Events from the year 1982 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government President: Ronald Reagan (R-California) Vice President: George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Virginia) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tip O'Neill (D-Massachusetts) Senate Majority Leader: Howard Baker (R-Tennessee) Congress: 97th
State governments Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Events
January January 1 – Eddie Murphy makes his first appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". January 7 – The Commodore 64 8-bit home computer is launched by Commodore International in Las Vegas 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 26 – President Reagan delivers his first State of the Union Address. January 28 – United States Army Brigadier General James L. Dozier is rescued by the Italian anti-terrorism Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza (NOCS) force after being held captive for 42 days by the Red Brigades.
February February – Brake Masters, an automotive repair chain is founded in Tucson, Arizona. February 1 – Late Night with David Letterman makes its debut on NBC. The first guest is Bill Murray, who, 33 years later, will be the last guest David Letterman has on. February 27 – Atlanta murders of 1979–81: Wayne Williams is convicted of murdering two children and is sentenced to two consecutive life terms. February 28 – Adobe Systems is founded in the United States.
March March 10 – The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil 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 President Ronald 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 5 – A Unabomber bomb explodes in the computer science department at Vanderbilt University; secretary Janet Smith is injured. May 12 – Braniff International Airways is declared bankrupt and ceases all flights. 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. Cal Ripken Jr. plays the first of what eventually becomes his record-breaking streak of 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games in the United States.
June June 4 – Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper's horror film collaboration, Poltergeist, is released. June 8 – President 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. June 30 – The Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States falls short of the 38 states needed to pass.
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. July 23 – A helicopter crash in Santa Clarita, California, kills actor Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen during the production of Twilight Zone: The Movie.
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 1 – The United States Air Force Space Command is founded. 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 15 – The first edition of USA Today is published. 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.Neelley v. State, 494 So. 2d 669 – CourtListener.com 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 – In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World opens the second largest theme park, EPCOT Center, to the public for the first time. October 15 – The Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act deregulates the U.S. savings and loan industry. October 19 – Car designer John DeLorean is arrested for selling cocaine to undercover FBI agents (he is later found not guilty on the grounds of 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.
November
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 25 – The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire destroys an entire city block of downtown Minneapolis, including the headquarters of Northwestern National Bank. November 30 – Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the biggest-selling album of all time.
December December – John Warnock and Charles Geschke founds Adobe Systems Incorporated (now Adobe Inc.). 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 on Charles Brooks Jr. 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. December 29 – Paul "Bear" Bryant coaches his final college football game, leading Alabama to a 21–15 victory over Illinois in the Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tennessee. Bryant dies of a massive heart attack four weeks later at age 69.
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
January 2 – Kevin Dudley, football player January 4 – Hollie Stevens, pornographic actress and model (d. 2012) January 5 – Jessica Chaffin, actress, comedian, and writer January 6 – Gilbert Arenas, basketball player January 7 – Lauren Cohan, actress January 8 Wil Francis, rock musician, record producer, author, and artist Gaby Hoffmann, actress Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, labor organizer, writer, and political candidate January 10 Tavoris Cloud, boxer Josh Ryan Evans, actor (d. 2002) January 11 Tony 'The Grindfather' Allen, basketball player Blake Heron, actor (d. 2017) January 12 – Dontrelle Willis, baseball player January 13 Jason Ayers, wrestling referee Pawel Szajda, actor January 14 Chad Aquino, boxer Vincent Bennett, singer and frontman for The Acacia Strain January 15 Benjamin Agosto, skater Brett Lebda, hockey player January 17 David Blue, actor Dwyane Wade, basketball player January 18 Ruby Franke, former vlogger Quinn Allman, guitarist for The Used (2001–2015) Joanna Newsom, singer, harpist, pianist, and songwriter Danny Ledonne, film director, and former video game developer January 19 Pete Buttigieg, politician Jodie Sweetin, actress January 20 – Erin Wasson, model and actress January 22 – Jason Peters, football player January 23 – Patrick Levis, actor January 24 – Daveed Diggs, actor and rapper January 25 – Bella Blue, burlesque dancer January 26