Timeline: Mary Jane ALDRIDGE: Mills/Rushton Family History

1950 - (74 years)

	Date	Event(s)
1	1950	19 May 1950: Points rationing ends in Britain 26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ends in Britain 11 Jul 1950: 'Andy Pandy' first seen on BBC TV 9 Sep 1950: Soap rationing ends in Britain 28 Dec 1950: The Peak District becomes the Britain's first National Park
2	1951	3 May 1951: Festival of Britain and Royal Festival Hall open on South Bank, London 28 May 1951: First Goon Show broadcast 20 Dec 1951: Electricity first produced by nuclear power, from Experimental Breeder Reactor
3	1952	1952: Contraceptive pill invented 1952: Britain explodes her first atomic bomb, in Australia 1952: Radioactive carbon used for dating prehistoric objects 1952: Bonn Convention: Britain, France and USA end their occupation of West Germany 6 Feb 1952: King George VI dies 21 Feb 1952: Identity Cards abolished in Britain 2 May 1952: First commercial jet airliner service launched, by BOACComet between London and Johannesburg 5 Jul 1952: Last tram runs in London (Woolwich to New Cross) 16 Aug 1952: Lynmouth (North Devon) flood disaster 6 Sep 1952: DH110 crashes at Farnborough Air Show, 26 killed 3 Oct 1952: End of tea rationing in Britain 1 Nov 1952: The first H-bomb ever ('Mike') was exploded by the USA – the mushroom cloud was 8 miles across and 27 miles high. The canopy was 100 miles wide. Radioactive mud fell out of the sky followed by heavy rain. 80 million tons of earth was vaporised. 25 Nov 1952: Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap' opens in London 4 Dec 1952: Great smog hits London
4	1953	31 Jan 1953: Said to be the biggest civil catastrophe in Britain in the 20th century – severe storm and high tides caused the loss of hundreds of lives –- effects travelled from the west coast of Scotland round to the south-east coast of England [The Netherlands were even worse affected with over a thousand deaths] 5 Feb 1953: Sweet rationing ends in Britain 5 Mar 1953: Death of Stalin 26 Mar 1953: Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine 24 Apr 1953: Winston Churchill knighted 25 Apr 1953: Francis Crick and James D Watson publish the double helix structure of DNA 2 Jun 1953: Coronation of Elizabeth II 26 Sep 1953: Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
5	1954	1954: First comprehensive school opens in London 1954: Routemaster bus starts operating in London 1954: First transistor radios sold 6 May 1954: First sub 4 minute mile (Roger Bannister, 3 mins 59.4 secs) 3 Jul 1954: Food rationing officially ends in Britain 5 Jul 1954: BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin 30 Sep 1954: First atomic powered sumbmarine USS Nautilus commissioned
6	1955	1955: 'Mole' self-grip wrench patented by Thomas Coughtrie of Mole & Sons 27 Jul 1955: Jul 27: Allied occupation of Austria (after WW2) ends 22 Sep 1955: Commercial TV starts in Britain
7	1956	1956: Britain constructs world's first large-scale nuclear power station in Cumberland 1 Mar 1956: Radiotelephony spelling alphabet introduced (Alpha, Bravo, etc) 17 Apr 1956: Premium Bonds first launched – first prizes drawn on 1 Jun 1957 3 Jun 1956: 3rd class travel abolished on British Railways (renamed 'Third Class' as 'Second Class', which had been abolished in 1875 leaving just First and Third Class) 31 Oct 1956: Britain and France invade Suez
8	1957	1957: Britain introduces parking meters 1957: Helvetica typeface developed (in Switzerland) 11 Jan 1957: Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister 14 May 1957: Post-Suez petrol rationing ends 15 May 1957: Britain explodes her first hydrogen bomb, at Christmas Island 25 May 1957: Treaty of Rome to create European Economic Community (EEC) of six countries: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg – became operational Jan 1958 4 Dec 1957: Lewisham rail disaster – 90 killed as two trains collide in thick fog and a viaduct collapses on top of them 25 Dec 1957: Queen's first Christmas TV broadcast
9	1958	1958: Easter: First anti-nuclear protest march to Aldermaston (emergence of CND) 1958: Computers begin to be used in research, industry and commerce 1958: USA begins to produce Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) 13 May 1958: Velcro trade mark registered 26 Jul 1958: Prince Charles' Investiture as "Prince of Wales" 5 Dec 1958: Inauguration of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in Britain (completed in 1979) 5 Dec 1958: Preston by-pass opens – UK's first stretch of motorway
