1990 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1990 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II
* Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher, Conservative (until 28 November), John Major, Conservative

Events

* January - Vauxhall enters the coupe segment of the car market with the launch of its Cavalier-based Calibra, which is the first coupe built by General Motors in Europe since the demise of the Opel Manta in 1988.
* 19 January - Police in Johannesburg, South Africa break up a demonstration against the cricket match played by rebel English cricketers led by Mike Gatting. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/19/newsid_2530000/2530237.stm|title="1990: Rebel cricketers face storm of protest", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 25 January - Recent hurricane-force winds are reported to have killed 39 people in England and Wales. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/25/newsid_3420000/3420797.stm|title="1990: Children killed in devastating storm", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 15 February - The UK and Argentina restore diplomatic links after 8 years. Diplomatic ties were broken off links in response to Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982.
* 1 March - a new Official Secrets Act comes into force. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/1/newsid_4251000/4251355.stm|title="1990: Secrets act gags whistleblowers", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 15 March - Iraq hangs British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying. Daphne Parish, a British nurse, is sentenced to 15 years in prison for being an accomplice to Mr Bazoft.
* 31 March - 200,000 protesters in Poll Tax Riots in London. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530763.stm|title="1990: Violence flares in poll tax demonstration", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 1 April - Strangeways Prison riot in Manchester, lasting for over three weeks. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_4215000/4215173.stm|title="1990: Rioting inmates take over Strangeways", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12] Finally ends on 25 April.
* 2 April - An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale and centred on the Shropshire town of Bishop's Castle is felt throughout much of England and Wales [cite web | title=Daily Telegraph| work= |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/28/nkent228.xml| accessdate=2008-03-12] .
* 11 April - Customs and Excise officers seize parts of an Iraqi supergun in Middlesbrough. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/11/newsid_2477000/2477023.stm|title="1990: Customs seize 'supergun'", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* May - Rover Group launches a heavily facelifted version of its Metro, which has been the best-selling car of the combine previously known as British Leyland and more recently Austin Rover since its 1980 launch.
* 19 May - British agriculture Minister John Gummer feeds a hamburger to his 5-year-old daughter to counter rumours about the spread of Mad cow disease and its transmission to humans.
* 24 May - Bobby Robson announces that he will be leaving his job as England national football team manager after this summer's World Cup to take charge of the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
* 7 June - France, Italy and West Germany lift bans on British beef imposed during the BSE outbreak. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_2499000/2499397.stm|title="1990: Three countries lift beef export ban", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 20 June - Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major proposes the "hard ecu", a currency which would ciruclate into parallel with national currencies as an alternative to full monetary union. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/20/newsid_2516000/2516891.stm|title="1990: Major proposes new Euro currency", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 4 July - England's chances of winning the World Cup are ended by a penalty shoot-out defeats at the hand of West Germany in the semi-finals.
* 14 July - Trade and Industry Secretary Nicholas Ridley resigns following an interview in "The Spectator" in which he likened the European Union to Hitler's Germany.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 457|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 15 July - The Football Association names Graham Taylor as the new England manager. Taylor, 46, recently took Aston Villa to second place in the English league, and also reached an FA Cup final with his previous club Watford.
* 20 July - An IRA bomb explodes at Stock Exchange Tower, the base of the London Stock Exchange.
* 30 July - IRA car bomb kills British MP Ian Gow, a staunch unionist.
* 31 July - The England cricket team defeats the India national cricket team in a high-scoring Lord's test match totalling 1,603 runs.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 1 August - British Airways Flight 149 is seized by the Iraqi Army at Kuwait International Airport following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
* 14 August - A survey carried out by the BBC reveals that 20% of taxpayers in England and Wales had not paid their Poll tax (community charge) by 30 June this year. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/14/newsid_2495000/2495911.stm]
* 23 August - British hostages in Iraq are paraded on TV. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_2512000/2512289.stm|title="1990: Outrage at Iraqi TV hostage show", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 27 August
** four found guilty in the Guinness share-trading fraud trial. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/newsid_2536000/2536035.stm|title="1990: 'Guinness Four' guilty", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
** The BBC begins broadcasting on BBC Radio 5 Live, its first new station for 23 years.
* September - Ford launches the MK4 Escort and Orion, while Nissan launches the NMUK-built Primera.
* 19 September - The IRA try to assassinate Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Terry at his home near Stafford. Hit by at least nine bullets, the former Governor of Gibraltar survives.
* 8 October - Pound Sterling joins the Exchange Rate Mechanism. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/8/newsid_2544000/2544105.stm|title="1990: Britain's first full day in ERM", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 18 October - Eastbourne by-election won by the Liberal Democrat David Bellotti.
* November - British Sky Broadcasting founded as a merger between Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting. [cite book |title= The Hutchinson Factfinder |publisher= Helicon |year= 1999 |isbn= 1-85986-000-1 ]
* 1 November - Geoffrey Howe, Deputy Prime Minister, resigns over the government's European policy. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/1/newsid_2513000/2513953.stm|title="1990: Howe resigns over Europe policy", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 13 November - Geoffrey Howe makes a dramatic resignation speech in the House of Commons, attacking the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher's hostility towards the EC.
* 20 November - Margaret Thatcher fails to win outright victory in a leadership contest for the Conservative Party. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_4318000/4318718.stm|title="1990: Thatcher fails to win party mandate", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 22 November - Margaret Thatcher announces she will resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and therefore as Prime Minister. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm|title="1990: Thatcher quits as prime minister", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 27 November John Major is elected Leader of the Conservative Party, defeating Douglas Hurd and Michael Heseltine. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_2528000/2528847.stm|title="1990: Tories choose Major for Number 10", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 28 November - John Major appointed Prime Minister by the Queen. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/28/newsid_2527000/2527953.stm|title="1990: Tearful farewell from Iron Lady", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-02-12]
* 1 December - Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the English Channel seabed, establishing the first ground connection between the United Kingdom and the mainland of Europe since the last ice age.
* 8 December - The UK grinds to a halt following heavy snow overnight. Large parts of the country are without power after snowfall brings down power lines, disrupting the electricity supply. Many rural areas are cut off for several days, while the Army is called out to help restore power.
* 11 December - The first British hostages in Iraq released by Saddam Hussein arrive back in the UK.
* 13 December - Russell Bishop is sentenced to life imprisonment (with a recommended minimum of 15 years) for the abduction, indecent assault and attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl in Brighton earlier this year. Bishop, 24, was cleared of murdering two other girls in 1987.
* 19 December - Tony Adams, the Arsenal captain and England defender, is sentenced to four months in prison for a drink-driving offence committed in Southend-on-Sea on 6 May this year.
* 26 December - The fatwa (order to kill) against "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie is upheld by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, more than one year after it was first issued. Rushdie is still living in hiding. [cite web|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/26/newsid_2542000/2542873.stm|title="1990: Iranian leader upholds Rushdie fatwa", BBC On This Day|accessdate=2008-04-26]

