• The Falklands War brought the United Kingdom and Argentina to each other's throats over the fate of the Falkland Islands. Britain won soundly, and Margaret Thatcher's government was vindicated.
• Israel invaded Lebanon to take out hostile Syrian and PLO forces there. After a few uneasy months of occupation, the U.S., France, and Italy sent peacekeeping troops into Beirut. Israel's defense minister Ariel Sharon was accused of standing by during the bloody Sabra and Shatila Massacre.
• Israel completed its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula.
• Yuri Andropov became the leader of the Soviet Union.
• Canada passed the Constitution Act, asserting its full independence from Britain.
• The Equal Rights Amendment was voted down in the U.S.
• The People's Republic of China adopted a new constitution.
• Spain joined NATO.
• The Provisional IRA killed 8 people and wounded 47 in two bomb blasts in London.
• Helmut Kohl became chancellor of West Germany after no confidence was voted against Helmut Schmidt.

• The space shuttle performed its first mission.
• Compact discs went on sale for the first time.
• MRI machines were introduced.
• The first computer virus was written and unleashed.
• Surround sound and THX were invented.

• Steven Spielberg released E.T., the highest-grossing film in world history until Spielberg beat his own record with Jurassic Park.
• Chariots of Fire won the Oscars, though, and Gandhi overshadowed E.T. the following year.
• Michael Jackson's Thriller album was released, and Prince released "1999."
• Italy won the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
• Cheers made its debut on NBC.
• David Letterman entered the world of late night, and his show made a splash when Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler staged a fight on the air.
• Cats opened on Broadway.
• Alice Walker's The Color Purple was published.
• The Catch.

• Prince William of Wales
• Actresses Kirsten Dunst and Anne Hathaway
• Figure skater Tara Lipinski
• Singer LeAnn Rimes

• Soviet leader Leonid Berezhnev
• Actress-turned-royalty Grace Kelly
• American first lady Bess Truman
• Actors John Belushi, Jack Webb, Fernando Sánchez Polack, and Takashi Shimura
• Authors Ayn Rand and Philip K. Dick
• Pianists Thelonious Monk and Glenn Gould
• Baseball player Satchel Paige
• Boxer Duk Koo Kim
• American lawyer/judge/DC insider Abe Fortas

• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in Washington, DC. Just across the Potomac River, Air Florida flight 90 sent 78 people to a freezing death.
• Teddy Pendergrass was paralyzed in a car accident.
• AT&T was told to spin off its "Baby Bells," a move it completed in 1984.
• Laker Airways, one of the first low-fare airlines, went bankrupt and abruptly ceased operations.
• Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American, was brutally murdered by two laid off auto workers who thought he was Japanese.

1981 << 1982 >> 1983