- January 17
- 10th American Music Awards: Kenny Rogers. [1]
- Alabama Governor George C Wallace becomes governor for record fourth time. [1]
- January 19
- Apple Computer announces the Lisa computer. It features a 5 MHz 68000 processor, 12-inch monochrome monitor, 720x364 graphics, two 5.25-inch floppy drives, 5 MB hard drive, and six integrated programs. Its initial price is US$10,000. It is the first commercial personal computer with a graphical user interface. [4] [115]
- January 21
- US President Ronald Reagan certifies El Salvador human-rights abuses have decreased making country eligible for US military aid. [1]
- January 23
- Cerebral Palsy telethon raises US$14,700,000. [1]
- January 26
- Lotus 1-2-3 is released for IBM-PC-compatible computers. [115]
- Dutch/British infrared satellite IRAS launched from California. [1]
- January 29
- 40th Golden Globes: Gandhi, ET and Tootsie win. [1]
- February 11
- Fourth largest snowfall in New York City history (18 inches (46cm)). [1]
- February 13
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims 1983 "The Year of the Bible". [115]
- February 17
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 18
- Thirteen people are killed in an attempted robbery in Seattle, Washington. [115]
- February 23
- 25th Grammy Awards: Rosanna, Toto IV, Men at Work win. [1]
- US immigration judge Gordon Sacks orders Feodor Fedorenko deported to the Soviet Union, his birthplace. Fedorenko had served as a guard in a German death camp in Treblinka, Poland, between 1942 and 1945. [10]
- The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intention to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri. [115]
- February 24
- A special commission of the Congress of the United States releases a report critical of the practice of Japanese internment during World War II. [115]
- February 26
- Michael Jackson's Thriller album goes to number one on chart and stays there for 37 weeks. [1]
- February 28
- Final TV episode of MASH airs (CBS); record 125 million watch. [1]
- March 1
- Tornado tears through Louisiana, USA, injuring 33 people. [1]
- March 7
- TNN (The Nashville Network) begins on Cable TV. [1]
- March 8
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire." [1] [115]
- US House Foreign Affairs Committee endorses nuclear weapons freeze with USSR. [1]
- IBM announces the IBM Personal Computer XT. It features an Intel 8088 processor, 10 MB hard drive, 128 kB RAM, and one double-sided 360 kB floppy drive. Price is $4995. "XT" stands for eXtended Technology. [4] [115]
- March 9
- Anne Burford resigns as head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency amid scandal. [115]
- March 21
- Only known typo on Time Magazine cover ("contol" instead of "control"), all recalled. [1]
- March 23
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan makes his initial Strategic Defense Initiative proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. The media dub this plan "Star Wars." [1] [115]
- Dr Barney Clark, first artificial heart recipient, dies after 112 days at age 62. [1]
- March 24
- The redesigned 1984 model Corvette sports car goes on sale in California, USA. [8]
- March 25
- During the anniversary show Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever Michael Jackson thrills the audience by dancing and singing while performing his hit song Billie Jean. The highlight of his act is his signature move: the moonwalk, which he performs in public for the first time. [115]
- March 26
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 4
- 6th space shuttle mission, Challenger 1 launched. [1]
- April 7
- STS-6: Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts Story Musgrave and Donald H. Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk (duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes). [1] [115]
- April 9
- 6th Space Shuttle Mission-Challenger 1 returns to Earth. [1]
- April 11
- The 55th Academy Awards, hosted by Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore, Richard Pryor, and Walter Matthau, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. Gandhi wins Best Picture, Ben Kingsley wins Best Actor, Meryl Streep wins Best Actress. [1] [115]
- April 13
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 14
- US President Ronald Reagan signs US$165 billion Social Security rescue. [1]
- April 15
- American Public Radio is founded. [115]
- April 17
- First National Coin Week begins. [1]
- April 18
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Alice Walker for The Color Purple. [1]
- The U.S Embassy is bombed in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 people. [115]
- The Disney Channel, a cable-TV network, begins broadcasting, at 7:00 AM, with a show called Good Morning, Mickey. The service runs for 18 hours per day. [6]
- April 21
