England in the 80s

Similar to the United States, there were many significant events that occurred in England during the 80s, shaping the future for the 90s, 2000s and so on. As computer technology grew, England expanded its space program after sending their first man to the moon in the 80s. This was the era where more was possible given the advancement in technology. There was also much debate and curiosity about extra-terrestrials.

Of course, we can’t forget Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding in 1982, followed by that of Prince Andrew and Princess Sarah Ferguson, as well as the soaring unemployment during the mid 80s. These are simply just to name a few. Here’s everything else that happened in England during the 1980s.

Unemployment

Unemployment in England in the 80s had reached record-breaking numbers, the highest it’s ever seen since The Great Depression. It caused mass hysteria, riots, rebellion against manufacturing plant shutdowns and protests.

Much of these numbers were caused by the government’s monetarist policies to tackle inflation. Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also cut benefits to state workers in half. Despite her being the least popular prime minister, she remained in office for 18 years.

The highest unemployment rate exceeded 3 million in 1984, reaching almost 12%. It didn’t come down until the economic boom during the mid 1980s, dropping below 2 million in early 1989 and reached 1.6 million at 7% by the end of the year.

John Lennon Shot Dead in New York

On the evening of December 8th, 1980, John Lennon of The Beatles was shot dead in the archway of The Dakota in his New York City apartment. His killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who travelled from Hawaii but was angered by his lifestyle and public statements.

His statement regarding the Beatles being “more popular than Jesus” was what really got to him as well as the lyrics of his later songs “God” and “Imagine”. Chapman said he was also inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye.

Chapman had also planned the killing for several months, waiting for Lennon at the Dakota since the morning of December 8th. He even met John Lennon who signed his copy of the album Double Fantasy. After coming back from a recording session with his wife, Yoko Ono, Chapman fired five hollow-point bullets from his .38 revolver, four of which hit John in the back.

After being rushed to the Roosevelt Hospital in a police car, he was dead upon arrival at age 40. Thousands of music fans later held a 10-minute vigil in Liverpool in his memory.

Capture of “The Yorkshire Ripper”

The “Yorkshire Ripper” was identified as Peter William Coonan, who was a serial killer of 13 women and attempted to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was found guilty on May 22nd, 1980, being sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which converted to a whole life order in 2019. All of his murders took place in West Yorkshire and some in Manchester.

Launch of the ZX81 Home Computer

Produced by Sinclair Research, the ZX81 is a home computer manufactured in Dundee, Scotland by Timex Corporation. It launched in March 1981 to replace the Sinclair’s ZX80, which was designed to be a low-cost computer for the general public.

It was extremely successful, selling more than 1.5 million units. It was first sold in the United States as the ZX-81 under another license by Timex. Although Timex later produced its own version of the ZX81: the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. ZX81 copycats were also sold in other counties.

The Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

Taking place on Wednesday, July 29th, 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer had an audience of over 750 million people on global TV. The bride was a member of the Spencer family and Prince Charles was the heir to the British thrown.

The wedding was a very traditional Church of England wedding service, with the dean, Alan Webster, presiding at the service and the archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, conducting the marriage. Many of the attendees included members of other royal families, republican heads of state, and the bride and groom’s families. After the wedding, the couple appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony. The UK marked the day with a national holiday as the ceremony featured state carriages and roles for the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards.

The wedding fit the stereotype of a typical “fairytale wedding” and “wedding of the century”. Many parties were held in the streets of the UK to celebrate the event. The couple later separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.

UFO Sightings

There was an alleged UFO sighting near RAF Woodbridge in December 1980, which was used by the United States Air Force (USAF) at the time. This as well as other sightings were part of the Rendlesham Forest incident, the most well known UFO incident in Britain and even worldwide.

