Margaret Thatcher is a British politician and the first woman Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom, a position she held from 1979 to 1990.
She is a member of the Conservative Party and the figurehead of a
political ideology known as Thatcherism. Even before coming to power
she was nicknamed The Iron Lady in Soviet propaganda, an appellation
which stuck. The changes she set in motion between coming to power and
1985 were profound, and altered much of the economic, cultural and
commercial landscape of Britain and, by example, the world as a whole.
Along the way she also aimed to roll back the welfare state, or "nanny
state", as she termed it. Her popularity finally declined when she
replaced the unpopular local government Rates tax with the even less
popular Community Charge. At the same time the Conservative Party
began to split over her sceptical approach to European Economic and
Monetary Union. Her leadership was challenged from within and she was
forced to resign in 1990, her loss at least partly due to inadequate
advice and campaigning.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1268:
Baibars and his Mamluk forces captured Antioch, capital of the
crusader state, the Principality of Antioch.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baibars)
1896:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson,
upholding the legality of racial segregation in public transportation.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson)
1944:
World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino ended with a German
evacuation of Monte Cassino.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino)
1958:
A supersonic interceptor aircraft, F-104 Starfighter, set a world
speed record of 1,404.19 mph.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-104_Starfighter)
1980:
Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, killing 57 people and causing
US$3 billion in damages.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already
three parts dead." -- Bertrand Russell
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell)