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January
1st |
The island nation of Aruba became independent. |
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January
28th |
The Challenger space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after lift-off, killing all 7 crew members. |
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February
8th |
During the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, two bomb squad technicians were killed while they were disarming two pipe bombs that had been planted in the city. |
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February
19th |
The Mir space station was launched by the Soviet Union. It was the first ever research orbital station in history. |
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February
25th |
Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos, fled the country after 20 years in power. Marcos had served as president from 1965 to 1986. While he was elected in 1965 and in 1972 declared martial law which he didn't lift until 1981. He was, however, re-elected, the same year and served another term as president until the next elections were marred by tampering scandals which eventually led to his downfall. |
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March
13th |
The Microsoft corporation had its Initial public offering. |
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March
20th |
Jacques Chirac was elected to the office of Prime Minister of France. He has been one of the most influential European politicians of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. |
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March
31st |
An airplane of "Mexicana de Aviacon" travelling to Puerto Vallarta crashed in the mountains northwest of Mexico City, killing 166 people. |
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April
7th |
Computing pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair, sold his company, Sinclair, to rival company, Amstrad, for 5million UK pounds. |
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April
8th |
Actor, Clint Eastwood, was elected mayor of the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He received 72% of the vote. |
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April
14th |
The US executed bombing raids against Tripoli and Benghazi, in Libya. The raids were ordered in retaliation for the April 5 bombing of a disc in West Berlin. |
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April
26th |
A nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, in the Ukraine, exploded, resulting in the world's worst nuclear disaster. The Soviet Union attempted to keep the accident under wraps, but it was detected the next day by personnel of the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden, when the workers there started detecting radioactive particles on their clothes. The Swedish plant was approximately one thousand kilometres from the Chernobyl plant. |
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May
26th |
The European Community adopts the European flag. |
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June
8th |
Kurt Waldheim was elected president of Austria. He had previously been the United Nations Secretary General. |
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June
13th |
American musician, Benny Goodman, died at the age of 76. He was one of the most popular jazz musicians of all time. |
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June
27th |
The International Court of Justice ruled against the United States in its judgement in Nicaragua v. United States. The court concluded that the United States had violated international law by supporting Contra guerrillas in their war against the Nicaraguan government and by mining Nicaragua's harbours. |
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July
9th |
Homosexuality was legalised in New Zealand. |
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August
31st |
A Soviet passenger ship sank in the Black Sea after colliding with a bulk carrier ship. 398 people died in the accident. |
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September
6th |
In the city of Istanbul two Arab terrorists kill 22 people and wound six more inside the synagogue of Neve Shalom, during Shabbat services. |
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September
7th |
Reverend, Desmond Tutu, became the first black person to become the head of the Anglican Church in South Africa. He became known worldwide for his activisms against the state of apartheid. |
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September
27th |
American musician, Cliff Burton, died at the age of 24. He was a musician and part of the Metallica rock band as the second bassist and co-writer of several of their songs. He died when his body was flung outside the window of the tour bus the group was riding and was crushed when the bus rolled over. |
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October
10th |
An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale struck the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. Approximately 1,500 people died in the wake of the quake. |
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November
6th |
Alex Ferguson was appointed manager of Manchester United F.C., a post he holds to this day (2006). |
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November
22nd |
Boxer, Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 20 after knocking out Trevor Berbick in the second round of the match. |
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November
29th |
American actor, Cary Grant, died at the age of 82. He was one of the most celebrated and famous actors of 20th century cinema and one who set the standards by which a whole generation of actors was judged with. |
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December
9th |
The First Intifada began in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. |
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December
23th |
The first ever non-stop flight around-the-world was completed without refuelling was completed with the experimental airplane Voyager. |