10	1959	3 Feb 1959: 'The Day The Music Died' – plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper 17 Feb 1959: Vanguard 2 satellite launched – first to measure cloud-cover distribution 24 May 1959: Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day Aug 1959: BMC Mini car launched 3 Oct 1959: Postcodes introduced in Britain 1 Nov 1959: First section of M1 motorway opened
11	1960	17 Mar 1960: New £1 notes issued by Bank of England 18 Mar 1960: Last steam locomotive of British Railways named 21 Jul 1960: Francis Chichester arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II (took 40 days), winning the first single-handed transatlantic yacht race which he co-founded 12 Aug 1960: Echo I, the first (passive) communications satellite, launched 12 Sep 1960: MoT tests on motor vehicles introduced 1 Oct 1960: HMS "Dreadnought" nuclear submarine launched 2 Nov 1960: Penguin Books found not guilty of obscenity in the "Lady Chatterley's Lover" case
12	1961	1 Jan 1961: Farthing ceases to be legal tender in UK 13 Mar 1961: Black & White £5 notes cease to be legal tender 14 Mar 1961: New English Bible (New Testament) published 1 May 1961: Betting shops legal in Britain
13	1962	1962: Britain passes Commonwealth Immigrants Act to control immigration 1962: Thalidomide withdrawn after it causes deformities in babies 1962: Britain and France agree to construct "Concorde" 25 May 1962: Consecration of new Coventry Cathedral (old destroyed in WW2 blitz) 15 Jun 1962: First nuclear generated electricity to supplied National Grid (from Berkeley, Glos) Jul 1962: First passenger-carrying hovercraft enters service, along the North Wales Coast from Moreton to Rhyl 10 Jul 1962: First TV transmission between US and Europe (Telstar) – first live broadcast on 23 Jul 24 Oct 1962: Cuba missile crisis – brink of nuclear war
14	1963	1963: France vetoes Britain's entry into EEC Jan 1963: Cold weather forces cancellation of most football matches (only 4 English First Division matches in the month) – the first 'pools panel' created 27 Mar 1963: Beeching Report on British Railways (the 'Beeching Axe') 1 Aug 1963: Minimum prison age raised to 17 8 Aug 1963: 'Great Train Robbery' on Glasgow to London mail train 17 Sep 1963: Fylingdales (Yorks) early warning system operational 18 Nov 1963: Dartford Tunnel opens 23 Nov 1963: First episode of "Dr Who" on BBC TV
15	1964	1 Jan 1964: First 'Top of the Pops' on BBC TV 9 Apr 1964: First Greater London Council (GLC) election 21 Apr 1964: BBC2 TV launched 22 Aug 1964: "Match of the Day" starts on BBC2 4 Sep 1964: Forth road bridge opens
16	1965	1965: Britain enacts first Race Relations Act 7 Feb 1965: First US raids against North Vietnam 7 Apr 1965: Winston Churchill dies 1 Aug 1965: TV cigarette advertising banned in Britain 8 Oct 1965: Post Office Tower operational in London 28 Oct 1965: Death penalty for murder suspended in Britain for five-year trial period, then abolished 18 Dec 1969 22 Dec 1965: 70mph speed limit introduced on British roads
17	1966	14 Feb 1966: Australia converts from £ to $ 3 May 1966: "The Times" begins to print news on its front page in place of classified advertisements 30 Jul 1966: World Cup won by England at Wembley (4-2 in extra time v West Germany) 8 Sep 1966: First Severn road bridge opens 21 Oct 1966: Aberfan disaster – slag heap slip kills 144, incl. 116 children 1 Dec 1966: First Christmas stamps issued in Britain
18	1967	4 Jan 1967: Donald Campbell dies attempting to break his world water speed record on Conniston Water – his body and Bluebird recovered in 2002 18 Mar 1967: "Torrey Canyon" oil tanker runs aground off Lands End – first major oil spill 28 May 1967: Francis Chichester arrives in Plymouth after solo circumnavigation in Gipsy Moth IV (he was knighted 7th July at Greenwich by the queen using the sword with which Elizabeth I had knighted Sir Francis Drake four centuries earlier 27 Jun 1967: First withdrawal from a cash dispenser (ATM) in Britain – at Enfield branch of Barclays 1 Jul 1967: First colour TV in Britain 14 Aug 1967: Offshore pirate radio stations declared illegal by the UK 20 Sep 1967: "QE2" launched on Clydebank 27 Sep 1967: "Queen Mary" arrives Southampton at end of her last transatlantic voyage 30 Sep 1967: BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 & 4 open – first record played on Radio 1 was the controversial "Flowers in the Rain" by 'The Move' 5 Oct 1967: Introduction of majority verdicts in English courts
