Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 - 1983 - 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Events
- January - Apple Lisa introduced by Apple Computer
- January 1 - the ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet
- January 2 - The musical Annie is performed for the last time after after 2,377 shows (Uris Theatre on Broadway, New York City).
- January 19 - Klaus Barbie, Nazi war criminal, is arrested in Bolivia
- August 4 - Thomas Sankara become President in Upper Volta
- August 21 - Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippines opposition leader, assassinated in Manila
- September 1 - Korean Airlines flight 007 shot down while off course over Soviet territory
- October 23 - United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut explodes, killing 241
- October 25 - United States invades Grenada
- Barbara McClintock receives Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovery of the first transposons in maize in 1940.
- Internet Domain Name System invented by Paul Mockapetris
- Democratic reform in power in Argentina
- Maine schoolgirl Samantha Smith travels to the Soviet Union (July 7) after writing Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov, asking why the Soviets wanted to rule the world
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1983 in sports
- January 18 - The International Olympic Committee restores the medals to the family of Jim Thorpe
- January 30 - Super Bowl XVII Washington Redskins (27) def. Miami Dolphins (17)
Births
Deaths
- March 3 - Herge, Belgian comics creator
- March 8 - William Walton, composer
- July 23 - Georges Auric, composer, member of Les Six
- September 25 - Leopold III of Belgium
- October 28 - Otto Messmer, creator of Felix the Cat
- November 7 - Germaine Tailleferre, composer
- December 25 - Joan Miro, surrealist painter
- Buckminster Fuller, American architect
- Tennessee Williams, playwright