- May 16
- New South Wales Premier Neville Wran steps down, in response to allegations raised by ABC program Four Corners that he attempted to influence the NSW Magistracy. [115]
- London, England, police begin the use of wheel clamps on illegally-parked vehicles. [115]
- Lebanese parliament accepts peace accord with Israel. [1]
- May 17
- Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. [115] [898.25]
- May 23
- Radio Moscow announcer Vladimir Danchev praises Afghanistan Muslims standing up to Russia; he is removed from the air. [1]
- May 24
- Fred Sinowatz succeeds Bruno Kreisky as chancellor of Austria. [1]
- May 25
- Fox releases the film Star Wars: Return of the Jedi to theaters. (Total world gross ticket sales: $475 million (1st for 1983).) [1] [952]
- First National Missing Children's Day is proclaimed. [1]
- Fire in Nassermeer, Egypt kills 357. [1]
- France performs nuclear test. [1]
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- May 26
- Near the west coast of Honshu, Japan, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurs. At least 104 people killed, some injured, and extensive damage to dwellings, roads, and vessels caused by earthquake and a tsunami along the Japan Sea coast from southern Hokkaido to the Niigata area, Honshu. Estimated tsunami heights were 14 metres at Minehama, Honshu. [53] [115]
- May 28
- The 9th G7 summit begins at Williamsburg, Virginia. [115]
- June 2
- Air Canada DC-9 plane from Texas to Toronto makes an emergency landing at Cincinnati, Ohio, with fire in the washroom; 23 of 46 passengers die. Cause may have been overheated flush motor. [1] [457] [897.46]
- June 7
- A Gilmore and P Kilmartin discovers asteroid #3152. [1]
- June 9
- Conservative Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1979, wins the general election, in a landslide victory over Michael Foot (397 seats to 209; 42 percent of the popular vote). [115] [1382.9]
- June 10
- Texas Instruments announces that poor sales of TI 99/4A computers, software, and peripherals would result in a second quarter loss of US$100 million. The news drives the company's stock price down almost US$50. (After shipping one million of the computers, Texas Instruments cancels plans for TI 99/2 and TI 99/8 computers, and withdraws from the home computer market.) [4]
- June 13
- Pioneer 10 becomes first man-made object to leave solar system. [1] [5] [115]
- June 15
- Microsoft, Spectravideo, and fourteen Japanese companies announce the MSX standard specification for a low-cost home computer. The specification includes Z80 processor, video and sound processors, 64 kB RAM, and Microsoft BASIC. The standard becomes popular primarily in Japan. [4]
- June 16
- European Space Agency launches European Communications Satellite 1, Oscar 10. [1]
- June 18
- Irish Republican Army's Joseph Doherty arrested in New York City. [1]
- June 21
- In Hokkaido, Japan, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Voters in United Nations Trust Territory districts of Kosrae, Ponape, Truk, and Yap approve becoming associated with the USA. [1005.45]
- June 22
- First time a satellite is retrieved from orbit by Space Shuttle. [1]
- June 27
- Soyuz T-9 carries two cosmonauts to Salyut 7 space station. [1]
- Highest price paid for painting by a living artist - £960,200 - Miró. [1]
- July 1
- A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea, crashes into the Fouta Djall Mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board. [115]
- The High Court of Australia blocks construction of the Franklin Dam in Tasmania. [115]
- Cinematronics releases Dragon's Lair to arcade centers in the USA. It is the first laser-disc-based coin-operated arcade game. Cost per play is 50-cents. Advanced Microcomputer Systems designed the game, with animation provided by Don Bluth Animations. [9]
- Canada first officially celebrates Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day. [895.18]
- July 3
- In Costa Rica, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Calvin Smith of US becomes fastest man alive (9.93 seconds for 100 metre dash). [1]
- July 5
- In Turkey, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Woman gives birth to baby 84 days after brain death (Roanoke, Virginia). [1]
- July 7
- Eleven-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, leaves for USSR, on invitation of Soviet leader. [1] [115]
- July 9
- Joe Marquis ends a record-breaking 109-hour session dealing poker at the Edgewater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, entering the Guiness Book of World Records. [805.38]
- July 10
- E Bowell discovers asteroids #3222 Lillerand #3751. [1]
- July 11
- E Bowell discovers asteroid #3485 Barucci. [1]
- July 15
- Nintendo releases the Family Computer (Famicom) video game system in Japan. The system is a phenomenal success, with 500,000 units selling in the first two months. (In 1985, Nintendo will release a similar system in the US called the Nintendo Entertainment System.) [9] [115]
- Eight killed, 54 wounded, by Armenian extremists' bomb at Orly, France. [1]
- July 16
- A Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities; Britain's worst helicopter accident. [1] [115]
- July 21
- The lowest temperature on earth is recorded in Vostok Station, Antarctica with -89.2 degrees C (-128.6 degrees F). [1] [54] [115]
- Polish government ends 19 months of martial law. [1] [115]
- US announces Lebanon freed American hostage David Dodge. [1]
- July 22
- Australian Dick Smith completes first solo helicopter flight around the world. [1] [115]
- In Western Iran, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 23
- Out of fuel, Air Canada Flight 143 with 61 passengers glides in to land in Gimli, Manitoba. Incorrect conversions of fuel was the cause. [115] [871.35]
- The Black July, a communal riot occurs in Sri Lanka. These anti Sri Lankan Tamil riots leaves over 1,000 Tamils massacred and millions of dollars worth of their property destroyed. This pogrom is the beginning of a deadly civil war. [5] [115]
- Heavy rain and massive mudslide occur at western Shimane prefecture, Japan, 117 killed. [115]
- July 25
- First nonhuman primate (baboon) conceived in a lab dish, San Antonio, Texas. [1]
- July 27
- Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski lifts martial law. [897.33]
- July 28
- New South Wales premier Neville Wran is exonerated by the Street Royal Commission, over claims raised by ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) programme Four Corners, that he attempted to influence the NSW magistracy. [115]
- July 30
- Official speed record for a piston-driven aircraft, 832 kph, California. [1]
- August 4
- Thomas Sankara becomes President in Upper Volta. [115]
- August 6
- A fire breaks out on the Spanish oil tanker Castillo de Bellver off the coast at Cape Town, South Africa, and 286 million litres of light crude burn. [522]
- Presidential election in Nigeria: 47 percent vote for Alhaji Shegu Shagari of National Party of Nigeria,30.8 percent vote for Chief Obafemi Awolowo of United Party of Nigeria, 13.7 percent vote for Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigerian People's Party. This is the first civilian-organized presidential election since 1964. [896.20]
- August 8
- Near the south coast of Honshu, Japan, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Brigadier General Efrain Rios Montt is deposed as president of Guatemela. [1]
- August 17
- In Luzon, Philippine Islands, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurs. Sixteen people killed, 47 injured and extensive damage in the Pasuquin-Laoag-Batac and Serrat areas. [53]
- August 18
- Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 and causing extensive damage. [1] [115]
- August 21
- Benigno Aquino, Junior, Philippines opposition leader, is assassinated in Manila just as he returns from exile. Suspected assassin former member of presidential guard Rolando Vizcarra is shot dead on the runway by guards. [115] [898.16]
- August 25
- US and USSR sign US$10 billion grain pact. [1]
- August 28
- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin announces resignation. [1]
- September 1
- Korean Air Flight 007 Boeing 747 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board are killed. [1] [115] [899.19]
- September 2
- Yitzhak Shamir (Herut) endorsed by Menachem Begin for Israeli Prime Minister. [1]
- September 6
- The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Flight 007, stating that the pilots did not know it was a civilian aircraft when it violated Soviet airspace. [1] [115]
- September 12
- Security guard Victor Gerena robs West Hartford company of US$7 million. [1]
- USSR vetoes United Nations resolution deploring its shooting down of Korean plane. [1]
- September 14
- US House of Representatives votes 416 to 0 in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner. [1]
- September 18
- George Meegen completes 2,426-day (19,000 miles) walk across Western Hemisphere. [1]
- September 19
- Saint Christopher-Nevis gains independence from Britain. [1]
- September 23
- Gulf Air Flight 771 crashes in the United Arab Emirates after a bomb explosion in the baggage compartment, killing 117. [115]
- Violence erupts in New Caledonia between native Kanaks and French expatriates. The French government withdraws the promise of independence. [115]
- Space shuttle Columbia moves to Vandenberg Air Force Base for mating in preparation of STS-9. [1]
- September 25
- 38 Irish republican prisoners of Maze Prison, armed with six handguns, hijack a prison meals lorry and smash their way out of the prison; the largest prison escape in British history. [115]
- September 26
- Cosmonauts Titov and Strekalov are saved from exploding Soyuz T-10. [1] [5]
- September 29
- First time US Congress invokes War Powers Act. [1]
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