The sighting was also compared to the Roswell UFO incident in the United States, sometimes being referred to as “Britain’s Roswell”. Although it was never investigated as a security matter, the UK Ministry of Defense said the event didn’t pose a threat to national security. Although skeptics explained the sightings as a misinterpretation of a series of nocturnal lights, including bright stars, the Orfordness Lighthouse and a fireball.

The Launch of The United Kingdom’s Best-Selling Album

Released in 1981, the rock band Queen released their Greatest Hits compilation album, becoming the all-time best-selling album in England and the United Kingdom. As of December 2018, it sold more than 6.3 million copies with about 124,000 downloads. Their second greatest hits album, Greatest Hits II, sold around 4 million copies since its release in 1991 and is the tenth biggest-selling album in the UK. The sales include 50% of the box sets containing both albums and 33% of sales of box sets of all three Queen Greatest Hits albums.

The Falklands War

Known as a short, 10-week, undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom between April 2nd and June 14th, 1982 over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Island, it was won by the British. The dispute was mainly in regards to Argentina claiming the islands as their territory while the British treated their invasion as a threat to its territory as a Crown colony since 1841.

Argentina first invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by invading South Georgia the following Day. Just three days later, England dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making its way to the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days before Argentina surrendered on June 14th as the British re-took control.

649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three Falkland Islanders died during the war.

The Launch of the Infrared Astronomical Satellite

Known as the The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), this telescope was the first of its kind to be sent to space to survey the sky in infrared on January 25th, 1983. Following the ascension, it made a number of discoveries, including:

• The core of our galaxy
• Six new comets
• Evidence of Solid material around the Vega and Fomalhaut, giving evidence to support the existence of planetary systems around other starts.

It was a joint project between NASA, the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs and the United Kingdom’s Science and Engineering Research Council.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was the stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was considered the longest-serving British prime minister during the 20th century and the first woman to hold the office. She was dubbed the “Iron lady” due to her uncompromising politics and leadership style. She also implemented policies that were soon called Thatcherism.

Upon entering office, her economic policies were intended to decrease high unemployment and England’s struggles during the Winter of Discontent and a continuous recession. Her philosophy and economic policies included the following:

• Flexible labor markets
• Privatization of state-owned companies
• Reducing the influence of power and trade unions
• Emphasizing deregulation, especially of the financial sector

Despite her long years held in office and winning by a landslide, she was considered to be the most unpopular prime minister. This was due to soaring unemployment, recession, higher taxes and increasingly Eurosceptic views on the European Community. She finally resigned in 1990 after facing a challenge to her leadership. Following her retirement from the Commons in 1992, she was given life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, entitling her to sit in the House of Lords. She died from a stroke at the age of 87 at the Ritz Hotel, London.

Maze Prison Escape

On September 25th, 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland , 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners escaped from HM Prison Maze (aka the Long Kesh), a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. One prison officer died of a heart attack during the escape while twenty others were left injured, including two shots with smuggled guns.

It was all a propaganda coup for the IRA while a British government minister was challenged to resign. The majority of the blame was on the prison staff who then blamed the political interference in how the prison was run. This was considered the largest prison escape since WWII as well as in England’s history. Only 19 escapees were apprehended.

UK Miners’ Strike

The UK Miners’ Struck was an industrial action to shut down the British coal industry to try to prevent colliery closures. Led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Board (NCB). Margaret Thatcher led the opposition to the strike to reduce the power of the trade unions.

While few trade unions supported the NUM, violent confrontations took place between flying pickets. But after one year of rebelling, the Conservative government won, which allowed the closures of the majority of England’s collieries. Many witnesses regarded the strike as “the most bitter industrial dispute in British history”. The total number of work days per person was over 26 million, which made it the largest since the 1926 general strike.

First Broadcast of Thomas the Tank Engine

Based off The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published in 1945, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series was first broadcast on ITV on September 4th, 1984. The series revolves around anthropomorphized fictional steam locomotive, Thomas, the most popular and famous character, and his friends as they battle everyday challenges in each episode. This was also the predecessor of the popular Thomas & Friends TV series.

