Breaking down 1992 into the top political, sports and entertainment news; This is what happened …
The queen had an expensive and embarrassing year; at the beginning of announcing that he would give in to public pressure and pay income taxes (the first time a British monarch had done so in more than 50 years) and, at the end of the year, that his Christmas speech was leaked and published on ‘The Sun’ before the big day. It was also a bad year for Manchester after the IRA blew up two bombs in the city center; injuring 64 people and causing millions of pounds of damage.
Politically, the government, led by John Major, became unpopular on two fronts, first signing Britain to the “Treaty of the European Union” (many saw this as a loss of British identity); then secondly, he announced his plans to shut down a third of Britain’s deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs.
In sporting terms, in 1992 Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games; being the first time in 20 years that all countries have been present (without boycotts or bans in some places). Linford Christie was the star of the event by becoming the oldest 100m Olympic champion (at 32!). The year also saw ‘The Football Association’ launch the new ‘Premier League’, no one at the time realized the revolutionary effect it would have on the game.
In terms of entertainment, the fast-paced, extravagant breakfast TV show ‘The Big Breakfast’ made its debut. There was a lot of chaos and disorder on the show; Chris Evans is the one leading the fun, games and competitions. The BBC was much, much less successful in trying to entertain audiences with ‘Eldorado’. Focusing on a community of expats living in a Spanish fishing village, it was programmed by its wooden actors and uninspiring stories (which will then be removed after just one year).
The big movies of the year were ‘Wayne’s World’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs’. The first is about Wayne and Garth fighting a TV producer to save their own low-budget TV show (and also win the heart of the lovely Cassandra!). The second is Quentin Tarantino’s story about a botched robbery and the ‘rat’ hunt (was it Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Rosa, Mr. Brown, or Mr. . Blue?).