1983 - What happened in 1983 ?

January 1983

Tuesday 18:

The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe Olympic medals to his family.

Wednesday 19:

The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Computer, Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.

Saturday 22:

Björn Borg retires from tennis after winning five consecutive Wimbledon championships.

Wednesday 26:

Lotus 1-2-3 is released.

Sunday 30:

Super Bowl XVII: The Washington Redskins defeat the Miami Dolphins, 27-17, thus winning their first NFL championship since 1942.

February 1983

Tuesday 08:

Irish racehorse Shergar was kidnapped in County Kildare. The fate of the horse is still unknown.

Friday 11:

President Ronald Reagan declares Edisons birthday National Inventors' Day

Wednesday 23:

The Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.

Thursday 24:

A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.

Monday 28:

The final episode of M*A*S*H is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source).

March 1983

Saturday 05:

Bob Hawke becomes Australian prime minister after defeating Malcolm Fraser in Australian elections.

Sunday 06:

The United States Football League begins its first year of competition.

Monday 07:

The Nashville Network (TNN) begins broadcasting.

Wednesday 16:

Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last radio tower in Germany built of wood.

Wednesday 23:

Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

April 1983

Monday 04:

Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space.

Thursday 07:

During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk (duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes).

Friday 15:

Tokyo Disneyland opens.

Monday 18:

A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.

Saturday 30:

Michael Jackson's song "Beat It" hits number 1 on the Billboard music charts.

May 1983

Sunday 01:

Edwin El Chapo Rosario wins boxing's vacant WBC world Lightweight title by beating Jose Luis Ramirez in San Juan, by points in 12 rounds, becoming Puerto Rico's 14th world boxing champion. A young Julio Cesar Chavez also wins as part of the undercard.

Tuesday 17:

Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Friday 20:

First publications of the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnierhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6189183&query_hl=65 and Robert Gallohttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6601823&query_hl=62 individually.

June 1983

Monday 13:

Pioneer 10 becomes the first manmade object to leave the solar system.

Thursday 16:

Yuri Andropov becomes president of the USSR

Saturday 18:

Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space

Friday 24:

Yasir Arafat banned from Damascus.

Saturday 25:

India wins the Cricket World Cup.

July 1983

Friday 01:

A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea crashes into the Fouta Djall Mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board.

Thursday 07:

Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Premier Yuri Andropov

Monday 11:

A Boeing 727 crashes into hilly terrain after a tail strike in Cuenca, Ecuador, claiming 119 lives.

Saturday 16:

Sikorsky S-61 disaster: helicopter crash off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.

Saturday 23:

Gimli Glider: Air Canada flight 143 crash-lands in Gimli, Manitoba.

August 1983

Wednesday 03:

Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launches the Antiimperialist Action Front-Suxxali Reew Mi.

Thursday 04:

New York Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield accidentally killed a seagull during a baseball game and was charged by police for his "act of cruelty to animals". His manager Billy Martin quipped, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man."

Tuesday 09:

Peter Jennings hosts his first broadcast of ABC's World News Tonight as sole anchor.

Thursday 18:

Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD $1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).

September 1983

Tuesday 06:

The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Flight KAL-007, stating that the pilots did not know it was a civilian aircraft when it violated Soviet airspace.

Friday 09:

Aaron Pryor beats Alexis Arguello by knockout in round ten of a rematch of their 1982 controversial fight, dubbed The Battle of The Champions.

Thursday 15:

Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.

Saturday 17:

Vanessa Williams becomes first African American Miss America.

Tuesday 27:

Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system.

October 1983

Tuesday 04:

Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, United States.

Wednesday 12:

Japan's ex Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed and is sentenced to 4 years in jail

Thursday 13:

Ameritech Mobile Communications (now Cingular) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago.

Sunday 23:

Lebanon Civil War: U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut hit by truck bomb, killing 241 US Servicemen. French barracks also hit the same morning, killing 58. The US responds by withdrawing its troops from the region.

Tuesday 25:

Operation Urgent Fury: The United States and Caribbean allies invade Grenada, six days after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and several of his supporters were executed in a coup d'état.

November 1983

Wednesday 02:

US President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King Day.

Monday 07:

A bomb explodes inside the US Capitol building.

Tuesday 15:

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is founded.

Sunday 20:

An estimated 100 million people watch the controversial made-for-television movie The Day After, depicting the start of a nuclear war.

Sunday 27:

A Colombian Boeing 747 crashes near Barajas Airport, in Madrid killing 183

December 1983

Saturday 10:

Lech Wałęsa wins the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is accepted by his wife, Danuta.

Monday 12:

Dallos is the first OAV (Original Animation Video) ever released.

Saturday 31:

The last day that the AT&T Bell System exists before being broken up by the United States Government.