- January 9
- After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant picture camera business. [84]
- January 10
- Palau becomes a Federation as a Sovereign State in Compact of Free Association with the USA. [278.34]
- January 11
- The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane officially opens in Queensland, Australia. [5]
- January 13
- Abdel Fattah Ismail, President of South-Yemen (1969-80), murdered. [1]
- Bloody coup overthrows government of South Yemen. [1]
- January 14
- Constitution of Guatemala takes effect. [1]
- Vinicio Cerezo becomes the second freely elected President of Guatemala since the US Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored coup in 1954. [1]
- January 16
- Police arrest three Irish Republican Army-terrorists in Amsterdam, Netherlands. [1]
- January 18
- New York Lotto pays US$30.5 million to one winner (numbers are 19-20-27-34-41-46). [1]
- January 19
- Israeli premier Simon Peres visits Netherlands. [1]
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- The first virus program for the IBM PC appears, called the Brain. It infects the boot sector of 360 kB floppy disks. [4] [84]
- Spain recognizes Israel. [1]
- January 20
- The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel (railroad tunnel under English Channel). [1] [84]
- Military coup in Lesotho under General-Major Lekhanya and premier Leabua Jonathan. [1]
- January 21
- Bomb attack in East-Beirut, 27 killed. [1]
- January 24
- South Yemen Premier Haydar Bakr al-Attas becomes interim-president. [1]
- Voyager 2 space probe makes first fly-by of Uranus (81,593 km), finds new moons. [1] [84]
- January 25
- General Tito Okello's government flees Kampala, Uganda. [1]
- January 26
- Yoweri Museveni's rebel army conquerors Kampala, Uganda. [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 29
- Yoweri Museveni sworn in as President of Uganda. [1] [84]
- In southern Sumatra, Indonesia, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake occurs. [53]
- 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 2
- Dalai Lama meets Pope John Paul II in India. [1]
- Oscar Arias Sanchez elected President of Costa Rica. [1]
- February 4
- Israeli fighters intercept Libyan airliner (passenger plane). [1]
- February 7
- Haiti's President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees to France, ending 28 years of family rule; Henri Namphy becomes leader of Haiti. [1] [84]
- Philippine Corazon Aquino defeats incumbent dictator Ferdinand Marcos but fraudulent returns give the election to Marcos. [1]
- February 8
- Eastbound Via Rail passenger train smashes into westbound CN freight train near Hinton, Alberta, Canada, killing 23. [877.25]
- February 9
- Halley's Comet reaches 30th perihelion (closest approach to Sun). [1] [84]
- Haydar Bakr al-Attas appointed President of South Yemen. [1]
- February 11
- Iran begins Fajr-8 offensive against Iraq. [1]
- Human rights activist Anatoly Scharansky is released by the Soviet Union and leaves the country. [1] [84]
- February 15
- Ferdinand Marcos wins rigged Philippines presidential election. [1]
- February 16
- The French Air Force raids the Libyan Ouadi Doum airbase in northern Chad. [1] [84]
- Mário Soares (Socialist) elected Portugal's first civilian president. [1]
- The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. [84]
- February 17
- First Francophone Summit convenes at Versailles, France. [1]
- Johnson and Johnson announces it no longer sells capsule drugs. [1]
- Libyan bombers attack N'djamena Airport in Chad. [1]
- February 19
- Jordanian King Hussein severs ties with Palestinian Liberation Organization. [1]
- US Senate ratifies United Nations' anti-genocide convention, 37 years after first passed by other nations. [1] [84]
- USSR launches Mir space station into Earth orbit. [1] [5] [84]
- February 20
- International Harvester changes its company name to Navistar International Corp. [228]
- February 24
- Voyager 2, first Uranus fly-by. [1]
- February 25
- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda are driven from Manila's Malacañang Palace. Corazon Aquino becomes President of Philippines. [84] [882.23]
- Iran conquerors Iraq peninsula Fao. [1]
- Thousands of Egyptian military police riot, protesting against bad salaries, destroying two luxury hotels. [1] [84]
- February 28
- European Economic Community signs "Special Act" for Europe free trade. [1]
- (11:21 PM) While walking home with his wife from a movie, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is shot dead in Stockholm. (To date, his murder remains unsolved.) [1] [7] [84]
- March 2
- Protesters try to stop Land Rover motor company being sold to US. [1]
- March 3
- The first paper is published describing the Atomic force microscope, invented the previous year by Gerd Binnig, Calvin Quate and Christophe Berger. [84]
- March 4
- Today tabloid launched (Britain's first national color newspaper). [84] (March 5 [1])
- March 6
- USSR's Vega 1 flies by Halley's Comet at 8,889 km. [1]
- March 7
- South Africa emergency crisis in Brabant and Limburg ends. [1]
- March 8
- Four French TV crew members are abducted in west Beirut, Lebanon. [1]
- Japanese spacecraft Suisei flies by Halley's Comet, studying its ultraviolet hydrogen corona and solar wind. [1] [84]
- March 9
- 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]
- Soviet probe Vega 2 flies by Halley's Comet at 8,030 km. [1]
- March 11
- Japanese probe Sakigake flies by Halley's Comet at 6.8 million km. [1]
- 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]
- Soyuz T-15 carries two cosmonauts to Soviet space station Mir. [1]
- March 14
- European Space Agency's Giotto flies by Halley's Comet (605 km). [1]
- March 15
- Funeral services held for Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. [1]
- March 17
- Haemers gang robs gold transport in Belgium of 35 million Belgian francs. [1]
- March 20
- 228 KPH gust of wind strikes Cairngorm (United Kingdom record). [1]
- Jacques Chirac become Prime Minister of French government. [1]
- March 24
- Suriname army Captain Etienne Boerenveen arrested for cocaine smuggling. [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]
- 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
- A car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, killing a police officer. [84]
- March 28
- Extremist Sikhs kill 13 hindus in Ludhiana, India. [1]
- March 29
- The Beatles' records officially go on sale in Russia. [1]
- March 31
- 167 die when Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashes. [1]
- Hampton Court palace in Surrey, England, destroyed by fire, one dead. [1] [84]
- In Central California, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
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