1998 in the United Kingdom

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1998 in the United Kingdom
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Constituent countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Popular culture

Events from the year 1998 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents[]

  • Monarch – Elizabeth II
  • Prime Minister – Tony Blair (Labour)
  • Parliament – 52nd

Events[]

January[]

  • 5 January – The UK takes over the Presidency of the EC's Council of Ministers until 30 June.[1]

February[]

  • 3 February – Stamps commemorating Diana, Princess of Wales go on sale across the UK.
  • 7–22 February – Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and win one bronze medal.
  • 12 February – Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, says that he is "99.9% certain" that his son's death in the car crash that also claimed the life of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997 was a conspiracy to kill rather than an accident. He also claims that his son had purchased an engagement ring just before the crash and had been preparing to propose marriage to Diana. A lawyer in Mr Al Fayed's native Egypt was planning to sue the Queen and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on the grounds that they had conspired to kill Diana because her love for a Muslim would embarrass the country.[2]

March[]

  • 3 March – Millennium Dome construction begins.
  • 6 March – Closure of South Crofty, the last working tin mine in Cornwall.[3]
  • 31 March – The Rolls-Royce Motors brand is acquired by German car manufacturer BMW.[4]

April[]

  • April – Vauxhall launches its fourth generation Astra small family car range. The initial range consists of hatchbacks and estates, with coupe and saloons due next year and a cabriolet in two years.
  • 1 April – The historic counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire are re-established, 24 years after they merged to form Hereford and Worcester.[5]
  • 10 April – The Good Friday Agreement, an agreement between the UK and Irish governments, and the main political parties in Northern Ireland is signed.[6]
  • 27 April – Kevin Lloyd, who played Tosh Lines in The Bill since 1988, is dismissed from the role by ITV due to his alcoholism. He dies, the following week, aged 49.[7]

May[]

  • 2 May – Police in Maryland, United States, reveal that they have arrested and bailed former footballer Justin Fashanu over an allegation of sexual assault against a seventeen-year-old male, and they believe he has now breached his bail conditions and fled the country.[8]
  • 9 May – The Eurovision Song Contest held in Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena.
  • 15 May – 24th G8 summit held in Birmingham.
  • 20 May – Nurses Deborah Parry and Lucille McLauchlan, who had been convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder of Yvonne Gilford the previous year, have their sentences commuted by the order of King Fahd and are returned to the UK.
  • 23 May – Referenda on the Good Friday Agreement are held in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with 95% and 71% support respectively.[9]

June[]

  • 15 June – First general-circulation issue of a two pound coin, with a bi-metallic design (dated 1997).[10]
  • The DVD format is released onto the UK market for the first time. Among the first set of titles released on the new format is Jumanji.
  • 27 June – The Diana, Princess of Wales Tribute Concert is held at Althorp Park in Northamptonshire, and attended by 15,000 people.

July[]

  • 12 July – Three young children are killed in a loyalist arson attack in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland.[11]
  • 31 July
    • Crime and Disorder Act receives Royal Assent. It introduces Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Sex Offender Orders, Parenting Orders, and 'racially aggravated' offences. It makes it possible for a young person between ten and fourteen to be presumed capable of committing an offence and formally abolishes capital punishment for treason and piracy, the last civilian offences for which the death penalty remained theoretically available.
    • The government announces a total ban on the use of landmines by the British military.[12]

August[]

  • 10 August – Manchester United TV begins broadcasting, making Manchester United F.C. the world's second football team to have its own television channel, the first being Middlesbrough (Boro TV) in 1997.[4]
  • 15 August – Omagh bombing: A car bomb explodes in the Northern Irish market town of Omagh, County Tyrone, killing 29 people – the worst terrorist atrocity in the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.[13] It has been planted by the Real Irish Republican Army.
  • 22 August – Reading F.C. move into their new Madejski Stadium, named after chairman John Madejski, near junction 12 of the M4 motorway in the south of Reading. It seats more than 24,000 spectators.[14]
  • 24 August
    • First RFID human implantation tested in the United Kingdom by Kevin Warwick at the University of Reading.
    • The Netherlands is selected as the venue for the trial of the two Libyans who are charged with the Lockerbie aircraft bombing that killed 270 people in December 1988.

