- January 15
- HBO and Cinemax pay cable television services initiate scrambling their national satellite feeds. [5]
- The Living Seas opens at World Showcase in EPCOT, Walt Disney World. [1]
- January 18
- 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission - Columbia 7 - returns to Earth. [1]
- New York Lotto pays US$30.5 million to one winner (numbers are 19-20-27-34-41-46). [1]
- January 19
- The first virus program for the IBM PC appears, called the Brain. It infects the boot sector of 360 kB floppy disks. [4] [84]
- January 20
- The first US federal Martin Luther King Day holiday, honoring Martin Luther King Jr., is observed. [1] [84]
- January 21
- Allison J Brown, age 17 of Oklahoma, crowned fourth Miss Teen USA. [1]
- January 23
- First induction of Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley). [1]
- Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. [1]
- January 24
- 43rd Golden Globes: Whoopi Goldberg, Color Purple win. [1]
- January 27
- 13th American Music Awards: Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis and Crystal Gayle. [1]
- January 28
- 25th Space Shuttle mission (51L) - Challenger 10 explodes 73 seconds after liftoff. Killed are: Christa McAuliffe (teacher), Dr Judith Arlene Resnik, US Air Force Major Ellison S Onizuka, US Air Force Francis R Scobee, payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, US Navy Commander Michael J Smith, Ronald E McNair. [1] [84] [129]
- Angolan Unity Leader Jonas Savimbi visits Washington, DC. [1]
- January 31
- In Ohio, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Mary Lund of Minnesota is first female recipient of an artificial heart. [1]
- February 3
- US President Ronald Reagan announces formation of Committee on Challenger Accident. [1]
- February 17
- Johnson and Johnson announces it no longer sells capsule drugs. [1]
- February 20
- International Harvester changes its company name to Navistar International Corp. [228]
- February 24
- Texas Air buys Eastern Airlines for US$676 million. [1]
- February 25
- 28th Grammy Awards: "We Are the World", Sade, Phil Collins win. [1]
- February 27
- The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis. [5] [84]
- March 9
- 16th Easter Seal Telethon raises US$30,100,000. [1]
- United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger; the bodies of all seven astronauts are still inside. [1] [84]
- March 13
- Microsoft shares first trade in public, for US$25.75 per share. The stock market estimates the company value at $661 million, making Bill Gates' holdings worth $390 million. [4]
- March 18
- US Treasury Department announces plans to alter paper money. [1]
- March 23
- 6th Golden Raspberry Awards: Rambo; First Blood Part II wins. [1]
- March 24
- NASA publishes Strategy for Safely Returning the Space Shuttle to Flight Status. [1]
- US and Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra. [1]
- March 25
- Walt Disney World welcomes the 500 millionth guest to enter a Disney park, Don McGrath. [6]
- The 58th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California, with Out of Africa winning Best Picture, William Hurt Best Actor, and Geraldine Page Best Actress. [1] [84]
- US Supreme Court rules Air Force could ban wearing of yarmulkes. [1]
- March 26
- An article in the New York Times charges that Kurt Waldheim, former United Nations Secretary General and candidate for president of Austria, may have been involved in German war crimes during World War II. [84]
- March 27
- Birth of Melissa Stern aka "Baby M" aka Sara Whitehead, surrogate baby, awarded to her dad William Stern. [1]
- March 31
- In Central California, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- April 1
- US submarine Nathaniel Green runs aground in the Irish Sea. [1]
- April 2
- Four US passengers killed by bomb at Trans World Airlines counter in Athens Airport, Greece. [1] [84]
- George Corley Wallace (Governor-Democrat-Alabama) announces retirement plans. [1]
- April 3
- IBM unveils their first laptop computer. [5]
- US national debt hits US$2 trillion. [1]
- April 5
- Two US soldiers and a Turkish woman killed, 230 injured, in West Berlin discotheque bombing. [1] [84]
- April 8
- American actor Clint Eastwood elected mayor of Carmel, California. [1]
- April 10
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 14
- 21st Academy of Country Music Awards: George Strait, Alabama, Reba McEntire. [1]
- April 15
- US aircraft attacks five terrorist locations in Libya; 15 deaths. [1] [84]
- April 17
- IBM produces first megabit-chip. [1]
- April 18
- Robert M Gates becomes deputy director of US Central Intelligence Agency. [1]
- Titan rocket explodes seconds after liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base. [1]
- April 20
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 21
- Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's secret vault on live TV show The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault and finds nothing inside. [1] [84]
- April 22
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 27
- John R MacDougall, as "Captain Midnight", interrupts HBO satellite feed. [1] [84]
- April 29
- 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library. [1]
- May 3
- NASA launches Geos-G; it fails to achieve orbit. [1]
- May 6
- Donald E Pelotte becomes first native American bishop. [1]
- May 7
- In Andreanof Islands, Alaska, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs. Tsunami generated with observed wave heights up to 175 cm. [53]
