May 4: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman elected as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1979.

Thatcher addresses Conservatives at the start of the 1979 election campaign.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979-1990, and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. In addition, she was the Prime Minister who's lasted in office, during the twentieth century and the only woman who has had that position. It was a Soviet journalist who nicknamed Margareth Thatcer as "The Iron Lady", for her uncompromising policies and political leadership that came to be known as "Thatcherism" and also “New Conservatism”.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

The political philosophy and economic policies that Margaret Thatcher was emphasized deregulation, particularly in the financial sector, labor markets, privatization of state enterprises, and reducing the power and influence of labor unions. Its popularity was weakened by economic recession and high unemployment in 1982.

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was known for her piercing political discourse.

Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas in Spaish) on April 2, 1982. Three days later,on April 5, Margaret Thatcher ordered a unit of the British navy to shift to South America to confront the Argentine armed forces, before ordering an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days until Argentina surrendered on 14 June 1982. Thatcher's popularity soared achieving reelection in 1983, and again in 1987 for a third term.

Falklands War timeline map

Queen Elizabeth granted the title of baroness and so she entered the British nobility and thus the right to join the House of Lords, the upper house of Britain. She was a member of the Private Council of Queen Elizabeth II until her death from a heart attack on April 8, 2013, at the age of 87 years.

TIME magazine featured Thatcher's 1979 election as prime minister. She held the office until 1990.