The Jewish Weekly’s DAVID SAFFER marked Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by taking a nostalgic look back on UK and global headlines over the past 70 years. From the discovery of the dead sea scrolls to the four-minute mile, space exploration, Boys of ’66 World Cup triumph, first heart transplant, test tube babies, financial crashes, terror attacks including 9/11, Royal tours, Beatlemania, satellite TV and birth of the Internet the longest serving Monarch in history has witnessed and experienced an extraordinary life. Global tributes followed her deathj on 8 September 2022.
1952: King George VI death announced. Princess Elizabeth visits Kenya. Hydrogen bomb test. London ‘killer fog’ kills 4,000 people. Queen attends first Royal Variety Performance at London Palladium.
1953: Queen’s Coronation. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Everest. DNA discovered. Blackpool win FA Cup in ‘Matthews’ final. Queen embarks on 44,000 miles six-month overseas tour to West Indies, Australasia, Asia and Africa, the longest in her reign.
1954: Roger Bannister runs first four-minute mile. First atomic submarine, Food rationing ends in Great Britain after World War 2. Elvis debut single ‘That’s All Righty (Mama).
1955: Commercial TV first UK broadcast. Israelis discover Dead Sea scrolls. Prime Minister Winston Churchill steps down.
1956: Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco. President Eisenhower backs “In God We Trust” national motto. Queen’s horse Devon Lock falls short of winning the Aintree Grand National.
1957: Soviet Union launches Spuknik 1. Chuck Berry tops Rhythm & Blues chart. Queen wins Epsom Oaks with Lester Piggott on Carrozza.
1958: US launches first satellite. Lituya Bay, Alaska, biggest tsunami in history. Manchester United ‘Busby babes” Munich air disaster.
1959: Inaugural Hovercraft trip across English Channel. Fidel Castro takes over Cuba.
1960: Prince Andrew born. First kidney transplant in the UK. Cassius Clay wins Olympic Gold in Rome. Coronation Street first broadcast.
1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin first manned orbital space flight. John F. Kennedy elected US President. President Kennedy vows to put a man on the moon.
1962: Cuban missile crisis. British spy Kim Philby defects to Soviet Union. John Glenn is first American to orbit Earth. Israel hangs Adolf Eichmann. ANC leader Nelson Mandela jailed.
1963: John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. Beatlemania following “Please Please Me” and “She Loves You”. John Profumo misleads House of Commons and resigns. Jack Ruby murders Oswald.
1964: Prince Edward born. Civil Rights Act passed in US. Beatles debuts in the United States.
1965: Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov completes first spacewalk. Civil Rights march, Selma, Alabama. Winston Churchill state funeral.
1966: Queen presents England with World Cup at Wembley. First hand held pocket calculator invented. Barbados achieves independence from Britain.
1967: Israel pre-emptive strike on Egypt in Six Day War. Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction to US Army. Celtic are first British winners European Cup. First heart transplant. Colour TV launched on BBC2 with Wimbledon.
1968: Dr Martin Luther King assassinated. Apollo 8 is first manned orbit of moon. Bob Beamon long jump world record, Mexico Olympics. President Johnson signs Civil Rights Act. Manchester United are first English winners of the European Cup.
1969: Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong first man to walk on moon. Charles becomes Prince of Wales. John Lennon and Yoko Ono record “Give Peace a Chance”. Golda Meir becomes Israel’s fourth Prime Minister.
1970: The Beatles disband. Apollo 13 moon mission near disaster. A record 28 million watch Chelsea vs Leeds United FA Cup final replay on TV. Floppy disk invented for IBM Personal Computer.
1971: United Kingdom and Ireland decimalisation. House of Commons joins European Economic Community. Recordable 8-track system.
1972: Munich Olympics, Israeli athletes murdered by Black September terrorists. President Nixon withdraws US combat units from Vietnam. Queen attends ‘Centenary’ FA Cup final at Wembley.
1973: Yom Kippur War. Skylab I, first US orbiting laboratory. Debut Motorola mobile phone. Britain and Ireland join European Economic Community.
1974: Watergate scandal. President Richard Nixon resigns. Ali vs Foreman in ‘Rumble in the Jungle’. Highclere is Queen’s first dual classic winner for 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly.
1975. Apollo-Soyuz dock in space. Arthur Ashe first black winner of Wimbledon. Apple Two, Commodore Pet and Atari 400/800 launched.
1976: First Concorde supersonic flight. Operation Entebbe by IDF after plane hijacking.
1977: First Star Wars movie. Queen’s 25th Jubilee. Virginia Wade wins Wimbledon. Queen is first Monarch to fly supersonic aircraft in Concorde.
1978: Israel and Egypt sign Camp David accords. UK, first test tube baby born. First Garfield comic strip. United Nations forms World Health Organisation.
1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first female Prime Minister. Island of Saint Lucia becomes independent from Britain.
1980: Steve Ovett vs Sebastian Coe 800m-1500m rivalry, Moscow Olympics. John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg Wimbledon classic final. US diplomats escape Iran in covert Canadian rescue. John Lennon murdered in New York City.
1981: NASA begin Space Shuttle programme with Columbia. Botham’s Ashes, England defeat Australia 3-1. Ronald Reagan becomes US President. Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
1982: The first CDs sold. Unemployment in Britain hits post-war record three million. Argentina military invade British-ruled Falkland Islands. Prince William birth. Satellite TV launches.
1983: Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space. Internet is born. Israel agrees phased withdrawal from Lebanon.
1984: Apple Macintosh launched. Coal miner’s strike. Britain agrees Hong Kong will revert to China in 1997. Prince Harry born.
1985: US President Ronald Reagan meets Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. ANC leader Nelson Mandela refuses President Botha’s offer of release. Microsoft releases Windows 1.0.
1986: Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Challenger shuttle explodes.
1987: Black Monday as stock markets crash. Special envoy Terry Waite kidnapped in Beirut. Klaus Barbie tried for World War 2 war crimes. Nazi Rudolf Hess found dead in jail.
1988: Grease movie breaks box office records. George HW Bush wins US presidency. Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie air disaster kills 270 people.
1989: Berlin Wall falls, World Wide Web created. Japan emperor Hirohito dies after 62 years. Ayatollah Khomeini death.
1990: President F.W. de Klerk announces Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. Mary Robinson is Ireland’s first woman president.
1991: Ukrainians vote for independence. President Gorbachev resigns from Communist Party. Soviet Union ceases to exist. Media mogul Robert Maxwell death.
1992: Windsor Castle fire. Maastricht Treaty signed in Brussels. Cold War ends. Bill Clinton wins US Presidential election. The Queen describes ‘92 as ‘Annus horribilis’ in annual festive message.
1993: Beenie babies craze. Jurassic Park is film of year. Israel and Vatican establish diplomatic relations. Microsoft manufactures Windows NT. England win Rugby Union World Cup. Maastricht Treaty comes into force.
1994: Nelson Mandela elected South Africa President. Amazon.com launches. Rudy Giuliani becomes Mayor of New York City.
1995: Channel Tunnel open to passengers. Nelson Mandela inaugurated President of South Africa. Buenos Aires terror attack on Jewish organisations. Israel and Jordan formally end state of war. NFL star O.J Simpson not guilty of murder. Yigal Amir assassinates Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
1996: Cloning of ‘Dolly’ the sheep. Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Prime Minister. Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce. IRA bomb blast in Manchester.
1997: Princess Diana killed in car accident in Paris. Scotland votes for devolution. Britain’s 99-year lease on Hong Kong ends. Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister.
1998: John Glenn, 77, oldest person in space on Shuttle Discovery. Dawn of Google. President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal. Britain abolishes death penalty.
1999: NATO launches air strikes against Yugoslavia. Libyan Lockerbie suspects handed to Scottish authorities.
2000: International Space Station opens. Vladimir Putin elected Russia Prime Minister. Israel opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits Temple Mount.
2001: US President George W Bush administration begins. 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre.
2002: Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Hamas kills 28 in Netanya at Passover. Britain ban advertising of tobacco products.
2003: Scientists map human DNA. Shuttle Columbia explodes. Saddam Hussein toppled. Israel accepts US-backed ‘road map to peace’. Bob Hope dies aged 100.
2004: Facebook founded. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agrees to dismantle Jewish settlements in Gaza Strip.
2005: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans. England win Ashes vs Australia, first since 1987. PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas succeeds Yasser Arafat as PA President.
2006: Saddam Hussein executed. World population hits 6.5 million.
2007: Apple launch iPhone. Smoking ban in England except private residences. Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti dies.
2008: Global financial crisis. Mamma Mia movie breaks box office records. Lehman Brothers bankrupt.
2009: Barack Obama becomes first African American US President. Michael Jackson dies. World ‘swine flu’. Usain Bolt 100m and 200m world records.
2010: Haiti and Chili earthquake. Sachin Tendulkar hits first ODI double century.
2011: Atlantis is final space shuttle mission. Al Queda leader Osama bin Laden assassinated. Prince William and Catherine Middleton Royal wedding. Northern Ireland peace deal, Queen is first Monarch to visit Republic of Ireland.
2012: Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. London Olympics. Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises films a hit. Encyclopaedia Britannica print version ends. Queen is first Monarch to be filmed in 3D. Queen attends FA Cup final at new Wembley Stadium.
2013: Margaret Thatcher dies. Oscar Pistorius murder trial. Boston marathon terror tragedy. Nelson Mandela death. Prince George born. Duke of Edinburgh presents Queen with Gold Cup after Estimate wins at Royal Ascot.
2014: Russia annexes Crimea. Gangnam Style hits 2 billion YouTube views. West Africa Ebola virus.
2015: Queen becomes longest-reigning monarch, passing Queen Victoria. NASA flies past Pluto. Climate agreement. Queen makes final overseas trip for Commonwealth meeting in Malta.
2016: Queen turns 90. Andy Murray wins Wimbledon. Russian hacking scandal. Brexit.
2017: Serena Williams last grand slam win, Australia Open. Donald Trump inaugurated US President.
2018: Tsunami in Indonesia. Prince Harry marries Meghan Markel.
2019: Boris Johnson wins general election, 14th Prime Minister to serve Queen. Covid-19 reported in Wuhan, China. Prince Andrew BBC Newsnight Interview over Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Charles visits Israel for 75th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz.
2020: COVID-19 global pandemic. Duke and Duchess of Sussex step down as senior royals. NASA launches Mars 2020 rover mission.
2021: US Capitol violence. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh death. England lose Euro 2020 final to Italy. US President Joe Biden inaugurated. COP 26 in Glasgow.
2022: Russia invades Ukraine. Queen’s Platinum celebrations. Queen dies aged 96. King Charles 111 accedes to the throne.
