Top News Stories from 1982
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade Nobel Peace Prize: Alva Myrdal (Sweden) and Alfonso García Robles (Mexico)
More World Statistics... - British overcome Argentina in Falklands war (April 2-June 15).
- Israel invades Lebanon in attack on PLO. (June 4). Background: Arab-Israeli Wars
- Princess Grace, 52, dies of injuries when car plunges off mountain road; daughter Stephanie, 17, suffers serious injuries (Sept. 14).
- Lebanese Christian Phalangists kill hundreds of people in two Palestinian refugee camps in West Beirut (Sept. 15).
- Leonid I. Brezhnev, Soviet leader, dies at 75 (Nov. 10). Yuri V. Andropov, 68, chosen as successor (Nov. 15). Background: Rulers of Russia since 1533
U.S. Events
U.S. Statistics
President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 231,664,458
Life expectancy: 74.5 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 56.0
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000) 50.3
More U.S. Statistics... - John W. Hinckley, Jr. found not guilty because of insanity in shooting of President Reagan (June 21).
- Alexander M. Haig, Jr., resigns as Secretary of State (June 25).
- Equal Rights Amendment fails ratification (June 30).
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $3,242.10 billion
Federal spending: $745.76 billion
Federal debt $1137.3 billion
Consumer Price Index: $96.5
Unemployment: 9.7%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.20
Sports
Super Bowl
San Francisco d. CincinnatiWorld Series
St. Louis Cardinals d. Milwaukee Brewers (4-3)NBA Championship
LA Lakers d. Philadelphia 76ersStanley Cup
NY Islanders d. VancouverWimbledon
Women: Martina Navratilova d. C. Evert Lloyd (6-1 3-6 6-2)Men: Jimmy Connors d. J. McEnroe (3-6 6-3 6-7 7-6 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Gato Del SolNCAA Basketball Championship
North Carolina d. GeorgetownNCAA Football Champions
Penn St. (11-1-0)World Cup
Italy d. W. GermanyEntertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes Fiction:
Rabbit Is Rich, John Updike
Music: Concerto for Orchestra, Roger Sessions
Drama: A Soldier's Play, Charles Fuller
Academy Award, Best Picture: Chariots of Fire, David Puttnam, producer (The Ladd Co.; Warner Bros.)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
Record of the Year: "Bette Davis Eyes," Kim Carnes
Album of the Year: Double Fantasy, John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Warner Bros/Geffen)
Song of the Year: "Bette Davis Eyes," Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, songwriters
Miss America: Elizabeth Ward (AR)
More Entertainment Awards... Events
- Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which sells more than 25 million copies, becoming the biggest-selling album in history.
- John Belushi dies of a drug overdose at age 33.
- Cats opens on Broadway. Becomes Broadway's longest-running play.
Movies
- E.T. – the Extra-Terrestrial, Tootsie, Gandhi, The Verdict
Music
- Michael Jackson, Thriller
Books
- Thomas Keneally, Schindler's List
- Alice Walker, The Color Purple
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Aaron Klug (UK), for research in the detailed structures of viruses and components of life
Physics: Kenneth G. Wilson (US), for analysis of changes in matter under pressure and temperature
Physiology or Medicine: Sune Bergstrom, Bengt Samuelsson (both Sweden), and John R. Vane (UK), for research in prostaglandins, hormonelike substances involved in a wide range of illnesses
More Nobel Prizes in 1998... - A permanent artificial heart is implanted in a human for first time in Dr. Barney B. Clark, 61, at University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City (Dec. 2). Background: Health & Nutrition
- The space shuttle Columbia makes its first mission, deploying two communications satellites (Nov. 16). Background: US Staffed Space Flights
- MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) diagnostic machines are introduced in Britain.
- Washington University in St. Louis develops the Flavr Savr tomato, the first genetically-engineered plant approved for sale.
