| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1996 | - 9 Feb 1996: IRA bomb explodes in London Docklands – ends 17 month ceasefire
- 13 Mar 1996: Dunblane massacre
- 15 Jun 1996: IRA bomb explodes in Manchester
- 5 Jul 1996: Scientists in Scotland clone a sheep (Dolly)
- 28 Aug 1996: Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales are divorced
|
| 2 | 1997 | - 30 Mar 1997: Channel 5 TV begins in UK (launched by the Spice Girls)
- 1 May 1997: 'New' Labour landslide victory in Britain (Tony Blair replaces John Major as
Prime Minister)
- 6 May 1997: Announcement that Bank of England to be made independent of Government
control
- 11 May 1997: First time a computer beats a master at chess (IBM's Deep Blue v Garry
Kasparov)
- 1 Jul 1997: Hong Kong returned to China
- 19 Jul 1997: IRA declares a ceasefire
- 31 Aug 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales killed in car crash in Paris
- 25 Sep 1997: Land speed record breaks sound barrier for first time
|
| 3 | 1998 | - 10 Apr 1998: Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland – effectively implemented in
May 2007
- 14 Aug 1998: Car bomb explodes in Omagh killing 29 people
- 27 Sep 1998: 'Google' search engine founded
|
| 4 | 1999 | - 1999: World population reaches 6 billion
- 1 Jan 1999: European Monetary Union begins – UK opts out – by the end of the year the
Euro has approximately the same value as the US Dollar
- 1 Jul 1999: The Scottish Parliament is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth – powers are
officially transferred from the Scottish Office in London to the new devolved Scottish
Executive in Edinburgh
- 11 Aug 1999: Total eclipse of the sun visible in Devon and Cornwall
- 11 Nov 1999: Hereditary Peers no longer have right to sit in House of Lords
|
| 5 | 2000 | - 1 Jan 2000: The year in Britain started with a 'flu bug rather than a millennium bug
- Mar 2000: London Eye opens, late but popular
- 22 Apr 2000: The Big Number Change takes place in the UK – affected telephone dialling
codes assigned to Cardiff, Coventry, London, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth and Southampton
- 4 May 2000: Ken Livingstone elected first Mayor of London (not to be confused with Lord
Mayor of London!)
- 10 Jun 2000: Millennium footbridge over the Thames opens, but wobbles and is quickly
declared dangerous and closed – finally reopened Feb 2002
- 25 Jul 2000: A chartered Air France Concorde crashes on take-off at Paris with the loss of all lives
- Sep 2000: 'People Power' emerged suddenly as protestors against high Road Fuel Tax used
mobile phones and the Internet to co-ordinate blockades on fuel depots – resulted in
nationwide panic buying of fuel and service stations running out across the country
- Oct 2000: Heavy rains cause worst flooding since records began (1850s) in many
parts of Britain (Oct-Dec)
- 17 Oct 2000: Derailment at speed on the main London-North eastern line at Hatfield caused
by a broken rail
|
| 6 | 2001 | - Feb 2001: Outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease in UK – lasted until October – caused
postponement of local and general elections from May to June
- 12 May 2001: FA Cup Final played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff – first time away from Wembley since 1922
- 7 Jun 2001: General Election – Labour returned again with a large majority, the first time
they had succeeded in gaining a second term
- 1 Sep 2001: New-style number plates on road vehicles in UK [eg. AB 51 ABC]
- 7 Nov 2001: Concorde flights resume after modifications to tyres and fuel tanks
- Dec 2001: UK Christmas stamps self-adhesive for the first time (self-adhesive 1st & 2nd class
definitives already on sale)
|
| 7 | 2002 | - 1 Jan 2002: Twelve major countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Holland, Irish Republic,
Italy, Luxembourg, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal) and their
dependents start using the Euro instead of their old national currencies; the UK stays
out – the Euro worth 62½p at this time
- 22 Feb 2002: Millennium Bridge over the Thames in London finally opens
- 30 Mar 2002: The Queen Mother dies, aged 101 years
- 2 Jul 2002: Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a
balloon
|
| 8 | 2003 | - 17 Feb 2003: Start of Congestion Charge for traffic entering central London
- 10 Aug 2003: Temperatures reach record high of 101 F (38.3 C) in Kent
- 24 Oct 2003: Last commercial flight of Concorde
- 22 Nov 2003: England wins Rugby World Cup in nail-biting final in Australia – first northern
hemisphere team to do this
- 13 Dec 2003: Saddam Hussein captured near his home town of Tikrit (executed 30 Dec 2006)
- 26 Dec 2003: Queen Mary 2 arrives in Southampton from the builder's yard in France 2004
|
| 9 | 2004 | - 29 Mar 2004: Ireland becomes first country in the world to ban smoking in public places
- 29 Mar 2004: Alistair Cooke dies at the age of 95 – until four weeks previously, and since
1946, he had broadcast his regular 'Letter from America' on BBC radio
- 1 May 2004: Enlargement of the European Union to include 25 members by the entry of 10
new states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus
|
| 10 | 2005 | - 16 Feb 2005: Kyoto Protocol on climate change came into force
- 18 Feb 2005: Ban on hunting with dogs came into force in England & Wales (had already
been a similar law for about two years in Scotland)
- 6 Jul 2005: London chosen as venue for the 2012 Olympic Games
- 7 Jul 2005: Suicide bombers attack London for the first time
- 28 Jul 2005: IRA declare an end to their 'armed struggle'
- 12 Sep 2005: England regain the 'Ashes' after a gripping Test series (but are whitewashed 5-0
in the return series in Australia 2007)
- 9 Dec 2005: Last Routemaster bus runs on regular service in London
- 11 Dec 2005: Explosions at the Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead
- 21 Dec 2005: Same-sex civil partnerships begin
– famously, on this day, between Elton John and David Furnish
|
| 11 | 2006 | - 1 Mar 2006: Welsh Assembly Building opened by the Queen
- 26 Mar 2006: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland
- 21 Apr 2006: 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
- 21 Aug 2006: UK postage rates start to be measured by size as well as by weight
|
| 12 | 2007 | - 1 Jan 2007: Further enlargement of the European Union to include Bulgaria and Romania
- 19 Feb 2007: Extension of Congestion Charge zone for London, westwards
- 8 May 2007: A Northern Ireland Executive formed under the leadership of Ian Paisley (DUP)
and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein)
- 1 Jul 2007: Prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in England (thus completing
cover of the entire UK)
- 14 Nov 2007: First rail service direct from St Pancras to France (replacing that from Waterloo)
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