- May 12
- US President Ronald Reagan appoints Dr James C Fletcher NASA Administrator. [1]
- May
- Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries sells a US 1868 3-cent rose George Washington postage stamp with "B" grill embossing for US$47,500 (US$52,250 with buyer's fee). The stamp is one of four known. [302.24]
- May 20
- Christy Fichtner, age 23, of Texas, crowned 35th Miss USA. [1]
- May 21
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- May 23
- US and West Europeans veto heavier sanctions against South Africa. [1]
- May 25
- Hands Across America - 7 million people hold hands from California to New York, to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness. [1] [5] [84]
- May 27
- US President Ronald Reagan orders two Poseidon-class submarines be dismantled. [1]
- May 29
- 59th National Spelling Bee: Jon Pennington wins spelling "odontalgia". [1]
- June 2
- New York City transit system issues a new brass with steel bullseye token. [1]
- Regular TV coverage of US Senate sessions begins. [1]
- June 4
- Jonathan Pollard, spy for Israel, pleads guilty in US court to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence. [1] [84]
- June 9
- The Rogers Commission report on space shuttle Challenger disaster blames Morton Thiokol. [1] [84]
- June 13
- US President Ronald Reagan criticizes South African state of emergency. [1]
- June 17
- US Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns; Antonin Scalia nominated. [1]
- June 18
- 52 die in plane/helicopter collision over Grand Canyon. [1]
- June 21
- US President Ronald Reagan gives speech defending his judicial appointments. [1]
- June 23
- Tip O'Neill refuses to let US President Ronald Reagan address House. [1]
- June 24
- Guy Hunt elected first Republican governor of Alabama in 112 years. [1]
- June 27
- US informs New Zealand it will not defend it against attack. [1]
- World Court rules US aid to Nicaraguan contras illegal. [1]
- July 2
- US Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in two rulings. [1]
- July 3
- US President Ronald Reagan presides over relighting of renovated Statue of Liberty. [1]
- July 5
- The newly recognized sovereign tribe Mashantucket Pequot open a US$4 million bingo hall on tribal land in Connecticut, USA. Construction was funded by a loan from the United Arab-American Bank. (By 2004 it becomes the world's most profitable casino.) [187.xvii,437]
- First Lady Nancy Reagan cuts red, white and blue ribbon; reopens Statue of Liberty to the public following an extensive refurbishing. [1] [84]
- July 7
- US Supreme Court strikes down Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction law. [1]
- July 8
- U.S. Steel changes its company name to USX Corporation. [228]
- NASA establishes Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance standards for space shuttle program. [1]
- In North Palm Springs, California, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 13
- In the California - Mexico border region, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 14
- NASA releases plan to implement recommendations of Rogers commission. [1]
- Richard W Miller becomes first FBI agent convicted of espionage. [1]
- July 21
- In the California - Nevada border region, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 22
- House of Representatives impeaches Judge Harry E Claiborne on tax evasion. [1]
- July 24
- San Francisco Federal jury convicts navy radioman Jerry Whitworth of espionage. [1]
- July 28
- NASA releases transcript from doomed Challenger, pilot Michael Smith could be heard saying, "Uh-oh!" as spacecraft disintegrated. [1]
- August 6
- William J Schroeder, second person to receive permanent artificial heart, dies at age 54 in Louisville, Kentucky, after 620 days with Jarvik VII man-made pump. [1] [84]
- August 7
- Daniel Buettner, Bret Anderson, Martin Engel, and Anne Knabe begin cycling journey of 15,266 miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Argentina. [1]
- August 15
- US President Ronald Reagan decides to support a replacement for the space shuttle Challenger. [1]
- August 17
- Bronze pig statue unveiled at Seattle's Pike Place Market. [1]
- August 20
- In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers before committing suicide. [1] [84]
- August 26
- Jennifer Levin strangled by Robert Chambers in Central Park, New York. [1]
- August 28
- US Navy officer Jerry A Whitworth sentenced to 365 years for spying. [1]
- August 31
- Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9, collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 on both aircraft and 15 on the ground. [1] [84]
- The cargo ship Khian Sea departs from the docks of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, carrying 14,000 tons of toxic waste. (It will wander the seas for the next 16 months trying to find a place to dump its cargo.) [84]
- September 5
- NASA awards study contracts to five aerospace firms. [1]
- September 9
- At the Palladium in Manhattan, New York, Compaq Computer introduces the Compaq Deskpro 386, the first 80386-based personal computer offered by a major computer manufacturer. The Model 40 features a 16 MHz Intel 80386 and 40 MB hard drive, for US$6449. The Model 130 has a 130 MB hard drive, for US$8799. [4]
- New York City jury indicts Gennadly Zakharov (Soviet United Nations employee) of spying. [1]
- September 10
- Bryan O'Connor named chairman of US Space Flight Safety Panel. [1]
