- Sep 1 Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls" premieres in London
- Sep 1 Max speedometer reading mandated at 85 MPH
- Sep 1 Mexico President Lopez Portillo nationalizes banks
- Sep 1 Palestinian Liberation Organization leaves Lebanon
- Sep 1 The United States Air Force Space Command is founded.
- Sep 2 Rolling Stone Keith Richard's house burns down
- Sep 3 Anker Jørgensen government in Denmark resigns
- Sep 4 Arson fire engulfs apartment-hotel in LA, 25 die
- Sep 4 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Sep 5 Eddie Hill sets propeller-driven boat water speed record of 229 mph
- Sep 5 US Men's Amateur Golf Championship, The Country Club: Jay Sigel wins 8 & 7 over David Tolley
- Sep 6 Dutch Internal minister Mr M Red assigns BVD to spy on communists
Telethon
Sep 6 Jerry Lewis' 17th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $28,400,000
Tug of War
Sep 6 Parlophone/EMI releases Paul McCartney single "Tug of War" from album of the same name
Sports History
Sep 6 Pittsburgh Pirates retire Willie Stargell's #8
- Sep 6 Polish dissidents seize Polish Embassy in Bern, Switzerland
- Sep 8 Dutch social democratic party wins elections, fascist enters Dutch parliament
- Sep 9 "Your Arm's Are Too Short To Box With God" opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 69 performances
- Sep 9 Columbia mated with SRBs & external tank in preparation for STS-5
- Sep 9 Conestoga 1, 1st private commercial rocket, makes suborbital flight
- Sep 10 Decca releases Beatles audition on "Complete Silver Beatles" album, 20 years after label executives rejected them feeling that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business"
- Sep 11 Debbie Maffett (California), 25, crowned 55th Miss America 1983
US Open Women's Tennis
Sep 11 US Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert wins her 6th and final US title, beating Hana Mandlíková 6-3, 6-1
US Men's Tennis Open
Sep 12 US Open Men's Tennis: Jimmy Connors wins his 4th US title; beats Czech star Ivan Lendl 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
- Sep 13 50 die in Spantax Airlines DC-10 on takeoff from Malaga, Spain
- Sep 13 Joe Lefevre gets 6 hits in one baseball game
Baseball Record
Sep 13 MLB Phillies Steve Carlton tosses a complete-game shutout and hits a home run for the 4th time in his career, in 2-0 win over St. Louis, at Veteran's Stadium, Philadelphia; he becomes only pitcher to do so in three different decades
- Sep 14 36" snow (Red Lodge, MT)
- Sep 14 Bomb at Lebanese Phalange party HQ kills President-elect Bachir Gemayel and 26 others
- Sep 14 Cindy Nicholas of Canada makes her 19th swim of English Channel
- Sep 14 Trevor Baxter sets skateboard high jump record of 5' 5.7"
- Sep 15 First issue of "USA Today" published by Gannett Co Inc
- Sep 15 Israeli forces began pouring into west Beirut
Event of Interest
Sep 15 Pope John Paul II receives PLO leader Yasser Arafat
- Sep 16 Massacre of 1000+ Palestinian refugees at Chatila & Sabra begins
Bad to the Bone
Sep 17 "Bad to the Bone" single by George Thorogood and the Destroyers first released
- Sep 18 7th Toronto International Film Festival: "Tempest" directed by Paul Mazursky wins the People's Choice Award
- Sep 18 Sabra and Shatila massacres - Christian militia massacre at least 700 Palestinians in retaliation for assassination of Bachir Gemayel
Emmy Awards
Sep 19 34th Emmy Awards: Hill St Blue, Barney Miller, Alan Alda & Carol Kane win
- Sep 19 New Orleans Saints 1st road shutout victory beating Chicago Bears 10-0
- Sep 19 Streetcars stop running on Market St, San Francisco after 122 years of service
- Sep 20 Jalaluddin takes a one-day hat-trick Pakistan v Australia
- Sep 21 2,251 turn out to see Expos play NY Mets at Shea Stadium
- Sep 21 NFL players begin a 57 day strike
- Sep 21 San Francisco cable cars cease operations for 2 years of repairs
- Sep 21 STS-5 vehicle moves to launch pad
- Sep 22 Duleep Mendis completes twin cricket tons for Sri Lanka v India
- Sep 22 San Francisco's cable cars made a final run before closing down for 20-month
Family Ties
Sep 22 TV sitcom "Family Ties" starring Michael J. Fox premieres on NBC
- Sep 23 "Doll's Life" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 5 performances
- Sep 23 Amin Gemayel sworn in as President of Lebanon
The Nylon Curtain
Sep 23 Columbia Records releases "The Nylon Curtain", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's eighth studio album
- Sep 23 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Sep 24 US, Italian & French peacekeeping troops begin arriving in Lebanon
- Sep 25 Keke Rosberg becomes the first Fin to win the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship when he finishes 5th in season ending Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas; wins by 5 points from Didier Pironi
- Sep 25 Northwestern ends 34 football game losing streak, beats No Ill 31-6
- Sep 25 Penn prison guard George Banks kills 13 (5 were his own children)
- Sep 25 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- Sep 26 "Doll's Life" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 5 performances
Knight Rider
Sep 26 "Knight Rider", starring David Hasselhoff, debuts on NBC
- Sep 27 Cards clinching NL East title
Film & TV History
Sep 27 Filming begins on "Never Say Never Again" with Sean Connery playing James Bond for the final time
- Sep 27 Jan Wolkers awarded but refuses Constantine Huygens-prize
- Sep 27 John Palmer becomes news anchor of Today Show
- Sep 28 1st reports appear of death from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules
- Sep 28 NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 505
- Sep 29 Cyanide laced Tylenol capsules kills 7 in Chicago
- Sep 29 Situation comedy "Cheers" premieres on NBC-TV, starring Ted Danson and Shelley Long
- Sep 29 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Sep 30 12th Commonwealth Games open in Brisbane, Australia
Nebraska
Sep 30 Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen's sixth studio album "Nebraska", a solo record, made without a backing band
- Sep 30 National railroad strike in Belgium
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists