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  • Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
    Tuesday Oct 13, 1925

    Birth

    Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
    Tuesday Oct 13, 1925

    Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on 13 October 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire.




  • Oxford, England
    1947

    Graduation

    Oxford, England
    1947

    Roberts graduated From Oxford in 1947 with Second-Class Honours, in the four-year Chemistry Bachelor of Science degree, specialising in X-ray crystallography under the supervision of Dorothy Hodgkin. Her dissertation was on the structure of the antibiotic gramicidin.




  • Llandudno, Wales, UK
    1948

    The local Conservative Association Conference

    Llandudno, Wales, UK
    1948

    Roberts joined the local Conservative Association and attended the party conference at Llandudno, Wales, in 1948, as a representative of the University Graduate Conservative Association.




  • Kent, England
    Jan, 1950

    Conservative Candidate For Dartford

    Kent, England
    Jan, 1950

    One of her Oxford friends was also a friend of the Chair of the Dartford Conservative Association in Kent, who were looking for candidates. Officials of the association were so impressed by her that they asked her to apply, even though she was not on the party's approved list; she was selected in January 1950 (aged 24) and added to the approved list post ante.




  • Dartford, England
    Thursday Feb 23, 1950

    The 1950 general elections

    Dartford, England
    Thursday Feb 23, 1950

    In the 1950 general elections, Roberts was the Conservative candidate for the safe Labor seat of Dartford. The local party selected her as its candidate because, though not a dynamic public speaker, Roberts was well-prepared and fearless in her answers. She attracted media attention as the youngest and the only female candidate, but she lost to Norman Dodds.She lost again in the 1951 general elections.




  • Wesley's Chapel, London, England
    Thursday Dec 13, 1951

    Marriage

    Wesley's Chapel, London, England
    Thursday Dec 13, 1951

    At a dinner following her formal adoption as Conservative candidate for Dartford in February 1949 she met divorcé Denis Thatcher, a successful and wealthy businessman, who drove her to her Essex train. After their first meeting she described him to Muriel as "not a very attractive creature – very reserved but quite nice". They married on 13 December 1951, at Wesley's Chapel in City Road, London.




  • England
    Jan, 1955

    The Orpington by-election

    England
    Jan, 1955

    In 1954, Thatcher was defeated when she sought selection to be the Conservative party candidate for the Orpington by-election of January 1955.


  • Finchley, London, England
    Apr, 1958

    Conservative safe seat

    Finchley, London, England
    Apr, 1958

    Thatcher began looking for a Conservative safe seat and was selected as the candidate for Finchley in April 1958 (narrowly beating Ian Montagu Fraser).


  • Finchley, London, England
    Thursday Oct 8, 1959

    The 1959 Election

    Finchley, London, England
    Thursday Oct 8, 1959

    She was elected as MP for the seat after a hard campaign in the 1959 election.


  • London, England
    Oct, 1961

    Thatcher Was Promoted To The Frontbench

    London, England
    Oct, 1961

    In October 1961 she was promoted to the frontbench as Parliamentary Undersecretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance by Harold Macmillan. Thatcher was the youngest woman in history to receive such a post, and among the first MPs elected in 1959 to be promoted.


  • London, England
    Thursday Oct 15, 1964

    She became Spokesman on Housing and Land

    London, England
    Thursday Oct 15, 1964

    After the Conservatives lost the 1964 election she became spokesman on Housing and Land, in which position she advocated her party's policy of allowing tenants to buy their council houses.


  • U.S.
    1967

    The International Visitor Leadership Program

    U.S.
    1967

    In 1967, the United States Embassy in London chose Thatcher to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Program (then called the Foreign Leader Program), a professional exchange programme that gave her the opportunity to spend about six weeks visiting various US cities and political figures as well as institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. Following the visit, Heath appointed Thatcher to the Shadow Cabinet as Fuel and Power spokesman.


  • Moscow, Russia
    1969

    Her First Visit To The Soviet Union

    Moscow, Russia
    1969

    Thatcher made her first visit to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1969 as the Opposition Transport spokeswoman.


  • London, England
    1970

    The Shadow Transport spokesman

    London, England
    1970

    Prior to the 1970 general election, she was promoted to Shadow Transport spokesman and later to Education.


  • London, England
    Saturday Jun 20, 1970

    Secretary of State for Education and Science

    London, England
    Saturday Jun 20, 1970

    The Conservative Party led by Edward Heath won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education and Science. Thatcher caused controversy when after only a few days in office she withdrew Labour's Circular 10/65 which attempted to force comprehensivisation, without going through a consultation progress.


  • London, England
    Tuesday Feb 11, 1975

    Leader of The Opposition

    London, England
    Tuesday Feb 11, 1975

    Heath's leadership of the Conservative Party looked increasingly in doubt. Thatcher was not initially seen as the obvious replacement, but she eventually became the main challenger, promising a fresh start. Her main support came from the parliamentary 1922 Committee and The Spectator. She defeated Heath on the first ballot and he resigned the leadership. In the second ballot she defeated Whitelaw, Heath's preferred successor. Thatcher became Conservative Party leader and Leader of the Opposition on 11 February 1975; she appointed Whitelaw as her deputy.


  • London, England
    Friday May 4, 1979

    The First Female British Prime Minister

    London, England
    Friday May 4, 1979

    The Labour government then faced fresh public unease about the direction of the country and a damaging series of strikes during the winter of 1978–79, dubbed the "Winter of Discontent". The Conservatives attacked the Labour government's unemployment record, using advertising with the slogan "Labour Isn't Working". A general election was called after the Callaghan ministry lost a motion of no confidence in early 1979. The Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in the House of Commons and Thatcher became the first female British prime minister.


