- October 9
- Rangoon, Burma, bomb blast kills 16 South Koreans, including four cabinet ministers, including Foreign Minister Lee Bum Suk. [115] [902.36]
- October 10
- Israel's Knesset votes 60-53 to endorse Yitzhak Shamir as Prime Minister. [1]
- October 12
- Japan's former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed, and sentenced to four years in jail. [115]
- October 14
- US Marine peacekeeper Sargeant Allen Soifert killed by sniper in Beirut, Lebanon. [1]
- October 15
- US Marine sharpshooters kill five snipers at Beirut International Airport, Lebanon. [1]
- October 17
- Hong Kong pegs its dollar to the US dollar. [553.36]
- October 19
- Maurice Bishop, former Prime Minister of Grenada, and 40 others are executed in a military coup. [115] [904.26]
- October 21
- At the 17th General Conference on Weights and Measures, the metre is defined in terms of the speed of light as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. [115]
- October 22
- In Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany, people demonstrate for nuclear disarmament. [115]
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- An armed man crashes a truck through the gates of Augusta National Golf Club in the US, takes hostages, and demands to see the President. [903.21]
- October 23
- Near-simultaneous suicide truck-bombings destroy both the French and the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 US servicemen, 58 French paratroopers and six Lebanese civilians. [115] [874.22] [903.20] [904.32]
- October 25
- Microsoft Word is first released for personal computers. [115]
- United States troops invade Grenada at the behest of Eugenia Charles of Dominica, a member of the Organization of American States. [1] [115]
- October 27
- Pope John Paul II visits his would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in prison to forgive him. [115]
- October 28
- In Borah Peak, Idaho, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs, the largest historical earthquake in Idaho. [53]
- October 30
- The first democratic elections in Argentina after seven years of military rule are held. Raúl Alfonsin of the Radical Civic Union wins presidential election with 52 percent of votes, with 42 percent for Peronist Party leader Italo Luder. [115] [870.32]
- In Turkey, a magnitude 6.9-7.1 earthquake occurs. At least 1,342 people killed, 534 seriously injured, more than 25,000 people homeless, and 50 villages completely destroyed in the provinces of Erzurum and Kars. [53] [870.32]
- November 1
- IBM announces the IBM PCjr. It features an Intel 8088 CPU, 64 kB RAM, detached keyboard, cartridge slots, and joystick, for $670. (Production lasts for about a year, when IBM discontinues the system.) [4]
- November 2
- Able Archer 83 begins, a NATO exercise that many Soviet officials misinterpret as a nuclear first strike. [115]
- Archbishop Hickey conducts papal investigation of Archbishop Hunthausen, Seattle. [1]
- November 4
- A bomb strike on the Israeli military base at Tyre kills 60. [874.22]
- November 6
- In Eastern China, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs. Thirty-four people killed, about 2,200 injured and about 3,300 houses destroyed in the Heze-Dongming area of Shandong Province. [53]
- November 7
- Bomb explodes in US Capitol, causing heavy damage but no injuries. [1]
- November 8
- In Belgium, a magnitude 4.9 earthquake occurs. [53]
- November 10
- At the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City, Microsoft formally announces Microsoft Windows for the IBM PC. This is the most elaborate product introduction in industry history. Windows is promised for release in April, 1984. Bill Gates predicts that by the end of 1984, Windows would be used on over 90 percent of all IBM compatible PCs. (The first version doesn't even ship until late 1985.) [4]
- November 11
- Ronald Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the Diet, Japan's national legislature. [1] [115]
- November 12
- Four die in a train crash in Marshall, Texas. [1]
- November 13
- The first United States cruise missiles arrive at Greenham Common Airbase in England amid protests from peace campaigners. [115]
- November 15
- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus proclaimed. [115] [871.38]
- November 16
- A jury in Gretna, Louisiana acquits Ginny Foat of the murder of Argentine businessman Moses Chaiyo. [115]
- In Hawaii, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- November 17
- The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded. [115]
- November 19
- An attempted hijacking of the Aeroflot Flight 6833 in Soviet Georgia results in several dead and wounded. [115]
- November 20
- In the U.S., an estimated 100 million people watch the controversial made-for-television movie The Day After, depicting a nuclear war and its effects on the United States. [1] [5]
- November 24
- Palestinian Liberation Organization exchanges six Israeli prisoners for 4,500 Palestinians and Lebanese. [1]
- November 25
- Soyuz T-9 returns to Earth, 149 days after take-off. [1]
- Syria and Saudi Arabia announce cease-fire in Palestinian Liberation Organization civil war in Tripoli. [1]
- World's greatest robbery: £25 million (US$38.7 million) in 6800 gold bars from Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport, England. (Only a fraction of the gold is ever recovered, and only two men are convicted of the crime.) [1] [115]
- November 27
- A Colombian Avianca Flight 11 Boeing 747 on landing approach to Barajas Airport of Madrid, Spain, crashes into a hillside, killing 181 of the 192 on board. [57] [115] [872.23]
- November 30
- In Chagos Archipelago Region, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- December 3
- France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island. [1]
- December 4
- US jet fighters strike Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon. [1]
- Election in Venezuela, Jaime Lusinchi of the Acción Democrática party is elected president with 54 percet of vote. The COPEI party gets 33 percent. [872.24]
- December 5
- ICIMOD established and inaugurated with its headquarters in Kathmandu, Nepal, and legitimised through an Act of Parliament in Nepal in the same year. [115]
- Twelve killed by a car bomb shattering nine-story building in west Beirut, Lebanon. [1]
- December 6
- A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, killing six Israelis. [1]
- December 7
- Two Spanish passenger planes collide on the foggy runway at a Madrid airport, killing 90. [1] [115]
- Edgar Graham, member of Northern Ireland Assembly, shot dead by Irish Republican Army. [1]
- France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island. [1]
- December 9
- The Australian Dollar is allowed to float, by Federal treasurer Paul Keating. [115]
- December 10
- Military rule ends and democracy is restored in Argentina. Raul Alfonsin inaugurated as first civilian president. [1] [115]
- Danuta Walesa, wife of Lech Walesa, accepts his Nobel Peace Prize. [1]
- December 11
- First visit to Lutheran church by a pope (John Paul II in Rome). [1]
- December 12
- A dump truck with 330kg of high explosives crashes through the US Embassy gate in Kuwait City, exploding, killing six. Then five bombs detonate by remote control at other locations in Kuwait. Total 7 dead, 84 injured. [1] [874.21]
- December 13
- British Airways incorporates. [1]
- December 15
- Last 80 US combat soldiers in Grenada withdraw. [1]
- December 17
- A Provisional IRA car bomb kills six Christmas shoppers and injures 90 outside Harrods in London. [1] [115]
- A discotheque fire in Madrid, Spain, kills 83 people. [1] [115]
- December 20
- El Salvador adopts constitution. [1]
- Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat and 4,000 loyalists evacuate Lebanon. [1]
- December 22
- In Guinea, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs. At least 443 people killed, 200 missing, 150 seriously injured and extensive damage in the Gaoual-Koumbia area, Guinea. [53]
- The national lottery of Spain awards US$73 million as first prize, paying to 46 ticket holders with number 53288. [86.102]
- December 23
- Journal Science publishes first report on nuclear winter. [1]
- December 26
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- December 27
- A propane explosion in Buffalo, New York kills five firefighters and two civilians, and devastates 16 square blocks. [1] [115]
- Pope John Paul II pardons man who shot him (Mehmet Ali Agca). [1]
- December 28
- US says they will leave UNESCO on December 31, 1984. [1]
- December 29
- The Reverend Jesse Jackson travels to Syria to secure the release of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who has been in Syrian captivity after being shot down over the country on a reconnaissance mission. [115]
- December 30
- In the Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurs. Twelve people killed, 483 injured and extensive damage in the Kabul-Samangan, Afghanistan area. Fourteen people killed, hundreds injured, and moderate damage in the Peshawar, Pakistan area. [53]
- December 31
- Two bombs explode in France. One on the Paris train kills three and injures 19. The other at Marseille station kills two and injures 34. [115]
- Nigeria's National Assembly dissolves after military coup. [1]
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