Historic day for Maggie

May 22 2007 By The Journal

Saturday May 5, 1979 - Margaret Thatcher took over the reins of power yesterday as Britain's first woman leader - and will today name the men to sit at her Cabinet table.

The triumphant Tory leader was choosing her top team after delivering a nationwide appeal for unity in the wake of her sensational election victory.

Mrs Thatcher made the call in Downing Street after the resignation of Labour leader James Callaghan and being asked by the Queen to form a new administration.

She then made history as the first woman Premier to cross the threshold of Number 10, meet her new staff and set about the job of Cabinet making.

At a working dinner, she was assisted by Deputy Tory leader and MP for Penrith and the Border Willie Whitelaw and Chief Whip Humphrey Atkins - both men destined for leading posts in the new Government.

But the question mark now hangs over the future of other front-rank Conservatives, including ex-Premier Ted Heath who is thought to want a job under Mrs Thatcher.

Sir Geoffrey Howe is tipped to be Chancellor and George Younger, a former Scottish Office minister, is likely to be the new Scottish Secretary.

After spending the night at her Chelsea home, 53-year-old Mrs Thatcher will be back at her Downing Street desk this morning and hopes to be ready to announce her Cabinet team late this afternoon.

endsCaptions:175 thatch. Margaret Thatcher acknowledges the Downing Street crowd, attended as always by her husband Denis.175 elvisThe King is dead. Long live the King.ends all

King Elvis dies in hospital, 42

August 17, 1977

Singing star Elvis Presley died last night after being taken to hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

He was taken to the emergency room, suffering from "respiratory distress," said a spokesman at Memphis Baptist Hospital.

The 42-year-old star was found unconscious at his Graceland mansion home, near Memphis, by his road manager, Jose Esposito, who called the local fire department ambulance.

Ambulancemen tried to resuscitate the singer as he was being rushed to hospital, but Presley's personal physician Dr. George Nichopoulos pronounced him dead an hour later.

Maurice Elliott, the hospital's vice president, said he died in the emergency room from "acute respiratory distress".

Presley had been in hospital several times in recent years because of weight problems. As his weight increased, his public appearances became more infrequent and he would spend weeks at a time confined to his Memphis mansion.

Last April he was admitted to hospital suffering from exhaustion. He was a non-smoker and teetotaller.