Events 1 - 200 of 722
- Jan 1 AT&T's 22 owned Bell system companies divests into 8 companies
- Jan 1 Brunei becomes independent of UK
- Jan 1 NYC transit fare rises from 75 cents to 90 cents
- Jan 1 World's largest residence for a head of state the Istana Nurul Iman is completed as the home of Brunei royal family at over 200,000 square meters
- Jan 2 16-year-old future South African Test cricket batsman Darryl Cullinan scores his 1st first-class century (106 no) for Border against Natal B in East London
Buhari Controls Nigeria
Jan 2 Major-General Muhammadu Buhari is declared Head of State in Nigeria, following a military coup
- Jan 2 Riot in Tunis kills over 100
- Jan 2 Wilson Goode, sworn-in as Philadelphia's 1st black mayor
- Jan 3 Syria frees captured US pilot after appeal from Jesse Jackson
- Jan 4 "Night Court" starring Harry Anderson, created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, premieres on NBC TV; runs for 9 seasons
- Jan 4 Adrian Dantley ties Wilt Chamberlain's NBA record for most free throws made in a game by converting 28 of 29 free throws in Utah's 116-111 win over Houston at Las Vegas
- Jan 4 Edmonton beats Minnesota 12-8 highest-scoring modern NHL game
Chappell's 182* Last Inning
Jan 5 Greg Chappell scores 182* for Australia in his last Test innings
- Jan 6 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 41 B mission
- Jan 6 Last day of Test cricket for Chappell, Marsh & Lillee
- Jan 7 Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- Jan 8 NCAA announces that basketball tournament will have 64 teams
- Jan 8 Washington Capitals Bengt Gustafsson scores 5 goals to beat Philadelphia 7-1
- Jan 9 "TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes" premieres on NBC TV (Whoops)
- Jan 9 Braves pitcher Pascual Perez is arrested for cocaine possession
- Jan 9 EAA moves operations to Oshkosh
"Nobody Told Me"
Jan 9 John Lennon single "Nobody Told Me" released posthumously
- Jan 10 Argentine ex-president and general Reynaldo Bignone arrested
- Jan 10 Bulgarian Tupolev 134 crashes at Sofia airport in Bulgaria, 50 die
- Jan 10 Clara Peller 1st asks, "Where's the Beef?" in commercial for Wendy's hamburger chain
Ormandy's Last Phillies Concert
Jan 10 Conductor Eugene Ormandy leads his last concert, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall, NYC
Baseball Hall of Fame
Jan 10 Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew and Don Drysdale elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
- Jan 10 US re-establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after almost 117 years
- Jan 11 Denver Nuggets 163, San Antonio Spurs 155-highest-scoring NBA game
- Jan 11 NASA space shuttle STS 41-B moves to launch pad
- Jan 11 Supreme Court reinstated $10M award to Karen Silkwood's family
- Jan 13 TV anchor Christine Craft wins $325,000 in her case against KMBC-TV
Mancini vs. Chacon
Jan 14 Ray Mancini scores a 3rd-round TKO of Bobby Chacon to retain his WBA lightweight title in Reno, Nevada; Chacon so severely battered he thanks referee Richard Steele for stopping the fight
McEnroe's 2nd ATP
Jan 15 John McEnroe reverses previous year's result with a 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 win over Ivan Lendl to claim his second season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Navratilova’s Winning Streak Ends
Jan 15 Martina Navratilova’s 54-match winning streak ends when beaten by Hana Mandlíková 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in the final of the Virginia Slims of California tennis event in Oakland; after loss Navratilova wins next 74 matches for new record
- Jan 15 Schonbrun skates world record 5 km (7:39.44)
- Jan 15 Tony Benn, described as a “left wing rebel” wins Labour's nomination for the by-election in Chesterfield, England
Paul and Linda McCartney Arrested
Jan 16 Paul & Linda McCartney arrested in Barbados for possession of cannabis
- Jan 17 Supreme Court rules (5-4) that private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
- Jan 18 80th Islander & 3rd dual hat trick (Carroll & Bossy) 9-1 win
- Jan 19 California Supreme Court rejects the request of quadriplegic Elizabeth Bouvia's to starve herself to death in a public hospital
- Jan 22 Annette Kennedy of SUNY sets women's basketball record with 70 pts
Sports History
