Timeline 1980's (British Umplanians)

A timeline of what occurred in the 1980's following the arrival of the Umplanians in the UK.

18
A spaceship lands in Hyde Park and remains still for a number of days while the international community contemplates what is happening.

23
The spaceship discharges a number of aliens who identify themselves as Umplanians. Thanks to an early warning device, a number of British dignitaries are present to see what they believe will herald the beginning of a new age. However it soon becomes clear that these aliens do not understand the ship and are even overwhelmed by human technology. It is estimated that in their native setting the aliens technology is roughly analogous to that of Earth in the 19th century.

30
John Napier Turner becomes Canada's 17th Prime Minister.

3
A camp is constructed to temporarily house the some 100,000 Umplanians. Talks begin in Parliament discussing the aliens arrival.

14

 * New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon calls a snap election and is heavily defeated by opposition Labour leader David Lange.
 * The British Government decide to grant asylum to the aliens in much the same way they deal with more terrestrial asylum seekers. Legislation is passed ensuring the Umplanians are to be treated as equal citizens.

4
The African republic Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.

21
Half a million people in Manila demonstrate against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

4

 * The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, led by Brian Mulroney, wins 211 seats in the House of Commons, forming the largest majority government in Canadian history.
 * The Sandinista Front wins the Nicaraguan general elections.

5

 * The corpse of an Umplanian is found in a tree in East London. The individual in question was lynched by a far-right group blaming Umplanians for a variety of problems.
 * STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage.

12
An Umplanian goes on a rampage after having a meal cooked at a soup kitchen. It is believed to be an allergic reaction.

20
Hezbollah car-bombs the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 22 people.

26
United Kingdom declares its intention to retain control over Hong Kong and tells the Chinese authorities that any incursion onto British sovereign territory is an act of war.

3
Further research shows that the 'allergic reaction' was actually an Umplanian high off the tumeric in the meal.

12
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British Cabinet in the Brighton hotel bombing.

23
The world learns from moving BBC News TV reports that a famine is plaguing Ethiopia, where thousands of people have already died of starvation due to a famine and as many as 10,000,000 more lives are at risk.

25
The European Economic Community makes £1.8 million available to help combat the Ethiopian famine.

31
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her 2 Sikh security guards. Riots soon break out in New Delhi, and some 2,700 Sikhs are killed. Rajiv Gandhi becomes prime minister of India.

4
More research shows that Umplanians are also susceptible to beef Oxo cubes but that illegal drugs like ecstasy and cannabis are little more than spices to an Umplanian.

6
United States presidential election, 1984: Ronald Reagan defeats Walter F. Mondale with 59% of the popular vote, the highest since Richard Nixon's 61% victory in 1972. Reagan carries 49 states in the electoral college; Mondale wins only his home state of Minnesota by a mere 3,761 vote margin and the District of Columbia.

14
Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city.

23
The spacecraft explodes due to the ships computers belief that it has been captured by hostile forces because scientists had been going over the ship for a few weeks. The aliens are now stranded on Earth.

25
An emergency session of Parliament is initiated. The government nationalises the spaceships wreckage and extends full citizenship rights to the Umplanians making them full British citizens. Legislation is passed that outlaws the distribution or consumption of either beef Oxo cubes or tumeric to Umplanians.

30
The Tamil Tigers begin the purge of the Sinhalese from North and East Sri Lanka; 127 are killed.

December
A peace agreement between Kenya and Somalia is signed in the Egyptian capital Cairo. With this agreement, in which Somalia officially renounces its historical territorial claims, relations between the two countries began to improve.

2
Bob Hawke's government is re-elected in Australia with a reduced majority.

3

 * British Telecom is privatised.
 * Bhopal Disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, kills more than 8,000 people outright and injures over half a million (with more later dying from their injuries the death toll is now 23,000+) in the worst industrial disaster in history.

7
American and European authorities demand access to Umplanians and the spacecrafts technology. The British Government declares it will not offer up its citizenry to be dissected and the nationalised spaceship remains are British and British alone.

19
China informs the United Kingdom that if the do not cede Hong Kong to Chinese authorities in three months, a state of war shall exist between them.

24
British authorities in Hong Kong negotiate with China to extend the period to six months. Margaret Thatcher declares that they will not accept Chinese 'filibustering'.

30
The United Kingdom withdraws from NATO and establishes its own defences.