. S. Shackle, economist (born 1903)
* 10 April - Peter D. Mitchell, biochemist (born 1920)
* 19 April
** Benny Hill, comedian and actor (born 1924)
** Frankie Howerd, comedian and actor (born 1917)
* 4 May - Gregor Mackenzie, Labour Party politician (born 1927)
* 13 May - F. E. McWilliam, sculptor (born 1909)
* 22 May - Elizabeth David, cookery writer (born 1913)
* 24 May
** Francis Thomas Bacon, engineer (born 1904)
** Joan Sanderson, actress (born 1912)
* 27 May - Peter Jenkins, journalist (born 1934)
* 3 June - Robert Morley, actor (born 1908)
* 20 June - Charles Groves, conductor (born 1915)
* 25 June - James Stirling, architect (born 1926)
* 29 June - Elie Kedourie, historian (born 1926, Iraq)
* 10 July - Albert Pierrepoint, Chief Executioner (born 1905)
* 23 July - Rosemary Sutcliff, novelist (born 1920)
* 26 July - Richard Martin Bingham, Member of Parliament and judge (born 1915)
* 31 July - Leonard Cheshire, RAF pilot (born 1917)
* 1 August - Leslie Fox, mathematician (born 1918)
* 9 August - Patrick Devlin, Baron Devlin, judge (born 1905)
* 23 August - Donald Stewart, Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (born 1920)
* 29 August - Mary Norton, author (born 1903)
* 5 September - Christopher Trace, actor and television presented (born 1933)
* 19 September - Geraint Evans, baritone (born 1922)
* 28 September - William Douglas-Home, tank officer, writer and dramatist (born 1912)
* 6 October - Denholm Elliott, actor (born 1922)
* 19 October - Magnus Pyke, scientist (born 1908)
* 29 October - Kenneth MacMillan, ballet dancer and choreographer (born 1929)
* 22 December - Ted Willis, Baron Willis, television dramatist (born (1914)
* 25 December - Monica Dickens, author and great granddaughter of Charles Dickens (born 1915)
* 26 December - Edmund Davies, Baron Edmund-Davies, judge (born 1906)
* 28 December - Cardew Robinson, comic (born 1917)

References

ee also