September[]

  • September – Ford launches its new Focus range of family hatchbacks, saloons and estates, which will eventually replace the long-running Escort.
  • 8 September – The Real IRA announces a ceasefire.[15]
  • 10 September – In Northern Ireland, David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party meets Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin – the first such meeting between Republicans and Loyalists since 1922.[4]
  • 16 September – The Union Jack dress worn by the Spice Girl Geri Halliwell is sold at Sotheby's for £41,320

October[]

  • 16 October – Indictment and arrest of Augusto Pinochet: Police place General Augusto Pinochet, the 83-year-old former dictator of Chile, into house arrest during his medical treatment in Britain at the request of Spain.
  • 27 October – Ron Davies resigns as Secretary of State for Wales, citing "an error of judgement" in agreeing to go for what he said was a meal with a man he had met while walking on Clapham Common in London, which is a well known gay meeting place, and subsequently being mugged.

November[]

  • November – Peugeot launches the 206 supermini, which is being built at the Ryton plant near Coventry.
  • 9 November – Human Rights Act receives Royal Assent.
  • 24 November – The Queen's Speech is interrupted by MPs and peers, when the Queen began to outlay the government's plan to abolish the rights of 700 hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.[16]
  • 26 November – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas (Irish parliament).[4]
  • December – The Ford Focus is voted European Car of the Year.

December[]

  • 10 December
    • John Pople wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry".[17]
    • John Hume and David Trimble win the Nobel Peace Prize.[18]
  • 26 December – Great Boxing Day Storm: severe gale-force winds hit Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. Roads, railways and electricity are disrupted.
  • 29 December – : three British tourists are among those shot during a gun battle to free them from kidnappers in Yemen.[19]

Undated[]

  • Regional Development Agencies Act creates appointed Regional development agencies and Regional chambers ("Regional assemblies") in England.
  • Mathematicians Richard Borcherds and Timothy Gowers win Fields Medals.[20]
  • The DVD format, first sold in the UK in June, sells just over 6,000 discs by the end of the year.[21]

Publications[]

  • Beryl Bainbridge's novel Master Georgie.
  • Iain M. Banks' novel Inversions.
  • Julian Barnes's novel England, England.
  • Ted Hughes's poetry collection Birthday Letters.
  • Nigella Lawson's guide How to Eat: the pleasures and principles of good food.
  • Ian McEwan's novel Amsterdam.
  • John O'Farrell's political memoir Things Can Only Get Better.
  • Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels The Last Continent and Carpe Jugulum.
  • J. K. Rowling's novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Births[]

Ronan Parke
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Jack Carroll
Jasmine Armfield
  • 2 January – George Miller, footballer
  • 5 January – Tia Rigg, murder victim (died 2010)
  • 18 January – Alfie McIlwain, actor
  • 2 February – Chris Smith, footballer
  • 4 February – Scott Jones, athlete
  • 15 February – George Russell, racing driver
  • 27 February – Theo Stevenson, actor
  • 13 March – Oliver Stokes, actor
  • 14 March – George Bartlett, cricketer
  • 24 March – Isabel Suckling, singer
  • 11 April – Oliver Dillon, actor
  • 12 April – Tom Pearce, footballer
  • 14 April – Arthur Bowen, actor
  • 22 April – Jay Dasilva, footballer
  • 8 May – Sam Field, footballer
  • 14 May – Aaron Ramsdale, footballer
  • 3 June - Sam Curran, cricketer.
  • 4 June – Jack Blatherwick, cricketer
  • 7 June – Graham Newberry, American-English figure skater
  • 10 June – Johnny Bennett, actor
  • 14 June – Julia Joyce, actress
  • 21 June – Isabel Atkin, freestyle skier
  • 30 June – Tom Davies, footballer
  • 1 July – Hollie Steel, classical crossover singer
  • 19 July
    • Ronaldo Vieira, footballer
    • Amar Virdi, cricketer
    • Lil Woods, actress
  • 20 July – Sinead Michael, actress
  • 28 July - Sam Surridge, footballer
  • 6 August – Jack Scanlon, actor
  • 8 August – Ronan Parke, pop singer
  • 14 August – Amy Marren, swimmer
  • 5 September – Helena Barlow, actress
  • 9 September – Shannon Matthews, kidnapping victim
  • 21 September – Prem Sisodiya, cricketer
  • 2 October – Zack Morris, actor
  • 7 October – Trent Alexander-Arnold, footballer
  • 17 October – Erin Kellyman, actress
  • 18 October – Jack Carroll, comic actor
  • 20 October – Jordan Allan, footballer
  • 22 October – Georgina Anderson, pop singer (died 2013)
  • 29 October – Matthew Potts, cricketer
  • 11 November – Tom Banton, cricketer
  • 21 November – Will Jacks, cricketer
  • 28 November – Ronan McKenzie, kart racing driver
  • 1 December – Ollie Robinson, cricketer
  • 11 December – Gabz (Gabrielle Gardiner), singer-songwriter
  • 14 December – Lukas Nmecha, footballer
  • 17 December – Jasmine Armfield, actress
  • 24 December – Declan McKenna, pop singer

