Top News Stories from 1984
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade Nobel Peace Prize: Bishop Desmond Tutu (South Africa)
More World Statistics... - Syria frees captured US Navy pilot, Lieut. Robert C. Goodman, Jr. (Jan. 3).
- US and Vatican exchange diplomats after 116-year hiatus (Jan. 10).
- Reagan orders US Marines withdrawn from Beirut international peacekeeping force (Feb. 7).
- Yuri V. Andropov dies at 69; Konstantin U. Chernenko, 72, named Soviet leader (Feb. 9). Background: Rulers of Russia since 1533
- Italy and Vatican agree to end Roman Catholicism as state religion (Feb. 18).
- Soviet Union withdraws from summer Olympic games in US, and other bloc nations follow (May 7 et seq.).
- José Napoleón Duarte, moderate, elected president of El Salvador (May 11).
- Three hundred slain as Indian Army occupies Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar (June 6).
- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards; 1,000 killed in anti-Sikh riots; son Rajiv succeeds her (Oct. 31).
- Toxic gas leaks from Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing 2,000 and injuring 150,000 (Dec. 3).
U.S. Events
U.S. Statistics
President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 235,824,902
Life expectancy: 74.7 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 50.3
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000) 44.9
More U.S. Statistics... - Bell System broken up (Jan. 1).
- Congress rebukes President Reagan on use of federal funds for mining Nicaraguan harbors (April 10).
- Thirty-ninth Democratic National Convention, nominates Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine A. Ferraro (July 16–19).
- Thirty-third Republican National Convention renominates President Reagan and Vice President Bush (Aug. 20-25).
- President Reagan re-elected in landslide with 59% of vote (Nov. 7).
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $3,902.40 billion
Federal spending: $851.85 billion
Federal debt $1564.7 billion
Consumer Price Index: $103.9
Unemployment: 7.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.20
Sports
Super Bowl
LA Raiders d. WashingtonWorld Series
Detroit d. San DiegoNBA Championship
Boston d. LA LakersStanley Cup
Edmonton d. NY IslandersWimbledon
Women: Martina Navratilova d. C. Evert Lloyd (7-6 6-2)Men: John McEnroe d. J. Connors (6-1 6-1 6-2)
Kentucky Derby Champion
SwaleNCAA Basketball Championship
Georgetown d. HoustonNCAA Football Champions
BYU (13-0-0) 1984 Summer OlympicsEntertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes Fiction:
Ironweed, William Kennedy
Music: Canti del Sole, Bernard Rands
Drama: Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet
Academy Award, Best Picture: Terms of Endearment, James L. Brooks, producer (Paramount)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Jaroslav Seifert (Czechoslovakia)
Record of the Year: "Beat It," Michael Jackson
Album of the Year: Thriller, Michael Jackson (Epic/CBS)
Song of the Year: "Every Breath You Take," Sting, songwriter
Miss America: Vanessa Williams (NY) / Suzette Charles (NJ)
More Entertainment Awards... Events
- The Cosby Show debuts on NBC. The sitcom is widely considered the most popular show of the 1980s.
- The Supreme Court rules that taping television shows at home on VCRs does not violate copyright law.
- Led by Bob Geldof, the band Band Aid releases "Do They Know It's Christmas," with proceeds of the single going to feed the starving in Africa.
Movies
- Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, The Pope of Greenwich Village
Books
- Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Alison Lurie, Foreign Affairs
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: R. Bruce Merrifield (US), for research that revolutionized the study of proteins
Physics: Carlo Rubbia (Italy) and Simon van der Meer (Netherlands), for their role in discovering three subatomic particles, a step toward developing a single theory to account for all natural forces
Physiology or Medicine: Cesar Milstein (UK/Argentina), Georges J. F. Kohler (West Germany), and Niels K. Jerne (UK/Denmark), for their work in immunology
More Nobel Prizes in 1998... - Joe W. Kittinger makes the first solo transatlantic balloon flight in the helium-filled Rosie O'Grady's Balloon of Peace. He travels 3,535 miles from Caribou, Maine to Savona, Italy. Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation
- Apple introduces the user-friendly Macintosh personal computer. Background: Computers and Internet
