1983 in the United States

1983 in the United States
Decades:	1960s 1970s – 1980s – 1990s 2000s
Years:	1980 1981 1982 – 1983 – 1984 1985 1986
Flag
50 stars (1960 – present)
Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1980–1991)

Events from the year 1983 in the United States.

Incumbents

• President: Ronald Reagan (Republican)
• Vice President: George H. W. Bush (Republican)
• Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tip O'Neill (D-Massachusetts)
• Senate Majority Leader: Howard Baker (R-Tennessee)
• Congress: 97th (until January 3), 98th (starting January 3)

Events

January

March 23: Ronald Reagan announces the Strategic Defense Initiative

• January 1 – The New Jersey Transit Police Department is created in the state of New Jersey.
• January 2 – The musical Annie is performed for the last time after 2,377 shows at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway, New York City.
• January 3 – Kilauea begins slowly erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii and is still flowing as of 2009.
• January 19 – Apple Inc. releases the Apple Lisa personal computer.
• January 26 – Lotus 1-2-3 is released for IBM-PC compatible computers.

February

• February 18 – Wah Mee massacre: 13 people are killed in an attempted robbery in Seattle, Washington.
• February 23 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intention to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
• February 23 – Failure of automatic shut-down at Salem Nuclear Power Plant, New Jersey, USA.
• February 24 – A special commission of the Congress of the United States releases a report critical of the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.
• February 28 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, setting a new record for most-watched television broadcast in American history.

March

• March 8 – IBM releases the IBM PC XT.
• March 9 – Anne Burford resigns as head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency amid scandal.
• March 23 – Strategic Defense Initiative: U.S. President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. The media dub this plan "Star Wars".
• March 25 – Michael Jackson performs the dance move that will forever be known as the "moonwalk" at Motown 25.

April

• April 18 – The April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut kills 63 people.
• April 25 – Manchester, 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 17 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
• May 25 – National Missing Children's Day is proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan, exactly four years after Etan Patz's disappearance.
• May 28 – The 9th G7 summit begins at Williamsburg, Virginia.

June

• June 13 – Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar system.
• June 18 – STS-7: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

July

• July 7 – Samantha Smith flies to the Soviet Union (see April 25).

August

• August 1 – America West Airlines begins operations out of Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada.
• August 18 – Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing over US$3.8 billion (2005 dollars) in damage.
• August 24 – The Old Philadelphia Arena is destroyed by arson.
• August 30 – STS-8: Space Shuttle Challenger carries Guion S. Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, into space.

September

• September 1 – Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board are killed including U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald.
• September 5 – Tom Brokaw becomes lead anchor for NBC Nightly News.
• September 17 – Vanessa Lynn Williams becomes the first African-American to be crowned Miss America, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• September 24 – The Red Hot Chili Peppers launch their first, self-titled album.

October

• October 4 – Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
• October 16 – World Series: The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 5–0 in Game 5, to win the series 4 games to 1 for their 3rd World Championship.
• October 23 – Simultaneous suicide truck-bombings destroy both the French and the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. servicemen, 58 French paratroopers and 6 Lebanese civilians.
• October 25 – United States troops invade Grenada at the behest of Eugenia Charles of Dominica, a member of the Organization of American States.
• October 25 – Microsoft Word is first released.

November

• November 2 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: At the White House Rose Garden, U.S. 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 3 – The Reverend Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the 1984 Democratic Party presidential nomination.
• November 10
  • The anticancer drug etoposide is approved by the FDA, leading to a curative treatment regime in the field of combination chemotherapy of testicular carcinoma.
  • Star 80 is a film about the true story of Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her estranged husband Paul Snider in August 14, 1980.
• November 11 – Ronald Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the Diet, Japan's national legislature.
• November 13 – The first United States cruise missiles arrive at Greenham Common Airbase in England amid protests from peace campaigners.
• November 14 – The immunosuppressant cyclosporine is approved by the FDA, leading to a revolution in the field of transplantation.
• November 16 – A jury in Gretna, Louisiana acquits Ginny Foat of the murder of Argentine businessman Moses Chaiyo.

December

• December 2 – Michael Jackson's music video for "Thriller" is broadcast for the first time. It becomes the most often repeated and famous music video of all time, increasing his own popularity and record sales of the album "Thriller".
• December 4 – Lt. Bobby Goodman of the United States Navy is shot down over Lebanon and captured by the Syrians.
• December 13 – The Denver Nuggets and the visiting Detroit Pistons combine for an NBA record 370 points, with Detroit winning in triple overtime, 186–184.
• December 27 – A propane explosion in Buffalo, New York kills 5 firefighters and 2 civilians.
• December 29 – The Reverend Jesse Jackson travels to Syria to secure the release of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who has been in Syrian captivity since being shot down over the country during a reconnaissance mission.
• December 31 – Apple Macintosh advertisement is released.

Undated

• McDonald's introduces the McNugget.
• The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program is launched in the U.S.
• The economy begins a robust recovery following the early 1980s recession.
• Flashdance and Return of the Jedi are box-office hits.
• Kellogg's introduces Crispix cereal.
• Kary Mullis discovers polymerase chain reaction while working for Cetus.
• Chrysler starts production on the first minivans: the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager.

Ongoing

• Cold War (1945–1991)

Births

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

Deaths

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

External links

• Media related to 1983 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons