1989 in the United Kingdom

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

• 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]
• 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]
• 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.
• 20 March - Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary are killed by the IRA.^[8]
• 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.^[2]
• 18 April - The Hillsborough disaster claims its 95th victim when 14-year-old Lee Nichol dies in hospital as a result of his injuries.
• 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]
• 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]
• 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]
• 17 August - Introduction of electronic tagging to monitor and supervise crime suspects.^[2]
• 18 August - Manchester United F.C. sold to property tycoon Michael Knighton for £20 million.(The deal collapsed after his financial backers backed out.)^[14]
• 20 August - Marchioness disaster: A pleasure cruiser collides with a barge in the River Thames killing 30 people.^[15]
• 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]
• 2 October - three Anglican clergy, including Ian Paisley, cause a distrubance 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]
• 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.
• 19 October - The Guildford Four are released from prison after the High Court quashes their convictions for the 1975 terrorist atrocity.^[18]
• 7 November - General Assembly of the Church of England votes to allow ordination of women.^[3]
• 21 November - The House of Commons is televised live for the first time.^[3]
• 5 December - Margaret Thatcher defeats Anthony Meyer in a leadership election for the Conservative Party.^[19]
• 18 December - The Labour Party abandons its policy on closed shops.^[20]

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]

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, Olympic gold medal winning swimmer
• 16 March - Theo Walcott, footballer
• 1 July - Charles Carnegie, Lord Carnegie, eldest son of David Charles Carnegie, Earl of Southesk
• 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 - Sir 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

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