Thatcher becomes PM
May 4, 1979
Margaret Thatcher, the grocer's daughter from Grantham, walked into 10 Downing Street as Britain's first woman prime minister, quoting Saint Francis about harmony. Within months she was at war with her own cabinet, the unions, inflation, and the postwar consensus. She would remake Britain and, with Reagan, much of the world.
Related events
1979Middle EastPolitics
Khomeini returns to Iran
February 1, 1979Modern Era
1979Central AsiaWar
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
December 24, 1979Modern Era
1979North AmericaDisaster
Three Mile Island
March 28, 1979Modern Era
1979Middle EastPolitics
US embassy hostages taken in Tehran
November 4, 1979Modern Era
1979North AmericaPolitics
Sandinistas take Managua
July 19, 1979Modern Era
1978East AsiaPolitics
Deng launches Chinese reform
December 1978Modern Era