1982

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 drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off
     the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers.
   * 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 30 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the the first nation
     to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
   * 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 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.
   * 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 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.

Art, Culture & Fashion

   * 1982 in film
        o January - Production begins on the Star Wars sequel, Return of the
          Jedi.
        o Gandhi
        o Tootsie
        o E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg
        o The THX Sound System is developed for use in movie theaters.
   * 1982 in sports
        o January 24 - Super Bowl XVI San Francisco 49ers (26) def.
          Cincinnati Bengals (21)
        o July 13 - Montreal hosts the first baseball All-Star Game outside
          the United States.
        o Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
        o Italy wins Football World Cup in Spain
        o May 30 - Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr plays the first of 2,632
          consecutive games. His streak would finish September 20, 2000.
        o 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.
        o November 12 - The Battle of The Champions, Aaron Pryor defeats
          Alexis Arguello in boxing contest at the Orange Bowl.
        o November 13 - Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim in a Lightweight
          championship bout that forever changes the landscape of boxing.
        o 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
        o Cheers and Family Ties debut on NBC
        o February - Late Night with David Letterman debuts on NBC after The
          Tonight Show.
        o 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).
        o Surround Sound is introduced for home use by Dolby

Births

   * January 19 - Jodie Sweetin
   * March 4 - Matthias Dix, German story writer.
   * 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

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
   * May 29 - Romy Schneider, actress (cardiac arrest)
   * June 8 - Satchel Paige, baseball player
   * August 12 - Salvador Sanchez, world champion boxer
   * 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 Bergstršm, Bengt I Samuelsson, John R Vane
   * Literature - Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez
   * Peace - Alva Myrdal and Alfonso Garc’a Robles
   * Economics - George Stigler