Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to become British prime minister, has died at 87 after a stroke, a spokeswoman said Monday, April 8. Known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher, as Conservative Party leader, was prime minister from 1979 to 1990. Here she visits British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street in London in June 2010.
(CNN) -- Here's a look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990.
Personal: Birth date: October 13, 1925
Death date: April 8, 2013
Birth place: Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
Birth name: Margaret Hilda Roberts
Father: Alfred Roberts, grocer
Mother: Beatrice Ethel (Stephenson) Roberts, grocer
Marriage: Sir Denis Thatcher (December 13, 1951- June 26, 2003, his death)
Children: Mark and Carol (twins), August 15, 1953
Education: Somerville College at Oxford College, Chemistry, 1943-1947; Passed the bar, 1953
Other Facts: The only female prime minister of Great Britain.
Called the Iron Lady, for personal and political toughness.
Only British prime minister of the 20th century to win three consecutive terms. (Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's first of three terms began in the 20th, but ended in the 21st.)
During her time as prime minister, she emphasized the rights of the individual versus that of the state, moral absolutism and nationalism.
In her first term, Thatcher reduced or eliminated many government subsidies to business, a move that lead to a sharp rise in unemployment. By 1986, unemployment had reached 3 million.
Enjoyed a close friendship and working relationship with President Ronald Reagan, with whom she shared similar conservative views.
Timeline: 1950 - Runs unsuccessfully for Parliament.
1959 - Wins a seat in the House of Commons by winning the Conservative seat in Finchley, in north London.
1961-1964 - Serves as a parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.
1969-1970 - Serves as chief opposition spokesman on education.
1970-1974 - Secretary of State for education and science in the Conservative government of Edward Heath
1975 - Is elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1976 - In a speech, she lashes out against Communism. This causes the Soviet press to nickname her the "Iron Lady."
May 4, 1979 - Becomes prime minister after leading the Conservatives to electoral victory.
April 2, 1982 - Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. Thatcher immediately authorizes forces to recapture the Falklands. After a few months of fighting, Argentine troops surrender on June 14, 1982.
June 9, 1983 - Wins re-election in a landslide and gains a parliamentary majority with just over 42% of the vote.
1984 - Escapes an IRA terrorist bombing in Brighton at her hotel at the annual Conservative Party conference.
June 11, 1987 - The Conservative Party wins its third general election.
1989 - Thatcher introduces the poll tax, a charge levied on community residents rather than property. The unpopular tax leads to rioting in the streets and Thatcher's ouster by Conservative Party politicians worried that the tax and Thatcher's unpopularity would bring down the party.
November 1990 - Is forced to resign as prime minister after a leadership struggle within her own party.
March 7, 1991 - Receives the U.S. Medal of Freedom from President George Bush.
June 5, 1992 - Is named a life peer on the Queen's honor list. Thatcher's title is Baroness.
June 30, 1992 - Swearing-in ceremony at the House of Lords, where Thatcher formally becomes the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.
July 1, 1993-June 30, 2000 - Is chancellor of the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
February 4, 1994 - Formal investiture as chancellor of the College of William and Mary.
1995 - Autobiography, "The Path to Power" is published. Excerpts had appeared in the Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times of London in 1993.
March 22, 2002 - Retires from public life after suffering a series of small strokes.
June 11, 2004 - Attends Ronald Reagan's funeral services.
August 25, 2004 - South African police arrest Thatcher's son, Mark, on allegations he was involved in a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
January 13, 2005 - Mark pleads guilty to unwittingly helping bankroll the coup plot. In exchange he receives a fine, a suspended jail sentence, and the right to join his family in the United States.
September 2005 - The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom is established.
February 21, 2007 - Thatcher unveils a 7 foot 4 in. silicon bronze statue of herself at the Houses of Parliament.
August 2008 - Daughter Carol confirms Mrs. Thatcher is suffering from dementia, first noticed in 2000.
December 30, 2009 - The British National Archives releases the 1979 state papers from Thatcher's early months as prime minister.
April 8, 2013 - Dies after suffering a stroke.