Jan 22 Apple's seminal ad for the new Microsoft computer, directed by Ridley Scott, loosely based on George Orwell's "1984", plays during the Super Bowl [1]
- Jan 22 Hilbert van de Thumb becomes European all-round skates
- Jan 22 Super Bowl XVIII, Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL: LA Raiders beat Washington Redskins, 38-9; MVP: Marcus Allen, Los Angeles, RB
- Jan 23 Buffalo Sabres become the first team in NHL history to win 10 straight road games with a 5-3 victory at Boston
- Jan 23 Greatest unpaced 1-hr bicycle distance, F Moser (Italy), 51.15 km
Apple Macintosh Personal Computer
Jan 24 Apple Computer Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer in a Super Bowl TV ad directed by Ridley Scott
- Jan 26 Nordiques' Michel Goulet scored on 9th penalty shot against Islanders
- Jan 26 US Navy exhibits experimental Piasecki Helistat - a combination of 4 helicopters and a blimp - able to lift 26 tons at Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey
- Jan 27 Geffen Records releases "Milk & Honey" album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, featuring un-released recordings made during the 1980 "Double Fantasy" sessions, including "Grow Old With Me"
Jackson Burned
Jan 27 Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial
Gretzky Scoring Streak Ends
Jan 28 Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky's NHL record point scoring streak ends at 51 games when Oilers beaten 4-2 by LA Kings; Gretzky totals 61-92-153 during the period
- Jan 28 Record 295,000 dominoes toppled in Fuerth, West Germany
Reagan Second Term
Jan 29 President Reagan formally announces he will seek a 2nd term
- Feb 1 China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations
- Feb 1 Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre kidnapped and murdered by Kashmiri terrorists in Birmingham, England
- Feb 2 Lebanese army fights in Beirut
- Feb 3 10th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (41B): Challenger 4 launches
- Feb 4 "Backstage Magic" opens at CommuniCore
- Feb 4 Frank Aquilera sets world frisbee distance record (168m) Las Vegas
- Feb 5 NZ beat England (82 & 93) by an innings in 3 days
- Feb 6 Muslim militiamen take over West Beirut from Lebanese army
- Feb 7 American astronaut Bruce McCandless makes 1st untethered space walk
- Feb 7 David (born without immunity system) touches his mother for 1st time at age 12
- Feb 7 Michael Jackson awarded a 4-ft-high platinum disc by CBS
- Feb 8 A's take Yankees pitcher Tim Belcher as Type A free agent compensation
- Feb 8 For the 1st time eight people are in space
- Feb 8 Soyuz T-10 launches with crew of 3 to Salyut 7
- Feb 8 XIV Winter Olympic Games open in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
- Feb 9 East German ski jumper Jens Weißflog wins first of 3 career Olympic gold medals in the Normal Hill individual event at the Sarajevo Winter Games
- Feb 9 East German speed skater Karin Enke wins the 1,500m in world record 2:03.42 at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; also wins 1,000m gold
- Feb 9 Finnish cross-country skier Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen wins the 10k gold medal at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; first of 3 individual medal sweep, also winning 5k and 20k events
Zimyatov's Fourth Gold
Feb 10 Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins a career 4th Olympic gold medal when he takes out the 30k event in Sarajevo; 3 gold in Lake Placid 1980
- Feb 11 10th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (41B): Challenger 4 returns to Earth
- Feb 11 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL short handed season scoring record at 11
- Feb 12 12 years after winning the doubles in Sapporo (1972), Italian Paul Hildgarten wins the men's luge singles at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics
Daytona 500
Feb 12 Cale Yarborough, becomes 1st Daytona 500 qualifier, above 200 MPH
- Feb 12 East German luger Steffi Martin wins the first of 2 consecutive women's singles gold medals at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; also wins in Calgary (1988)
- Feb 12 Finnish cross-country skier Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen wins the 5k gold medal at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; 2nd of 3 individual medal sweep, also winning 10k and 20k events
- Feb 12 William Grant Still's Symphony No. 3 ("The Sunday Symphony"), composed in 1958, receives premiere performance, by the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carlton Woodsi
- Feb 13 6-year-old Texan Stormie Jones gets 1st heart and liver transplant
- Feb 13 Karin Enke of East Germany wins her 2nd gold medal of the Sarajevo Winter Games, winning the women's 1,000m in Olympic record 1:21.61; also wins 1,500m gold
Event of Interest
Feb 13 Konstantin Chernenko succeeds Yuri Andropov as leader of the Soviet Union
- Feb 13 Swedish cross country skier Gunde Svan wins 15k event, the first of 2 gold medals at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; also wins 4 x 10k relay gold
Torvill and Dean's Perfect Score
Feb 14 Britain's Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean famously dominate the ice dancing at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; perform to Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" in free dance routine; record 9-of-9 perfect scores for artistic impression [1]
- Feb 14 Canadian speed skater Gaétan Boucher takes out the 1,000m gold medal at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; also wins 1,500m; narrowly beats Soviet skater Sergey Khlebnikov in both events
- Feb 15 500,000 Iranian soldiers move into Iraq
- Feb 15 An East German sweep of the medals in the women's 3,000m speed skating at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; Andrea Schöne takes gold ahead of teammates Karin Enke and Gabi Zange
Olympic Gold
Feb 16 3-time men's figure skating world champion Scott Hamilton of the US wins the gold medal at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics from Brian Orser of Canada and Jozef Sabovčík of Czechoslovakia
- Feb 16 Bill Johnson becomes first American to win an Olympic downhill skiing gold at the Sarajevo Games; beats Swiss Peter Müller by 0.27s
- Feb 16 Canadian speed skater Gaétan Boucher takes out the 1,500m at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics, his second gold medal of the Games; also wins the 1,000m
- Feb 16 NJ Devils 1st OT goal, Jan Ludvig beats Hartford Whalers 6-5
- Feb 16 Swedish cross country skier Gunde Svan takes his 2nd gold medal of the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in the 4 x 10k relay; also wins 15k gold
- Feb 16 Swedish cross country skier Thomas Wassberg wins 2nd career gold medal in 4 x 10k relay at Sarajevo Winter Olympics; 2nd of 4 career gold; 15k Lake Placid (1980), 50k Sarajevo, relay Calgary (1988)
- Feb 17 Biathletes Eirik Kvalfoss of Norway and West German Peter Angerer finish 2nd & 3rd respectively in the relay at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; both have complete sets of medals from biathlon events at the Games
- Feb 18 East German figure skater Katarina Witt wins first of 2 consecutive women's singles gold medals at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; also wins gold in Calgary (1988)
- Feb 18 Finnish cross-country skier Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen wins the 20k gold medal at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; sweeps all 3 individual events, also winning 5k and 10k events
Olympic Gold
Feb 18 Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen wins first of 4 career Olympic gold medals in the Large Hill individual event at the Sarajevo Winter Games
- Feb 18 Revised concordat between Italy & Vatican signed
- Feb 19 1st brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same event at Olympics (Phil & Steve Mahre-Slalom)
- Feb 19 26th Daytona 500: Cale Yarborough wins for 2nd consecutive year and 4th time in career; last-lap pass to beat Darrell Waltrip
- Feb 19 Soviet Union wins its 6th Olympic ice hockey gold medal with a 2-0 win over silver medallists Czechoslovakia at the Sarajevo Winter Games
- Feb 19 Swedish cross country skier Thomas Wassberg wins 50k event at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; his second gold of the Games (4 x 10k relay) and 3rd of his career (15k Lake Placid 1980)
- Feb 19 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Feb 19 XIV Winter Olympic Games close in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