The Birth of Henry Charles Albert David

Born on September 15th, 1984, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales and is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Live Aid Concert by Queen

On July 13th, 1985, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organized a benefit concert and ongoing music-based fundraising initiative called Live Aid to raise funds for the Ethiopian famine relief. It was billed as the “global jukebox” that was held simultaneously at the Wembley Stadium in London. Approximately 72,000 people attended as well as almost 90,000 people at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, PA.

The initiative also inspired concerts around the world, including the Soviet Union, Canada, Yugoslavia, Australia, West Germany, Austria and Japan, making it one of the largest satellite link-up and TV broadcasts of all time. With an estimated 1.9 million audience throughout 150 nations the concert consumed almost 40% of the world’s population at the time.

The Wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson

On July 23rd, 1986, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were wed at the Westminster Abbey in London, England. The couple met at one of the Queen’s “dine and sleep” events at Windsor Castle. Shortly after a year of dating, they were engaged in February and married in July. Unfortunately, they separated in 1992 after having their two children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, although supposedly they are still close.

1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympics

Northern Ireland competed at the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, winning 5 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze medals.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed at the Olympics in Los Angeles, CA in 1984 and won 5 gold, 11 silver and 21 bronze medals.

Great Britain won 24 medals at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics in South Korea: 5 gold, 10 silver and 9 bronze.

Piper Alpha Explosion

The Piper Alpha was an oil platform in the North Sea about 120 miles (190 km) to the northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland. Operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited, it began production in 1976 only as an oil-only platform, then later added gas production. On July 6th, 1988, an explosion with oil and gas fires destroyed Piper Alpha and killed 167 men, including two crewmen of a rescue ship with 30 bodies never found. 61 workers escaped and survived.

Known as one of the costliest manmade disasters ever to occur, the total loss resulted in £1.7 billion.

At the time, the platform accounted for about ten percent of the North Sea oil and gas production. The accident was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of industry impact and number of lives lost.

Lockerbie Bombing

On December 21st, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, was on its way from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York City during a Pan Am transatlantic flight. Although the aircraft N739PA, which was operating the transatlantic leg of the route, was destroyed by a bomb and killed 243 passengers and 16 crew members, known as the Lockerbie bombing.

Large portions of the plane crashed onto a residential street in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 people on the ground. With a total of 270 fatalities, it is considered the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the UK.

Edwina Currie and the Salmonella-in-Eggs Controversy

Serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 to 1997, Edwina Currie was also a Junior Health Minister for two years before resigning in 1988 when she claimed the eggs in the UK were infected with salmonella.

She said “most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella,” which outraged numerous farmers and egg producers across the nation. It also caused the UK’s egg sales in the country to decline rapidly by 60 percent. The controversy dubbed her as “Eggwina”.

The loss of revenue also resulted in the slaughter of four million chickens, although there was evidence that a regulation change had allowed salmonella to infect many flocks.

Hillsborough Disaster

On April 15th, 1989, 96 people were killed and 766 injured during a human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It happened during an FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool in the two standing-only central pens in the Leppings Lane for Liverpool fans.

Just before the kick-off, police match commander, David Duckenfield was trying to ease overcrowding outside the entrance turnstiles when he ordered exit gate C to open, leading to an influx of fans to the pens, which ultimately led to the human crush. With so many fatalities and injuries, it’s considered to be one of England’s worst disasters in sporting history.

Official Openings

Numerous places around England are proud to have opened their doors during the 80s, including the following parks, businesses and other public areas:

• After 6 years of construction, Tyne and Wear Metro opened Tyneside with the first phase between Haymarket in Newcastle and Whitley Bay in August 1980.
• The Alton Towers opened for the first time in Staffordshire on April 4th, 1980, with the Corkscrew rollercoaster, the Pirate Ship and the Alpine Bob sled ride set as the most popular attractions.
• Cats, the musical, opened at the New London Theatre in the West End in on May 11th, 1981.
• The Humber Bridge was officially opened by the Queen in June 1981.
• The Queen opened the Barbican Centre, a performing arts venue in the City of London on March 3rd, 1982.
• The Queen opened the final phase of the Telford Shopping Centre, one of the largest indoor shopping centers in Europe in the Shropshire new town on November 1981.
• The first Next, a women’s clothing store opened on February 1982.
• The Haçienda nightclub opened in Manchester on May 1982.
• The largest artificial lake in the UK and a reservoir in Northumberland, Kielder Water, was officially opened on May 1982.
• The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television was opened in Bradford on June 16th, 1983.
• The Starlight Express opened at Apollo Victoria Theatre in London on March 27th, 1984.
• The Queen opened the Thames Barrier, which was designed to protect London from floods on May 8th, 1984.
• The Queen opened a new terminal at Birmingham International Airport on May 30th, 1984.
• The Queen opened the Docklands Light Railway in London on July 30th, 1987, the first driverless railway in England.
• London City Airport opened on November 5th, 1987.
• Homebase opened its first DIY and garden centre superstore at Croydon, Surrey in 1989.

TV and Movies

As the popularity of color TV grew around the world, TV programs were popping up everywhere, especially breakfast TV.

• The showing of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die set the record for some 23,500,000 viewers on Britain’s ITV.
• The UK Christmas Number One was “Granma, We Love You” by St. Winifried’s school choir. TV-am was set to go on air by 1983 and was awarded the first ever breakfast TV contract. The BBC announced that they would launch their own Breakfast TV show to compete with TV-am.
• Chariots of Fire, an Academy Award-winning film was released in 1981.
• ITV launched three regional TV stations: Central, TV South and TV South West, which replaced ATV Midlands, Southern Television and West Television on January 1982.
• The first episode of the TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses broadcasted on BBC One and Postman Pat was first broadcast on BBC One on September 1981.
• First British breakfast time television program, Breakfast Time, broadcasted by the BBC on January 17th, 1983.
• The movie, Gandhi (1982), won eight Academy Awards.
• The House of Commons was televised for the first time on November 21st, 1989.
• After 26 years, Doctor Who was discontinued by the BBC on December 6th, 1989.

Zimbabwe’s Independence Day, April 18th, 1980

Liberating Countries

Similar to the United States in 1776, various countries also claimed their independence from England, including Zimbabwe in 1980, Belize in 1981, and Brunei in January 1984.

Other Major Events

Many other events took place during the 80s, including the following:

• The birth of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on June 21st, 1982, son of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales.
• The Football World Cup in Spain. England was eliminated from the competition on July 5th, 1982.
• The Queen celebrated her Pearl Jubilee in February 1982.
• The compact disc (CD) went on sale in the UK on March 1st, 1983.
• The Band Aid charity single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was released on December 3rd, 1984 in reaction to the 1983 – 85 famine in Ethiopia. The song remained number one on the UK Singles Chart for five weeks.
• Richard Stone won the Nobel Prize in Economics on December 10th, 1984.
• The first mobile phone calls in the UK were made on January 1st, 1985.
• The first photographs and films of the RMS Titanic’s wreckage were taken 73 years after it sank on September 4th 1985.
• James W. Black won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine alongside Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings “for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment” on December 10th, 1988.
• The General Assembly of the Church of England voted to allow the ordination of women on November 7th, 1989.
• Margaret Thatcher, along with American president George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, announced the end of the Cold War after 40 years on December 3rd, 1989.

Conclusion

Like other countries, the 80s have shaped England into the amazing country it is today. After mass rioting, colliery closures, plane crashes, wars, royal weddings and TV broadcasting, safer measures have been implemented, equal rights for women and minorities has improved, government policies are reformed and countries are independent of England.

With so many major events that occurred during the 80s, it has become one of the most iconic eras, not only for England but for all countries around the world.