- Scandal-plagued Jackie Presser is elected president of the Teamsters. [115]
- April 25
- The Soviet Union releases a letter that Russian leader Yuri Andropov wrote to Samantha Smith, an American fifth-grade student in Manchester, Maine, inviting her to visit his country. Andropov's letter came in response to a note Smith had sent him in December 1982, asking him if the Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war. [1] [115] [129]
- May 2
- In Coalinga, California, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs, injuring 487. [1] [53]
- May 3
- US bishops condemn nuclear weapons. [1]
- May 5
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- May 9
- 18th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama and Willie Nelson win. [1]
- May 12
- Julie Lynne Hayek (California) crowned 32nd Miss USA. [1]
- May 15
- Madison Hotel (Boston, Massachusetts) destroyed by implosion. [1]
- May 17
- Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. [1] [115]
- May 18
- US Senate revises immigration laws, gives millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program. [1]
- May 24
- US Supreme Court rules government can deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminate against students. [1]
- May 25
- Return of the Jedi (Star Wars VI) released to theaters. [1]
- May 26
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- May 27
- Former EPA official Rita Lavelle indicted for contempt of US Congress. [1]
- June 2
- Toilet catches fire on Air Canada's DC-9, 23 die at Cincinnati, Ohio. [1]
- June 10
- Texas Instruments announces that poor sales of TI 99/4A computers, software, and peripherals would result in a second quarter loss of US$100 million. The news drives the company's stock price down almost US$50. (After shipping one million of the computers, Texas Instruments cancels plans for TI 99/2 and TI 99/8 computers, and withdraws from the home computer market.) [4]
- June 13
- Pioneer 10 becomes first man-made object to leave solar system. [1] [5] [115]
- June 14
- Fire kills five at a Ramada Inn in Fort Worth, Texas. [1]
- June 15
- US Supreme Court strikes down state and local restrictions on abortion. [1]
- June 18
- Irish Republican Army's Joseph Doherty arrested in New York City. [1]
- STS-7: Space Shuttle Challenger 2 mission launched; Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. [1] [115]
- June 22
- First time a satellite is retrieved from orbit by Space Shuttle. [1]
- June 28
- Bridge section along I-95 in Greenwich, Connecticut collapses killing three. [1]
- July 1
- Cinematronics releases Dragon's Lair to arcade centers in the USA. It is the first laser-disc-based coin-operated arcade game. Cost per play is 50-cents. Advanced Microcomputer Systems designed the game, with animation provided by Don Bluth Animations. [9]
- July 5
- Woman gives birth to baby 84 days after brain death (Roanoke, Virginia). [1]
- Angela M. Buchanan's term as Treasurer of the US ends. [548.99]
- July 6
- US Supreme Court rules retirement plans can't pay women less than men. [1]
- July 7
- Eleven-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, leaves for USSR, on invitation of Soviet leader. [1] [115]
- July 21
- US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge. [1]
- July 25
- First nonhuman primate (baboon) conceived in a lab dish, San Antonio, Texas. [1]
- Washington Public Power Supply System defaults on US$2.25 billion loan. [1]
- July 30
- Official speed record for a piston-driven aircraft, 832 kph, California. [1]
- August 1
- America West Airlines begins operations out of Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. [115]
- August 7
- Some 675,000 employees strike AT&T. [1]
- August 18
- Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing extensive damage. [1] [115]
- August 24
- The Old Philadelphia Arena is destroyed by arson. [115]
- August 25
- US and USSR sign US$10 billion grain pact. [1]
- August 30
- STS-8: Space Shuttle Challenger launched into space. [1] [115]
- September 13
- US mint strikes first gold coin in 50 years (Olympic Eagle). [1]
- September 14
- US House of Representatives votes 416 to 0 in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner. [1]
- September 16
- The Austrian body building champion and movie actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, becomes a U. S. citizen. [1] [37]
- September 17
- Vanessa Lynn Williams is crowned Miss America, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. [1] [115]
- September 23
- Katherine Davalos Ortega begins term as US Treasurer. [474.64]
- September 27
- The GNU Project is announced publicly on the net.unix-wizards and net.usoft newsgroups. [115]
- September 29
- First time US Congress invokes War Powers Act. [1]
- October 4
- Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 1019 kph (633.468 mph), driving Thrust 2 jet-powered car at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. [1] [115]
- October 7
- In New York, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurs. [53]
- October 11
- Last hand-cranked telephones in the US go out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, are switched over to direct-dial. [1]
- October 15
- US Marine sharpshooters kill five snipers at Beirut International Airport, Lebanon. [1]
- October 23
- Simultaneous suicide truck-bombings destroy both the French and the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 US servicemen, 58 French paratroopers and six Lebanese civilians. [1] [115]
- October 25
- Microsoft Word is first released for personal computers. [115]
- United States troops invade Grenada at the behest of Eugenia Charles of Dominica, a member of the Organization of American States. [1] [115]
- November 1
- IBM announces the IBM PCjr. It features an Intel 8088 CPU, 64 kB RAM, detached keyboard, cartridge slots, and joystick, for $670. (Production lasts for about a year, when IBM discontinues the system.) [4]
- November 2
- At the White House Rose Garden, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honor American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. [1] [115]
- Archbishop Hickey conducts papal investigation of Archbishop Hunthausen, Seattle. [1]
- November 3
- The Reverend Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the 1984 Democratic Party US presidential nomination. [1] [115]
- November 7
- Bomb explodes in US Capitol, causing heavy damage but no injuries. [1]
- November 10
- At the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City, Microsoft formally announces Microsoft Windows for the IBM PC. This is the most elaborate product introduction in industry history. Windows is promised for release in April, 1984. Bill Gates predicts that by the end of 1984, Windows would be used on over 90 percent of all IBM compatible PCs. (The first version doesn't even ship until late 1985.) [4]
- November 11
- Ronald Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the Diet, Japan's national legislature. [1] [115]
- November 13
- The first United States cruise missiles arrive at Greenham Common Airbase in England amid protests from peace campaigners. [115]
- November 14
- President Ronald Reagan signs Public Law 98-151, including a mandate for the Treasury Secretary to annually produce Uncirculated and Proof Mint sets. [474.101]
- November 16
- A jury in Gretna, Louisiana acquits Ginny Foat of the murder of Argentine businessman Moses Chaiyo. [115]
- In Hawaii, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- November 20
- In the U.S., an estimated 100 million people watch the controversial made-for-television movie The Day After, depicting a nuclear war and its effects on the United States. [1] [5]
- November 28
- 9th Space Shuttle Mission - Columbia 6 - is launched. [1]
- November 30
- Radio Shack announces the Tandy Model 2000 computer (80186 chip). [1]
- December 1
- Rita Lavelle, former head of EPA, convicted of perjury. [1]
- December 2
- Michael Jackson's music video for "Thriller" is broadcast for the first time. [115]
- December 4
- US jet fighters strike Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon. [1]
- December 8
- 9th Space Shuttle Mission - Columbia 6 - lands at Edwards Air Force Base. [1]
- Richard Baker, Zen teacher, steps down from abbotship of San Francisco Zen Center. [1]
- December 9
- US Attorney General Edwin Meese says people go to soup kitchens "...because the food is free and that's easier than paying for it". [1]
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- December 12
- A truck bomb explodes at the US Embassy in Kuwait. [1]
- December 15
- Last 80 US combat soldiers in Grenada withdraw. [1]
- December 16
- Riverside, California judge denies cerebral palsy victim Elizabeth Bouviato request to starve herself to death in a county hospital. [1]
- December 23
- Journal Science publishes first report on nuclear winter. [1]
- December 27
- A propane explosion in Buffalo, New York kills five firefighters and two civilians, and devastates 16 square blocks. [1] [115]
- December 28
- US says they will leave UNESCO on December 31, 1984. [1]
- December 29
- The Reverend Jesse Jackson travels to Syria to secure the release of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who has been in Syrian captivity after being shot down over the country on a reconnaissance mission. [115]
- Year
- In the USA, an estimated US$2.2 billion is raised in State government lottery income, from ticket sales of US$5.6 billion. [86.67,131,224]
- In the USA, total casino gaming income: US$107.5 billion. [86.224]
- In the USA, total bingo gaming income: US$3.1 billion. [86.224]
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