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Thatcher with her parents and sister Muriel in 1945. Thatcher, born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925, studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked as a research chemist before becoming a barrister in 1954.
Conservative Party candidate Margaret Roberts, the youngest candidate for any party in the 1950 general election, works in a laboratory where she was a research chemist.
The Conservative Party candidate for Dartford in Kent, England, meets some potential constituents in January 1950.
Thatcher chats with a police officer outside the House of Commons, where she took a seat as a member of Parliament for Finchley in October 1959.
Thatcher addresses a Conservative Party conference in October 1967.
Thatcher in 1970. Within five years, she would become leader of the Conservatives.
Prime Minister Edward Heath with 13 of 15 newly elected Conservative women members of Parliament outside the House of Commons in June 1970. Thatcher became secretary of state for education and science under Heath.
Thatcher plays the piano for her husband, Denis, and their twins, Mark and Carol, then 17, in September 1970.
Thatcher takes over from Edward Heath as leader of the Conservative Party in 1975.
Thatcher addresses Conservatives at the start of the 1979 election campaign. William Whitelaw, at her right, later became home secretary and deputy prime minister under Thatcher.
Thatcher, becoming the first female prime minister of a European country, stands with her husband, Denis, outside 10 Downing Street in May 1979 after her party's success in the general election.
Thatcher with her new Cabinet in June 1979.
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and Thatcher at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in September 1982. They were holding meetings leading up to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong in 1984.
Thatcher meets personnel aboard the HMS Antrim during her trip to the Falkand Islands in January 1983. The United Kingdom fought a short war with Argentina over the Falklands in 1982, responding with force when Buenos Aires laid claim to the islands.
Thatcher and her husband, Denis, left, visit a school in the Falkland Islands in 1983.
Thatcher secures her second term of office in June 1983. She won a landslide re-election on the heels of the Falklands victory, with her Conservative Party taking a majority of seats in Parliament with 42% of the vote.
Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan share a joke in London in June 1984. The British politician enjoyed a close working relationship with Reagan, with whom she shared similar conservative views.
Thatcher addresses a Conservative Party conference in Brighton, England, following an IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel, where many delegates were staying, in October 1984.
Thatcher addresses the Conservative Party in May 1985.
Thatcher receives Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at 10 Downing Street in April 1986.
Thatcher and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the start of talks at the Kremlin in Moscow in March 1987.
Thatcher and her husband, Denis, wave to the crowd at a London polling station in June 1987. She was re-elected to another term as prime minister that year with a slightly reduced majority.
Thatcher dances with Reagan in November 1988 following a state dinner given in her honor at the White House.
Thatcher greets Nelson Mandela on the steps of 10 Downing Street in July 1990. The anti-apartheid activist and future South African president had been freed that year after more than 25 years as political prisoner.
Thatcher, flanked by her husband Denis, addresses the press for the last time at 10 Downing Street before her resignation as prime minister in November 1990 after an internal leadership struggle among Conservatives.
The former prime minister chats with President George H.W. Bush in March 1991 in the White House Oval Office before receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The award is the highest civilian honor bestowed in the United States.
Thatcher, with her son, Mark, and her daughter, Carol, watches the coffin of her husband, Denis, during his funeral in July 2003 in London. Denis Thatcher died at age 88.
Thatcher touches the flag-draped coffin of Reagan as he lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in June 2004. In a prerecorded video at his funeral, she called Reagan "a great president, a great American and a great man." "And I have lost a dear friend," she said.
Thatcher, from left, Cherie Blair, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair attend a church service at Pangbourne College in June 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of victory in the Falklands War.
An usher helps Thatcher, now a baroness, to her seat during the state opening of Parliament in November 2009.
The ex-prime minister helps unveil a portrait of herself at the opening of the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London in March 2009.
Pope Benedict XVI greets Thatcher in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in May 2009.
Thatcher attends the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament in May 2010.
Thatcher waves from the door of her London home after a hospital stay to operate on a broken arm in June 2009. She had a pin placed in her shoulder after suffering a fall.
Thatcher waves to journalists from her London home after another hospital visit -- this time with a bout of flu -- in November 2010.
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