Publications

* Iain M. Banks' novel "Use of Weapons".
* Louis de Bernières' novel "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts".
* A. S. Byatt's novel "".
* Hanif Kureishi's novel "The Buddha of Suburbia".
* Ian McEwan's novel "The Innocent".
* Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels "Eric" and "Moving Pictures" and The Bromeliad novels "Diggers" and "Wings".
* Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's novel "Good Omens".

Births

* 23 March - Princess Eugenie of York, daughter of The Duke and Duchess of York
* 15 April - Emma Watson, actress
* 16 May - Thomas Sangster, actor

Deaths

* 7 January - Robert McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of Moffat, construction magnate (born 1907)
* 8 January - Terry-Thomas, actor (born 1911)
* 14 January - Gordon Jackson, actor (born 1923)
* 2 February - Kathleen Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, the Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (born 1905)
* 20 March - Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (born 1910)
* 8 May - Tomás Cardinal Ó Fiaich, clergyman (born 1923)
* 30 July - Ian Gow, MP for Eastbourne (born 1937)
* 6 September - Len Hutton, cricketer (born 1916)
* 5 October - Peter Taylor, football manager (born 1928)
* 5 November - Erich Heller, essayist (born 1911)
* 7 November - Lawrence Durrell, writer (born 1912)
* 14 November - Malcolm Muggeridge, journalist, author and media personality (born 1903)
* 23 November - Roald Dahl, author (born 1916)
* 24 November - Dodie Smith, novelist and playwright (born 1896)
* "date unknown" - Victor Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland, diplomat (born 1897)

References

ee also