1982

Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s

Years: 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 - 1982 - 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987

Events

• January 6 - William Bonin convicted of being the "freeway killer".
• January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions
• January 13 - Shortly after takeoff, an Air Florida Boeing 737 crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78.
• January 28 - James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades.
• February 1 - Senegal and Gambia form a loose confederation
• February 15 - The oil platform Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.
• February 23 - The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding of José María Ruiz Mateos.
• March 10 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports because of their support of terrorist groups.
• March 10 - Syzygy: all 9 planets align on the same side of the Sun.
• March 19 - Falklands War: Argentines lands on South Georgia Island, precipitating war.
• March 26 - A ground breaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
• March 29 - Royal Assent in London to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) setting the stage for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution (see April 17 below).
• April 2 - Falklands War: Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands starting the war.
• April 17 - By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada repatriates its constitution granting full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• April 25 - Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.
• May 1- A Royal Air Force Vulcan bomber takes off from Ascention Island and bombs Port Stanley Airport, the opening shots of the Falklands War
• May 2- HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano
• May 21- Royal Marines and paratroopers from the British Task Force land at San Carlos Bay on the Falkland Islands and raise the Union Jack.
• May 29- Battle of Goose Green, British Paratroopers defeat a larger force of Argentine troops in the first land battle of the Falklands War.
• May 30 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
• June 14- British Forces reach the outskirts of Port Stanley after "yomping" across East Falkland from San Carlos Bay. They arrive to find the Argentine forces flying white flags of surrender. A formal surrender is agreed that day.
• July 2 - Larry Walters uses 45 helium balloons and a lawnchair to propel himself to 16,000 feet.
• July 9 - A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 on board and eight on the ground.
• July 20 - The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses.
• July 21- HMS Hermes, the Royal Navy flagship during the Falklands War returns home to Portsmouth to a hero's welcome.
• July 23 - The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling by 1985-86.
• August 18 - Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy.
• August 20 - Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon.
• October 1 - Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a Constructive Vote of No Confidence.
• October 8 - Poland bans Solidarity.
• October 19 - John De Lorean is arrested for selling cocaine to undercover police. He was later found "not guilty", due to entrapment.
• November 12 - In the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov is selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Leonid I. Brezhnev.
• November 13 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
• November 14 - The leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, is released from 11 months of internment near the Soviet border.
• November 28 - Representatives from 88 countries gather in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade.
• November 29 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: The United Nations General Assembly passes United Nations Resolution 37/37, stating that the Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.
• December 2 - At the University of Utah, 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark, becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart (he lived for 112 days with the device).
• December 3 - A final soil sample is taken from the site of Times Beach, Missouri. It was found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
• December 4 - The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution.
• December 23 - The Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination.

• December 26 - Time Magazine's Man of the Year was for the first time given to a non-human, a computer.
• The Vietnam Memorial is built in Washington D.C.
• First computer virus, written by Rich Skrenta, escapes into the wild.
• J. C. Hafele and Richard E. Keating prove atomic clock changes depend on Earth's rotation (See Einstein's Special Relativity and General Relativity).
• The Reverend Sun Myung Moon marries 4,150 of his followers at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
• Falklands War takes place from April 2 to June 20.
• A brief but severe recession begins in the United States.
• Seattle officially dubbed the Emerald City after a contest held to choose a new city slogan.

Year in topic

• 1982 in film
  • January 11 - Production begins on the Star Wars sequel, Return of the Jedi.
  • Gandhi
  • Tootsie
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg
  • The THX Sound System is developed for use in movie theaters.
• 1982 in literature
• 1982 in music
• 1982 in sports
  • January 24 - Super Bowl XVI San Francisco 49ers (26) def. Cincinnati Bengals (21)
  • July 13 - Montreal hosts the first baseball All-Star Game outside the United States.
  • Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  • Italy wins Football World Cup in Spain
  • May 30 - Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr plays the first of 2,632 consecutive games. His streak would finish September 20, 2000.
  • June 11 - After a racially filled build up, the WBC world Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, a Black, defeats challenger Gerry Cooney, a White, by a knockout in round 13 at Las Vegas to retain the world championship.
  • November 12 - The Battle of The Champions, Aaron Pryor defeats Alexis Arguello in boxing contest at the Orange Bowl.
  • November 13 - Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim in a Lightweight championship bout that forever changes the landscape of boxing.
  • December 3 - Carnival of Champions, Wilfredo Gomez defeats Lupe Pintor in grueling 14 round bout to retain his world Jr Featherweight title and Thomas Hearns beats Wilfredo Benitez in 15 rounds in historic New Orleans boxing card.
• 1982 in television
  • Cheers and Family Ties debut on NBC
  • February - Late Night with David Letterman debuts on NBC after The Tonight Show.
  • July 28 - Comedian Andy Kaufman and professional wrestler Jerry Lawler get into a fight on-air during an interview on the Late Night with David Letterman show. (The event was later revealed to be a hoax).
  • Surround Sound is introduced for home use by Dolby

Births

• January 19 - Jodie Sweetin
• April 30 - Kirsten Dunst
• June 1 - Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgian tennis player
• June 21 - Prince William of Wales
• August 30 - Andy Roddick, American tennis player
• August 31 - Andrew Christopher, American International Scholar
• September 13 - Nenê, Brazilian NBA player

Deaths

• January 30 - Lightning Hopkins, blues musician
• February 5 - Neil Aggett, South African worker's union leader, (suicide)
• February 11 - Eleanor Powell, tap dancer/wife of Glenn Ford
• February 11 - Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor
• February 12 - Victor Jory, actor
• February 17 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist
• February 17 - Lee Strasberg, acting teacher, actor
• March 2 - Philip K. Dick, science fiction author
• March 5 - John Belushi, actor
• March 6 - Ayn Rand, author
• March 19 - Randy Rhoads, guitarist
• April 5 - Abe Fortas, jurist
• May 8 - Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian racing driver
• May 29 - Romy Schneider, actress (cardiac arrest)
• June 2 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician
• June 8 - Satchel Paige, baseball player
• June 18 - Curt Jurgens, Austrian actor
• August 12 - Salvador Sanchez, world champion boxer
• September 11 - Wilfredo Lam, Cuban artist
• October 4 - Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist
• November 10 - Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union
• November 15 - Vinoba Bhave
• December 9 - Leon Jaworski, Watergate special prosecutor

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Kenneth G. Wilson
• Chemistry - Aaron Klug
• Medicine - Sune K Bergström, Bengt I Samuelsson, John R Vane
• Literature - Gabriel García Márquez
• Peace - Alva Myrdal and Alfonso García Robles
• Economics - George Stigler

Referenced By