istoryworld
All Events
Roland Joffé directs The Killing Fields, set among the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia
Brian Mulroney wins a decisive electoral victory over the Liberals to become prime minister of Canada
Genetic (or DNA) fingerprinting is invented and developed by British geneticist Alec Jeffreys
Luciano Berio's opera Un re in ascolto has its premiere in Salzburg
Australian bowler Dennis Lillee's total of 351 Test wickets sets a new record
Indira Gandhi is assassinated in Delhi by members of her Sikh bodyguard, in retaliation for the desecration of the Golden Temple
Ian Botham is the first player to achieve the double triple, with a total of more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Test cricket
Rajiv Gandhi succeeds his mother as leader of the Congress party and prime minister of India
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) releases her second album, Like a Virgin, that goes on to sell millions
The opera Akhnaten, by US composer Philip Glass, has its first performance in Stuttgart
US choreographer William Forsythe becomes director of the Frankfurt Ballet
Ronald Reagan is elected for a second presidential term, defeating the Democrat Walter Mondale
Bob Geldof forms Band Aid and releases for Ethiopian famine relief the best-selling UK single Do they know its Christmas?
Desmond Tutu, rector of an Anglican church in Soweto, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
More than 2000 die in the Indian city of Bhopal when toxic gas escapes from a Union Carbide plant
In a speech to the Tory Reform Group, Harold Macmillan describes Mrs Thatcher's privatization policy as 'selling the family silver'
Civilian rule is restored in Brazil after Tancredo Neves and Jose Sarney are elected president and vice-president
The miners' strike, ending after eleven bitter months, proves a turning point in the struggle between Margaret Thatcher and the unions
New Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev brings glasnost ('openness') and perestroika ('reform') to the USSR
With the return of democracy to Bolivia, the 77-year-old Paz Estenssoro is once again elected president
Peter Carey publishes Illywhacker, a novel narrated by a 139-year-old Australian
A dormant volcano erupts in Colombia, burying some 20,000 victims under a deep layer of silt
President Reagan's administration breaks a US embargo with secret arms sales to Iran in return for assistance in the release of US hostages in Lebanon
US author Don DeLillo publishes a novel of weird disasters, White Noise
Oliver North arranges for clandestine money from Iran to provide illegal support for the Nicaraguan Contras
