1983

1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

• January 2 - The musical Annie is performed for the last time after 2,377 shows (Uris Theatre on Broadway, New York City).
• January 8 - Riot in the Sing Sing prison
• January 19 - Klaus Barbie, Nazi war criminal, is arrested in Bolivia.
• January 22 - Björn Borg retires from tennis after winning 5 consecutive Wimbledon championships.
• January 23 - Hollywood Hulk Hogan defeats The Iron Sheik to win the World Wrestling Federation Championship, thus beginning Hulkamania.
• January 24 - 25 members of the Red Brigades are sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Aldo Moro
• January 26 - Lotus 1-2-3 is released.
• January 31 - Seatbelt use for drivers and front seat passengers becomes mandatory in the United Kingdom.

February

• February 3 - Australian P.M Malcolm Fraser is granted a double dissolution of both houses of parliament for a double dissolution election for the March 5, on that day Bob Hawke replaces Bill Hayden as federal ALP leader
• February 7 - Iran opens an invasion in the southeast of Iraq.
• February 16 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.
• February 23 - The Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
• February 24 - A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report critical of the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.

March

• March 1
  • Balearic Islands and Madrid become autonomous communities of Spain
  • Swatch introduce their first timepieces
• March 5 - Madame Chiang Kai-shek's birthday

Bob Hawke Elected Australian Prime Minister

• March 8 - IBM releases the IBM PC XT
• March 8 - President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire."
• March 11 - Hawke Ministry sworn in, Andrew Peacock becomes Federal Opposition leader
• March 23 - Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. The media dub this plan "Star Wars."

April

• April 7 - During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk (duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes).
• April 11 National Economic Summit held In Canberra
• April 15 - American Public Radio founded; changes its name to the current Public Radio International in 1994
• April 18 - The U.S Embassy is bombed in Beirut, killing 63 people.
• April 22 - Soviet embassy official Valery Ivanov is expelled from Australia for allegedly trying to recruit spies in the Australian government.
• April 25 - Maine 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.

May

• May 6 - Stern magazine publishes "Hitler Diaries" (later found to be forgeries).
• May 16 - London police begin the use of wheel clamps on illegally-parked vehicles.
• May 16 NSW Premier Neville Wran steps down in response to allegations rasied by ABC program Four Corners That he Attempted to influence the NSW Majestry
• May 17 - Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

June

• Shipbreaking begins on the beach at Alang in Gujarat.
• June 13 - Pioneer 10 becomes the first manmade object to leave the solar system.
• June 18 - Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

July

• July 1 - A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea crashed into the Fouta Djall Mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board.
• July 1 - High Court Blocks construction of the Franklin Dam In Tasmania
• July 7 - Samantha Smith flies to the Soviet Union.
• July 20 - Government of Poland announces end of the martial law and amnesty for political prisoners.
• July 23 - Gimli Glider: Air Canada flight 143 crash-lands in Gimli, Manitoba.
• July 25 - Metallica released their debut album Kill 'Em All.
• July 28 New South Wales premier Neville Wran exonerated by Street Royal Commision over claims raised by ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) program Four Corners which claimed,he attempted to influence the NSW majestry

August

• August 4 - Thomas Sankara became President in Upper Volta.
• August 18 - Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing over US$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
• August 24 - Old Philadelphia Arena is destroyed by arson fire
• August 21 - Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippines opposition leader, assassinated in Manila

September

• September 1 - Cold War: Korean Air Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter when the commercial aircraft entered Soviet airspace. All 269 on board die.
• September 6 - The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Flight 007, stating that the pilots did not know it was a civilian aircraft when it violated Soviet airspace
• September 23 - Mass outbreak in Maze prison - 38 prisoners hijack a lorry and crash out of the gate - one guard dead, 5 injured. 19 of the prisoners are later apprehended.
• September 23 - Barbara Turnbull, a Canadian 18 year old girl, was shot in the neck and became paralyzed for life during a store robbery in Mississauga, Canada.
• September 25-26 - Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a worldwide nuclear war.
• September 27 - The GNU project was announced publicly on the net.unix-wizards and net.usoft newsgroups.

