United Kingdom
During the 1980s and 1990s, in which Gen Xers would have been teenagers or young adults, the United Kingdom was politically marked by conservative Thatcher-era government followed by the more centrist tenures of John Major (1990–1997) and Tony Blair (1997–2007). Important news topics at that time included the Northern Ireland Peace Process, the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales (1997), and increasing European integration (Maastricht Treaty) and discussion over switching the currency to the Euro.
London newspaper The Guardian cited Generation X birth years as falling between 1965 and 1982 and referred to it as the "'me generation' of the Eighties." The Telegraph cited Generation X birth dates as falling into a longer time span (1965–1985), whilst the The Independent estimated an earlier range of birth dates (1963–1978) compared to other writers or researchers. A BBC News article about a lack of "mid-career volunteers" in their 20s provided a Generation X age range, which, in 2007, would suggest birth years that fall between 1962 and 1982.
Read more about this topic: Generation X
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:
“What makes the United States government, on the whole, more tolerable—I mean for us lucky white men—is the fact that there is so much less of government with us.... But in Canada you are reminded of the government every day. It parades itself before you. It is not content to be the servant, but will be the master; and every day it goes out to the Plains of Abraham or to the Champs de Mars and exhibits itself and toots.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“He is a strong man who can hold down his opinion. A man cannot utter two or three sentences, without disclosing to intelligent ears precisely where he stands in life and thought, namely, whether in the kingdom of the senses and the understanding, or, in that of ideas and imagination, in the realm of intuitions and duty.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)