- January 15
- Dutch political party DS'70 disbands. [1]
- January 17
- Nigeria expels two million illegal aliens, mostly Ghanaians. [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]
- Klaus Barbie, SS chief of Lyon in France, arrested in Bolivia. [1] [115]
- January 21
- Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Anthony E Hecht. [1]
- US President Ronald Reagan certifies El Salvador human-rights abuses have decreased making country eligible for US military aid. [1]
- January 23
- Russian radioactive satellite falls into Indian Ocean. [1]
- January 24
- In Oaxaca, Mexico, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Twenty-five members of the Red Brigades are sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Aldo Moro. [115]
- The Central Bank of the Solomon Islands is established. [685.24]
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- January 25
- China's supreme court commutes Chiang Ch'ing's death sentence to life in prison. [1]
- January 26
- Red rain falls in the United Kingdom, caused by sand from the Sahara Desert in the droplets. [115]
- Lotus 1-2-3 is released for IBM-PC-compatible computers. [115]
- Dutch/British infrared satellite IRAS launched from California. [1]
- January 27
- World's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.90 km) opens, Honshu-Hokkaid, Japan. [1]
- January 31
- Seatbelt use for drivers and front seat passengers becomes mandatory in the United Kingdom. [115] [830.15]
- February 1
- USSR performs underground nuclear test. [1]
- February 2
- Giovanni Vigliotto goes on trial for multiple counts of bigamy involving 105 women. [115]
- Pope John Paul II names 18 new cardinals. [1]
- February 3
- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser is granted a double dissolution of both houses of parliament for elections on March 5. Bob Hawke replaces Bill Hayden as leader of the Australian Labor Party. [115]
- February 5
- Klaus Barbie, former German Gestapo officer, arrives in Lyons, France, after being expelled from Bolivia for having obtained citizenship under false pretenses. Barbie is charged with crimes against humanity, murder, torture, arbitrary arrests and jailings. [1] [10] [115]
- February 9
- Belgium buys 44 F-16 fighter jets. [1]
- February 10
- Anglican synod vote 338-100 against unilateral United Kingdom nuclear disarmament. [1]
- February 13
- A cinema fire in Turin, Italy kills 64. [115]
- February 16
- Australian bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 76 people. [115]
- February 17
- Netherlands adopts constitution. [1]
- February 20
- Japan launches Tenma satellite to study x-rays (450/570 km). [1]
- February 22
- Hindus kill 3000 Muslims in Assam, India. [1]
- February 23
- 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]
- February 24
- USSR performs underground nuclear test. [1]
- 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 28
- Final TV episode of MASH airs (CBS); record 125 million watch. [1]
- March 1
- Swatch introduces their first watches. [115]
- The Balearic Islands and Madrid become autonomous communities of Spain. [115]
- March 2
- USSR performs underground nuclear test. [1]
- Sony and Philips introduce their jointly-developed compact disc system. [1] [457]
- March 5
- Bob Hawke (Labour) defeats Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (Conservative) in public elections. [1] [115]
- March 6
- The Federal Republic of Germany holds parliamentary elections. The CDU/CSU win 48.8 percent of the vote, the SPD 38.2 percent, the FDP 7 percent and the Green Party 5.6 percent. This is the first time the Greens have had seats in parliament. Helmut Kohl (CDU) continues as chancellor. [1] [37]
- 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
- Zimbabwe opposition leader Joshua Nkomo flees to Botswana. [1]
- March 11
- Australia's First Hawke Ministry is sworn in; Andrew Peacock becomes Federal Opposition leader. [115]
- March 14
- OPEC cuts oil prices for first time in 23 years. [1]
- March 15
- In Honshu, Japan, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurs. [53]
- March
- The Environmental Protection Agency offers to buy the entire town of Times Beach, Missouri for $33.7 million, due to spraying of waste oil contaminated with dioxin 11 years ago. [891.10]
- March 16
- The Transmitter Ismaning, the last wooden radio tower in Germany, is demolished. [115]
- March 18
- In New Ireland region, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs. [53]
- March 22
- Chaim Herzog elected Israeli president. [1]
- March 23
- In Greece, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurs. [53]
- 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]
- In Iran, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurs. Thirty people killed, 61 injured. [53]
- March 30
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- March 31
- In Colombia, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurs. 250-350 people killed, many injured and extensive damage in the Popayan area. [1] [53]
- April 1
- Anti-nuke demonstrators link arms in 14-mile human chain in England. [1]
- April 3
- In Costa Rica, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs. [53]
- April 4
- 14 armed men overpower guards at Security Express in London, England, leaving after 8 hours with over $13 million in 3 vans. [892.35]
- April 5
- France throws out 47 Soviet diplomats. [1]
- April 7
- Oldest human skeleton, aged 80,000 years, discovered in Egypt. [1]
- April 10
- Jordan's King Hussein ceases negotiations with Palestinian Liberation Organization. [1]
- Issam Sartawi, Palestinian Liberation Organization ambassador to Portugal, is murdered. [1]
- April 11
- The National Economic Summit is held in Canberra, Australia. [115]
- Third Golden Raspberry Awards: Inchon! wins. [1]
- April 12
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- April 15
- Tokyo Disneyland opens in Urayasu, just outside Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Oriental Land Company under licence from Disney. It includes several themed areas: Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Westernland, and World Bazaar. [6] [115]
- April 17
- In Warsaw, Poland, police route 1,000 Solidarity supporters. [1]
- India enters space age launching SLV-3 rocket. [1]
- April 18
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Alice Walker for The Color Purple. [1]
- The U.S Embassy is bombed in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people. [874.22] (241 dead [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 19
- France performs nuclear test. [1]
- April 20
- Soyuz T-8 launched; mission aborted when capsule fails to dock. [1]
- April 21
- In the United Kingdom, the Royal Mint debuts the 1-pound coin (70 percent copper) for circulation, the first since 1920. [399.88] [402.72] [448.65] [1574.10]
- April 22
- Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- Soviet Embassy official Valery Ivanov is expelled from Australia for allegedly trying to recruit spies in the Australian government. [115]
- April 23
- Stern magazine announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolf Hitler (turns out to be a hoax). [115] (April 22 [1])
- Corinne Hermès wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 for Luxembourg with the song "Si la vie est cadeau". [115]
- April 24
- Austrian socialist party loses parliamentary election. [1]
- 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]
- France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island. [1]
- Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit. [5]
- April 28
- Argentine government declares all 15-30,000 missing persons dead. [1]
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