October

• October 2 - Neil Kinnock is elected leader of the British Labour Party.
• October 4 - Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
• October 7 - Plan to abolish Greater London Council announced.
• October 12 - Japan's ex Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed and sentenced to 4 years in jail.
• October 19 - Maurice Bishop, the President of Grenada, and 40 others are shot in a military coup
• October 23 - A suicide truck-bombing destroys the United States Marine Corps barracks at Beirut International Airport, killing 241 US servicemen.
• October 24 - Arthur Hutchinson kills three members of Laitner family and rape their daughter in the Sheffield suburb of Dore.
• October 25 - United States invades Grenada.
• October 27 - Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Agca in prison to forgive him. Ali Agca is a Turkish gunman, who attempted to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981
• October 30 - The first democratic elections in Argentina after seven years of military rule are held.

November

• November 2 - Martin Luther King Day: At the White House Rose Garden, President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honor American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
• November 5 - The worst offshore diving accident ever to take place, happened on board the Byford Dolphin rig in the North Sea of the coast of Norway. Five divers where killed and one severely wounded in an explosive decompression accident.
• November 13 - The first US cruise missiles arrive at Greenham Common airbase in England amid protests from peace campaigners.
• November 15 - The Turkish part of Cyprus declares independence.
• November 16 - A jury in Gretna, Louisiana acquits Ginny Foat of the murder of Argentine businessman Moses Chaiyo.
• November 17 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation founded.
• November 26 - Brinks Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly UK£26 million are taken from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport. Only a fraction of the gold was ever recovered, and only two men were convicted of the crime.
• November 30 ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) agents bungle a training exercise on the Melbourne Sheraton
• Microsoft Word is first released.

December

• December 9 - The Australian Dollar is floated, By Federal treasurer Paul Keating. Under the old flexible peg system, the Reserve Bank bought and sold all Australian dollars and cleared the market at the end of the day. This initiative was taken by the government of Bob Hawke.
• December 13 - The Denver Nuggets and the visiting Detroit Pistons combined for an NBA record 370 points, with Detroit winning in triple overtime, 186-184.
• December 17 - A fire at a discotheque in Madrid, Spain, kills 83 people.
• December 17 - IRA car bomb kills six Christmas shoppers and injures 90 outside Harrods in London.
• December 31 - Brunei gains independence from United Kingdom.
• December 31 - Two bombs explode in Marseilles. One on the Paris train kills 3 and injures 19. Other at Marseilles station kills 2 and injures 34.

Unknown dates

• Democratic reform in power in Argentina.
• Roxanne Pulitzer divorces Herbert Pulitzer
• Gerard Debreu wins the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
• Leopold Kohr, the people of Belau, Amory and Hunter Lovins / Rocky Mountain Institute and Manfred Max-Neef / CEPAUR win the Right Livelihood Award
• McDonald's introduces the McNugget
• Northern Territory, Australia, decriminalizes homosexual acts between consenting adults

Births

January-March

• January 2 - Kate Bosworth, actress
• January 18 - Utada Hikaru, Japanese-American R&B singer
• January 18 - Samantha Mumba - singer and actress
• February 7 - Elin Grindemyr, model
• February 8 - Jim Verraros, American Idol singer
• February 23 - Mido, Egyptian international footballer
• March 10 - Carrie Underwood, American singer American Idol
• March 14 - Taylor Hanson, musician
• March 21 - Bruno Langley, British actor

April-June

• April 10 - Cecelia Cichan, only survivor of Northwest Airlines Flight 255
• April 13 - Schalk Burger, South African rugby player
• April 15 - Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian hockey player
• April 15 - Jon Edgar, GP2 Championship founder
• April 17 - Miguel Cabrera, baseball player
• April 22 - Sean Muir, American playwright
• April 23 - Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakian tennis player
• May 2 - Rose Falcon, singer
• May 11 - Matt Leinart, American football player
• May 11 - Holly Valance - Australian actress and singer
• May 14 - Amber Tamblyn, actress
• May 27 - Bobby Convey, American soccer player
• May 30 - Jennifer Ellison, British actress
• June 4 - Ivan, Italian writer
• June 6 - Joe Rokocoko, New Zealand rugby player
• June 8 - Kim Clijsters, Belgian tennis player
• June 30 - Cheryl Tweedy, British singer

