The Independent: 40 years in 40 front pages

For 40 years, The Independent has prided itself on its striking front covers, challenging the news and bringing a fresh perspective to the major events of the day.

From the Good Friday Agreement to the Iraq War, electoral reform, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as championing the UK’s relationship with Europe, here are some of the most iconic images.

A new exhibition showcasing many of these front covers and never-before-exhibited photography opens today the Outernet London, in the West End, and is free to attend.

The “40 moments from 40 years” event will run throughout October.

First edition: Tuesday 7 October 1986

The Independent arrived on the scene as the first quality national newspaper to be launched in more than a century.

1987, Tuesday 20 October: Black Monday

A global stock market crash saw 22 per cent wiped off the Dow Jones in a single day, a fall that took some two years to recover from.

1988, Thursday 22 December: Lockerbie Bombing

Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground in what remains Britain’s deadliest terror attack.

1989, Friday 10 November: Fall of the Berlin Wall

The tearing down of the Berlin Wall reunited east and west sides of the German capital after decades and served as a physical sign of the lifting of the Iron Curtain at the end of a year that saw the Soviet Union lose its grip on countries across the eastern bloc.

1990, Friday 23 November: Thatcher resigns

Margaret Thatcher was forced from office by a challenge to her leadership after 11 years in Downing Street, making her the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century.

1991, Thursday 28 February: First Gulf war

An American-led alliance defeated Iraqi forces after dictator Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait.

1992, Thursday 17 September: Black Wednesday

Britain crashed out of the European Exchange Rate mechanism, causing a devaluation of the pound and damaging the economic credibility of John Major’s government.

1993, Monday 26 July: The Independent launches a campaign urging action to open supply routes to under-siege Sarajevo

As western leaders considered leaving the fledgling Bosnian government to surrender to the Serbian forces surrounding its capital, The Independent urged a different approach: bolster Sarajevo’s resistance by getting aid into the city.

1994, Thursday 23 June: Newspaper price war

Rupert Murdoch slashed the price of The Times to draw readers away from The Independent, which had outsold its elder rival for part of the early 1990s. For one day The Independent went on sale at a much reduced price of 20p to draw attention to Murdoch’s tactics.

1995, Thursday 13 July: Srebrenica massacre

Thousands of Bosniaks were slaughtered in a genocidal campaign led by Bosnian Serb warlord Ratko Mladic in the town of Srebrenica.

1996, Wednesday 10 July: Robert Fisk interviews Bin Laden

Three years earlier Fisk was the first western journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden, the man who would mastermind the 9/11 attacks. By 1996, when Fisk sat down with him again, the al-Qaeda leader was declaring the start of ‘war against the United States’ and warning Britain that it must withdraw its interests from Saudi Arabia.

1997, Friday 2 May: New Labour wins

Britain entered a new era under Tony Blair’s Labour party after 18 years of Conservative government.

1998, Saturday 11 April: Good Friday agreement

A landmark peace agreement after decades of brutal sectarian conflict provided a framework for power-sharing between republicans and unionists in Northern Ireland.

1999, Thursday 25 February: Lawrence report finds Met Police institutionally racist

Six years after the killing of Stephen Lawrence, a landmark report found that racism in the ranks of the Met led to failures in investigating the young black man’s murder.

2000, Saturday 1 January: A new millennium dawns

The Independent marked the turn of the millennium with a souvenir edition showing sunrise in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands, among the first inhabited places to greet the year 2000.

2001, Tuesday 11 September: 9/11 attacks

The Independent led their reporting on the world-changing events in the US with the extraordinary sight of the World Trade Center in flames as the second plane hit the south tower.

2002, Tuesday 1 January: Euro launches

The Independent put the introduction of Euro banknotes and coins on 1 January 2002 into historical context: “For the first time since the fall of the Roman empire, 12 European nations have a single currency.”

2003, Sunday 30 April 2003: The Independent opposes the Iraq invasion

The Independent was one of few voices in the UK media to rail against the invasion of Iraq, questioning the British and American line that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

2004, Saturday 20 March: One year of Iraq with illustration by Ralph Steadman

The legendary illustrator marked the first anniversary of the Iraq invasion with a typically frenetic cartoon to accompany an editorial denouncing the war.

