October 1984

Friday 05:

Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Sunday 07:

NFL running back Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown's rushing record.

Thursday 11:

Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American women to perform a space walk.

Friday 12:

Brighton hotel bombing: Margaret Thatcher survives an IRA bomb, which shredded her bathroom barely two minutes after she had left it

Tuesday 16:

Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Wednesday 17:

The New York Times runs an article titled "CIA primer tells nicaraguan rebels how to kill", which describes a secret "Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare" manual that the CIA supplied to the Contras and that gives instructions on how to kidnap and assassinate civil officials such as judges and policemen.

Friday 26:

1984 - The Terminator is released in theaters nationwide.

Wednesday 31:

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards (riots soon broke out in New Delhi and nearly 2,000 innocent Sikhs were killed).