July-September

• July 2 - Michelle Branch, pop singer
• July 11 - Marie Eleonor Sernehlot, oldest of the A-Teens
• July 13 - Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdling athlete
• July 21 - Kellen Winslow Jr., American football player
• July 21 - Eivør Pálsdóttir, Faroese singer and composer
• July 22 - Shelby Belle, pornographic actress
• July 23 - Aaron Peirsol, competitive swimmer
• August 14 - Mila Kunis, actress
• August 19 - Tammin Sursok, Australian actress
• August 22 - Bryan Smith, American Supermodel
• August 24 - Christopher Parker, actor
• September 17 - Jennifer Peña, Tejano singer
• September 21 - Maggie Grace, U.S. actress

October-December

• October 2 - Efren Ramirez, actor
• October 5 - Nicky Hilton, model and socialite
• October 7 - Gerald Page, Australian personality
• October 24 - Brian Vickers - NASCAR driver
• October 29 - Amit Sebastian Paul, member of A-Teens
• October 30 - Diana Karazon, Jordanian singer
• November 16 - Fallon Bowman, exguitarist of Kittie
• November 18 - Jon Johansen, programmer
• December 12 - Katrina Elam, Country singer
• December 20 - Lucy Pinder, British Page 3 model

Deaths

January-March

• January 11 - Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian industrialist and educator (b. 1894)
• January 15 - Meyer Lansky, gangster (b. 1902)
• January 23 - Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (b. 1908)
• January 24 - George Cukor, director (b. 1899)
• January 28 - Frank Forde, fifteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
• February 4 - Karen Carpenter, American singer (anorexia) (b. 1950)
• February 12 - Eubie Blake, musician and songwriter
• February 14 - Lina Radke, German athlete (b. 1903)
• February 22 - Sir Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
• February 25 - Tennessee Williams, American playwright (b. 1911)
• March 3 - Hergé, Belgian comics creator
• March 3 - Arthur Koestler, Austrian writer (b. 1905)
• March 8 - William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
• March 15 - Rebecca West, writer (b. 1892)
• March 23 - Barney Clark, first artificial heart recipient
• March 30 - Eilius Eques, photojournalist

April-June

• April 4 - Gloria Swanson, actress
• April 22 - Earl 'Fatha' Hines, musician (b. 1903)
• May 8 - Frank Aiken, Irish Foreign Minister (1959-1969)
• May 14 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
• May 19 - Jean Rey, President of the European Commission
• May 21 - Kenneth Clark, British art historian
• June 2 - Stan Rogers, Canadian musician
• June 12 - Norma Shearer, Academy Award-winning actress
• June 18 - Marianne Brandt, industrial designer and Bauhaus participant
• June 25 - Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer (b. 1916)

July-September

• July 1 - Buckminster Fuller, American architect
• July 4 - John Bodkin Adams, alleged British murderer
• July 7 - Vicki Morgan, model
• July 23 - Georges Auric, French composer
• July 29 - Raymond Massey, actor
• August 16 - Earl Averill, baseball player (b. 1902)
• August 21 - Benigno Aquino Jr., Filipino opposition leader
• September 10 - Felix Bloch, Swiss-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
• September 25 - Leopold III of Belgium
• September 26 - Tino Rossi, Corsican singer

October-December

• October 6 - Terence Cardinal Cooke, tenth bishop (seventh archbishop) of the Roman Catholic diocese of New York (b. 1921)
• October 8 - Joan Hackett, actress
• October 18 - Willie Jones, Major League Baseball player (b. 1925)
• October 28 - Otto Messmer, creator of Felix the Cat
• November 7 - Germaine Tailleferre, French composer
• December 2 - Fifi D'Orsay, actress
• December 6 - Lucienne Boyer, French singer
• December 11 - Sir Neil Ritchie, British general (b. 1897)
• December 25 - Joan Miró, surrealist painter

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, William Alfred Fowler
• Chemistry - Henry Taube
• Medicine - Barbara McClintock
• Literature -William Golding
• Peace - Lech Wałęsa

Templeton Prize

• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn