Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England, the younger daughter of Alfred and Beatrice Roberts. Her father was a greengrocer and respected town leader, serving as lay-leader with their church, city-alderman and then as mayor. He taught Margaret never to do things because other people are doing them; do what you think is right and persuade others to follow you. She attended Oxford University from 1943 to 1947 and earned a degree in Chemistry, but it was clear from early on that politics was her true calling. She stood as a Conservative candidate from Dartford in the 1950 and 1951 elections. She married Denis Thatcher in December 1951 and they had twin children, Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher . She practiced tax law for a time in the 1950s, but was elected to Parliament from Finchley in 1959. Two years later, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Pensions. In 1970, she was appointed Minister for Education and earned the title 'Thatcher the Milk Snatcher,' for eliminating free milk for schoolchildren in a round of budget-cutting. After the Conservative Party lost both general elections in 1974, she defeated Edward Heath for the leadership of the party. She was elected Prime Minister in May 1979 and served for eleven and a half years, longer than any other British Prime Minister in the 20th Century. As Prime Minister, she was staunchly capitalist and bent on wiping socialism from the face of Britain. During her tenure, she cut taxes, spending and regulations, privatized state-industries and state-housing, reformed the education, health and welfare systems, was tough on crime and espoused traditional values. Her time in office was eventful, having to contend with an economic recession, inner-city riots and a miners' strike. Her first great triumph in office was the Falklands War in 1982, when she sent British troops to reclaim British possessions off the coast of South America that had been invaded and occupied by Argentina. The British won that war and it showed the world that Britain was once again a power to be reckoned with. Her time in office saw unprecedented economic prosperity. She was staunch political allies with Ronald Reagan and through their tough foreign and defence policies, brought the Cold War to an end and a victory for the Free World. It was she who persuaded President George Bush to send troops to Saudi Arabia right after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. The Poll Tax and her refusal to endorse a common currency for Europe led the Conservative party to force her out of office in a bloody internal coup. She was forced to resign as Prime Minister in November 1990. Since she left office, she was introduced to the House of Lords in 1992 as Baroness Thatcher. She travelled the world, touring the lecture circuit promoting her causes and is president of numerous organizations dedicated to her causes. In the last few years her health has suffered and she no longer speaks in public.

She served as the United Kingdom's first and to date only female Prime Minister from May 4, 1979 to November 28, 1990.Raised to the peerage in 1992, thereafter known as Baroness ThatcherWas targeted for assassination by the IRA. In 1984, she was staying at the Grand Hotel in Brighton for the annual Tory Conference. She was working on her speech when a bomb exploded in the Hotel. She escaped unharmed, but the bomb was meant to kill her. One Conservative MP, one Conservative politician and 4 female attendees all lost their lives. Other members of her government to suffer injuries included Norman Tebbit and John Wakeham .Son, Mark and daughter Carol Thatcher .In South Africa they have named a nectarine after her.Was a tax lawyer.Is Britain's only 20th-century PM to serve three consecutive terms.Was a research chemist.She was an enthusiastic fan of the television comedy series "Yes Minister" (1980). One of its stars, Paul Eddington , was later awarded a CBE for his services to acting.Before entering politics she was a scientist, at one time working on the chemistry of ice cream.Voted the 3rd worst Briton in Channel Four's poll of the 100 Worst Britons.The song "Tramp the Dirt Down" by Elvis Costello , was written about her. Elvis Costello says in the song that he will dance on her grave when she dies.Has her look-alike puppet in the French show "Les guignols de l'info" (1988).Subject of the Morrissey song "Margaret on the Guillotine".The character of Helen A (played by Sheila Hancock ) in the "Doctor Who" (1963) television adventure "The Happiness Patrol" (broadcast in 1988) is often said to have been based on her.Subject of the Beat song "Stand Down Margaret" in 1980.Her likeness was used on the sleeves of two Iron Maiden singles; on the cover of the single 'Sanctuary', she is depicted as having been killed by Maiden's demonic mascot, Eddie, for apparently ripping up and Iron Maiden poster. She gets her revenge, however, on the cover of the single 'Women In Uniform' as a military uniform-wearing Maggie holding a machine gun waits around a corner to ambush Eddie as he approaches with a woman in uniform on either arm. However, despite the graphic sleeves, Maggie finally met with Iron Maiden in 1981.Educated at Huntingtower Road Primary School and then Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School.Mentioned in the Pink Floyd song "The Post War Dream" from their 1983 album "The Final Cut".Mentioned in Mark Knopfler 's song "Why Aye Man".Descendant from the first marriage, with John Grey, 7th Lord Ferrers of Gorby, of Elizabeth Widville, Queen of England by her second marriage with King Edward IV.Descendant from the first marriage, with John Grey, 7th Lord Ferrers of Gorby, of Elizabeth Widville, Queen of England by her second marriage with King Edward IV.In August 2008 daughter Carol Thatcher revealed that her mother had been displaying symptoms of dementia for the past seven years.Broke her right arm in a fall at her London home in June 2009 and underwent surgery.During her time as British Prime Minister, she cut income tax on the country's top earners by more than half. When she was elected in 1979, the top rate of income tax had stood at 83% since 1974. She immediately reduced it to 60% and in 1988 her government reduced it again, this time to 40%.