- Feb 24 Iraq resumes air attack on Iran
- Feb 25 Oil fire in Cubatao Brazil kills 500
- Feb 26 Last US marines in multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon left Beirut
- Feb 26 Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Penn Warren is named the 1st US poet laureate
- Feb 26 Reverend Jesse Jackson acknowledges that he called NYC "Hymietown"
World Record
Feb 27 Carl Lewis jumps world record indoor (8.675 m)
- Feb 27 Worker's union leader Billy Nair freed in South Africa
- Feb 27 WRC-AM in Washington, D.C. changes call letters to WWRC
- Feb 28 26th Grammy Awards: Michael Jackson wins 8 Grammys
- Feb 28 British satirical puppet show "Spitting Image" premieres on ITV
Event of Interest
Feb 29 Pierre Trudeau announces he is stepping down after 15 years as Canadian Prime Minister
- Feb 29 Swedish center Patrik Sundström scores a goal and adds 6 assists as Vancouver Canucks beat the Penguins 9-5 in Pittsburgh; just the 3rd player in NHL history to record 6 assists in a road game
- Mar 1 Landsat 5 & ham satellite Oscar 11 launched into polar orbit
- Mar 1 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Mar 2 Iran offensive against Iraq fails
- Mar 3 NY Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Tor Maple Leafs (6)
Election of Interest
Mar 3 Peter Ueberroth elected baseball commissioner (Effective Oct 1)
Baseball Hall of Fame
Mar 4 Pee Wee Reese & Rick Ferrell elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
Sports History
Mar 4 Tennis legend Martina Navratilova retains her WTA Tour Championship in NYC; beats Chris Evert 6–3, 7–5, 6–1 for her 5th overall Championship title
- Mar 5 Supreme Court (5-4): city may use public money for Nativity scene
- Mar 5 US accuse Iraq of using poison gas
- Mar 6 Twelve-month-long strike in British coal industry begins.
- Mar 7 The United States attacks San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.
- Mar 9 -5°F ties lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio (first set in 1948)
- Mar 9 Emile Gumbs' Anguilla National Alliance wins elections
- Mar 9 John Lennon single "Borrowed Time" released posthumously
- Mar 9 Philadelphia 76'ers block 20 Seattle shots tying NBA regulation game record
- Mar 9 The Competitive Enterprise Institute is founded in Washington, D.C.
- Mar 9 Tim Witherspoon beats Greg Page in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
- Mar 10 Heavyweight Tim Witherspoon KOs Greg Page
- Mar 12 British National Union of Mine Workers headed by Arthur Scargill supports regional strikes, calls for national action; strikes fail to achieve goals
- Mar 13 Last day of 1st-class cricket for G Chappell, R Marsh, B Laird
- Mar 14 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida), for mating of STS 41-C mission
Assassination Attempt
Mar 14 Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast
Kate & Allie
Mar 19 American sitcom "Kate & Allie" premieres on CBS TV starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin
- Mar 19 John J O'Connor named 8th archbishop of New York
- Mar 19 KSD-AM in St Louis MO changes call letters to KUSA
- Mar 19 Mobil oil tanker spills 200,000 gallons into Columbia River
- Mar 19 STS 41-C vehicle moves to launch pad
Sports History
Mar 19 Two-time Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain is indicted on charges of drug trafficking, embezzlement and racketeering; 25 year sentence later quashed
- Mar 20 Andy Kaufman and Fred Blassie's film "My Breakfast With Blassie" premieres
- Mar 20 Nigerian Major-General Babatunde Idiagbon launches a campaign on ‘National Consciousness and Enlightenment’
- Mar 20 US Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools
Cricket History
Mar 21 Australian Allan Border scores 100* vs West Indies in a cricket test at Trinidad after scoring a 98* in his 1st innings
- Mar 21 NFL owners passed the infamous anti-celebrating rule
- Mar 21 Part of Central Park in New York City is named "Strawberry Fields" honoring John Lennon
- Mar 21 Soviet sub crashes into USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off Japan
NHL Record
Mar 22 Islander Bryan Trottier ties NHL record scores 5 seconds into game
- Mar 22 Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the children in the school. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded.
- Mar 23 Andrea Schone skates ladies world record 3 km (4:20.91)
- Mar 23 Ice Pairs Championship at Ottawa won by Underhill & Paul Martini (CAN)
- Mar 23 World Ice Dancing Championship won by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (Great Britain) in Ottawa, Canada
- Mar 24 Andrea Schone skates ladies world record 5 km (7:34.52)
- Mar 24 Igor Malkov skates world record 10 km (14:21.51)
- Mar 24 IOC agrees to 6-team exhibition baseball tournament in Olympics
- Mar 24 Philip Glass' opera "Akhnaten", based on the life and religious convictions of the Egyptian pharaoh, premieres at the Staatstheater, in Stuttgart, Germany
Starlight Express
Mar 27 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe's rock musical "Starlight Express" opens at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London's West End
- Mar 27 Beginning of "tanker war": over the next 9 months, 44 ships, including Iranian, Iraqi, Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti tankers, are attacked by Iraqi or Iranian warplanes or damaged by mines
- Mar 29 NFL Baltimore Colts move to Indianapolis
- Mar 29 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Mar 30 US ends participation in multinational Lebanon peace force
- Mar 30 World's most valuable tip - New York police detective Robert Cunningham offers waitress Phyllis Penzo half of $1 lottery ticket, next day they win $6 million
Sports History
Mar 31 Mike Bossy becomes first player in NHL history to record 7 straight 50 goal seasons; scores 50th and 51st of the year in a 3-1 New York Islanders' win at Washington
- Mar 31 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 1 14th Easter Seal Telethon raises $24,600,000
- Apr 1 8 men record longest distance (13 miles) rowed in 24 hours
- Apr 3 Bombay beat Delhi on 1st innings to win Ranji Trophy
- Apr 3 Guinea suspends constitution after coup
- Apr 3 Soyuz T-11 carries 3 cosmonauts (1 Indian-Rakesh Sharma) to Salyut 7
- Apr 4 Michael Frayn's "Benefactors" premieres in London
NBA Record
Apr 5 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain's all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points (31,421)
- Apr 6 11th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (41C): Challenger 5 launches
- Apr 6 1st time 11 people in space
- Apr 6 Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.
Sports History
Apr 7 Detroit Tiger Jack Morris no-hits Chicago White Sox, 4-0
Golf Major
Apr 8 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Juli Inkster wins the first of her 7 major titles in a sudden-death playoff with Pat Bradley, with a par on the 1st extra hole
- Apr 8 U.S. Census Bureau estimates rank Los Angeles as second most populated city, displacing Chicago which held the position since 1890; New York City remains the top
Academy Awards
Apr 9 56th Academy Awards: "Terms of Endearment", Robert Duvall & Shirley Maclaine win
Academy Awards
Apr 9 56th Academy Awards: Linda Hunt becomes the first person to win an Oscar for portraying a character of the opposite sex, Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
- Apr 9 Canada Health Act, the country's public funded heath insurance scheme (Medicare), passed by the Canadian House of Commons [1]
- Apr 10 Damaged Solar Max satellite snared by Challenger shuttle
- Apr 10 US Senate condemns CIA mining of Nicaraguan harbors
- Apr 11 Challenger astronauts complete 1st in space satellite repair
- Apr 11 Chinese troops invade Vietnam
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists