MAJOR EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE VILLAGE PUMP

A fascinating look back at the major events of the last 30 years

1978

Village Pump created by Chris Young

Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian D. Smith and three black leaders agree on transfer to black majority rule

Pope Paul VI, dead at 80, mourned ; new Pope, John Paul I, 65, dies unexpectedly after 34 days in office; succeeded by Karol Cardinal Wojtyla of Poland as John Paul II

1979

Shah leaves Iran after year of turmoil; revolutionary forces under Muslim leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, take over

Conservatives win British election; Margaret Thatcher becomes new prime minister

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan stirs world protests

1980

Marion King joins Chris Young as Joint Editor

Iraqi troops hold 90 square miles of Iran after invasion; 8-year Iran-Iraq War begins

Ronald Reagan elected president

1981

US-Iran agreement frees 52 hostages held in Teheran since 1979

Pope John Paul II wounded by gunman

Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat is assassinated by Islamic extremists during a military parade in Cairo

1982

British overcome Argentina in Falklands war

Princess Grace, 52, dies of injuries when car plunges off mountain road

Leonid I. Brezhnev, Soviet leader, dies at 75. Yuri V. Andropov, 68, chosen as successor

1983

Jim Absolom replaces Marion on the editorial team

South Korean Boeing 747 jetliner bound for Seoul apparently strays into Soviet airspace and is shot down by a Soviet SU-15 fighter after it had tracked the airliner for two hours; all 269 aboard are killed.

Terrorist explosion kills 237 US Marines in Beirut

1984

Pat Young joins the editorial team to make the "tremendous trio"

Yuri V. Andropov dies at 69; Konstantin U. Chernenko, 72, named Soviet leader

Soviet Union withdraws from summer Olympic games in US, and other bloc nations follow

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards; 1,000 killed in anti-Sikh riots; son Rajiv succeeds her

1985

Soviet leader Chernenko dies at 73 and is replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev

PLO terrorists hijack Achille Lauro, Italian cruise ship, with 80 passengers, plus crew

1986

Chris & Pat Young soldier on after the retirement of Jim Absolom

Spain and Portugal join European Economic Community

Major nuclear accident at Soviet Union's Chernobyl power station

1987

Prime Minister Thatcher wins rare third term in Britain

Oliver North, Jr., tells Congressional inquiry higher officials approved his secret Iran-Contra operations

1988

Kay Gordon take the editorial reins

Benazir Bhutto, first Islamic woman prime minister, chosen to lead Pakistan

Pan-Am 747 explodes from terrorist bomb and crashes in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on ground

1989

Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators

Mikhajl S. Gorbachev named Soviet President

After 28 years, Berlin Wall is open to West

1990

South Africa frees Nelson Mandela

Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, setting off the Persian Gulf War

East and West Germany reunited

1991

Cease-fire ends Persian Gulf War

Boris Yeltsin becomes first freely elected president of Russian Republic

US indicts two Libyans in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

1992

Claire brand becomes editor

Bush and Yeltsin proclaim a formal end to the Cold War

Democratic convention nominates Bill Clinton and Al Gore

1993

British House of Commons approves European unity pact. Maastricht Treaty takes effect, creating European Union

South Africa adopts majority rule constitution

Five arrested, sixth sought in bombing of World Trade Centre in New York

1994

Cyril Marsters takes over as Editor

South Africa holds first interracial national election; Nelson Mandela elected President

IRA declares cease-fire in Northern Ireland

1995

Russian space station Mir greets first Americans

Nerve gas attack in Tokyo subway kills eight and injures thousands

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin slain by Jewish extremist at peace rally

1996

Britain alarmed by an outbreak of "mad cow" disease

South Africa gets new constitution

Israel elects Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister

1997

Steve Beazley takes over as editor

Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule

Mother Teresa dies at 87

1998

Good Friday Accord is reached in Northern Ireland

Europeans agree on single currency, the euro

President accused in White House sex scandal; denies allegations of affair with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky

1999

Russian president Boris Yeltsin survives impeachment hearings

Nelson Mandela, first black president of South Africa, steps down and Thabo Mbeki takes over.

The world awaits the consequences of the Y2K bug

2000

Ray Thompson becomes Editor

Presidents of North and South Korea sign peace accord,

Concorde crash kills 113 near Paris

2001

Ariel Sharon wins election in Israel

Terrorists attack US World Trade Centre Twin Towers

Irish Republican Army announces that it has begun to dismantle its weapons arsenal

2002

Terrorist bomb in Bali kills hundreds

UN Security Council passes unanimous resolution calling on Iraq to disarm or else face "serious consequences."

Government suspended in Northern Ireland in protest of suspected IRA spy ring

2003

Bush announces that he is ready to attack Iraq even without a UN mandate

U.S. and Britain launch war against Iraq

Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops

2004

Spain is rocked by terrorist attacks, killing more than 200

U.S. hands over power to Iraqi interim government

Asian countries devastated by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami

2005

Pope John Paul II Dies. Benedict XVI becomes the next pope

Tony Blair becomes first Labour Party prime minister to win three successive terms

The European Union abandons plans to ratify the proposed European constitution by 2006 after both France and the Netherlands vote against it

2006

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke; he is replaced by acting prime minister Ehud Olmert

Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court (Nov. 5), and hanged in Baghdad.

2007

Boris Yeltsin dies

Suicide Bomber Kills 150 in Iraq

California Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House as Democrats took control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994.

2008

The Village Pump celebrates its Pearl Anniversary

Pakistani Government Postpones Elections in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Labour loses key By-Elections and Boris Johnson elected mayor of London

Ray Thompson