19	1968	18 Feb 1968: British Standard Time introduced – Summer Time became permanent but arguments prevailed and Britain reverted to GMT in October 1971 18 Apr 1968: London Bridge sold (and eventually moved to Arizona) – modern London Bridge, built around it as it was demolished, was opened in Mar 1973 20 Apr 1968: Enoch Powell 'Rivers of Blood' speech on immigration 23 Apr 1968: Issue of 5p and 10p decimal coins in Britain 29 May 1968: Manchester United first English club to win the European Cup 11 Aug 1968: Last steam passenger train service ran in Britain (Carlisle–Liverpool) 16 Sep 1968: Two-tier postal rate starts in Britain 5 Oct 1968: Beginning of disturbances in N Ireland
20	1969	2 Mar 1969: Maiden flight of 'Concorde', at Toulouse 7 Mar 1969: Victoria Line tube opens in London 17 Apr 1969: Voting age lowered from 21 to 18 2 May 1969: Maiden voyage of liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) 31 Jul 1969: Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in Britain 14 Aug 1969: Civil disturbances in Ulster – Britain sends troops to support civil authorities 7 Sep 1969: First episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" recorded 14 Oct 1969: 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
21	1970	1970: Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) goes into service 17 Jun 1970: Decimal postage stamps first issued for sale in Britain 19 Jun 1970: Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister 30 Jul 1970: Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims 19 Sep 1970: First Glastonbury Festival held 20 Nov 1970: Ten shilling note (50p after decimalisation) goes out of circulation in Britain
22	1971	1971: Banking and Financial Dealings Act – replaced the Bank Holidays Act of 1871 1971: Sunday becomes the seventh day in the week as UK adopts decision of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) to call Monday the first day 1971: 'Greenpeace' founded 1971: Rolls-Royce declared bankrupt 3 Jan 1971: Open University starts 15 Feb 1971: Decimalisation of coinage in UK and Republic of Ireland 9 Aug 1971: Internment without trial introduced in N Ireland 28 Oct 1971: Parliament votes to join Common Market (joined 1973) 28 Oct 1971: UK launches its first (and only) satellite, Prospero
23	1972	1972: Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland 1972: Strict anti-hijack measures introduced internationally, especially at airports 1972: Dutch Elm disease devastates trees across UK 1972: Domestic video cassette recorders introduced 30 Jan 1972: 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry, Northern Ireland 28 May 1972: Duke of Windsor (ex-King Edward VIII) dies in Paris
24	1973	1 Jan 1973: Britain enters EEC Common Market (with Ireland and Denmark) 17 Mar 1973: Modern London Bridge opened by the Queen 1 Apr 1973: VAT introduced in Britain 26 Sep 1973: Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time 14 Oct 1973: Marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey 31 Dec 1973: Miners strike and oil crisis precipitate 'three-day week' (till 9 Mar 1974) to conserve power
25	1974	1974: New counties formed in Britain after re-organisation of some county boundaries 1 Jun 1974: Flixborough disaster: explosion at chemical plant kills 28 people 7 Nov 1974: Lord Lucan disappears 21 Nov 1974: Birmingham pub bombings by the IRA
26	1975	1975: Unemployment in Britain rises above 1M for first time since before WW2 11 Feb 1975: Margaret Thatcher becomes leader of Conservative party (in opposition) 28 Feb 1975: Moorgate tube crash in London – over 43 deaths, greatest loss of life on the Underground in peacetime. The cause of the incident was never conclusively determined 4 Mar 1975: Charlie Chaplin knighted 5 Jun 1975: UK votes in a referendum to stay in the European Community 29 Oct 1975: 'Yorkshire Ripper' commits his first murder 3 Nov 1975: First North Sea oil comes ashore 29 Nov 1975: The name 'Micro-soft' coined by Bill Gates (Microsoft' became a Trademark the following year) 27 Dec 1975: Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into force
