December December – The Ford Focus is voted European Car of the Year. 10 December John Hume and David Trimble win the Nobel Peace Prize. John Pople wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry". 26 December – Great Boxing Day Storm: severe gale-force winds hits Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. Roads, railways and electricity are disrupted. 29 December – Three British tourists are among those shot during a gun battle to free them from kidnappers in Yemen. Date unknown The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association is created. Publications Beryl Bainbridge's novel Master Georgie. Iain M. Banks' novel Inversions. Julian Barnes's novel :England, England. Ted Hughes's poetry collection Birthday Letters. Nigella Lawson's guide How to Eat: the pleasures and principles of good food. Ian McEwan's novel Amsterdam. John O'Farrell's political memoir Things Can Only Get Better. Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels The Last Continent and Carpe Jugulum. J. K. Rowling's novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Births 2 January George Miller, footballer Ollie Pope, cricketer 4 January – Tia Rigg, murder victim (died 2010) 18 January – Alfie McIlwain, actor 2 February – Chris Smith, footballer 3 February – Zak Crawley, cricketer 4 February – Scott Jones, athlete 15 February – George Russell, racing driver 27 February Sam Smith, footballer Theo Stevenson, actor 13 March – Oliver Stokes, actor 14 March – George Bartlett, cricketer 24 March – Isabel Suckling, singer 11 April – Oliver Dillon, actor 12 April – Tom Pearce, footballer 14 April – Arthur Bowen, actor 22 April – Jay Dasilva, footballer 8 May – Sam Field, footballer 14 May – Aaron Ramsdale, footballer 3 June – Sam Curran, cricketer. 4 June – Jack Blatherwick, cricketer 7 June – Graham Newberry, American-English figure skater 10 June – Johnny Bennett, actor 14 June – Julia Joyce, actress 21 June – Isabel Atkin, freestyle skier 30 June – Tom Davies, footballer 1 July – Hollie Steel, classical crossover singer 19 July Ronaldo Vieira, footballer Amar Virdi, cricketer Lil Woods, actress 20 July – Sinead Michael, actress 28 July - Sam Surridge, footballer 2 August – Giarnni Regini-Moran, artistic gymnast 6 August – Jack Scanlon, actor 8 August – Ronan Parke, pop singer 14 August – Amy Marren, swimmer 5 September – Helena Barlow, actress 9 September – Shannon Matthews, kidnapping victim 21 September – Prem Sisodiya, cricketer 2 October –