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January 1 – Eddie Murphy makes his first appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson".[1]
January 8 – AT&T agrees to divest itself into 22 subdivisions.
January 11–17 – A brutal cold snap sends temperatures to all-time record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States.
January 13 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 (five survive). On the same day, a Washington Metro train derails to the north, killing three (the system's first fatal accident).
January 17 – Cold Sunday sweeps over the northern United States.
January 28 – United States ArmyBrigadier GeneralJames L. Dozier is rescued by the Italian anti-terrorismNucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza (NOCS) force after being held captive for 42 days by the Red Brigades.
February[]
February 27 – Atlanta murders of 1979–81: Wayne Williams is convicted of the murdering two children and is sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
February 28 – Adobe Systems is founded in the United States.[2]
March[]
March 10 – The United States places an embargo on Libyanoil imports, alleging Libyan support for terrorist groups.
March 16 – In Newport, Rhode Island, Claus von Bülow is found guilty of the attempted murder of his wife.
March 26 – A ground-breaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, DC.
March 29 – The 54th Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire wins Best Picture and three other Academy Awards. Warren Beatty wins Best Director for Reds out of 12 nominations, while Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark wins five awards.
April[]
April 6 – A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1–2 feet of snow on the northeastern United States, closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several major league baseball games.
April 21 – Queen Beatrix becomes the first Dutch monarch to address the United States Congress.
April 23 – Dennis Wardlow, mayor of Key West, Florida, declares the independent "Conch Republic" for a day.
May[]
May 1 – A crowd of over 100,000 attends the first day of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. The fair is kicked off with an address by PresidentRonald Reagan. Over 11 million people attend the fair during its 6-month run.
May 2 – The Weather Channel is begun in the U.S.
May 30 – Indianapolis 500: In what Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson and Speedway public address announcer Tom Carnegie later call the greatest moment in the track's history, 1973 winner Gordon Johncock wins his second race over 1979 winner Rick Mears by 0.16 seconds, the closest finish to that date, after Mears draws alongside Johncock with a lap remaining, after erasing a seemingly insurmountable advantage of more than 11 seconds in the final 10 laps.
June[]
June 4 – Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper's horror film collaboration, Poltergeist, is released.
June 8 – President Ronald Reagan becomes the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament.
June 12 – A rally against nuclear weapons draws 750,000 to New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Linda Ronstadt attend. An international convocation at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine features prominent peace activists from around the world and afterward participants march on Fifth Avenue to Central Park for the rally.
June 19 – Murder of Vincent Chin: Vincent Chin, a 27 year old Chinese American, is beaten unconscious by two white auto-workers in Highland Park, Michigan, who think he is Japanese and the cause of the declining prosperity of the American auto industry; he dies four days later.
June 25 – The Institute for Puerto Rican Policy is founded in New York City to research and advocate for Puerto Rican and Latino community issues. In 2006, it changes its name to the National Institute for Latino Policy.
July[]
July 2 – Larry Walters, a.k.a. Lawnchair Larry, flies 16,000 feet above Long Beach, California, in a lawn chair with weather balloons attached.
July 9 – Pan Am Flight 759 (Boeing 727) crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 146 on board and eight on the ground.
July 12 – Checker Motors Corporation, an American taxicab manufacturer, ceases production.
July 16 – In New York City, The Reverend Sun Myung Moon is sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $25,000 for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
August[]
August 20
Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. French troops arrive August 21, U.S. Marines August 25.
School teacher Carl Robert Brown murders eight people inside a welding shop in Miami, Florida, before being shot dead by a passing motorist.
September[]
September 3 – Speaker O'Neill and President Reagan settle one of the most unforgettable deals in US history (Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act), which would cut the ratio of spending of three to one and add more taxes.
September 5 – Iowa paperboy Johnny Gosch is kidnapped.
September 28 – 13 year old Lisa Ann Millican is murdered in Georgia after being abducted from a mall three days earlier by Alvin and Judith Neelley. She is tortured and raped, with Judith Neelley injecting her with Drano and Liquid Plumber in her neck and later shooting her to death.[3]
September 29–October 1 – The 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders occur when seven people in the Chicago area die after ingesting capsules laced with potassium cyanide.
October[]
October 1: EPCOT Center opens
October 1 – In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World opens the second largest theme park, EPCOT Center, to the public for the first time.
October 19 – John DeLorean is arrested for selling cocaine to undercover FBI agents (he is later found not guilty due to entrapment).
October 20 – World Series: The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4 games to 3, to win their 9th World Series Title.
October 30 – The DeLorean Motor Company ceases production.[4]
November[]
November 13: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated
November – The severe early 1980s recession ends sometime this month.
November – The unemployment rate peaks at 10.8%.
November 2 – United States elections, 1982. The Republican Party loses 27 seats to the majority Democratic Party in the House.
November 3 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average surges 43.41 points, or 4.25%, to close at 1,065.49, its first all-time high in more than 9 years. It last hit a record on January 11, 1973, when the average closed at 1,051.70. The points gain is the biggest ever up to this point.
November 13 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.
November 20 – University of California, Berkeley executes "The Play" in a college football game against Stanford. Completing a wacky 57-yard kickoff return that includes 5 laterals, Kevin Moen runs through Stanford band members who had prematurely come onto the field. His touchdown stands and California wins 25–20.
November 30 – Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the biggest-selling album of all time.
December[]
December 2 – At the University of Utah, 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart (he lives for 112 days with the device).
December 3 – A final soil sample is taken from the site of Times Beach, Missouri. It is found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
December 7 – The first U.S. execution by lethal injection is carried out in Texas.
December 23 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri, due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination.
December 24 – The "Christmas Eve Blizzard of '82" hits Denver.[5]
Undated[]
A severe recession intensifies in the United States as part of the early 1980s recession.
Seattle is officially dubbed the Emerald City after a contest is held to choose a new city slogan.
Ongoing[]
Cold War (1947–1991)
Early 1980s recession (1981–1982)
Births[]
January[]
Lauren Cohan
Dwyane Wade
Pete Buttigieg
Adam Lambert
January 2 – Kevin Dudley, Professional Football Player
January 4 – Hollie Stevens, Pornographic Actress and Model (d. 2012)
January 5 – Jessica Chaffin, Actress, Comedian and Writer
January 6 – Gilbert Arenas, Professional Basketball Player
January 7 – Lauren Cohan, Actress
January 8 – Gaby Hoffmann, Actress
January 10
Tavoris Cloud, Professional Boxer
Josh Ryan Evans, Actor (d. 2002)
January 11 – Blake Heron, Actor (d. 2017)
January 12 – Dontrelle Willis, Professional Baseball Player
January 13 – Pawel Szajda, Actor
January 14 – Vincent Bennett, Singer and Frontman for The Acacia Strain
January 15
Benjamin Agosto, Skater
Brett Lebda, Professional Hockey Player
January 17
David Blue, Actor
Dwyane Wade, Professional Basketball Player
January 18
Quinn Allman, Guitarist
Joanna Newsom, Singer, Harpist, Pianist and Songwriter
January 19
Pete Buttigieg, Politician
Kimberly Klacik, Businesswoman and Politician
Jodie Sweetin, Actress
January 20 – Erin Wasson, Model and Actress
January 22 – Jason Peters, Professional Football Player
January 23 – Patrick Levis, Actor
January 24 – Daveed Diggs, Actor and Rapper
January 25 – Bella Blue, Burlesque Dancer
January 26 – Reggie Hodges, Professional Football Player
January 29
Adam Lambert, Singer/Songwriter and Actor
Heidi Mueller, Actress
February[]
Bridget Regan
Lupe Fiasco
February 2 – Kelly Mazzante, Professional Basketball Player