  • England
    Friday Nov 6, 1981

    The Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council

    England
    Friday Nov 6, 1981

    On 6 November 1981, Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald had established the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council, a forum for meetings between the two governments.


  • Hong Kong, China
    Sep, 1982

    The First British Prime Minister To Visit China

    Hong Kong, China
    Sep, 1982

    In September 1982 she visited China to discuss with Deng Xiaoping the sovereignty of Hong Kong after 1997. China was the first communist state Thatcher had visited and she was the first British prime minister to visit China.


  • London, England
    Thursday Jun 9, 1983

    Thatcher re-elected for a second successive term

    London, England
    Thursday Jun 9, 1983

    The "Falklands factor", an economic recovery beginning early in 1982, and a bitterly divided opposition all contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in 1983.


  • Brighton, England
    Friday Oct 12, 1984

    The Assassination Attempt

    Brighton, England
    Friday Oct 12, 1984

    Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in an IRA assassination attempt at a Brighton hotel early in the morning on 12 October 1984. Five people were killed, including the wife of minister John Wakeham. Thatcher was staying at the hotel to prepare for the Conservative Party conference, which she insisted should open as scheduled the following day.


  • Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, UK
    Friday Nov 15, 1985

    The Anglo-Irish Agreement

    Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, UK
    Friday Nov 15, 1985

    On 15 November 1985, Thatcher and FitzGerald signed the Hillsborough Anglo-Irish Agreement, which marked the first time a British government had given the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland.


  • London, England
    Thursday Jun 11, 1987

    Thatcher re-elected for a third successive term

    London, England
    Thursday Jun 11, 1987

    By 1987, unemployment was falling, the economy was stable and strong and inflation was low. Opinion polls showed a comfortable Conservative lead, and local council election results had also been successful, prompting Thatcher to call a general election for 11 June that year, despite the deadline for an election still being 12 months away. The election saw Thatcher re-elected for a third successive term.


  • London, England
    Tuesday Dec 5, 1989

    1989 Conservative Party leadership election

    London, England
    Tuesday Dec 5, 1989

    Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP Sir Anthony Meyer in the 1989 leadership election. Of the 374 Conservative MPs eligible to vote, 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Meyer. Her supporters in the party viewed the result as a success, and rejected suggestions that there was discontent within the party.


  • London, England
    Thursday Nov 1, 1990

    The resignation of The last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet

    London, England
    Thursday Nov 1, 1990

    On 1 November 1990, Howe, by then the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet, resigned from his position as Deputy Prime Minister, ostensibly over her open hostility to moves towards European Monetary Union.


  • Downing Street, London, England
    Wednesday Nov 28, 1990

    Resignation

    Downing Street, London, England
    Wednesday Nov 28, 1990

    On 14 November, Michael Heseltine mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour. Although Thatcher led on the first ballot with the votes of 204 Conservative MPs (54.8%) to 152 votes (40.9%) for Heseltine and 16 abstentions, she was four votes short of the required 15% majority. A second ballot was therefore necessary. Thatcher initially declared her intention to "fight on and fight to win" the second ballot, but consultation with her Cabinet persuaded her to withdraw. After holding an audience with the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech, on 28 November she left Downing Street in tears. She reportedly regarded her ousting as a betrayal. Her resignation was a shock to many outside Britain, with such foreign observers as Henry Kissinger and Gorbachev expressing private consternation.


  • London, England
    Thursday Apr 9, 1992

    She retired From The parliamentarian

    London, England
    Thursday Apr 9, 1992

    Thatcher returned to the backbenches as a constituency parliamentarian after leaving the premiership. Aged 66, she retired from the House at the 1992 general election, saying that leaving the Commons would allow her more freedom to speak her mind.


  • England
    Tuesday Jun 30, 1992

    Member of the House of Lords

    England
    Tuesday Jun 30, 1992

    After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher (of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords.


  • London, England
    Thursday Jun 26, 2003

    Thatcher's Husband died

    London, England
    Thursday Jun 26, 2003

    On 26 June 2003, Thatcher's husband Sir Denis died of pancreatic cancer, and was cremated on 3 July at Mortlake Crematorium in London.


  • London, England
    Friday Mar 7, 2008

    Collapsing at a House of Lords dinner

    London, England
    Friday Mar 7, 2008

    After collapsing at a House of Lords dinner, Thatcher, suffering low blood pressure, was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in central London on 7 March 2008 for tests.


  • London, England
    Monday Jul 19, 2010

    The Last Sitting at The House of Lords

    London, England
    Monday Jul 19, 2010

    She last attended a sitting of the House of Lords on 19 July 2010.


  • London, England
    Saturday Jul 30, 2011

    Closing Her Office

    London, England
    Saturday Jul 30, 2011

    On 30 July 2011 it was announced that her office in the Lords had been closed.


  • the Ritz Hotel, London, England
    Monday Apr 8, 2013

    Death

    the Ritz Hotel, London, England
    Monday Apr 8, 2013

    Baroness Thatcher died on 8 April 2013, at the age of 87, after suffering a stroke.


  • St Paul's Cathedral, London, England
    Wednesday Apr 17, 2013

    The Funeral

    St Paul's Cathedral, London, England
    Wednesday Apr 17, 2013

    Details of Thatcher's funeral had been agreed with her in advance. She received a ceremonial funeral, including full military honours, with a church service at St Paul's Cathedral on 17 April. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended her funeral, marking only the second time in the Queen's reign that she attended the funeral of any of her former prime ministers.


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