| January 1 | Georgia beats Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl for college football title |
| January 1 | Greece is 10th country to join European Economic Community |
| January 1 | International Year for the Disabled begins |
| January 1 | Palau, Trust Territory of Pacific Islands, becomes self-governing |
| January 1 | Roger Smith becomes CEO of General Motors |
| January 2 | Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 200 m butterfly (2:05.65) |
| January 2 | Sylvester Clarke knocks out spectator with brick, WI vs. Pakistan |
| January 3 | 55th Australian Womens Tennis: H Mandlikova beats W Turnbull (60 75) |
| January 3 | Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 34, Austin Carr |
| January 3 | Greg Chappell scores 204 vs. India at the SCG |
| January 3 | Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 100 m butterfly (58.91) |
| January 4 | 69th Australian Mens Tennis: B Teacher beats Kim Warwick (75 76 63) |
| January 4 | British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper" |
| January 4 | "Frankenstein" opens and closes on Broadway |
| January 4 | "Peter Pan" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City after 578 performances |
| January 5 | British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of "Yorkshire Ripper" murders of 13 women |
| January 5 | "Nightline" with Ted Koppel extended from 20 minutes to 30 minutes |
| January 6 | 50th hat trick in Islander history - John Tonelli scored 5 goals |
| January 8 | India all out 63 in one-day international vs. Australia |
| January 8 | "Pirates of Penzance" opens at Uris Theater New York City for 772 performances |
| January 8 | Reds become last team to sign a free agent (Larry Biitner) |
| January 9 | Francisco Balsamao elected President of Portugal |
| January 10 | El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "general offensive" |
| January 10 | John Severin sets 100-mi unicycle speed record, 9 h 21 m |
| January 11 | British team led by Ranulph Fiennes completes longest and fastest crossing of Antarctica, reaching Scott base after 75 days (2,500 miles) |
| January 11 | Palau adopts constitution |
| January 11 | "Tintypes" closes at John Golden Theater New York City after 93 performances |
| January 12 | -35 degrees F (-37 degrees C), Chester, Massachusetts (state record) |
| January 12 | Dynasty, a prime time soap opera inspired by Dallas, premieres on ABC |
| January 12 | "Dynasty" with Joan Collins premieres on ABC-TV |
| January 13 | Barbara Sonntag, Colorado, crochets record 147 stitches/minute for 1/2 hour |
| January 13 | Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson and Howard Nemerov |
| January 13 | Islander's Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick-4 goals |
| January 14 | FCC frees stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish |
| January 15 | Bob Gibson elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame |
| January 15 | "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV |
| January 16 | Boxer Leon Spinks is mugged, his assailants even took his gold teeth |
| January 16 | Ivan Lendl intentionally loses a match in Volvo Masters in order to avoid having to play Bjorn Borg |
| January 16 | John Lennon releases "Woman" in the United Kingdom |
| January 16 | Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and husband |
| January 17 | Philippino president Marcos ends state of siege |
| January 18 | Iran accepts U.S. offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets |
| January 18 | Wendy O Williams arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity |
| January 19 | Muhammad Ali talks a despondent 21 year old out of committing suicide |
| January 19 | U.S. and Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages |
| January 20 | 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days are freed |
| January 20 | Admiral Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret), ends term as 12th director of CIA |
| January 20 | Frank C Carlucci, ends term as deputy director of CIA |
| January 20 | Islander Glenn Resch's 25th and last shut-out opponent-Flames 5-0 |
| January 20 | Ronald Reagan inaugurated as president |
| January 21 | Bernhard Goetz is assault for 1st time on a New York subway train |
| January 21 | "Shakespeare's Cabaret" opens at Bijou Theater New York City for 54 performances |
| January 22 | 40th Islander shut-out opponent-3-0 vs Red Wings-Billy Smith 15th |
| January 22 | O A "Bum" Phillips becomes head coach of New Orleans Saints |
| January 23 | 1st Richard Nixon museum opens in San Clemente, California |
| January 23 | Jochem Bird elected mayor of West Berlin |
| January 23 | Mike Bossy becomes 1st in NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games |
| January 23 | Red Sox trade Fred Lynn to Angels for Frank Tanana and Joe Rudi |
| January 24 | Islanders scored 5 power play goals against Nordiques |
| January 24 | Kim Hughes scores 213 vs. India at Adelaide |
| January 25 | 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived back in US |
| January 25 | Mao's widow Jiang Qing sentenced to death |
| January 25 | Superbowl XV: Oakland Raiders beat Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10 in New Orleans Superbowl MVP: Jim Plunkett, Oakland, quarterback |
| January 26 | Sandeep Patil scores memorable 174 vs. Australia at Adelaide Oval |
| January 28 | "5 O'Clock Girl" opens at Helen Hayes Theater New York City for 12 performances |
| January 28 | Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision |
| January 28 | William J Casey becomes 13th director of CIA (until 1987) |
| January 29 | AL approves sale of White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn for $20 million, and 80% of Mariners to George Argyros for $104 million |
| January 30 | 8th American Music Award: Kenny Rogers wins |
| January 31 | 38th Golden Globes: Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter |
| January 31 | Gaetan Boucher skates world record 1000m (1:13.39) |
| January 31 | "The Tide Is High" by Blondie hits #1 |
| February 1 | 11th AFC-NFC pro bowl, NFC wins 21-7 |
| February 1 | 31st NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 123-120 at Cleveland |
| February 1 | Duke Ellington-musical "Sophisticated Ladies," premieres in New York City |
| February 1 | Dutch Antilles census is 231,932 |
| February 1 | French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq |
| February 1 | NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 21-7 |
| February 1 | Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek |
| February 1 | Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to Brian McKechnie, WSC Final MCG |
| February 3 | Australia beats New Zealand 3-1 to win World Series Cup |
| February 3 | Gro Harlem Brundtland elected premier of Norway |
| February 5 | Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane |
| February 5 | Military jury in North Carolina convicts Robert Garwood of collaborating with enemy |
| February 5 | "Piaf" opens at Plymouth Theater New York City for 165 performances |
| February 6 | Beatles McCartney, Starr and Harrison record a tribute to John Lennon |
| February 6 | "Brady Brides," debuts on NBC TV |
| February 6 | Suleiman Nyambui runs world record 5k indoor (13:20.4) |
| February 8 | "5 O'Clock Girl" closes at Helen Hayes Theater New York City after 12 performances |
| February 8 | "Brigadoon" closes at Majestic Theater New York City after 133 performances |
| February 8 | Sally Little wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic |
| February 8 | U.S. Female Figure Skating championship won by Elaine Zayak |
| February 8 | U.S. Male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton |
| February 10 | 33rd NHL All-Star Game: Campbell beat Wales 4-1 at LA |
| February 10 | 8 killed and 198 injured by fire at Las Vegas Hilton |
| February 10 | Dennis Lillee becomes Australian Cricket's top wicket-taker with 249 |
| February 11 | Australia all out 83 vs. India at MCG chasing 143 to win |
| February 11 | Polish premier Jozef Pinkowski replaced by Wojciech Jaruzelski |
| February 12 | Admiral Bobby R. Inman, USN, becomes deputy director of CIA |
| February 12 | Arbitrator Goetz declares Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent |
| February 12 | Cape Verde amends its constitution |
| February 12 | Pete Squires sets record for 1575 steps of Empire State Building, 10m |
| February 13 | Longest sentence published by New York Times-1286 words |
| February 15 | Joanne Carner wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic |
| February 15 | Rocket-powered ice sled attains 399 kph, Lake George, New York |
| February 17 | Chrysler Corp reports largest corporate losses in U.S. history |
| February 19 | George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for "subconscious plagiarism" "My Sweet Lord" with "He's So Fine" |
| February 20 | Flight readiness firing of Columbia's main engines; 20 seconds |
| February 20 | James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec) |
| February 21 | Japan launches Hinotori satellite to study solar flares (580/640 k) |
| February 21 | NASA launches Comstar D-4 |
| February 21 | "Yorkshire Ripper" Peter Sutcliffe, murderer of 13 women, captured |
| February 22 | Amy Alcott wins LPGA Bent Tree Ladies Golf Classic |
| February 23 | People mag features drug ordeal of Mackenzie and Papa John Phillips |
| February 23 | Spanish coup under Lt-colonel Antonio Tejero Molina fails |
| February 24 | Boston Celtics begin 18 NBA game win streak |
| February 24 | Britain's Prince Charles announces engagement to Lady Diana Spencer |
| February 24 | Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Scarsdale diet doctor Tarnower |
| February 25 | 23rd Grammy Awards: Sailing, Christopher Cross, Billy Joel wins |
| February 25 | Calgary Flames scored 11 goals against the Islanders |
| February 25 | Executive Board of Baseball Players Association votes unanimously to strike on May 29 if the issue of free-agent compensation remains unresolved |
| February 25 | L Calvo Sotelo elected premier of Spain |
| February 25 | New York Islanders give up their most goals (11) vs Calgary Flames |
| February 25 | NHL most penalized game; Bruins vs Northstars, 84 penalties (392 minutes) |
| February 25 | Rita Jenrette (wife of Abscam congressman) appears on Donahue |
| February 25 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| February 26 | 3 Anglican missionaries detained in Iran since Aug 1980 are released |
| February 26 | 84 penalties (406 minutes) assessed for a brawl between NHL Minnesota and Boston |
| February 26 | French Train Grande Vitesse averages 380 kph on trial run |
| February 27 | Greatest passenger load on a commercial airliner-610 on Boeing 747 |
| February 27 | Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder record "Ebony and Ivory" |
| February 28 | Calvin Murphy (Houston), sets NBA record with 78 consecutive free throws |
| February 28 | China throws out Netherlands ambassador due to submarine sale to Taiwan |
| March 1 | Bobby Sands, IRA member, begins 65-day hunger strike in Maze Prison |
| March 1 | Sally Little wins LPGA Olympia Gold Golf Classic |
| March 1 | "Sophisticated Ladies" opens at Lunt-Fontanne New York City for 767 performances |
| March 2 | Aircraft hijacked by 3 Pakistani terrorists |
| March 2 | Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WWDC in Washington D.C. |
| March 3 | Isle's Mike Bossy 9th and final hat trick of season-4 goals |
| March 3 | New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers play to an 8-8 tie |
| March 5 | "Bring Back Birdie" opens at Martin Beck Theater New York City for 4 performances |
| March 5 | Ice Dance Championship at Hartford won by Jayne Torvill and C Dean (GRB) |
| March 5 | Ice Pairs Champ at Hartford won by Irina Vorobieva and I Lisovski (URS) |
| March 5 | Men's Figure Skating Champions in Hartford won by Scott Hamilton (USA) |
| March 5 | U.S. government grants Atlanta $1 million to search for black boy murderer |
| March 6 | France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island |
| March 6 | Soyuz 39 returns to Earth |
| March 6 | Walter Cronkite signs-off as anchorman of CBS Evening News |
| March 6 | Worlds Ladies Figure Skating Champ in Hartford won by Denise Biellmann |
| March 7 | 1st homicide at Disneyland, 18 year old is stabbed to death |
| March 7 | "Bring Back Birdie" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City after 4 performances |
| March 8 | Dennis Lillee ct by Qld 12th man Dennis Lillie in Shield game |
| March 8 | Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Arizona Copper Golf Classic |
| March 8 | "Shakespeare's Cabaret" closes at Bijou Theater New York City after 54 performances |
| March 9 | Dan Rather becomes primary anchorman of CBS-TV News |
| March 11 | Chile constitution takes effect, Augusto Pinochet 2nd term begins |
| March 11 | Johnny Mize and Rube Foster elected to baseball Hall of Fame |
| March 12 | Soyuz T-4 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station |
| March 12 | Stephen Sondheim's musical "Marry Me a Little," premieres in New York City |
| March 12 | Walter R T Witschey installs world's largest sundial, Richmond, Virginia |
| March 13 | NCAA St. Joseph's upsets top seed DePaul |
| March 15 | "Broadway Follies" opens/closes at Nederlander Theater New York City |
| March 15 | Suriname failed coup under Sergeant-Major Wilfred Hawker |
| March 17 | FC Lisse, Dutch soccer team forms |
| March 18 | Buffalo Sabres sets NHL record of 9 goals in 1 period (vs Toronto) |
| March 19 | 2 workers killed in space shuttle Columbia accident |
| March 19 | Buffalo Sabres beat Toronto Maple Leafs 14-4 |
| March 19 | Emmy 8th Daytime Awards - Susan Lucci loses for 2nd time |
| March 20 | Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron sentenced to 8 years |
| March 20 | Jean Harris sentenced 15-to-life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Dr |
| March 22 | 1st class postage raised to 18 cents from 15 cents |