- September 11
- Dow Jones Industrial Average suffers biggest one-day decline ever, plummeting 86.61 points to 1,792.89. 237.57 million shares traded. [1]
- September 12
- The 3-D film Captain Eo, starring Michael Jackson, opens in the Magic Eye Theater in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. It cost over US$17 million to produce, making it the most costly movie to date, at about US$1 million per minute. Lucasfilm provided more than 150 special effects for the 17-minute movie. [6]
- US professor Joseph Cicippio is kidnapped and held hostage in Beirut, Lebanon. [1]
- September 13
- Kellye Cash (Miss Tennessee) crowned Miss America. [1]
- September 17
- US Senate confirms William Rehnquist as 16th chief justice. [1]
- September 18
- Motorola announces the Motorola 68030 microprocessor. It incorporates about 300,000 transistors. [4]
- September 19
- US Federal health officals announce AZT will be available to AIDS patients. [1]
- September 26
- Antonin Scalia becomes a US Supreme Court Justice. [1]
- William Rehnquist becomes Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. [1]
- September 27
- US Senate joins House of Representatives voting for sweeping tax reforms. [1]
- September 29
- USSR releases US journalist Nicholas Daniloff confined on spy charges. [1]
- September 30
- US releases Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov. [1]
- October 1
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Goldwater-Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947. [84]
- US President Jimmy Carter's presidential library/museum dedicated in Atlanta, Georgia. [1]
- October 3
- Soviet Yankee-class submarine sinks off North Carolina, three die. [1]
- October 9
- News Corporation completes its acquisition of the Metromedia group of companies, thereby launching Fox Broadcasting Company. [84]
- US Senate convicts US District Judge Harry E Claiborne making him the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment. [1] [84]
- October 11
- US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe (the talks break down in failure). [1] [84]
- October 12
- The Golden Horseshoe Revue show closes in Disneyland. It is the longest running show in history, at nearly 50,000 performances. [6]
- October 16
- Armand Hammer returns to US with Jewish refusenik David Goldfarb. [1]
- US government closes down due to budget problems. [1]
- October 17
- US Senate approves immigration bill prohibiting hiring of illegal aliens and offering amnesty to illegals who entered prior to 1982. [1]
- October 19
- USSR expels five American diplomats. [1]
- October 20
- The US Mint launches the American Eagle 0.9167 fine gold bullion coin program. [436.72] [684.18]
- October 22
- Jane Dornacker, traffic reporter for WNBC radio in New York City, is killed when the helicopter she is broadcasting live from crashes into the Hudson River. [1] [84] [467]
- November 3
- The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret in order to secure the release of 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon. [1] [84]
- November 4
- Democrats regain control of the United States Senate for the first time in six years. [1] [84]
- In California, Chief Justice Rose Bird and two colleagues are removed by voters from the Supreme Court of California for opposing capital punishment. [84]
- November 6
- US President Ronald Reagan signs landmark immigration reform bill. [1]
- November 13
- NASA launches space vehicle S-199. [1]
- US violates Iran arms boycott. [1]
- November 14
- US Securities and Exchange Commission imposes a record US$100 million penalty against Ivan Boesky. [1]
- November 21
- US National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start shredding documents implicating them in selling weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. [84]
- November 25
- U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. [84]
- November 26
- U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will serve as members of the Special Review Board looking into the Iran-Contra arms scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission). Reagan denies involvement in the scandal. [84] (November 25 [1])
- November 28
- Reagan administration exceeds SALT II arms limitations for first time. [1]
- December 4
- NASA launches Fltsatcom-7. [1]
- December 8
- US House Democrats select majority leader Jim Wright as 48th speaker. [1]
- December 14
- Voyager experimental aircraft, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, California on first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. [1] [84]
- December 15
- US Central Intelligence Agency director William Casey suffers a cerebral seizure. [1]
- Carnegie Hall reopens after a US$50 million facelift. [1]
- December 17
- US Congress forms "Irangate" committee. [1]
- December 18
- Robert Gates serves as acting director of US Central Intelligence Agency. [1]
- December 20
- Three African Americans are assaulted by a group of white teens in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York. One of the victims, Michael Griffith, is run over and killed by a motorist while attempting to flee the attackers. [1] [84]
- December 23
- Voyager airplane completes the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds. [1] [84]
- December 30
- US begins military exercises in Honduras. [1]
- December 31
- A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140. [1] [84]
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