1984 CE

Indira Gandhi is assassinated in India, sparking the 1984 anti-Sikh riots; the Bhopal disaster kills thousands after a toxic gas leak in Bhopal; the 1984 Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles; the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre takes place in San Ysidro; the 1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike begins; the Brighton hotel bombing targets Margaret Thatcher during the Conservative Party conference; the Anti-Duvalier protest movement grows in Haiti against Jean-Claude Duvalier; the 1984 US embassy bombing in Beirut kills over 60 people; and the Macintosh 128K is released.

In the 1980s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.source
  • January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).source
  • 7 January - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Bruneisource
  • January 10 – The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations.source
  • January 10 – The Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission.source
  • February 13 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.source
  • February 29 – Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau announces his retirement.source
  • April 26 – Sultan Iskandar of Johor becomes Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, in succession to Sultan Ahmad Shah, whose term ended the previous day.source
  • 26 April – Sultan Iskandar of Johor was elected as the eighth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, replacing Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.Malaysiasource
  • June 14–16 – voting days for the European Parliament electionsource
  • 17 June – Legislative and European elections are held. The LSAP increases its representation in the Chamber of Deputies by half.Luxembourgsource
  • June 27 – France beats Spain 2–0 to win Euro 84.source
  • June 30 – John Turner becomes the 17th Prime Minister of Canada.source
  • July 1 – Liechtenstein becomes the last country in Europe to grant women the right to vote.source
  • August 4 – The African republic Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.source
  • 13 August - The Oujda Treaty is signed, in Oujda, Morocco. It aims to establish the "Arab-African Union of States" between Libya and Morocco. Morocco will end up cancelling the treaty two years later, before any union is actually established.Libyasource
  • September 4 – The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, led by Brian Mulroney, wins 211 seats in the House of Commons of Canada, forming the largest majority government in Canadian history.source
  • September 5 – Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment.source
  • September 14 – P. W. Botha is inaugurated as the first executive State President of South Africa.source
  • September 17 – Brian Mulroney is sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada.source
  • September 26 – The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.source
  • November 1: Abortion is legalized through a new law.Netherlandssource
  • November 4 – The Sandinista Front wins the Nicaraguan general elections.source
  • November 6 – 1984 United States presidential election: Republican President Ronald Reagan defeats Democratic former Vice President Walter F. Mondale with 59% of the popular vote, the highest since Richard Nixon's 61% popular vote victory in 1972. Reagan carries 49 states in the electoral College; Mondale wins only his home state of Minnesota (by a mere 3,761 vote margin) and the District of Columbia.source
  • November 25 – 1984 Uruguayan presidential election: Julio María Sanguinetti is democratically elected President of Uruguay after 12 years of military dictatorship.source
  • December 1 – A peace agreement between Kenya and Somalia is signed in the Egyptian capital Cairo. With this agreement, in which Somalia officially renounces its historical territorial claims, relations between the two countries begin to improve.source
  • December 2 – 1984 Australian federal election: Bob Hawke's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by Andrew Peacock.source
  • 14 December – U.N. Security Council resolution 559 was adopted unanimously.Cyprussource
  • December 19 – The People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong.source
  • December 22 – In Malta, Prime Minister Dom Mintoff resigns.source
  • The First South-East Asian Cricket Tournament was held in Dhaka in January. Two teams from the host country were joined by teams from Singapore and Hong Kong. The Bangladesh national team won the trophy, and thus qualified for the 1986 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.Bangladeshsource
  • A referendum on the Islamisation policy of President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was held in Pakistan on 19 December 1984. Voters were asked whether they supported Zia-ul-Haq's proposals for amending several laws in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, whether they wanted this process to continue, and whether they supported the Islamist ideology of Pakistan.[1] The referendum also served as way of extending Zia-ul-Haq's presidential term by five years.[2] Official results declared it approved by 98.5% of voters, with a turnout of 62.2%.[1] Independent observers questioned whether voter participation had reached 30% and noted that there had been "widespread irregularities".[3]Pakistansource

Conflict & Security

  • 8 February - American Vice President George H. W. Bush begins a two-day official visit to Luxembourg.Luxembourgsource
  • March 4 – Gunmen opened fire on a bus in Ramallah, injuring at least six Palestinian workers. Terror against Terror claimed responsibility.Palestinesource
  • March 5 – Iran accuses Iraq of using chemical weapons; the United Nations condemns their use on March 30.source
  • March 23 – General Rahimuddin Khan becomes the first man in Pakistan's history to rule over two of its provinces, after becoming interim Governor of Sindh.source
  • April 13 – India launches Operation Meghdoot, bringing most of the disputed Siachen Glacier region of Kashmir under Indian control and triggering the Siachen conflict with Pakistan.source
  • April 16 – More than one million people, led by Tancredo Neves, occupy the streets of São Paulo to demand direct presidential elections during the Brazilian military government of João Figueiredo. It is the largest protest during the Diretas Já civil unrest, as well as the largest public demonstration in the history of Brazil. The elections are granted in 1989.source
  • April 17 – Metropolitan Police officer Yvonne Fletcher was fatally shot, during a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in London, leading to an eleven-day siege of the embassy, and the severing of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Libya.source
  • June 5 – The Indian government begins Operation Blue Star, the planned attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar.source
  • June 10 – A Soviet soldier defects to West Germany across the inner German border, the first such defection since 1976.source
  • August 21 – Half a million people in Manila demonstrate against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.source
  • September 2 – Seven people are shot and killed and 12 wounded in the Milperra massacre, a shootout between the rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros in Sydney, Australia.source
  • September 7 – An explosion on board a Maltese patrol boat disposing illegal fireworks at sea off Gozo kills seven soldiers and policemen.source
  • September 20 – Hezbollah car-bombs the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 24 people.source
  • October 12 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British Cabinet in the Brighton hotel bombing with an explosive device planted nearly a month earlier in their conference hotel. The terror attack kills five people and injures 31.source
  • 12 October – Brighton hotel bombing – The Irish Republican Army killed five people in a bomb attack at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England during the British Tory Party annual conference, narrowly missing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.Irelandsource
  • October 23 – Napoleón Herson Calitto, 42, commanding officer, helicopter crash.El Salvadorsource
  • November 1–4 – Anti-Sikh mass murder takes place in Delhi and various parts of India following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.source
  • November 3 – 600,000 to 1 million people were attending the funeral of Father Jerzy at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Żoliborz following his assassination.source
  • November 12 – Western Sahara conflict: Morocco leaves the Organization of African Unity in protest at the admission of Western Sahara as a member.source
  • November 21 – Start of Operation Moses, the evacuation of refugee Beta Israel Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel via Brussels.source
  • December 4 – Sri Lankan Civil War, 1984 Mannar massacre: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill over 200 civilians in the town of Mannar.source
  • 4 December – 1984 Mannar massacre: The Sri Lanka Army perpetuates a brutal massacre of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians in the town of Mannar, claiming the lives of roughly 107–150 ethnic Tamils. The attack was in response to an incident when three army jeeps hit a land mine, killing one soldier.Sri Lankasource
  • December 14: The Netherlands men's national field hockey team end 4th at the Champions Trophy tournament in Karachi, Pakistan.Netherlandssource
  • Abahani KC won 1984 Dhaka First Division League title while Mohammedan SC came out runner-up.Bangladeshsource
  • Tengku Ampuan Afzan (until 25 April)Malaysiasource
  • Anti-Ahmadi activities grew stronger and General Zia's government also took part in it. Ordinance XX was passed, which practically criminalized the Ahmadiyya faith.[1] As a result, Mirza Tahir Ahmad had to migrate to England.Pakistansource

Exploration & Expansion

  • January – The federal government planned to build a transit system between Sentul and Petaling Jaya.Malaysiasource
  • February 22 – President of Bangladesh, H M Ershad upgrades South Sylhet's sub-division status to a district and renames it back to Moulvibazar.source
  • 17 April – Changi Airport's second runway is officially opened to cater for more flights.Singaporesource
  • 23 May - Bachendri Pal becomes first Indian women to reach the summit of Mount Everest.Indiasource
  • 5 July – Diego Maradona welcomed in Naples. He plays for SSC Napoli until 1991.Italysource
  • 29 August - Tiago José Rodrigues Cardoso - Born in Guimarães.Portugalsource
  • September 18 – Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to cross the Atlantic, solo, in a hot air balloon.source
  • October 4 – Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer become the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest.source
  • October 8: Bart Vos claims to be the first Dutchman to have climbed Mount Everest.Netherlandssource
  • 25 December – Soviet premier Nikolai Tikhonov arrives in Ankara for official visit.Turkeysource
  • Mexico at the 1984 Summer Paralympics.Mexicosource

Religion & Belief

  • 13 February – The Legislative Council of Brunei is dissolved; as a result, a Cabinet is created.Bruneisource
  • 24 February – Luxembourgish is declared to be the 'national language' of Luxembourg, and one of the three official languages, alongside French and German.Luxembourgsource
  • February 25: The League of Communists in the Netherlands is established after a rift in the Communist Party of the NetherlandsNetherlandssource
  • 25 March - Pope John Paul II consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Fátima, Portugal.Portugalsource
  • 9 May – Miriam Yalan-Shteklis (born 1900), Russian (Ukraine)-born Israeli writer and poet famous for her children's books.Israelsource
  • November 3: Roman Catholic Diocese of Atlacomulco establishedMexicosource
  • Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan: Tuanku JaafarMalaysiasource
  • 12–17 June – Pope John Paul II tours SwitzerlandSwitzerlandsource

Economy & Finance

  • January 1 – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was established.Chinasource
  • 17 May – The Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON) was established.Malaysiasource
  • 1 June – The founding of Compal Electronics.Taiwansource
  • July 14 – New Zealand Prime Minister Rob Muldoon calls a snap election and is defeated by opposition Labour leader David Lange.source
  • August 1 – Australian banks are deregulated.source
  • 4 August – Singapore Press Holdings is formed from a merger of four companies, namely Times Publishing Berhad, The Straits Times Press (1975) Limited, Singapore News and Publications Limited and Singapore Newspaper Services Pte Ltd, completed on 30 November.Singaporesource
  • 27 August – Fininvest buys Rete 4 television channel.Italysource
  • 18 October - Luxembourger Marcel Mart becomes President of the European Court of Auditors.Luxembourgsource
  • Market Oriented Sector Selective talksJapansource
  • The Ángeles de Puebla are founded.Mexicosource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States.source
  • February 17: the national airport authority, Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea, was establishedCape Verdesource
  • April 15 – Pittsburgh Light Rail opens to the public.source
  • May 2 – South Africa, Mozambique and Portugal sign an agreement on electricity supply from the Cahora Bassa dam.source
  • May 5 – The Itaipu Dam, on the border of Brazil and Paraguay after nine years of construction, begins generating power; it is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world at the time.source
  • 5 May – Dayabumi, the famous landmark in Kuala Lumpur was opened.Malaysiasource
  • May 14 – The one-dollar coin is introduced in Australia.source
  • June 22 – Virgin Atlantic makes its inaugural flight.source
  • 24 July – Arieh Sharon (born 1900), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli architect.Israelsource
  • 27 July – The commissioning of first unit of Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County.Taiwansource
  • 28 August - Gaddafi lays the foundation stone in Sarir area for the commencement of the construction of the Great Man-Made River Project.Libyasource
  • October 9 – Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends by Britt Allcroft broadcasts its first two episodes in the United Kingdom.source
  • 17 October - Foyle Bridge in Derry is officially opened, with the longest span in Ireland.Northern Irelandsource
  • October 20 – Monterey Bay Aquarium is opened to the public after seven years of development and construction.source
  • 31 October – Creative Technology launches a made-in-Singapore computer called the Cubic 99.Singaporesource
  • November 9–11 – The first Hackers Conference is held.source
  • December 1 – The Light Rail Transit in Manila begins service with the opening of its southern segment, as the first rapid transit service in Southeast Asia.source
  • December 1 – Manila LRT Line 1 is opened.Philippinessource
  • The Chrysler Corporation introduces the first vehicles to be officially labeled as "minivans". They are branded as the Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan, and Plymouth Voyager.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 3 – STS-41-B: Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission.source
  • February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk.source
  • 27 March – Starlight Express opens at Apollo Victoria Theatre in London.Englandsource
  • 29 March – Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984Germanysource
  • April 2 – Indian Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma is launched into space, aboard the Soyuz T-11.source
  • 2 April – Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma is launched into space, aboard the Soyuz T-11.Indiasource
  • April – A 915g jar of Vegemite is the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned at a checkout.Australiasource
  • May 11 – A transit of Earth from Mars takes place.source
  • May 12 – The Louisiana World Exposition, also known as the 1984 World's Fair, opens.source
  • 1 July – Moshé Feldenkrais (born 1904), Russian (Ukraine)-born Israeli physicist and the founder of the Feldenkrais Method.Israelsource
  • July 25 – Salyut 7: cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.source
  • August 30 – STS-41-D: the Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.source
  • September 5 – STS-41-D: the Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage at Edwards Air Force Base in California.source
  • September 14 – Joe Kittinger begins his attempt to become the first person to fly a gas balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean.source
  • October 5 – STS-41-G: Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.source
  • October 11 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.source
  • 25 November – Professor Muzaffer Aksoy shares the Ramazzini award with Prof. Enrico C. Vigliani.Turkeysource
  • Bangladesh participated in the first ever South Asian Games held in Kathmandu 17–23 September. Bangladesh won 2 golds (in Men's Triple Jump and Men's 4 x 100 Metres Relay), 8 silvers and 13 bronzes to finish the tournament at the fifth position in overall points table.Bangladeshsource
  • Dance Exponents – I'll Say Goodbye (Even Though I'm Blue)New Zealandsource

Health & Medicine

  • January 13: In Amsterdam and Utrecht a large number of people are infected with dysentery, after eating shrimps from Southeast Asia. 14 people in total don't survive the ordeal due to causes of the infection. So called 'home peeling' of shrimps, that guarantees too little hygiene becomes prohibited after this incident.Netherlandssource
  • 24 January – Yotam Halperin, Israeli basketball player.Israelsource
  • February 3 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth.source
  • 1 April – Medisave is launched as a personal savings scheme for medical bills.Singaporesource
  • May 5 – Over 7,000 people attend an Afrikaner Volkswag rally in Pretoria.South Africasource
  • June 25 – Hayim Association is founded by Rina Zaizov Marx and parents of children with cancer as paediatric oncology department in Israel.source
  • June to July - A food poisoning occurs because mustard lotus root is infected with clostridium botulinum in Kumamoto. According to official confirmed report, resulting to 11 fatalities.Japansource
  • November 1 and 9 – Two separate hotel fires occur in Manila. The first breaks out at the Ambassador Hotel, a tourist hotel in Ermita, causing deaths of ten or eleven people. Eight days later, another engulfs a part of the Las Palmas Hotel, killing at least six, three of them foreigners.Philippinessource
  • Crack cocaine, a smokeable form of the drug, is first introduced into Los Angeles and soon spreads across the United States in what becomes known as the crack epidemic.source
  • Deposit Insurance was first introduced in August 1984 as a scheme in terms of The Bank Deposit Insurance Ordinance, 1984Bangladeshsource
  • Sultan of Pahang: Tengku Abdullah (Regent until 25 April)Malaysiasource

Crime & Justice

  • 1 January – Hotel Majestic (later occupied by Balai Seni Lukis Negara (National Art Gallery)) was closed after 52 years of operation. It reopened in 2012.Malaysiasource
  • February 10: Bram Peper the mayor of Rotterdam installs Jan van Dorp as new chief Commissioner of the Rotterdam police corps as successor of Albert Vermeij.Netherlandssource
  • 14 March - Sinn Féin MP Gerry Adams is shot and wounded in Belfast.Northern Irelandsource
  • March 16 – Gary Plauché shoots his son's rapist at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airportsource
  • March 16 – John Hoagland, 36, photojournalist, shot.El Salvadorsource
  • April 12 – Palestinian gunmen take Israeli bus number 300 hostage. Israeli special forces storm the bus, freeing the hostages (one hostage, two hijackers killed).source
  • May 30 – Liverpool beat Roma 5–2 after penalties in the final of the 1984 European Cup football tournament.source
  • 5 June - Al-Sadek Hamed Al-Shuwehdy, a Libyan engineer, is publicly executed in a Benghazi basketball stadium after a show trial. Huda Ben Amer, a Gaddafi loyalist and later mayor of Benghazi, becomes known as "Huda the executioner" after rushing in to aid in the execution.Libyasource
  • June 19 – 17-year-old Ricky Kasso murders Gary Lauwers in Northport, New York, contributing to the Satanic panic association of heavy metal music and satanism.source
  • 28 June – Tommaso Buscetta extradited from Brasil. (→ Maxi Trial from 1986)Italysource
  • July 1 – Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona is sold by FC Barcelona (Spain) to S.S.C. Napoli (Italy) for a world record fee at this date of $10.48M (£6.9M).source
  • July 18 – San Ysidro McDonald's massacre: 41-year-old James Huberty walks into a McDonald's in the San Ysidro district of San Diego, resulting in 21 deaths, with Huberty being killed by a sniper 77 minutes after the ordeal begins.source
  • 6 August – Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam is abducted by a terrorist cell composed of Israeli-Arabs. He is later murdered. His attackers are arrested and (in 1986) sentenced to life.Israelsource
  • August 16 – John DeLorean is acquitted of all eight charges of possessing and distributing cocaine.source
  • September 16 – Edgar Reitz's film series Heimat begins release in Germany.source
  • September 29 – In the early morning, police in Sicily apprehend 366 people they suspect to be involved in the activities of Cosa Nostra.source
  • October 19 – Polish secret police kidnapped and assassinated Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Catholic priest who supported the Solidarity movement. His body was found in a reservoir 11 days later on October 30.source
  • 21 November – 23 year old Birzeit university student, Sharaf Tibi from Khan Yunis, is shot and killed by Israeli soldiers.Palestinesource
  • December 20 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on 23 July 2019, located about 15 mi southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head".source
  • December 22 – Four African-American youths (Barry Allen, Troy Canty, James Ramseur, and Darrell Cabey) board an express train in the Bronx borough of New York City. They demand five dollars from Bernhard Goetz, who shoots them. The event starts a national debate about urban crime in the United States.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • 16 January – The National Theatre is closed after being declared structurally unsafe. The Theatre is eventually demolished.Singaporesource
  • 28 January – A bomb explodes in Hotel Lanka Oberoi in Colombo. One employee is killed.Sri Lankasource
  • 29 February – Shaheed Tajul Islam, a shifting worker at the Adamjee Jute Mills who served as the leader of the leader of the Adamjee Majdur (worker) Trade Union, was fatally injured by the armed cadres loyal to the autocratic regime of Hussain Muhammad Ershad.Bangladeshsource
  • March 12 – The National Union of Mineworkers strikes as tens of thousands of miners in the United Kingdom stop working in protest over colliery closures, starting the United Kingdom miners' strike that lasts a year.source
  • May 13 – Severomorsk Disaster: an explosion at the Soviets' Severomorsk Naval Base destroys two-thirds of all the missiles stockpiled for the Soviets' Northern Fleet. The blast also destroys workshops needed to maintain the missiles as well as hundreds of technicians. Western military experts called it the worst naval disaster the Soviet Navy has suffered since WWII.source
  • May 23 – A methane gas explosion at Abbeystead water treatment works in Lancashire, UK, kills 16 people.source
  • August 4 – Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets reaches a record submergence depth of 1,020 meters.source
  • August 11 – Barefoot South African runner Zola Budd and Mary Decker of the U.S. collide in the Olympic 3000 meters final, neither finishing as medallists.source
  • August 16 – Two Limpet mines destroy two floors of the South African Police HQ, Soweto East in Roodepoort, injuring the District Commander, four policemen and two civilians.South Africasource
  • October 11 – Aeroflot Flight 3352 crashes at Omsk Airport into maintenance vehicles on the runway, killing 174 people on board and 4 on the ground.source
  • October 19 – Wapiti Aviation Flight 402 crashes into terrain 40 km southeast of High Prairie, Alberta, Canada. Six are killed including leader of the Alberta NDP, Grant Notley, while the four survivors are later rescued the next day.source
  • October 23 – A fire destroys Pines Hotel, a hillside hotel in Baguio; killing 17–22 people, nine of them members of the American Legion tour group which has been commemorating the 1944 return of Gen. Douglas MacArthur to the country.Philippinessource
  • November 15 – According to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a Mishima complex building caught fire in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku Island, eight persons were human fatalities.Japansource
  • November 19 – A series of explosions at the Pemex Petroleum Storage Facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec, in Mexico City, ignites a major fire and kills about 500 people.source
  • November 19: San Juanico disasterMexicosource
  • December 3 – Bhopal disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, kills more than 8,000 people outright and injures over half a million (with more later dying from their injuries the death toll reaches 23,000+) in the worst industrial disaster in history.source
  • December 4 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane and kill 4 passengers.source
  • 23 December – Train 904 bombing: 16 killed, 266 wounded by the Sicilian Mafia.Italysource
  • December 28 – A Soviet cruise missile plunges into Lake Inari in Finnish Lapland, known as the Lake Inari missile incident. Finnish authorities announce the fact in public on January 3, 1985.source

Climate & Environment

  • 27 January – A state of emergency is declared in Southland as record rainfall causes flooding which forces the evacuation of 4000 people and leaves damage totalling $55 million.New Zealandsource
  • April 24 – An X-class solar flare erupts on the Sun.source
  • June 8 – An F5 tornado nearly destroys the town of Barneveld, Wisconsin, killing nine people, injuring nearly 200, and causing over $25,000,000 in damage.source
  • September 1 – Typhoon Nitang strikes the Philippines. It kills 1,492 people and 1,856 more are injured. Roughly 1.6 million people are affected in the country. A total of 108,219 homes are destroyed and 142,653 more are damaged. However, President Ferdinand Marcos declared a state of calamity only after Nitang's onslaught.Philippinessource
  • October 25 – The European Economic Community makes £1.8 million available to help combat the famine in Ethiopia.source
  • November 11 – The Louisiana World Exposition, also known as The 1984 World's Fair, and also the New Orleans World's Fair, and, to the locals, simply as "The Fair" or "Expo 84", closes.source
  • 11 November – Melek Gürkan wins Miss Asia Pacific International.Turkeysource
  • 15 November - Silent Valley declared as a National Park.Indiasource
  • November 25 – Band Aid (assembled by Bob Geldof) records the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in London to raise money to combat the famine in Ethiopia. It is released on December 3.source
  • December 10: The final rapport about the RSV-shipyard appears. The Van Dijk commission gives a hard judgment on minister of Economic affairs Gijs van Aardenne, who insufficiently provided the House of Representatives with information about the many subsidies the company received. The minister survives a vote of no-confidence, despite the rapport.Netherlandssource
  • 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia intensifies with renewed drought by mid-year, killing a million people by the end of this year.source
  • Flood – Widespread heavy rains, during two weeks of 6–19 May, caused severe flooding in eastern part of the country.Bangladeshsource
  • Sultan of Kelantan: Sultan Ismail PetraMalaysiasource
  • The Indios de Ciudad Juárez cease to exist.Mexicosource

Culture & Society

  • 1 January – The establishment of Kenting National Park in Pingtung County.Taiwansource
  • January 9 – Van Halen releases their sixth studio album 1984 (MCMLXXXIV), which debuts at number 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and will go to sell over 10 million copies in the United States.source
  • February 8–19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.source
  • February 23 – TED (conference) is founded.source
  • April 14: Doe Maar stop and give two farewell concerts at the Maaspoort in 's-Hertogenbosch.Netherlandssource
  • April 15 – The first World Youth Day gathering is held in Rome, Italy.source
  • April 19 – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.source
  • May 5 – The Herreys' song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in Luxembourg. It subsequently becomes a top-ten hit in five European countries.source
  • 5 May – Luxembourg City hosts the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 after Corinne Hermès's victory the previous year. Representing Luxembourg, Sophie Carle finishes tenth with the song 100% d'amour.Luxembourgsource
  • May 8 – The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.source
  • June 16 – The Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil is founded.source
  • July 28–August 12 – The 1984 Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles, California.source
  • July 28: El Salvador participates at the 1984 Summer Olympics.El Salvadorsource
  • August: first edition of the annual Festival de Baía das Gatas, on the island of São VicenteoCape Verdesource
  • October 2 - John Schnatter founded Papa John's in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.source
  • October 14 – The Detroit Tigers defeat the San Diego Padres in game five of the 1984 World Series to win the franchise's 4th championship.source
  • October 26 – The science fiction action film The Terminator premieres. It is the third film directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Michael Biehn.source
  • November 28 – Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States.source
  • Bangladesh sent a delegation to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States from 28 July to 12 August 1984. Bangladesh did not win any medals in the competition.Bangladeshsource
  • 8–15 July – IV Global Estonian Cultural Days were taken place in Toronto, Canada.Estoniasource
  • Pakistan won the gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games in the men's hockey event, beating Germany 2-1 and becoming Olympic champions for the third time.Pakistansource

Births

Deaths

  • 10 January - Souvanna Phouma, Lao prime minister and neutralist leader (born 1901)Laossource
  • 13 January – Themis Rigas, footballerGreecesource
  • February 9 – Yuri Andropov, 69, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, kidney failuresource
  • March 16 – The United States Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Beirut, William Francis Buckley, is kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad Organization and later dies in captivity.source
  • April 1 – Marvin Gaye, 44, American singer, murdered by his fathersource
  • 6 April – O Paek-ryong, member of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea (born 1913).North Koreasource
  • April 13 – Two Palestinians who were captured after a bus hijacking are killed by Shin Bet officers, attempts to later coverup the scandal were termed the Kav 300 affair.Palestinesource
  • April 22 – Ansel Adams, 82 American photographer, cardiovascular diseasesource
  • May 4 – Diana Dors, 52, English actress, ovarian cancersource
  • May 16 – Andy Kaufman, 35, American comediansource
  • June 6 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, 37, Sikh religious leader and militantsource
  • June 25 – Michel Foucault, 57, French philosopher, AIDSsource
  • August 5 – Richard Burton, 58, Welsh actor, intracerebral haemorrhagesource
  • August 25 – Truman Capote, 59, American screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and journalist, co-founder of New Journalism, liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxicationsource
  • October 23 – The world learns from moving BBC News television reports presented by Michael Buerk of the famine in Ethiopia, where thousands of people have already died of starvation due to a famine, and as many as 10,000,000 more lives are at risk.source
  • October 31 – Assassination of Indira Gandhi: Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her two Sikh security guards in New Delhi. Anti-Sikh riots break out, leaving 10,000 to 20,000 Sikhs dead in Delhi and surrounding areas with the majority populations of Hindus. Rajiv Gandhi becomes Prime Minister of India.source
  • November 14 – Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city.source
  • November 30 – Sri Lankan Civil War, Kent and Dollar Farm massacres: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam begin their first massacres of the Sinhalese people, in North and East Sri Lanka. 127 are killed.source