What Happened in 1983 — Events, Births & Deaths

The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.

United Airlines Flight 2885 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing three.

Turkish Airlines Flight 158 crashes at Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, Turkey, killing 47 and injuring 20.

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

The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.

Singapore cable car crash: Panamanian-registered oil rig, Eniwetok, strikes the cables of the Singapore Cable Car system linking the mainland and Sentosa Island, causing two cabins to fall into the water and killing seven people and leaving thirteen others trapped for hours.

A dust storm hits Melbourne, resulting in the worst drought on record and severe weather conditions in the city.

One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.

A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people.

United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud.

The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75.

Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.

The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

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

A special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.

The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers.

Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.

Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an "evil empire".

Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.

The first cases of the 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic begin; Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of poison gas, but the cause is later determined mostly to be psychosomatic.

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

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space on STS-6.

The People's Armed Police is officially founded.

During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.

Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago.

Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.

The West German news magazine Stern begins publishing excerpts from the purported diaries of Adolf Hitler, later revealed to be forgeries.

The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.

The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world's largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds [1.9 kt]), in response to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.

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

First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by a team of French scientists including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Jean-Claude Chermann, and Luc Montagnier.

Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by UMkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.

The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.

After an emergency landing because of an in-flight fire, twenty-three passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane's doors open. Because of this incident, numerous new safety regulations are put in place.

Gordon Kahl, who killed two US Marshals in Medina, North Dakota on February 13, is killed in a shootout in Smithville, Arkansas, along with a local sheriff, after a four-month manhunt.

More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel, yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.

Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 loses one of its propellers in flight resulting in damage to the flight controls. The Lockheed L-188 Electra makes an emergency landing at Anchorage International Airport and there are no injuries.

Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the central Solar System when it passes beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Space Shuttle program: STS-7, astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.

Mona Mahmudnizhad, together with nine other women of the Baháʼí Faith, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran, over her religious beliefs.

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

The Ministry of State Security is established as China's principal intelligence agency

Cold War: Samantha Smith, a United States schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.

A TAME airline Boeing 737-200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board.

Mario Bros. is released in Japan, beginning the popular Super Mario Bros franchise.

An attack at Orly Airport in Paris is launched by Armenian militant organisation ASALA, leaving eight people dead and 55 injured.

Nintendo and Sega enter the console market with the respective releases of the Famicom and SG-1000 in Japan.

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

The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.

The world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

Martial law in Poland is officially revoked.

Thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.

The Black July anti-Tamil riots begin in Sri Lanka, killing between 400 and 3,000. Black July is generally regarded as the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

George Brett, playing for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Yankees, has a game-winning home run nullified in the "Pine Tar Incident".

Black July: Thirty-seven Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by the fellow Sinhalese prisoners.

Black July: Eighteen Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by Sinhalese prisoners, the second such massacre in two days.

Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, president of the military government of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Captain Thomas Sankara.

Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 21 people and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).

Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. is assassinated at Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor).

Aeroflot Flight 5463 crashes into Dolan Mountain while approaching Almaty International Airport in present-day Kazakhstan, killing all 90 people on board.

STS-8: The Space Shuttle Challenger takes off on the first night launch of the shuttle program. Guion Bluford becomes the first African-American in space on this mission.

Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the commercial aircraft strayed into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 on board, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald.

The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, stating that its operatives did not know that it was a civilian aircraft when it reportedly violated Soviet airspace.

A Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is robbed of approximately US$7 million by Los Macheteros.

The USSR vetoes a United Nations Security Council Resolution deploring the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.

Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.

Saint Kitts and Nevis gains its independence.

Gulf Air Flight 771 is destroyed by a bomb, killing all 112 people on board.

Thirty-eight IRA prisoners, armed with six handguns, hijack a prison meals lorry and smash their way out of the Maze Prison.

Soviet Air Force officer Stanislav Petrov identifies a report of an incoming nuclear missile as a computer error and not an American first strike, thus preventing nuclear war.

Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L, intended to launch a crew to the Salyut 7 space station, explodes on the launch pad. The launch escape system is activated before the Soyuz-U rocket explodes, saving the crew.

John Pat, a 16-year old Aboriginal Australian boy, dies of injuries inflicted by four off-duty police officers in Roebourne, a catalyst to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 miles per hour (1,019.468 km/h) at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.

South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan survives an assassination attempt in Rangoon, Burma, but the blast kills 21 and injures 17 others.

Japan's former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from the Lockheed Corporation, and is sentenced to four years in jail.

Ameritech Mobile Communications launches the first US cellular network in Chicago.

The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

Two correctional officers are killed by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. The incident inspires the Supermax model of prisons.

Lebanese Civil War: The U.S. Marines Corps barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. A French Army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops.

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

The first democratic elections in Argentina, after seven years of military rule, are held.

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake in the Turkish provinces of Erzurum and Kars leaves approximately 1,340 people dead.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Byford Dolphin diving bell accident kills five and leaves one severely injured.

United States Senate bombing: A bomb explodes inside the United States Capitol. No one is injured, but an estimated $250,000 in damage is caused.

Cold War: The command post exercise Able Archer 83 begins, eventually leading to the Soviet Union to place air units in East Germany and Poland on alert, for fear that NATO was preparing for war

TAAG Angola Airlines Flight 462 crashes after takeoff from Lubango Airport killing all 130 people on board. UNITA claims to have shot down the aircraft, though this is disputed.

Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declares independence; it is only recognized by Turkey.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.

Aeroflot Flight 6833 is hijacked en route from Tbilisi to Leningrad. After returning to Tbilisi, the aircraft is subsequently raided on the ground, resulting in seven deaths.

Brink's-Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are stolen from the Brink's-Mat vault at Heathrow Airport.

Avianca Flight 011: A Boeing 747 crashes near Madrid's Barajas Airport, killing 181.

Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-9, the first mission to carry the European Space Agency's Spacelab module.

US Navy aircraft from USS John F. Kennedy and USS Independence attack Syrian missile sites in Lebanon in response to an F-14 being fired on by an SA-7. One A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair are shot down. One American pilot is killed, one is rescued, and one is captured.

Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.

An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxiing down the runway at Madrid–Barajas Airport, killing 93 people.

Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín.

Provisional IRA members detonate a car bomb at Harrods Department Store in London. Three police officers and three civilians are killed.

The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Aeroflot Flight 601 crashes during takeoff from Leshukonskoye Airport, Russia, killing 44 of the 49 people on board.

Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia's prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter's Square.

The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.

Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.

In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.

Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player

Paulo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player

Gavin Floyd, American baseball player

Lee Grant, English footballer

Tim Gleason, American ice hockey player

Hannibal Buress, American comedian and actor

Rebecca White, Australian politician

Anja Hammerseng-Edin, Norwegian handball player

Brian Duensing, American baseball player

Clint McKay, Australian cricketer

Iliza Shlesinger, American stand-up comedian, actress and television host

Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer

Mido, Egyptian footballer, manager and sportscaster

Jerome Harrison, American football player

Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer

Efstathios Aloneftis, Greek-Cypriot footballer

Chokwe Antar Lumumba, American attorney, activist and politician

Claudio Bravo, Chilean footballer

Hunter Pence, American baseball player

Simona La Mantia, Italian triple jumper

James McFadden, Scottish footballer

William Obeng, Ghanaian-American football player

Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Georgian basketball player

Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player

Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player

Joe Mauer, American baseball player

Miranda Kerr, Australian model

Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (died 2020)

Kim Wall, British sprinter

Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist

Shkëlzen Shala, Albanian entrepreneur and veganism activist

José María López, Argentinian racing driver

Jessica Lynch, American soldier

Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player

Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player

Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor

Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist

Anahí, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Frank Gore, American football player

Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwean cricketer

Gary O'Neil, English footballer

Michael Che, American comedian

Jessica Fox, English actress

Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer

Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player

Pasquale Foggia, Italian footballer

Michael Krohn-Dehli, Danish footballer

Kim Clijsters, Belgian tennis player; winner of six Grand Slam tournament titles.

Chuck Hayes, American basketball player

José Reyes, Dominican baseball player

Bryan Habana, South African rugby player

Christine Sinclair, Canadian soccer player

Laura Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Josh McGuire, Canadian fencer

Macklemore, American rapper

Brooks Laich, Canadian ice hockey player

Marc Janko, Austrian footballer

Marcus Burghardt, German cyclist

Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer-songwriter

Gregory Smith, Canadian actor, director, and producer

Rich Peverley, Canadian ice hockey player

Giuseppe De Feudis, Italian footballer

Matthew Egan, Australian footballer

Gabi, Spanish footballer

Kim Hee-chul, Korean entertainer and singer

Katrina Kaif, British Indian actress and model

Duncan Keith, Canadian ice hockey player

Adam Lind, American baseball player

Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter

Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer

Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (died 2014)

Siobhan Chamberlain, English association football goalkeeper

Jennifer Landon, American actress

Antti Niemi, Finnish ice hockey player

Anthony Recker, American baseball player

Vivian Cheruiyot, Kenyan runner

Yuka Hirata, Japanese actress and model

Liam Finn, Australian-New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist

Ricardo Quaresma, Portuguese footballer

Ryan Garry, English footballer and coach

Travis Pastrana, American motorcycle racer

Betty Heidler, German hammer thrower

Lin Dan, Chinese badminton player

Ebonette Deigaeruk, Nauruan weightlifter

Darren Young, American wrestler

Rob Elloway, German rugby player

Ted Potter Jr., American golfer

Michael Turner, English footballer

Kalle Kriit, Estonian cyclist

Maleli Kunavore, Fijian rugby player (died 2012)

Fatih Yiğituşağı, Turkish footballer

Dean Ashton, English footballer

Lars Eckert, German rugby player

André Laurito, German footballer

Gwilym Lee, Welsh actor

José López, Venezuelan baseball player

Shavlik Randolph, American basketball player

Karine Vanasse, Canadian actress and producer

Jhulan Goswami, Indian cricketer

Professor Green, English rapper

Henrik Karlsson, Swedish-Kazakhstani ice hockey player

Roni Porokara, Finnish footballer

Laura Hodges, Australian basketball player

Delon Armitage, Trinidadian-English rugby player

René Duprée, Canadian professional wrestler

Camilla Luddington, English actress

Ronnie Radke, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Jonah Hill, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Taylor Teagarden, American baseball player

Steven Yeun, American actor

Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (born 1911)

Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright who wrote the lyrics of Lili Marleen (born 1893)

Alexander Schmemann, Estonian-American priest and theologian (born 1921)

Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet and critic (born 1933)

Paul de Man, Belgian-born philosopher, literary critic and theorist (born 1919)