Historical Events in 1983

Events 1 - 200 of 756

• Jan 1 'New age music' radio program "Hearts of Space" makes its national syndication debut on U.S. National Public Radio
• Jan 1 12th Fiesta Bowl: #11 Arizona State beats #12 Oklahoma, 32-21
• Jan 1 49th Orange Bowl: #3 Nebraska beats #13 LSU, 21-20

• Jan 1 49th Sugar Bowl: #2 Penn State beats #1 Georgia, 27-23
• Jan 1 69th Rose Bowl: #5 UCLA beats #19 Michigan, 24-14
• Jan 1 PGA inaugurates all-exempt tour
• Jan 1 TCP/IP protocols become the only approved protocol on the ARPANET, replacing the earlier NCP protocol
• Jan 1 World Communications Year begins
• Jan 2 "Annie" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 2,377 performances

• Jan 2 Gary Trudeau takes a 20-month break from writing "Doonesbury"
• Jan 2 In a 35-27 win over the Houston Oilers, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson completes 20 consecutive passes and finishes the season winning his second consecutive passing title with an NFL record 70.55% completion percentage
• Jan 2 Several African National Congress (ANC) members detained in Swaziland decide to leave the country voluntarily for Mozambique.
• Jan 3 Dallas running back Tony Dorsett sets NFL record with 99-yard rush in the Cowboys' 31-27 defeat at Minnesota Vikings

• Jan 4 US Football League holds its 1st player draft
• Jan 7 Australia regain the Ashes with a 2-1 series win v England

• Jan 10 NY Supreme Court issues a preliminary injunction barring NY Yankees from playing season-opening series against Tigers in Denver

• Jan 11 Edmonton’s Pat Hughes sets NHL record for the fastest 2 shorthanded goals by one player at just 25 seconds apart in a 7-5 win at St. Louis; first player to break a Wayne Gretzky record

• Jan 12 NCAA creates football Kickoff Classic to begin in August
• Jan 12 Quebec Nordiques play 230th NHL game without being shut out

• Jan 15 Dutch political party DS'70 disbands
• Jan 15 Javed Miandad & Mudassar Nazar make 451 stand v India
• Jan 15 Thom Syles keeps a life saver intact in his mouth for over 7 hours

• Jan 17 Nigeria expels 2 million illegal aliens, mostly Ghanaians
• Jan 18 Dick Motta becomes the 5th NBA coach to record 600 wins as his Dallas Mavericks defeat the Golden State Warriors, 112-102 in Oakland, California

• Jan 21 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Anthony E Hecht
• Jan 21 First supertitles for a live opera performance: "Elektra" at Canadian Opera Company, English titles by Sonya Friedman
• Jan 21 President Reagan certifies El Salvador human-rights abuses have decreased making country eligible for US military aid
• Jan 22 2nd flight readiness firing of Challenger's main engines; 22 seconds
• Jan 22 Houston is 1st NBA team to be held scoreless in an overtime Portland Trail Blazers out score them 17-0 & win 113-96
• Jan 22 NFC Championship, RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.: Washington Redskins beat Dallas Cowboys, 31-17

• Jan 23 "Mud Bowl", Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets 14-0 in the AFC Championship Game on a wet, muddy field, which negated the Jets significant speed and skill advantage
• Jan 23 AFC Championship, Miami Orange Bowl: Miami Dolphins beat New York Jets, 14-0
• Jan 23 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $14.7 million
• Jan 23 In NBA, Portland scores all 17 pts in overtime to beat Houston 113-96

• Jan 23 Russian radioactive satellite falls into Indian Ocean
• Jan 23 Schone skates ladies world record 5 km (7:40.97)

• Jan 25 China's supreme court commutes Chiang Ch'ing's death sentence to life
• Jan 25 Infrared telescope satellite launched into polar orbit
• Jan 25 Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie arrested in Bolivia
• Jan 26 Dutch British infrared satellite IRAS launched from California
• Jan 27 Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest tunnel with an underwater segment (53.90 km in total) opens connecting Honshu-Hokkaido. The Channel Tunnel remains the longest underwater tunnel.
• Jan 29 "Down Under" by Men At Work hits #1 on UK pop chart

• Jan 30 Hilbert van Thumb becomes European skating champ
• Jan 30 Super Bowl XVII, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Washington Redskins beat Miami Dolphins, 27-17; MVP: John Riggins, Washington, RB
• Jan 31 In an effort to reduce driving deaths, a new law in UK requires drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seatbelts
• Feb 1 USSR performs underground nuclear test
• Feb 2 CBS' premiere of fact based WW2 drama "The Scarlet and the Black", based on the life of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty

• Feb 3 US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn Sumners
• Feb 4 Jose Happart becomes mayor of Voeren Belgium

• Feb 5 Former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie brought to trial
• Feb 6 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 20-19; MVPs: Dan Fouts, San Diego Chargers, QB; John Jefferson, Green Bay Packers, WR
• Feb 6 Trial of former Gestapo commandant Klaus Barbie begins in France for war crimes during World War II
• Feb 7 "José Cuervo" single released by Shelly West (Billboard Song of the Year 1983)
• Feb 7 1st female secretary of transportation sworn-in (Elizabeth Dole)

• Feb 8 Eric Peters sets transatlantic sailboat record (E-W)-46 days
• Feb 8 Prize stallion and Derby winner Shergar kidnapped in Ireland, never to be found causing Lloyd's of London to payout $10.6 million insurance
• Feb 8 Tina Howe's "Painting Churches" premieres in NYC
• Feb 8 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
• Feb 9 Belgium buys 44 F-16s
• Feb 10 Anglican synod vote 338-100 against unilateral UK nuclear disarmament

• Feb 11 4th largest snowfall in NYC history (18"(46 cm))

• Feb 13 Opener Steve Smith with 117 and Geoff Lawson 3-11 guide Australia to 149 run win over New Zealand in cricket's World Series Cup 2nd Final in Melbourne; win series, 2-0
• Feb 13 Richard Levinson, William Link, Elmer Bernstein. and Don Black's musical "Merlin", starring magician Doug Henning and Chita Rivera, opens at Mark Hellinger Theater, NYC; runs for 199 performances
• Feb 16 The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 75 people in one of Australia's worst ever fires
• Feb 17 Bob Bourne fails on 8th Islander penalty shot
• Feb 17 Netherlands adopts constitution
• Feb 17 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Feb 18 33rd Berlin International Film Festival: "Ascendancy" and "The Beehive" win the Golden Bear (tie)
• Feb 18 Indiana Pacers lose, 121-94 in Milwaukee; begin a 28 NBA game losing streak on the road
• Feb 18 Right wing Lanny McDonald becomes the first player in NHL franchise Calgary Flames' history to score 50 goals in a season in a 5-1 loss to Buffalo Sabres

• Feb 19 Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) sets 400 m free style swimming record

• Feb 20 Japan launches Tenma satellite to study x-rays (450/570 km)
• Feb 20 Roland Liboton becomes world champ cross-country cycling
• Feb 21 Donald Davis runs 1 mile backwards in 6 m 7.1 s
• Feb 21 NBA San Diego Clippers begin a 29 game road losing streak

• Feb 22 Hindus kill 3000 Muslims in Assam, India
• Feb 22 Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) sets 1500m free style swimming record
• Feb 23 25th Grammy Awards: "Roxanna"and "Toto IV"; Men at Work win
• Feb 23 The Spanish Socialist government of Felipe González and Miguel Boyer nationalizes Rumasa, a holding of José María Ruiz Mateos
• Feb 23 The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri
• Feb 23 USFL New Jersey Generals sign Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker to a then massive 3 year, $5 million deal
• Feb 24 A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.
• Feb 24 Dow Jones closes above 1100 mark for 1st time
• Feb 24 USSR performs underground nuclear test

• Feb 26 Shortwave pirate Radio USA (Wellsville, NY) begins transmission
• Feb 27 Eamonn Coghlan of Ireland set indoor mile record of 3:49.78

• Mar 1 Alpine skier Tamara McKinney becomes the first American woman to top the overall World Cup standings with 225 points
• Mar 1 Tornado tears through Los Angeles, injuring 33 people
• Mar 2 Compact Disc recordings developed by Phillips & Sony introduced
• Mar 2 USSR performs underground nuclear test
• Mar 3 Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw is admitted to hospital for surgery to repair his throwing arm under the alias 'Tom Brady'
• Mar 4 U.S. Public Health Service's publishes its guidelines for blood donors and AIDS

• Mar 5 NSW beat Western Australia by 54 runs to win Sheffield Shield

• Mar 6 In New Bedford, Massachusetts, woman charges she was gang-raped atop a pool table

• Mar 6 US Football League begins its 1st season
• Mar 7 TNN (The Nashville Network) begins on Cable TV
• Mar 8 House Foreign Affairs Com endorses nuclear weapons freeze with USSR
• Mar 8 IBM releases PC DOS version 2.0
• Mar 8 President Reagan 1st known use of term "Evil Empire" (about the USSR) in speech in Florida
• Mar 9 Caryl Churchill's "Fen" premieres in London
• Mar 9 Zimbabwe opposition leader Joshua Nkomo flees to Botswana