| March 22 | Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Desert Inn Pro-Am Golf Tournament |
| March 22 | Soyuz 39 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Mongolian) to Salyut 6 |
| March 22 | Toshihiko Seko runs world record 25k (1:13:55.8)/30k (1:29:18.8) |
| March 23 | Supreme Court rules states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teen-age girls sought abortions |
| March 24 | Bombay beat Delhi by innings and 46 to win Ranji Cricket Trophy |
| March 24 | Colombia drops diplomatic relations with Cuba |
| March 24 | "Nightline with Ted Koppel" premieres on ABC |
| March 26 | Police and Albanian demonstrators battle in Kosovo Yugoslavia |
| March 26 | Soyuz T-4 lands |
| March 27 | John Lennon releases "Watching the Wheels" in the United Kingdom |
| March 28 | Christa Rothenburger skates ladies world record 500 m 40.18 sec |
| March 28 | France performs nuclear test |
| March 28 | Gabi Schonbrunn skates ladies world record 3 km (4:21.70) |
| March 28 | Viv Richards scores century in the 1st Test at his home Antigua |
| March 28 | Yevgeni Kulikov skates world record 500m (36.91 seconds) |
| March 29 | Pat Bradley wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open |
| March 29 | Tiina Lehtola ski jumps female record 110m |
| March 29 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| March 29 | "Woman of the Year" opens at Palace Theater New York City for 770 performances |
| March 30 | 43rd NCAA Men's Basketball Champ: Indiana beats North Carolina 63-50 |
| March 30 | President Reagan shot and wounded by John W Hinckley III |
| March 31 | 1st Golden Raspberry Awards: Can't Stop the Music wins |
| March 31 | 53rd Academy Awards - "Ordinary People," R De Niro and Sissy Spacek win |
| April 1 | CNN airs a videotape that shows that Tamara Rand predicted that Reagan is in danger from someone named Jack Humley (a hoax) |
| April 2 | Belgium's 4th government of Martens resigns |
| April 2 | Heavy battle between Christian militia and Syrian army in East Lebanon |
| April 3 | Arnie Boldt of Saskatchewan jumped 6' 8.25," with 1 leg |
| April 3 | Race riots in London's Brixton area |
| April 4 | Henry Cisneros becomes 1st Mexican-American mayor (San Antonio) |
| April 5 | 10th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Nancy Lopez |
| April 5 | Philadelphia Flyers amass a record 2,621 penalty minutes |
| April 6 | Yugoslav government sends troops to Kosovo |
| April 7 | Belgium Eyskens government forms |
| April 7 | Willem Klein mentally extracts 13th root of a 100-digit # in 29 sec |
| April 8 | Islanders scored 9 goals against Toronto in playoffs |
| April 9 | Los Angeles Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela's 1st start, beats Astros 2-0 |
| April 9 | U.S. submarine George Washington rams Japanese freighter Nisso Maru |
| April 10 | "Caveman" with Ringo premieres |
| April 10 | Computer glitch keeps Space Shuttle Columbia grounded |
| April 10 | France performs nuclear test |
| April 10 | Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands elected to British Parliament |
| April 11 | Larry Holmes beats Trevor Holmes in 15 for heavyweight boxing title |
| April 11 | Race riot in London area of Brixton |
| April 11 | Ronald Reagan arrives home from hospital after Hinkley shot him |
| April 11 | Valerie Bertinelli marries Eddie Van Halen |
| April 12 | 45th Golf Masters Championship: Tom Watson wins, shooting a 280 |
| April 12 | Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic |
| April 12 | Emmy News and Documentaries Award presentation |
| April 12 | Maiden voyage of space shuttle Columbia |
| April 13 | Pulitzer prize awarded to Beth Henley for "Crimes of the Heart" |
| April 13 | Washington Post Janet Cooke wins Pulitzer Prize (later admits story a hoax) |
| April 14 | 1st Space Shuttle-Columbia 1-returns to Earth |
| April 15 | Janet Cooke says her Pulitzer award 8-year-old heroin addict story is a lie, Washington Post relinquishes Pulitzer Prize on fabricated story |
| April 16 | Columbia space shuttle returns |
| April 16 | "Copperfield" opens at ANTA Theater New York City for 13 performances |
| April 17 | Isle Potvin's 3 playoff power-play goals tie NHL record vs Oilers |
| April 17 | Ranger's Anders Hedberg is 2nd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot |
| April 18 | Pawtucket and Rochester start a 33-inning baseball game |
| April 19 | Beth Daniel wins LPGA Florida Lady Citrus Golf |
| April 19 | Oakland A's runs record to 11-0 |
| April 19 | Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Red Sox play to 2-2 tie in 32 innings, game suspended at 4:07 AM (Pawtucket later wins in 33rd) |
| April 19 | William Finn's musical "March of Falsettos," premieres in New York City |
| April 20 | 10th Boston Women's Marathon won by Allison Roe of New Zealand in 2:26:46 |
| April 20 | 85th Boston Marathon won by Toshihiko Seko of Japan in 2:09:26 |
| April 20 | Final performance of TV show "Soap" airs |
| April 20 | Rocker Papa John Phillips arrested for drug possession |
| April 21 | U.S. furnish $1 billion in arms to Saudi-Arabia |
| April 22 | 10,000 copper workers in Chile strike |
| April 22 | Almost 1 million West German metal workers in strike |
| April 22 | Dodgers rookie Fernando Valenzuela tosses his 3rd shutout in 4 starts |
| April 22 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| April 24 | Bill Shoemaker wins his 8,000th race, 2000 more than any other jockey |
| April 24 | IBM-PC computer introduced |
| April 24 | San Antonio blocks 20 Golden State shots to set NBA reg game record |
| April 24 | U.S. ends grain embargo against U.S.S.R. |
| April 25 | Mariners manager Maury Wills is suspended for 2 games after ordering Seattle's grounds crew to enlarge batter's boxes by one foot |
| April 25 | Maureen Reagan (40) marries 3rd husband, Dennis Revell (28) |
| April 26 | Beth Solomon wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic |
| April 26 | "Copperfield" closes at ANTA Theater New York City after 13 performances |
| April 26 | Largest U.S. bank robbery in Tucson, Arizona, more than $33 million stolen |
| April 27 | 1st female soccer official is hired by NASL |
| April 27 | Beatle Ringo Starr marries actress Barbara Bach [Goldbach] |
| April 29 | Peter Sutcliffe admits he is the Yorkshire Ripper (murdered 13 women) |
| April 29 | Phillie Steve Carlton is 1st lefty to strike out 3,000 batters |
| April 30 | 16th Academy of Country Music Awards: Barbara Mandrell and George Jones |
| April 30 | "Can-Can" opens at Minskoff Theater New York City for 5 performances |
| May 1 | Billie Jean King admits to a lesbian affair with Marilyn Barnett |
| May 1 | Harrison A. Williams, Senator-D-New Jersey, convicted on FBI Abscam charges |
| May 1 | Harrison A. Williams, Senator-D-New Jersey, convicted on FBI Abscam charges |
| May 1 | Radio Shack releases Model III TRSDOS 1.3 |
| May 2 | 107th Kentucky Derby: Jorge Velasquez on Pleasant Colony wins in 2:02 |
| May 2 | Radio Shack re-releases Model III TRSDOS 1.3 with 2 fixes |
| May 3 | "Can-Can" closes at Minskoff Theater New York City after 5 performances |
| May 3 | "Moony, Shapiro Songbook" opens and closes at Morosco Theater New York City |
| May 3 | Sally Little wins LPGA CPC Women's Golf International |
| May 4 | Rockline premieres on KLOS FM in Los Angeles |
| May 4 | Silvana Cruciata runs 15k female world record (49:44.0) |
| May 4 | Yankee Ron Davis strikes out 8 consecutive Angels, ran record of 13 strikeouts of last 14 faced, also saved Gene Nelsons 1st win, 4-2 |
| May 5 | 16th and final Mayor's Trophy Game, Mets beat Yankees 4-1, hold 8-7-1 edge |
| May 6 | "Inacent Black" opens at Biltmore Theater New York City for 14 performances |
| May 6 | Mariners manager Maury Wills is fired and replaced by Rene Lachemann |
| May 6 | U.S. expels Libyan diplomats |
| May 8 | Ron Davis pitches 10th consecutive strike out, 1 short of record |
| May 9 | Kazimiroff Blvd in Bronx named for a Bronx historian |
| May 10 | Amy Alcott wins LPGA Lady Michelob Golf Tournament |
| May 10 | Francois Mitterrand defeats Valery Giscard d'Estang for President of France |
| May 10 | Montreal Expo Charlie Lee no-hits San Francisco Giants, 4-0 |
| May 11 | Andrew Lloyd Webber/T.S. Eliot's musical "Cats", premieres in London |
| May 11 | Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" hits #1, stay there 9 weeks |
| May 12 | Isles tie own rec with 2 shorthanded playoff goals in a pd vs Minnesota |
| May 12 | "Lena Horne: Lady, Music" opens at Nederlander New York City for 333 performances |
| May 13 | Attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehemet Ali Agca |
| May 13 | Dinamo Tbilisi wins 21st Europe Cup II |
| May 13 | Pope John Paul II shot, wounded by assailant in St. Peter's Square |
| May 14 | 35th NBA Championship: Bost Celtics beat Houston Rockets, 4 games to 2 |
| May 14 | NASA launches space vehicle S-192 |
| May 15 | 2nd City TV's (SCTV) network premier (NBC) |
| May 15 | George Harrison releases "All Those Years Ago" in the United Kingdom |
| May 15 | "Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" airs |
| May 15 | Len Barker of Cleveland pitches perfect game vs Toronto |
| May 15 | SCTV Network 90, sequel to Second City Television debut on NBC |
| May 15 | Soyuz 40 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Rumanian) to Salyut 6 |
| May 16 | 107th Preakness: Jorge Velasquez aboard Pleasant Colony wins in 1:54.6 |
| May 16 | "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes hits #1 for next 9 weeks |
| May 16 | Houston Astro Craig Reynolds hits 3 triples beating Cubs 6-1 |
| May 16 | Pretenders' Martin Chambers weds Tracy Atkinson |
| May 17 | "Inacent Black" closes at Biltmore Theater New York City after 14 performances |
| May 17 | Islanders score 5 power play goals against Flyers in a playoff |
| May 17 | Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Coca-Cola Golf Classic |
| May 19 | Pirate Jim Bibby gives up a leadoff single to Brave Terry Harper, then retires next 27 batters |
| May 20 | Ipswich Town wins 10th UEFA Cup at Amsterdam |
| May 21 | Francois Mitterrand becomes president of France |
| May 21 | Kim Seelbrede, (Ohio), crowned 30th Miss USA |
| May 21 | Stanley Cup: New York Islanders beat Minnesota North Stars, 4 games to 1 |
| May 22 | Soyuz 40 returns to Earth |
| May 23 | Barcelona fascists take 200 people hostage |
| May 23 | NASA launches Intelsat V |
| May 24 | Hostage situation ends at Central Bank in Barcelona Spain |
| May 24 | Kathy Hite wins LPGA Corning Golf Classic |
| May 25 | Carl Yastrzemski is 4th to get 3,000 hits (Cobb, Musial and Aaron) |
| May 25 | Daniel Goodwin, climbs Chicago's Sears Tower in 7 hours |
| May 25 | Rangers' Bill Stein sets AL record with 7 consecutive pinch hits |
| May 26 | Marine jet crashes on flight deck of USS Nimitz, killing 14 |
| May 27 | John Hinckley attempts suicide by overdosing on Tylenol |
| May 27 | Lenny Randle tries to blow a slow roller foul but ump says no |
| May 27 | Liverpool wins 26th Europe Cup 1 at Paris |
| May 27 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| May 29 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| May 30 | Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman is shot by group of rebel officers |
| May 30 | Los Angeles Dodgers are quickest to get 1,000,000 attendence (22 games) |
| May 30 | "Nightline" extends from 4 nights to 5 nights a week (Friday) |
| May 31 | Cathy Reynolds wins LPGA Golden Lights Golf Championship |
| June 2 | Barbara Walters asks Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would be |
| June 3 | Pope John Paul II released from hospital after assassination attempt |
| June 4 | 54th National Spelling Bee: Paige Pipkin wins spelling sarcophagus |
| June 5 | Astro's Nolan Ryan passes Early Wynn as all-time walk leader, 1,777 |
| June 5 | Center of Disease Control reports of a pneumonia affecting gays, AIDS |
| June 5 | George Harrison releases "Somewhere in England" |
| June 6 | 113th Belmont: George Martens aboard Summing wins in 2:29 |
| June 6 | 51st French Womens Tennis: Hana Mandlikova beats Sylvia Hanika (62 64) |
| June 6 | Maya Yang Lin wins competition to design the Vietnam War Memorial |
| June 7 | 35th Tony Awards: Amadeus and 42nd Street win |
| June 7 | 51st French Mens Tennis: Bjorn Borg beats I. Lendl (61 46 62 36 61) |
| June 7 | Israeli F-15's and F-16's destroys Iraqi plutonium production facility |
| June 7 | Sandra Post wins LPGA McDonald's Golf Classic |
| June 8 | 15th Music City News Country Awards: Mandrell Sisters |
| June 8 | Seattle Mariners draft Mike Moore #1 |
| June 10 | IRA's Joseph Doherty escapes from Crumlin Road Jail |
| June 10 | Pete Rose ties Stan Musial's NL record of 3,630 hits |
| June 10 | Sebastian Coe of England sets 800m record (1:41.73) in Florence |
| June 10 | Seven Brothers Square in Bronx named honoring 7 Santini Bro Moving Co |
| June 11 | Mariners beat Orioles 8-2 at Kingdome, then players go on strike |
| June 12 | 3rd baseball strike starts |
| June 12 | Baseball players begin a 50 day strike, their 3rd strike |
| June 12 | Larry Holmes TKOs Leon Spinks in 3 for WBC heavyweight boxing title |
| June 12 | Only candidate Hassan Gouled Aptidon wins Djibouti President election |
| June 12 | "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" starring Harrison Ford premieres |
| June 13 | 39 Unification church couples wed in Germany |
| June 13 | Teenager fires 6 blanks at Queen Elizabeth II |
| June 13 | Tom Snyder interviews Charles Manson on "Tomorrow" |
| June 14 | 27th LPGA Championship won by Donna Caponi Young |
| June 17 | Battle between Moslems and Christians in Cairo, 14 killed |
| June 18 | Kimberley Ann Smith, of NC, 17, crowned America's Junior Miss |
| June 18 | Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart retires, replaced by Sandra Day O'Connor, 1st woman on high court |
| June 18 | Test cricket debut of Terry Alderman, vs. England at Trent Bridge |
| June 18 | Vaccine to prevent hoof and mouth disease announced |
| June 19 | Boeing commercial Chinook 2-rotor helicopter is certified |
| June 19 | European Space Agency's Ariane carries 2 satellites into orbit |
