Bio
Rise to power
Oct 13, 1925
Margaret Hilda Roberts born in Grantham, eastern England.
Dec 13, 1951
Marries businessman Denis Thatcher.
Aug 15, 1953
Birth of twin children Carol and Mark.
Oct 8, 1959
Thatcher elected Conservative member of Parliament for Finchley, north London.
Oct 15, 1964
Re-elected despite Labour Party victory; becomes opposition spokeswoman on pensions, then housing, treasury (deputy to finance spokesman), energy, transport and education.
June 19, 1970
Conservatives regain power; Thatcher appointed education and science secretary.
Feb 11, 1975
Thatcher elected Conservative leader after party enters opposition.
May 3, 1979
Conservatives in election landslide victory after financial and social problems of Labour government; Thatcher becomes Britain's first female prime minister.
In Office
April 2, 1982
War breaks out between Britain and Argentina over the Malvinas Islands, known as the Falkland Islands in the UK. Thatcher sends troops and ships to the islands.
June 9, 1983
Thatcher leads Conservatives to re-election.
March 12, 1984
Coal miners' strike begins in northern England; drags on for a year before miners accept sweeping pit closures.
Oct 12, 1984
Irish Republican Army bombs Thatcher's hotel at Conservative annual conference in Brighton, southern England; she escapes injury but five others killed.
Dec 16, 1984
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meets Thatcher; afterwards she calls him a man she "can do business with".
Dec 19, 1984
Thatcher signs joint declaration to return Hong Kong to China in July 1997.
June 11, 1987
Thatcher leads Conservatives to third straight term in office.
Nov 28, 1990
Resigns after revolt among Conservatives.
Post-politics
June 30, 1992
Takes her place in the upper House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.
Feb 5, 1994
Becomes chancellor of College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
May 1997
Endorses William Hague as he becomes new Conservative leader.
March 26, 1999
Pays controversial visit to right-wing former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet.
June 26, 2003
Husband Denis dies.
June 11, 2004
Attends funeral in Washington for former US president Ronald Reagan.
Oct 13, 2005
Celebrates 80th birthday with party at chic London hotel with Queen Elizabeth among the guests.
Oct 14, 2010
Misses her 85th birthday party at Downing Street with flu before being admitted to a hospital with infection.
December 20, 2012
Admitted to a hospital after procedure to remove growth from her bladder.
April 8, 2013
Dies aged 87 after a stroke.
AFP
(China Daily 04/09/2013 page12)