Deaths[]

Enoch Powell
Linda McCartney
Alan Lloyd Hodgkin
  • 2 January – Frank Muir, actor, comedy writer and raconteur (born 1920)
  • 5 January – David Bairstow, English cricketer (born 1951)
  • 13 January – Ian Moores, former footballer (born 1954)
  • 18 January – Monica Edwards, children's writer (born 1912)
  • 24 January – Xenia Field, councillor, horticulturalist and author (born 1894)
  • 8 February – Enoch Powell, politician (born 1912)
  • 7 March – Bernarr Rainbow, historian of music education, organist, and choir master (born 1941)
  • 10 March – Ian Dunn, gay and paedophile rights activist, founder of the Scottish Minorities Group (born 1943 )[22]
  • 16 March
    • Derek Harold Richard Barton, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
    • Noel Stephen Paynter, Royal Air Force officer (born 1898)
  • 25 March – Daniel Massey, actor (born 1933)
  • 5 April – Cozy Powell, rock musician (born 1947)
  • 11 April – Francis Durbridge, playwright and author (born 1912)
  • 16 April – Fred Davis, snooker and billiards player (born 1913)
  • 17 April – Linda McCartney, American-born, British-based photographer and musician (born 1941)
  • 20 April – Joan Mary Wayne Brown, British author (b. 1906)
  • 2 May
    • Kevin Lloyd, actor (born 1949)
    • Justin Fashanu, footballer (born 1961; suicide)
  • 10 June – Hammond Innes, author (born 1914)
  • 11 June – Catherine Cookson, author (born 1906)
  • 13 June – Reg Smythe, cartoonist (born 1917)
  • 22 June – Benny Green, writer, radio broadcaster and saxophonist (b. 1927).
  • 18 July – Betty Marsden, comedy actress (born 1919)
  • 27 July – Binnie Barnes, actress (born 1903)
  • 4 August – Richard Dunn, CEO of Thames Television (born 1943)
  • 2 September – Jackie Blanchflower, footballer (born 1933)
  • 4 September – Lal Waterson, folk singer-songwriter (born 1943)
  • 3 October – Roddy McDowall, actor (born 1928)
  • 17 October – Joan Hickson, actress (born 1906)
  • 20 October – Frank Gillard, radio broadcaster (born 1909)
  • 22 October – Eric Ambler, novelist and playwright (born 1909)
  • 28 October – Ted Hughes, poet and children's writer (born 1930)
  • 12 November – Roy Hollis, footballer (born 1925)
  • 13 November – Doug Wright, English cricketer (b. 1914)
  • 29 November – Martin Ruane, British professional wrestler (b. 1947)
  • 2 December – Brian Stonehouse, painter and World War II secret agent (born 1918)
  • 7 December – Michael Craze, actor (born 1942)
  • 13 December – Lew Grade, showbusiness impresario and television company executive (born 1906 in Ukraine)
  • 20 December – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1914)
  • 21 December
    • Roger Avon, British actor (b. 1914)
    • Richard Turnbull, British colonial governor (b. 1909)
  • 30 December – George Webb, actor (born 1911)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
  2. ^ "Diana crash was a conspiracy – Al Fayed". BBC News. 12 February 1998. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  3. ^ Delves, Philip (7 March 1998). "The end of hope as last tin mine in Europe closes". The Times. London.
  4. ^ a b c d Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. p. 92. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  5. ^ "Severn Valley and Marches Area". Civic Heraldry of England & Wales. 23 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  6. ^ "1998: Northern Ireland peace deal reached". BBC News. 10 April 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  7. ^ "Axed TV star Tosh dies". BBC News. 4 May 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Fashanu 'may have fled US'". BBC News. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  9. ^ "1998: Leaders welcome 'yes' vote for N Ireland". BBC News. 23 May 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  10. ^ "Two Pound Coin". Royal Mint. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  11. ^ "1998: Children die in Drumcree protests". BBC News. 12 July 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  12. ^ "1998: UK imposes total ban on landmines". BBC News. 31 July 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  13. ^ "1998: Dozens die in Omagh bombing". BBC News. 15 August 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  14. ^ "Madejski Stadium facts & figures". Reading FC. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  15. ^ "1998: Real IRA announce ceasefire". BBC News. 8 September 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  16. ^ "1998: Queen's speech spells end for peers". BBC News. 24 November 1998. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  17. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1998". Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  18. ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 1998". Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  19. ^ "Yemen victims named". BBC News. 29 December 1998. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
  20. ^ "Fields Medallists". Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  21. ^ "10 years on and the DVD is still going strong | British Video Association". Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  22. ^ Obituary: Ian Dunn | The Independent
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