| June 19 | Heaviest known orange (2.5 kg) exhibited, Nelspruit, South Africa |
| June 19 | India's APPLE satellite, 1st to be stabilized on 3 axes, launched |
| June 20 | Guitarist Gerry Cott quits Boomtown Rats |
| June 20 | Mudjahedin uprises against Iran regime |
| June 20 | Pope John Paul II hospitalized for 55 days for infection |
| June 21 | 12-bottle case of 1979 Napamedoc Cabernet wine auctioned for $24,000 |
| June 21 | 81st U.S. Golf Open: David Graham shoots 273 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania |
| June 21 | Don Fagan and Walter Becker quit Steely Dan |
| June 21 | Joanne Carner wins LPGA Lady Keystone Golf |
| June 21 | Riots at Casablanca, kills 66-200 |
| June 21 | Socialists/communists win French parliamentary election |
| June 22 | 2 Habash terrorists attack a travel agency in Greece killing 2 |
| June 22 | Iran president Bani Sadr deposed |
| June 22 | John McEnroe exhibits a disgraceful act of misbehavior at Wimbledon |
| June 22 | Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon |
| June 23 | 33 inning game ends, Pawtucket 3, Rochester 2 |
| June 23 | Amanda Maccaro becomes 1st American to win Russian Ballet Competition |
| June 23 | Dave Koza scores Marty Barrett with bases-loaded single in bottom of 33rd inning, Pawtucket beats Rochester 3-2 |
| June 23 | French government of Mauroy forms, with 4 communists |
| June 23 | New York City mayor Koch turns down a $7,500 offer to perform comedy |
| June 23 | "This Was Burlesque" opens at Princess Theater New York City for 28 performances |
| June 25 | Supreme Court upholds male-only draft registration, constitutional |
| June 26 | "For Your Eyes Only" premieres in U.S. |
| June 27 | "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes returns to #1 slot |
| June 27 | Cambodia adopts its constitution |
| June 27 | Pamela Jenks, 21, crowned 14th Miss Black America |
| June 28 | 74 government officials die in attack in Iran |
| June 28 | Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Golf Tournament |
| June 28 | "Piaf" closes at Plymouth Theater New York City after 165 performances |
| June 29 | Bomb attack on headquarters of Islamic Party in Teheran, 72 killed |
| June 29 | Hu Yaobang succeeds Hua Guofeng as leader of China PR |
| June 30 | China's Communist Party condemns late Mao Tse-tung's policy |
| July 1 | Laurel Canyon California murders (4 die, 1 wounded) |
| July 1 | NEC soccer team forms in Nijmegen |
| July 1 | Nell Dunn's "Steaming," premieres in London |
| July 1 | Prince Willem Alexander opens Willems Bridge in Rotterdam |
| July 1 | Radio Shack 3rd release of Model III TRSDOS 1.3 |
| July 3 | 88th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Chris Evert beats H Mandlikova (62 62) |
| July 3 | New York City transit fare rises from 60 cents to 75 cents, new brass Y-cut-out token |
| July 4 | 95th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: John McEnroe beats B Borg (46 76 76 64) |
| July 4 | Clive Rice 105* out of 143 all out, Notts vs. Hants at Bournemouth |
| July 5 | 9th du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic): Jan Stephenson |
| July 5 | Premier Begin's Likud party wins Israeli elections |
| July 5 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| July 7 | 1st solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, crosses English Channel |
| July 7 | Sandra Day O'Connor nominated for the Supreme Court |
| July 8 | France performs nuclear test |
| July 8 | Prime Minister Maurois nationalizes banks/plane/steel industry in France |
| July 8 | Senate confirms Sandra Day O'Conner to Supreme Court (99-0) |
| July 9 | Jacksons begin a 36-city tour |
| July 10 | CERN achieves 1st proton-antiproton beam collision (570 GeV) |
| July 10 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| July 11 | France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island |
| July 11 | Neva Rockefeller is 1st woman ordered to pay her husband alimony |
| July 11 | Sebastian Coe of U.K. sets record for 1K (2:12.18) |
| July 12 | Debbie Austin wins LPGA Mayflower Golf Classic |
| July 14 | Kevin Wade's "Key Exchange," premieres in London |
| July 16 | India performs nuclear Test |
| July 16 | Shukuni Sasaki spins 72 plates simultaneously |
| July 17 | Fulton County (Atlanta) grand jury indicts Wayne B. William 23 year old photographers, for murder of 2 of 28 blacks killed in Atlanta |
| July 17 | Humbar Estuary Bridge, U.K., world's longest span, 1.4 km, opens |
| July 17 | Israeli bombers destroy PLO/al-Fatah headquarters in Beirut |
| July 17 | Lobby Walkways at KC's Hyatt Regency collapse 114 die, 200 injured |
| July 17 | "This is Burlesque" closes at Princess Theater New York City after 28 performances |
| July 17 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear Test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| July 18 | Part of Hyatt Regency Hotel Kansas City caves in (113 killed) |
| July 18 | Poland Communist Party selects ex-party leader Edward Gierek |
| July 19 | 110th British Golf Open: Bill Rogers shoots a 276 at Royal St. George |
| July 19 | Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA WUI Golf Classic |
| July 20 | England set for innings loss vs. Australia, Botham hits 100 in 87 balls |
| July 20 | Irene Saez, of Venezuela, crowned 30th Miss Universe |
| July 21 | Australia set 130 to win, all out 111 at Headingley Willis 8-43 |
| July 22 | Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca sentenced in a Rome to life |
| July 24 | Mohammed Ali Rajai elected president of Iran |
| July 25 | Voyager 2 encounters Saturn |
| July 26 | 2 climbers fall 550 m down cliff near Angel Falls, Venezuela |
| July 26 | 36th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Pat Bradley |
| July 26 | New York Mayor Ed Koch is given Heimlich maneuver in a Chinese restaurant |
| July 29 | Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Amphitheater is dedicated |
| July 29 | Iran ex-president Bani Sadr flees to Paris |
| July 29 | Prince Charles of England weds Lady Diane Spencer |
| July 30 | Belgian Senate accept laws against racism |
| July 30 | Simon Gray's "Quartermaine's Terms," premieres in London |
| July 31 | 42 day old, 2nd major league baseball strike ends |
| July 31 | Arnette Hubbard installed as 1st woman president of National Bar Association |
| August 1 | MTV premieres at 12:01 AM |
| August 1 | Poland premier Jagielski resigns |
| August 2 | Australia set 151 to win, all out 121, Botham 5-11 in 14 overs |
| August 2 | Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic |
| August 3 | 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike |
| August 3 | France performs nuclear test |
| August 4 | Columbia mated with SRBs and external tank for STS-2 mission |
| August 4 | Oliver North is assigned to White House duty |
| August 5 | President Regan fires 11,500 striking air traffic controllers |
| August 5 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| August 6 | Argentina ex-president Isabel Peron freed |
