1980s: Margaret Thatcher is the first British prime minister in more than a century to be elected to three consecutive terms (1979-1990). Her Conservative Party is credited with Britain's economic turnaround through privatizing industries and minimizing the role of government in business and welfare. Thatcher's successses closely parallel those of President Ronald Reagan in the United States.

Today: Tony Blair is the first Labour Party prime minister in nearly two decades. After a landslide victory in the 1997 election, Blair leads his Labour Party to an astonishing second landslide vote in 2001. Blair and the "New Labourites" have instituted improved health care in Britain, the national minimum wage, and careful monitoring of the country's economic stability. Blair's successes in Britain closely parallel those of President Bill Clinton in the United States.

1980s: The first mass market cellular phone system appears in America in 1981. Cellular phone equipment...