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1994 in the United Kingdom
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Events from the year 1994 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Events
- 14 January - The Duchess of Kent joins the Roman Catholic Church, the first member of the Royal Family to convert to Catholicism for more than 300 years.[1]
- 31 January - British Aerospace sells its 80% stake in Rover to BMW, leaving Britain without an independent volume carmaker.[2] It is envisaged that the new Rover Group will produce more than 1million cars per year worldwide, and will be Europe's seventh largest carmaker.
- 1 February - Labour Party leader John Smith blasts the sale of the Rover Group, saying that it only satisfied British Aerospace's short-term need for cash. In contrast, Prime Minister John Major backs the takeover as giving the Rover Group excellent prospects for export markets and investment.
- 7 February - Stephen Milligan, Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastleigh is found dead in his home. He died from after an auto-erotic asphyxiation combined with self-bondage and cross-dressing session went wrong.[3]
- 12 February–27 February - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and win 2 bronze medals.
- 21 February - Honda sells its 20% stake of the Rover Group, allowing BMW to take full control. This marks the end of the 13-year venture between the two carmakers, although the Honda-based Rover 400 will still go into production next year, becoming the seventh and final product of the venture.
- 24 February - Police in Gloucester begin excavations at 25 Cromwell Street -the home of 52-year-old builder Fred West.
- 1 March - Fred West is charged with the murders of three women who remains were found buried at his house. One of the bodies is believed to be that of his daughter Heather, who was last seen alive in 1987 at the age of 16.[4]
- 8 March, 10 and 13 - The IRA launch 3 successive mortar attacks on Heathrow Airport.[5]
- 10 March - Following the recovery of further bodies at 25 Cromwell Street, Fred West is charged on eight counts of murder.
- 12 March - The Church of England ordains its first female priests.[5]
- 6 May - The Channel Tunnel, a 51 km (31 mile) long rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover, officially opened.[5]
- 12 May - John Smith, Leader of the Opposition dies suddenly of a heart attack.
- 25 May - The Camelot Group consortium wins the contract to run the UK's first National Lottery.[6]
- 31 May - Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have dinner at the Granita restaurant in Islington and allegedly make a deal on who will become the leader of the Labour Party, and ultimately, the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 2 June - Chinook crash on Mull of Kintyre: A Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter carrying more than 20 top intelligence experts crashes on the Mull of Kintyre, killing everyone on board.[7]
- 21 July - Tony Blair wins the Labour Party leadership election defeating John Prescott and Margaret Beckett.[8]
- 26 July - A bomb explodes outside the Israeli Embassy, injuring 14 people.[9]
- 1 August - Norwich Central Library is destroyed in a fire.[10]
- 26 August - Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire carries out a pioneering operation to give a man a battery-opeated heart.[11]
- 28 August - Sunday trading becomes legal in England and Wales for the first time.[12]
- 31 August - The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.[13]
- September - Andrew Wiles announces the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
- 2 September - Television entertainer Roy Castle dies of lung cancer two days after his 62nd birthday.
- October - Rover Group launches the Rover 100 - a facelifted version of the Metro.
- 20 October - Cash-for-questions affair: The Guardian newspaper reports that two Conservative MPs, Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith, took bribes from Harrods chief Mohamed Al-Fayed to ask questions in the House of Commons.[14]
- 31 October - The Duke of Edinburgh attends a ceremony in Israel where his late mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg is honoured as "Righteous among the Nations" for sheltering Jewish families from the Nazis in Athens, during World War II.
- 19 November - The National Lottery is launched in Britain.[5]
- December - Rover Group ends production of its long-running Maestro and Montego ranges, which were strong sellers during the 1980s but in recent years had been produced in lower volumes due to the success of models like the Rover 200.
- 9 December - First meeting between the British government and Sinn Féin in more than 70 years.[5]
- 13 December - Fred West is charged with the murders of 12 people who are believed to died between 1967 and 1987, including his daughter Heather. His wife Rose is charged with 10 of the murders, including that of Heather and her stepdaughter Charmaine, who is believed to have died in June 1971 at the age of eight.
- 14 December - Moors Murderer Myra Hindley receives a letter from the Home Office that informs her of former Home Secretary David Waddington's decision (taken in four years ago) that she should spend the rest of her life in prison. Hindley, 52, was involving in the torture and murder of five children during the 1960s with her lover Ian Brady. She was convicted of murdering two children at her 1966 trial as well as being an accessory to the murder of a third, but admitted two more murders in 1986 and subsequently helped police uncover the body of her fourth victim. On the same day, Brady is also informed that he will remain incarcerated for the rest of his natural life.
Publications
Births
Deaths
- 5 January - Brian Johnston, BBC cricket commentator (born 1912)
- 20 January - Matt Busby, football player and manager (born 1909)
- 23 January - Brian Redhead, journalist and broadcaster (born 1929)
- 19 February - Derek Jarman, film director, stage designer, artist, and writer (born 1942)
- 29 March - Bill Travers, actor and co-founder of the Born Free Foundation (born 1922)
- 15 April - John Curry, figure skater (born 1949)
- 12 May - John Smith, Leader of the Labour Party, and Leader of the Opposition (born 1938)
- 7 June - Dennis Potter, writer (born 1935)
- 29 July - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910)
- 11 August - Peter Cushing, actor (born 1913)
- 18 August - Richard Laurence Millington Synge, chemist and Nobel Prize winner (born 1914)
- 2 September - Roy Castle, actor and entertainer (born 1932)
- 11 September - Jessica Tandy, actress (born 1909)
- 14 November - Tom Villard, actor (born 1953)
- 16 November - Doris Speed, actress (born 1899)
References
- ^ ""Duchess of Kent joins Catholic church", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""MPs condemn sale of Rover", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""Police probe MP's suspicious death", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""West charged as death toll mounts", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ a b c d e (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ ""Camelot wins UK lottery race", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""MI5 officers killed in helicopter crash", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""Labour chooses Blair", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""Israel's London embassy bombed", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""Library fire wipes out historic records", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""1994: Man gets 'bionic' heart", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ ""Sunday trading legalised", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ ""IRA declares 'complete' ceasefire", BBC On This Day". Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ "Tory MPs were paid to plant questions says Harrods chief The Guardian" (October 20, 1994). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
See also
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