| August 6 | Due to strike, Yankees, A's, Philles and Dodgers declared 1st champs |
| August 6 | NASA launches Fltsatcom-5, it failed |
| August 9 | 52nd All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-4 at Municipal Stadium, Cleveland |
| August 9 | 6 English lifeguards set relay swim record English Channel (7:17) |
| August 9 | 63rd PGA Championship: Larry Nelson shoots a 273 at Atlanta AC Ga |
| August 9 | All star MVP: Gary Carter (Mont Expos) |
| August 9 | Hollis Stacy wins LPGA West Virginia Bank Golf Classic |
| August 9 | NL beats AL 5-4 in 52nd All Star Game (Cleveland Stadium) |
| August 10 | Coca-Cola Bottling Co agrees to pump $34 million into black business |
| August 10 | Pete Rose, 3,631 career hit, breaks Stan Musial's NL hit record |
| August 10 | Richard Nixon Museum in San Clemente closes |
| August 12 | IBM introduces PC and PC-DOS version 1.0 |
| August 12 | Jon Erikson (U.S.) becomes 1st to triple cross English Channel (38:27) |
| August 13 | Last broadcast of "Waltons" on CBS-TV |
| August 13 | Mary Terstegge Meagher swims world record 200m butterfly (2:05.96) |
| August 14 | George Foster hits his 8th home run into red seats at Riverfront |
| August 14 | Phils Mike Schmidt hits his 300th career home run off New York Met Mike Scott |
| August 15 | Botham scores a century in 86 balls vs. Australia at Old Trafford |
| August 15 | Robin Leamy of U.S. swims record 7.98 kph for 50 m |
| August 16 | Highest score in World Cup soccor match (New Zealand-13, Fiji-0) |
| August 16 | Jan Stephenson wins LPGA Mary Kay Golf Classic |
| August 16 | Mary Terstegge Meagher swims world record 100m butterfly (57.93) |
| August 18 | Football running back, Herschel Walker, of University of Georgia, takes out a Lloyd's of London insurance policy for $1 million |
| August 18 | Jerry Lee Lewis appears on "Donahue" to defend Telethons |
| August 18 | "My Fair Lady" opens at Uris Theater New York City for 119 performances |
| August 19 | 2 U.S. Navy F-14 jet fighters shoot down 2 Soviet-built Libyan SU-22 |
| August 23 | Beth Daniel wins LPGA World Championship of Women's Golf |
| August 24 | American Charles Chapman is 1st black to swim English Channel |
| August 24 | Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life for Lennon's murder |
| August 25 | Jeff Schwartz, sets solo record for trampoline bouncing (266:09) |
| August 25 | Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, is sentenced to 20 years |
| August 25 | Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km) |
| August 26 | Space Shuttle vehicle moves to Launch Complex 39A for STS-2 mission |
| August 26 | Voyager 2 takes photo's of Saturn's moon Titan |
| August 27 | Divers begin to recover a safe found aboard Andrea Doria |
| August 27 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| August 28 | John Hinckley, Jr. pleads innocent in attempt to kill President Reagan |
| August 28 | National Centers for Disease Control announces high incidence of Pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men |
| August 28 | Sebastian Coe of U.K. sets 1-mi record of 3:47.33 (since broken) |
| August 29 | 28th Walker Cup: U.S. wins 15-9 |
| August 29 | Phillies minor leaguer Jeff Stone steals pro baseball record 121st base en route to 122 (Spartanburg (South Atlantic League)) |
| August 30 | Joanne Carner wins Columbia Savings LPGA Golf Classic |
| August 31 | Dirk Wellham scores 103 on Test Cricket debut, vs. England at Lord's |
| August 31 | Royals manager Jim Frey is fired and replaced by Dick Howser |
| September 1 | Fiona Brothers sets women's propeller boat speed record (116.279 MPH) |
| September 1 | Military coup under general Kolingba in Central African Republic, President Dacko flees |
| September 1 | RKO radio network is 1st to offer 2 separate overnight services |
| September 1 | RKO radio network premieres America Overnight talk show |
| September 2 | U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test |
| September 3 | Gerald P Remy of Boston gets 6 hits in a baseball game |
| September 3 | Longest game in Fenway Park, suspended in 19, Mariners-7, Red Sox-7 |
| September 4 | Longest game at Fenway Park completed in 20, Mariners-8, Red Sox-7 |
| September 4 | Newscaster David Brinkley is released by NBC |
| September 4 | Seattle Mariners beat Boston Red Sox, 8-7, in 20 inn (started 9/3) |
| September 4 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| September 6 | Bob Lemon named New York Yankee manager for 2nd time |
| September 6 | "They're Playing Our Song" closes at Imperial New York City after 1082 performances |
| September 7 | Cleveland Browns' Brian Sipe sets club record with 57 pass attempts |
| September 7 | Jerry Lewis' 16th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $31,500,000 |
| September 7 | Joanne Carner wins LPGA Rail Charity Golf Classic |
| September 7 | Judge Wapner and People's Court premier on TV |
| September 7 | West Tampa Florida defeats Richmand Virgina, 6-4 to win American Legion World Series |
| September 9 | Vernon Jordan resigns as president of National Urban League |
| September 10 | "Guernica" of Pablo Picasso returns to Spain |
| September 11 | 2nd government of Agt forms |
| September 12 | 95th U.S. Womens Tennis: Tracy Austin beats M Navratilova (16 76 76) |
| September 12 | Elizabeth Ward (Arkansas), 20, crowned 54th Miss America 1982 |
| September 12 | Emmy Creative Arts Award presentation |
| September 12 | Red Sox rookie Bob Ojeda no-hits Yankees for 8 innings before Rick Cerone and Dave Winfield lead off 9th with back-to-back doubles |
| September 13 | 101st U.S. Mens Tennis: John McEnroe beats Bjorn Borg (46 62 64 63) |
| September 13 | 33rd Emmy Awards: Taxi, Hill St. Blue, Judd Hirsh and Isabel Sanford wins |
| September 13 | April Moon sets women's handbow distance record of 1,039 yards and 13" |
| September 13 | Atlanta Falcons tie record of 31 points in 4th quarter (vs Green Bay) |
| September 13 | Jan Stephenson wins LPGA United Virginia Bank Golf Classic |
| September 13 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| September 14 | Entertainment Tonight premieres on TV |
| September 15 | Pope John Paul II publishes encyclical "Laborem exercens" against capitalism/marxism |
| September 15 | U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor |
| September 16 | 1st broadcast of "Miami Vice" on NBC-TV |
| September 17 | Fernando Valenzuela sets NL rookie record with 8th shutout of season |
| September 19 | Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel perform a reunion concert in Central Park |
| September 19 | Satellites China 10 and 11 launched into Earth orbit by B-1 rocket |
| September 19 | Simon and Garfunkel reunite for a New York City Central Park concert |
| September 20 | 24th Ryder Cup: U.S., 18 -9 at Walton Heath GC, England |
| September 20 | Belize declares independence |
| September 20 | Joe Danelo kicks then New York Giant record 55 yard field goal |
| September 20 | Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Henredon Golf Classic |
| September 21 | Belize (British Honduras) gains independence from U.K. |
