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<< | 1980 | 1981 |
1982 | 1983 |
1984 |
1985 |
1986 |
1987|
1988 |
1989
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| 18 - South Africa reimposes
direct rule on Namibia |
| 22 - Tennis star Bjorn Borg
takes early retirement at the grand old age of 26 |
| 28 - British 1950's rocker,
Billy Fury, dies of a heart attack (b. April 17 1941) |
| 03 - In Australia,
Bob Hawke takes over Labor Party as election is called |
| 04 - Singer Karen Carpenter
dies in California, aged 32. The coroner lists her cause of death as
"heartbeat irregularities brought on by chemical imbalances
associated with Anorexia" (b. March 2 1950) |
| 11 - An inquiry into the
Beirut massacre of Palestinian refugees in September 1982 results in
the resignation of Ariel Sharon, Israeli defense minister |
| 15 - The Lebanese
government regains control of Beirut |
| 16 - 72 perish in
Australian "Ash Wednesday" bushfires. 2,590 square miles of bush land
are destroyed |
| 25 - US dramatist Tennessee
Williams dies in New York when he accidentally swallows a plastic
bottle cap |
| 05 -
Bob Hawke wins snap
poll in Australia. Malcolm Fraser resigns |
| 06 - In West Germany, the
Green party wins 24 seats in the election |
| 08 - US
President Reagan
denounces the Soviet Union by saying that it is "the focus of evil in
a modern world." |
| 23 -
President Reagan urges
'Star Wars' satellite based defence system to counter Inter
Continental Ballistic Missile attacks |
| 29 - First laptop computer
is launched in the US |
| 01 - Anti-nuclear
protesters form a 14 mile human chain in Britain. Similar protests
take place in Italy, the Netherlands and West Germany |
|
04 - Second Space Shuttle, Challenger, makes
successful maiden voyage, which includes the first US space walk in
nine years |
| 11 - A US presidential
panel recommends the installation of 100 ICBM missiles in silos in
Wyoming and Nebraska, as well as the development of the
single-warhead 'Midgetman' missiles |
| 12 - Harold Washington becomes Chicago's
first black mayor after a narrow victory over his Republican
opponent |
| 14 - Pete Farndon, bass
player of UK rock group, The
Pretenders, dies of a drug overdose |
| 18 - Suicide car bomb
destroys US embassy in Beirut, killing over 60 people. Pro-Iranian
terrorists are blamed |
| 25 - German magazine Stern
begins to serialise 60 volumes of Adolf Hitler's diaries |
| 30 - Blues legend
Muddy Waters dies of a heart attack in Chicago, aged
68 |
| 04 -
Reagan sides with
Contra "terrorists" |
| 06 - Hitler diaries are
revealed as fakes after fooling historians and editors. The diaries
had been cleverly faked by Konrad Kajau |
| 07 - Paul Weller unveils
his new post-Jam group,
The Style Council, at an Anti-Nuclear benefit
in South London |
| 17 - Israel and Lebanon
agree on the withdrawal of Israeli troops |
| 24 - US Congress approves
spending of $625 million on the research and development of MX
missiles |
| 25 - Return of the Jedi
grosses $6.2 million (US) on its opening day |
| 09 -
Margaret Thatcher
romps home in election for a second term in office |
| 13 - Pioneer 10
crosses the orbit of Neptune, the first spacecraft to travel beyond
known planets |
| 16 - Yuri Andropov elected
Soviet President |
| 16/23 - The Pope visits Poland,
meets Lech Walesa and states that the right to join a free trade
union is "given by the creator" |
| 18 - Sally Ride is first US
woman in space aboard the Space
Shuttle Challenger |
| 24 - Syria expels PLO
leader Yassir Arafat and Syrian tanks lay siege to his guerrilla
bases in Lebanon |
| 21 - Poland ends martial
law after 19 months |
| 27 - More than 100 people
die during race riots in Sri Lanka |
| 29 - British actor David
Niven dies |
| 04 - Bettino Craxi becomes
Italy's first Socialist Premier |
| 06 - US sends aircraft to
support Chad against Libyan-backed rebels |
| 15 - US admits shielding
former Nazi Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, 69, the “butcher of Lyon,”
wanted in France for war crimes |