2005, Tuesday 10 May: The Independent makes the case for voting reform

A front page graphic highlighted the disparity in votes earned and seats won in the 2005 general election – one of several times The Independent has made the case for electoral reform in Britain.

2006, Tuesday 16 May: Bono edits The Independent for special edition

The U2 frontman used a special illustration by Damien Hirst to lead an edition dedicated to the Aids crisis in Africa, with half of all the day’s revenue donated to fighting the disease.

2007, Friday 11 May: Blair resigns

The Independent marks the resignation of Tony Blair after a decade in power by listing the key moments of his premiership, overshadowed by the Iraq invasion.

2008, Wednesday 5 November: Barack Obama wins

The Democrat made history as the first African-American president of the United States.

2009, Saturday 9 May: The expenses scandal

British politics was rocked by revelations that MPs were abusing the parliamentary expenses system with unscrupulous personal claims.

2010, Wednesday 1 December: Elton John edits World Aids Day edition

The Independent gave all proceeds from a special World Aids Day edition to the Elton John Aids foundation

2011, Saturday 30 April: Tracey Emin sketches the Royal Wedding

The Independent employed the celebrated artist to mark the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in an understated fashion.

2012, Friday 30 November: Response to the Leveson report

The Leveson report investigated the culture and practices of the British press after the phone hacking scandal. Prime minister David Cameron rejected the key recommendation that a new press regulator be established by law.

2013, Friday 11 January: Shocking rape justice record

In a striking graphic, The Independent highlighted the minuscule percentage of rape cases that were going to trial or leading to convictions.

2014, Saturday 3 March: Russia invades Crimea

Vladimir Putin put an end to an era of historically warm relations between Russia and the West when he annexed the Ukrainian territory.

2015, Thursday 8 January: Je suis Charlie

Dave Brown, longtime cartoonist for The Independent, drew a striking front page image in response to an Islamist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

2016, Saturday 26 March: Final print edition of The Independent

After nearly 30 years, The Independent published its 9,193rd and final print edition.

2017, Saturday 21 January: Donald Trump takes power in Washington for the first time

A shock victory in the 2016 US presidential election gave Donald Trump the power to completely redraw the accepted norms of American leadership.

2018, Wednesday 25 July: The Independent launches Final Say campaign for a second referendum on Brexit

Amid the turmoil of Brexit negotiations, growing questions over promises made in the referendum campaign and the obvious difficulty prime minister Theresa May faced in winning support for her deal, The Independent called for the British public to be given a vote on any withdrawal agreement with the European Union.

2019, Wednesday 24 July: Boris Johnson becomes prime minister

The face of the Vote Leave campaign entered Downing Street with just months to agree a Brexit deal that could clear the House of Commons, a challenge that brought down his predecessor.

2020, Tuesday 24 March: Pandemic

The Covid-19 virus swept across the globe, forcing the government to order the public to stay at home.

2021, Sunday 14 March: Sarah Everard murder

The Metropolitan Police came under fire for their heavy-handed response to a vigil for Sarah Everard, a young woman who was murdered by an off-duty Met officer.

2022, Friday 25 2022: Russia invades Ukraine

Vladimir Putin took the West by surprise by sending his forces across the border, sparking a full-scale ground conflict unlike anything Europe had seen since the Second World War.

2023, Sunday 8 October: Hamas launches attack

An astonishing incursion into southern Israel by Hamas fighters killed more than 1,000 people and took hundreds hostage. Israel responded with a brutal invasion of Gaza which has killed more than 70,000 people.

2024, Wednesday 25 December: The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign builds two safe refuges for women escaping domestic abuse

Readers raised £576,984 for The Independent and Refuge’s charity appeal, which received backing from high-profile figures including the Queen, Joanna Lumley and the prime minister.

2025, Friday 18 April: Aid cuts fuel HIV crisis in Africa

The Independent led the way in investigating the devastating impact of cuts to foreign aid, exemplified in this front page story on the millions of deaths projected as a result of suspended HIV funding.

2026, Friday 5 June: The way back

The Independent launched Europe: The Way Back, an ongoing campaign pushing for Britain to build a better relationship with Europe.

The Independent celebrates its 40th anniversary this week. To mark the occasion we listed the 40 free thinkers who have shaped our world over the past four decades.