| September 21 | Sandra Day O'Conner becomes 1st female Supreme Court Justice |
| September 21 | Steve Carlton strikes out NL record 3,118th (Andre Dawson) |
| September 24 | Enterprise Radio (all sports) resigns air |
| September 24 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| September 25 | Nolan Ryan's 5th career no-hitter as Astros beat Dodgers 5-0 |
| September 25 | Rolling Stones begin their 6th U.S. tour at John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia |
| September 26 | Houston Astro Nolan Ryan 5th no-hitter beats Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0 |
| September 26 | U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test |
| September 27 | "Day in Hollywood, A Night..," closes at John Golden New York after 588 perf |
| September 28 | Joseph Paul Franklin, avowed racist, sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 2 black joggers in Salt Lake City |
| September 30 | Last game at Minn's Metropolitan Stadium, lose to Kansas City 5-2 |
| September 30 | Seoul, South Korea is selected to host 1988 Summer Olympics |
| October 1 | J Chodorov/N Panama's "Talent for Murder," premieres in London |
| October 1 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 2 | Ali Chamenei elected president of Iran |
| October 3 | Brewers (since 1970) and Expos (1969) clinch their 1st-ever postseason |
| October 3 | Irish Nationalist at Maze Prison near Belfast end 7-month hunger strike |
| October 3 | Mike Weaver beats Quick Tillis in 15 for heavyweight boxing title |
| October 4 | Donna Caponi Young/Kathy Whitworth wins Portland Ping Team Golf Champ |
| October 4 | Meadowlands Arena opens in New Jersey |
| October 4 | Pasakevi Kouna of Greece (9) is youngest International gymnastics participant |
| October 5 | Dutch guilder/Deutsche mark revalued up 5.5% |
| October 5 | Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg becomes an honarary American |
| October 7 | Hosni Mubarak became acting-president of Egypt |
| October 7 | In 1st Eastern Division championship Yankees beat Brewers 5-3 |
| October 8 | 1st broadcast of "Cagney and Lacey" on ABC-TV |
| October 8 | President Reagan greeted predecessors Jimmy Carter, Gerald R Ford and Richard Nixon before sending them to Egypt for Anwar Sadat's funeral |
| October 10 | Anwar Sadat's funeral service is held in Cairo |
| October 11 | Expos beat Phillies, 3 games to 2, in NLCS |
| October 11 | Hollis Stacy wins LPGA Inamori Golf Classic |
| October 11 | LeRoy Irvin sets yards gained on punt returns record (207 yards) |
| October 11 | Unknown rocker Prince opens for Rolling Stones at LA Coliseum |
| October 11 | Yankees beat Brewers 7-3 and win only Eastern Championship Series |
| October 12 | 15th Country Music Association Award: |
| October 12 | "Marlowe" opens at Rialto Theater New York City for 48 performances |
| October 13 | Vice President Hosni Mubarak elected president of Egypt |
| October 14 | Yank Graig Nettles is 1st to get 2 hits in same inning of an ALSC game |
| October 15 | New York Yankees capture 33rd AL pennant, sweeping 3 games from Oakland A's |
| October 16 | 2nd Dutch government of Van Agt resigns |
| October 16 | Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy," premieres in New York City |
| October 18 | Andreas Papandreous' PASOK wins Greek elections |
| October 18 | New York Giant Joe Danelo ties NFL record of 6 field goals in a game |
| October 18 | Poland General Jaruzelski elected party leader |
| October 19 | Los Angeles Dodgers beat Montreal Expos for NL pennant |
| October 19 | Nicolaas Bloembergen and Arthur Schawlow win Nobel for physics (laser) |
| October 20 | 1st NBA game at Meadowlands Arena, New Jersey Nets lose to New York Knicks 103-99 |
| October 20 | 3 members of Weather underground arrested for armored truck robbery |
| October 20 | Bomb attack on Antwerp Belgium synagogue, 1 dead, 80 injured |
| October 22 | Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization decertified |
| October 22 | Start of 1st-class game at Newcastle, NSW vs. Queensland |
| October 22 | U.S. national debt tops $1 trillion |
| October 22 | U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test |
| October 25 | 11th New York City Women's Marathon won by Allison Roe in 2:25:29 |
| October 25 | 12th New York City Marathon won by Alberto Salazar in 2:08:13 |
| October 25 | 200,000 demonstrate in Brussel against cruise missiles |
| October 25 | Allison Roe (2:25:29) and Alberto Salazar (2:08:13) win New York City marathon |
| October 25 | George Steinbrenner scuffles with 2 fans in a hotel elevator |
| October 26 | Los Angeles Dodgers beat New York Yankees, 4 games to 2 in 78th World Series |
| October 27 | Andrew Young, former United Nations Ambassador, elected mayor of Atlanta, Georgia |
| October 28 | Edward M McIntrye elected 1st black mayor of Augusta Georgia |
| October 28 | New York Yankee George Frazier loses 3 World Series games |
| October 29 | Bill Giles becomes CEO of Philadelphia Phillies |
| October 31 | 1st live radio drama in 25 years (Halloween Story on NBC) |
| November 1 | 1st Class Mail raised from 18 cents to 20 cents |
| November 1 | 3rd meeting of Giants-Jets, Jets up 2-1 with 26-7 win |
| November 1 | Antigua and Barbuda gains independence from Britain (National Day) |
| November 1 | Chako Higuchi wins LPGA Pioneer Cup Golf Tournament |
| November 3 | Brewers reliever Rollie Fingers wins AL Cy Young Award |
| November 4 | Beth Henley's "Crimes of the Heart," premieres in New York City |
| November 4 | Columbia shuttle launch scrubbed with 31 seconds remaining |
| November 4 | Dr. George Nichopoulas is acquitted of overprescribing addictive drugs for Elvis Presley |
| November 5 | Charles Fuller's "Soldier's Play," premieres in New York City |
| November 5 | Former Dolphin, Mercury Morris, is sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficing, conspiracy, and possession of cocaine |
| November 6 | Fernando Valenzuela is 1st rookie to win a Cy Young Award |
| November 6 | Larry Holmes TKOs Renaldo Snipes in 11 for heavyweight boxing title |
| November 7 | France performs nuclear test |
| November 8 | Christian Democrats looses Belgium parliamentary election |
| November 8 | Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Mazda Japan Golf Classic |
| November 10 | Ernest Thompson's "West Side Waltz," premieres in New York City |
| November 10 | "Oh, Brother!" opens at ANTA Theater New York City for 3 performances |
| November 11 | Fernando Valenzuela is 1st rookie ever to win a Cy Young Award |
| November 11 | "Oh, Brother!" closes at ANTA Theater New York City after 3 performances |
| November 12 | 1st balloon crossing of Pacific is completed, Double Eagle V |
| November 12 | 2nd shuttle mission-1st time spacecraft launched twice (Columbia 2) |
| November 12 | Bill C. Davis' "Mass Appeal," premieres in New York City |
| November 12 | Billy Martin named AL Manager of Year for the Oakland A's |
| November 12 | Great Britain performs nuclear test |
