What Happened on August 5, 1984

Historical Events

Sports History

American Joan Benoit wins first Olympic marathon for women (2:24:52) ahead of Grete Waitz of Norway at the Los Angeles Games

American super-hurdler Edwin Moses wins the 400m hurdles gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, his 105th consecutive race victory
Evelyn Ashford runs an Olympic 100m record time of 10.97 to beat American teammate Alice Brown in the LA Games final
The rowing competition at the LA Olympics concludes with Romania dominant in the women's section winning 5 of 6 gold medals; US wins the eights from Romania
Toronto designated hitter Cliff Johnson hits MLB record 19th career pinch-hit HR in Blue Jays 4-3 win over Baltimore Orioles

1984 History

Famous Deaths

Richard Burton (1925-1984)

Welsh Tony and BAFTA Award-winning stage and screen actor (Cleopatra: Camelot; Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), and fifth and sixth husband of Elizabeth Taylor (1964-74, 1975-76), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 58