Sally Ride became the first US woman in space, and the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell answered the first commercial mobile phone call.

Derby winning horse Shergar was kidnapped on 9th February - a �2million ransom was demanded.

Richard Attenborough�s Gandhi won eight Oscars; the most ever won by a British film.

Compact discs began to sell on the High Street - but most serious record collectors dismissed them as a passing fad like the Eight Track.

The Conservative party gained a landslide victory in the General Election, with Margaret Thatcher winning her second term in office as Prime Minister.

Anti-nuclear demonstrators marched in cities across Europe in the biggest anti-nuclear demonstrations in 20 years.