| November 12 | Pilin Leon of Venezuela, crowned 31st Miss World |
| November 13 | Ringo releases "Wrack My Brains" |
| November 14 | 2nd Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 2-returns to Earth |
| November 14 | Old Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park repaired and working again |
| November 14 | Pakistan all out 62 vs. Australia at WACA, Lillee 5-18 |
| November 14 | Paul 'Bear' Bryant ties Amos Alonzo Stagg with 314 football wins |
| November 15 | "Camelot" opens at Winter Garden Theater New York City for 48 performances |
| November 16 | Dennis Lillee kicked Javed Miandad, who waved his bat at Dennis |
| November 16 | Luke marries Laura on General Hospital (16 million watch) |
| November 16 | "Merrily We Roll Along" opens at Alvin Theater New York City for 16 performances |
| November 17 | "1st" opens at Martin Beck Theater New York City for 37 performances |
| November 17 | NBA New York Knick Bill Cartwright, ties record of 19 of 19 free throws |
| November 18 | Phillies 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt wins his 2nd consecutive NL MVP |
| November 20 | Anatoly Karpov, U.S.S.R. retains world chess championship |
| November 20 | Burundia adopts its constitution |
| November 20 | El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "limited offensive" |
| November 20 | Ringo releases "Stop and Smell Roses" album |
| November 21 | 400,000 demonstrate in Amsterdam against cruise missiles |
| November 21 | Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," single goes #1 and stays for 10 weeks |
| November 22 | 69th CFL Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos defeats Ottawa Rough Riders, 26-23 |
| November 22 | Browns' quarterback Brian Sipe sets club record by being intercepted 6 times |
| November 22 | "Marlowe" closes at Rialto Theater New York City after 48 performances |
| November 22 | San Diego Charger Dan Fouts passes for 6 touchdowns vs Oakland (55-21) |
| November 22 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| November 24 | 1st air-launched cruise missile tested |
| November 25 | Failed coup by South African mercenaries in Seychelles |
| November 25 | Rollie Fingers is 1st relief pitcher to win AL MVP |
| November 28 | Bear Bryant wins his 315th game to out distance Alonzo Stagg and become college football's winningest coach |
| November 28 | "Merrily We Roll Along" closes at Alvin Theater New York City after 16 performances |
| November 29 | Greg Chappell scores 201 vs. Pakistan at Gabba |
| November 29 | "My Fair Lady" closes at Uris Theater New York City after 119 performances |
| November 30 | New York Yankee Dave Righetti wins AL Rookie of Year Award |
| November 30 | South Africa anti apartheid advocate Bulelani Ngcuka arrested |
| November 30 | Yankees Dave Righetti wins AL Rookie of Year |
| December 1 | 180 dies as Yugoslav DC-9 jetliner slams into a mountain |
| December 1 | Yugoslavic DC-9 crashes into mountain at Corsica, 174 killed |
| December 2 | Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers) wins NL Rookie of the Year |
| December 2 | Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco opens at 11:30 AM |
| December 2 | Spanish government requests membership in NATO |
| December 3 | Beth Daniel/Tom Kite wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic |
| December 3 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| December 4 | According to South Africa, Ciskei gains independence Not recognized as an independent country outside South Africa |
| December 4 | "Falcon Crest" premieres on CBS-TV |
| December 4 | President Reagan allows CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence |
| December 4 | Reagan Executive Order on Intelligence (No 12333) |
| December 5 | 47th Heisman Trophy Award: Marcus Allen, Southern California (RB) |
| December 5 | 56th Australian Women Tennis: Navratilova beats Chris Evert (67 64 75) |
| December 5 | France performs nuclear test |
| December 6 | Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08:18 |
| December 7 | Spain becomes a member of the NATO alliance |
| December 8 | France performs nuclear test |
| December 10 | El Salvador army kills 900 |
| December 10 | Jules Feiffer's "Grownups," premieres in New York City |
| December 11 | Argentine president/general Roberto Viola flees |
| December 11 | Muhammad Ali's 61st and last fight, losing to Trevor Berbick |
| December 11 | Peru's Javier Perez de Cuellar becomes Secretary-General of UN |
| December 11 | Spacelab I arrives at Kennedy Space Center |
| December 11 | U.N. Sec Council chose Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru as 5th Sec Genl |
| December 11 | Washington Capitals biggest margin of victory (9) beating Toronto 11-2 |
| December 12 | "1st" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City after 37 performances |
| December 12 | Gambia and Senegal sign agreement to be known as Senegambia in Feb 1982 |
| December 12 | Wayne Gretzky scores quickest 50th goal (game 39) |
| December 13 | 70th Davis Cup: USA beats Argentina in Cincinnati (3-1) |
| December 13 | Polish government declares martial law, arrests Solidarity activists |
| December 14 | Israel annexes Golan Heights (seized from Syria in war of 1967) |
| December 15 | 4th Emmy Sports Award presentation |
| December 15 | NASA launches Intelsat V |
| December 16 | Dutch Van Agt's 2nd government falls |
| December 17 | Members of Red Brigades kidnap Brigadier General James L Dozier |
| December 20 | Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) and most turnovers (10) |
| December 20 | Doug Small (Winnipeg Jets) ties NHL record scoring at 5 second mark |
| December 20 | "Dreamgirls" opens at Imperial Theater New York City for 1522 performances |
| December 20 | Harry Krieger/Tom Eyen's musical "Dreamgirls," premieres in New York City |
| December 21 | Cincinnati beats Bradley 75-73 in 7 OTs (NCAA record) |
| December 22 | Argentine general Leopoldo Galtieri sworn in as president |
| December 22 | Belgium's 5th government of Martens forms |
| December 23 | Boycott becomes leading run-scorer in Test Crickets with 8033 |
| December 24 | Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa and Lisa Evers marry |
| December 24 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| December 26 | One of the great day's Test Cricket at the MCG Australia vs. WI |
| December 27 | Lillee becomes the leading wicket-taker in Test Crickets with 310 |
| December 27 | Oiler Wayne Gretzky becomes fastest NHLer to get 100 pts (38th game) |
| December 27 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| December 28 | Cleveland Metroparks Administrative offices move from downtown to Zoo |
| December 28 | Warner-Elektra-Atlantic raises price of 45 records from $1.68 to $1.98 |
| December 30 | Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record of 50 goals by 39th game of season |
| December 31 | CNN Headline News debuts |
| December 31 | Lt Jerry Rawlings becomes head of Ghana, suspends constitution |
| December 31 | Netherlands unemployment stands at record 475,000 |