• Mar 11 Ice Pairs Championship at Helsinki won by Valova & Vasiliev (Soviet Union)
• Mar 11 Ladies' Figure Skating Championship in Helsinki won by Rosalynn Sumners (USA)
• Mar 11 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Helsinki won by Scott Hamilton (USA)
• Mar 12 4th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: St. John's beats Boston College, 85-77
• Mar 12 Don Ritchie runs world record 50 mile (4:51:49)
• Mar 13 1st USFL overtime game-Birmingham Stallions beat Oakld Invaders 20-14
• Mar 13 24th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Georgia beats Alabama, 86-71
• Mar 13 30th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: NC State beats Virginia, 81-78
• Mar 13 Peter Stone's musical "Woman of the Year" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 770 performances
• Mar 14 OPEC cut oil prices for 1st time in 23 years
• Mar 15 Karnataka beat Bombay on 1st innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy
• Mar 16 Smallest crowd of 1,814 attend NBA Cavaliers vs. NY Nets game at Cleveland Coliseum

• Mar 19 France (16-9 v Wales) and Ireland (25-15 v England) win final round matches to finish level and share the Five Nations Rugby Championship; no tie-break procedure exists before 1993

• Mar 21 Only known typo on Time Magazine cover (control=contol), all recalled
• Mar 22 Chaim Herzog elected Israeli president
• Mar 23 US President Ronald Reagan introduces Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars")
• Mar 25 Christa Rothenburger skates world record 500 m ladies (39.69 sec)
• Mar 25 Pavel Pegov skates world record 1000m (1:12.58)
• Mar 26 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• Mar 28 PGA Tournament Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Hal Sutton comes from 4 strokes back with a final round 69 to win a rain-affected Monday finish by 1 stroke ahead of Bob Eastwood
• Mar 30 New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) begins trading in crude oil future
• Mar 30 Ray Cooney's "Run for your Wives" premieres in London
• Mar 30 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

• Mar 31 Marsha Norman's "'night, Mother" premieres in NYC
• Mar 31 Popayán Earthquake (5.5 Mw Depth) in Colombia kills 267 people, injuring some 7,500
• Apr 1 Anti-nuclear demonstrators link arms in 14-mile human chain in England
• Apr 1 Iraq increases missile attacks on Iran
• Apr 2 New York Islanders right wing Mike Bossy scores in a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins to become the first player in NHL history to score 60 goals in 3 consecutive seasons
• Apr 3 2nd NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: USC beats Louisiana Tech, 69-67; Trojans' forward Cheryl Miller tournament MOP

• Apr 4 45th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: North Carolina State beats Houston, 54-52; Wolfpack win with buzzer-beating dunk by Lorenzo Charles off a desperation 30 foot shot from Dereck Whittenburg
• Apr 4 6th NASA Space Shuttle Mission: Challenger 1 launches
• Apr 5 France throws out 47 Soviet diplomats

• Apr 7 Oldest human skeleton, aged 80,000 years, discovered in Egypt
• Apr 7 STS-6 specialist Story Musgrave & Don Peterson perform the 1st STS spacewalk
• Apr 7 WIBC Championship Tournament in Las Vegas, attracts 75,480 women bowlers for 83-day event

• Apr 9 137th Grand National: Ben de Haan wins aboard 13/1 bet Corbiere; Jenny Pittman first female GN winning trainer
• Apr 9 6th NASA Space Shuttle Mission: Challenger 1 returns to Earth

• Apr 10 Hennie Kuiper (Neth) wins Paris-Roubaix cycle race
• Apr 10 Jordan king Hussein ceases negotiations with PLO
• Apr 11 3rd Golden Raspberry Awards: "Inchon!" wins

• Apr 11 55th Academy Awards: "Gandhi", Ben Kingsley & Meryl Streep win
• Apr 11 In the first 'supergrass' trial in Northern Ireland, fourteen Ulster Volunteer Force members are jailed for a total of two hundred years
• Apr 11 NASA launches RCA-F
• Apr 12 Harold Washington elected Chicago's 1st black mayor
• Apr 12 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• Apr 13 Undefeated middleweight boxer Tony Ayala gets 35 years on sex assault
• Apr 13 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• Apr 14 NY Islanders tie own record with 2 shorthanded playoff goals (vs NY Rangers)
• Apr 14 US President Ronald Reagan signs $165 billion Social Security rescue
• Apr 15 Tokyo Disneyland opens

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