27	1976	1976: 'Cod War' between Britain and Iceland 1976: Deaths exceeded live births in E&W for first time since records began in 1837 1976: James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister 1976: National Theatre opens in London 21 Jan 1976: Concorde enters supersonic passenger service 1 Apr 1976: Apple Computer formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak 6 Aug 1976: Drought Act 1976 comes into force — the long, hot summer
28	1977	2 Mar 1977: "Red Rum" wins a third Grand National 25 May 1977: George Lucas' film "Star Wars" released 5 Jun 1977: Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale 7 Jun 1977: Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations in London 22 Nov 1977: Regular supersonic Concorde service betweeen London and NY inaugurated
29	1978	8 Apr 1978: Regular broadcast of proceedings in Parliament starts 1 May 1978: First May Day holiday in Britain 25 Jul 1978: World's first 'test tube' baby, Louise Browne born in Oldham 30 Nov 1978: Publication of The Times suspended – industrial relations problems (until 13 Nov 1979)
30	1979	1 Mar 1979: 32.5% of Scots vote in favour of devolution (40% needed) – Welsh vote overwhelmingly against 30 Mar 1979: Airey Neave killed by a car bomb at Westminster 31 Mar 1979: Withdrawal of the Royal Navy from Malta 4 May 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman UK Prime Minister 1 Jul 1979: Sony introduces the Walkman 27 Aug 1979: Lord Mountbatten and 3 others killed in bomb blast off coast of Sligo, Ireland 18 Sep 1979: ILEA votes to abolish corporal punishment in its schools
31	1980	5 May 1980: SAS storm Iranian Embassy in London to free hostages 8 Dec 1980: John Lennon assassinated in New York
32	1981	25 Jan 1981: Launch of SDP by 'Gang of Four' in Britain 29 Mar 1981: First London marathon run 11 Apr 1981: Brixton riots in South London – 30 other British cities also experience riots 25 Apr 1981: Worst April blizzards this century in Britain 27 Apr 1981: First use of computer mouse (by Xerox PARC system) 29 Jul 1981: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (divorced 28 Aug 1996) 12 Aug 1981: IBM launches the first PC 12 Aug 1981: IBM launches its PC — starts the general use of personal computers
33	1982	26 Jan 1982: Unemployment reached 3 million in Britain (1 in 8 of working population) 5 Feb 1982: Laker Airways collapses 19 Feb 1982: DeLorean Car factory in Belfast goes into receivership 18 Mar 1982: Argentinians raised flag in South Georgia 2 Apr 1982: Argentina invades Falkland (Malvinas) Islands 5 Apr 1982: Royal Navy fleet sails from Portsmouth for Falklands 2 May 1982: British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General Belgrano 28 May 1982: First land battle in Falklands (Goose Green) 14 Jun 1982: Ceasefire in Falklands 21 Jun 1982: Prince William is born 20 Jul 1982: IRA bombings in London (Hyde Park and Regents Park) 19 Sep 1982: Smiley emoticon :-) said to have been used for the first time 11 Oct 1982: "Mary Rose" raised in the Solent (sank in 1545) 31 Oct 1982: Thames Barrier raised for first time (some say first public demonstration Nov 7) 2 Nov 1982: Channel 4 TV station launched – first programme 'Countdown' 4 Nov 1982: Lorries up to 38 tonnes allowed on Britain's roads 12 Dec 1982: Women's peace protest at Greenham Common (Cruise missiles arrived 14 Nov 1983)
34	1983	1983: First female Lord Mayor of London elected (Dame Mary Donaldson) 17 Jan 1983: Start of breakfast TV in Britain 31 Jan 1983: Seat belt law comes into force 21 Apr 1983: £1 coin into circulation in Britain 7 Oct 1983: Plans to abolish GLC announced 26 Nov 1983: Brinks Mat robbery: 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from a vault at Heathrow Airport
35	1984	6 Mar 1984: Miners strike begins 17 Apr 1984: Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher killed by gunfire from the Libyan Embassy in London 22 Jun 1984: Inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic 9 Jul 1984: York Minster struck by lightning – the resulting fire damaged much of the building but the "Rose Window" not affected 12 Oct 1984: IRA bomb explodes at Tory conference hotel in Brighton – 4 killed 24 Oct 1984: Miners' strike — High Court orders sequestration of NUM assets 3 Dec 1984: British Telecom privatised – shares make massive gains on first day's trading
36	1985	3 Mar 1985: Miners agree to call off strike 11 Mar 1985: Al Fayed buys Harrods 13 Jul 1985: "Live Aid" pop concert raises over £50M for famine relief 1 Sep 1985: Wreck of "Titanic" found (sank 1912)
37	1986	31 Mar 1986: GLC and 6 metropolitan councils abolished 26 Apr 1986: Chernobyl nuclear accident – radiation reached Britain on 2 Ma 26 May 1986: The European Community adopts the European flag 23 Jul 1986: Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey 27 Oct 1986: 'Big Bang' (deregulation) of the London Stock Market 29 Oct 1986: M25 motorway ring around London completed
38	1987	1987: World population crossed the 5 billion mark 2 Feb 1987: Terry Waite kidnapped in Beirut (released 17 Nov 1991) 6 Mar 1987: Car ferry "Herald of Free Enterprise" capsizes off Zeebrugge – 188 die 1 Jul 1987: Excavation begins on the Channel Tunnel 19 Aug 1987: Hungerford Massacre – Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with a rifle 16 Oct 1987: The 'Hurricane' sweeps southern England 19 Oct 1987: 'Black Monday' in the City of London – Stock Market crash 8 Nov 1987: Enniskillen bombing at a Remembrance Day ceremony 18 Nov 1987: King's Cross fire in London – 31 people die
39	1988	5 Feb 1988: First 'Red Nose Day' in UK, raising money for charity 6 Jul 1988: Piper Alpha disaster – North Sea oil platform destroyed by explosion and fire killing 167 men 15 Nov 1988: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act – reformulated the statutory basis of copyright law (including performing rights) in the UK 12 Dec 1988: Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains 21 Dec 1988: Lockerbie disaster – Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland
40	1989	1989: Poll Tax implemented in Scotland 14 Feb 1989: The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit 2 Mar 1989: EU decision to ban production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century 9 Nov 1989: Berlin Wall torn down 21 Nov 1989: Proceedings of House of Commons first televised live
41	1990	11 Feb 1990: Nelson Mandela released in South Africa 31 Mar 1990: Riots in London against Poll Tax which had been implemented in England & Wales 25 Apr 1990: Hubble space telescope launched 22 Nov 1990: Margaret Thatcher resigns as Conservative party leader (and Prime Minister) 1 Dec 1990: Channel Tunnel excavation teams meet in the middle
42	1991	1991: Poll Tax replaced (by Council Tax) 1991: The 'Internet' comes into existence 18 May 1991: Helen Sharman is first British Astronaut in Space Aug 1991: Collapse of the Soviet Union 6 Sep 1991: Leningrad renamed St Petersburg 5 Nov 1991: Robert Maxwell drowns at sea
43	1992	7 Feb 1992: European Union formed by The Maastricht Treaty 22 Apr 1992: Betty Boothroyd elected as first female Speaker of the House of Commons 15 Aug 1992: Football Premier League kicks off in England 16 Sep 1992: 'Black Wednesday' as Pound leaves the ERM 20 Nov 1992: Fire breaks out in Windsor Castle causing over £50 million worth of damage 24 Nov 1992: The Queen describes this year as an 'Annus Horribilis'
44	1993	1993: Betty Boothroyd first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (to 2000) 1993: Elizabeth II becomes first British Monarch to pay Income Tax Jul 1993: Ratification of Maastricht Treaty, established the European Union (EU)
45	1994	1994: 15 million people now connected to the Internet 12 Mar 1994: Church of England ordains its first female priests 6 May 1994: Channel Tunnel open to traffic 19 Nov 1994: National Lottery starts
46	1995	26 Feb 1995: Nick Leeson brings down Barings Bank 15 Jul 1995: First item sold on Amazon.com 16 Nov 1995: The Queen Mother has a hip replacement operation at 95 years old 22 Nov 1995: "Toy Story" released – first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery
47	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
48	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
49	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
50	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
51	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
52	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)
53	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
54	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
55	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
56	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
57	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
58	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)