| 16 - Actress Carrie Fisher
marries singer Paul Simon |
| 21 - Philippine opposition
leader Benigno Aquino is assassinated at Manila Airport on his return
from exile |
| 01 - Soviets shoot down South
Korean airliner (flight KAL 007) as a spy plane killing all 269 on
board |
| 03 - Civil war breaks out
in Lebanon following Israeli withdrawal |
| 05 - The US imposes light
sanctions against the USSR (including suspension of negotiations for
a US embassy in Kiev) over the Soviet downing of a South Korean
passenger plane on September 1 |
| 09 - Medicare, the
Australian Government's publicly funded national health scheme, is
ready to go after the inclusion of amendments proposed by the
Australian Democrats were accepted |
| 12 - In the second largest
theft in US history, an employee of Wells Fargo makes off with $7
million in cash from a company warehouse in Connecticut |
| 15 - Israeli prime minister
Menachem Begin resigns and is succeeded by Yitzhak Shamir on Oct 10th |
| 17 - Vanessa Williams
becomes the first black Miss America |
| 20 - US Congress authorizes Marines to remain in Lebanon for another 18 months |
| 23 - Alan Bond's
Australia II wins the Americas Cup yacht race. The trophy will
leave Newport, USA, for the first time in 132 years. Australian Prime
Minister Bob Hawke declares the day "as good as a public holiday" |
| 26 - A ceasefire is agreed
to in Lebanon |
| 20 - A left-wing military
coup in Grenada deposes prime minister Maurice Bishop |
| 22 - More than 250,000
people attend a rally protesting against nuclear weapons in central
London |
| 23 - A truck loaded with
explosives destroys the US Marine HQ in Beirut, killing 241 Marine
and Navy personnel |
| 25 - 1,200 US Marines and
700 Army Rangers go ashore in Grenada to depose the new
Soviet-aligned government at the request of the Governor General.
They evacuate 1,100 US citizens |
| 30 - 2,000 people die as
earthquake ravages Eastern Turkey |
| 02 - Hostilities end in Grenada with eighteen US soldiers dead and 115 wounded |
| 02 -
President Reagan signs
a bill designating a federal holiday to honour the late Dr
Martin Luther King, Jr |
| 11 - The US sends the first
of 160 cruise missiles to Great Britain. In response the USSR
withdraws from arms limitation negotiations |
| 22/23 - Breakdown of
US-USSR arms reduction talks |
| 30 - ASIS (Australian
Secret Intelligence Service) agents bungle a raid on Sheraton Hotel
in Australia |
| 03 - Syrian forces near
Beirut fire on US reconnaissance planes, prompting an attack from US
warplanes the following day |
| 06 - Anthony Black, an
employee of Brinks-Mat Ltd., is charged by Scotland Yard with
involvement in the theft of about $38 million worth of gold, diamonds
and platinum, the largest heist in British history |
| 10 -
Lech Walesa awarded
Nobel Peace Prize |
| 17 - IRA car bomb kills six
people outside Harrods department store in London |
| 28 - Dennis Wilson, the
only real surfing enthusiast among
The Beach Boys, drowns during an
incautious dip in the Pacific Ocean from his boat moored in Marina
del Rey, California |
<< | 1980 | 1981 |
1982 | 1983 |
1984 |
1985 |
1986 |
1987|
1988 |
1989
|
|
|
April - The new £1 coin is introduced in Britain
Jun 24 - Syria expels PLO leader Yassir Arafat
Sep 12 - $7 million Wells Fargo robbery
Oct 25 - US invade Grenada to
depose government
 Early morning
television begins in Britain with BBC's Breakfast Time followed a month
later by ITV's breakfast television service TV-AM
The new £1
coin is introduced in Britain in April. Notwithstanding its gilded appearance
the new coin has no gold in it. It is made of nickel brass (a mixture of copper,
nickel and zinc)
Cellular
phone network starts in USA
Swatch
watch launched
EFTPOS
banking launched in Australia by Westpac
'Kiwi' wins
Melbourne Cup
Champion
golfer Jack Newton loses arm in airport accident
Time
Magazine names the computer as "Man of the Year."
Quote of the Year
"Balmain boys don't cry"
Neville Wran
New South Wales Premier |
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