Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 - 1981 - 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Events
- Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter as President of the United States of America
- January 1 - Greece enters the European Community
- January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing
- January 19 - United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity
- January 20 - Iran releases 52 American hostages that were captive for 444 days minutes after Ronald Reagan becomes president.
- February 10 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.
- February 11 - Polish Prime Minister Jozef Pinkowski replaced by Wojciech Jaruzelski
- February 23 - Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and stops the session, where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was going to be named president of the government. The coup d'etat would fail thanks to King Juan Carlos.
- February 24 - Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet
- March 6 - After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
- March 19 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
- March 29 - First running of the London Marathon
- March 30 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by a deranged drifter named John Hinckley, Jr.. Two police officers and James Brady are also wounded.
- April 12 - Columbia 1 mission, first launch of a Space Shuttle
- May 6 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- May 13 - Mehemet Ali Agca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II at St. Peter's Square in Rome.
- May 25 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- June 7 - Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor
- July 29 - Diana Spencer marries Charles Windsor, also known as Princess Diana and Prince Charles
- December 13 - Wojciech Jaruzelski declares the state of martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity
- December 28 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born (Norfolk, Virginia).
Art, Culture & Fashion
Births
Deaths
- January 6 - A.J. Cronin, writer
- January 10 - Richard Boone, actor
- January 23 - Samuel Barber, American composer
- January 25 - Adele Astaire, dancer
- February 9 - Bill Haley, musician ("Bill Haley and the Comets")
- February 15 - Mike Bloomfield, musician
- March 9 - Max Delbrück, German biologist
- April 7 - Norman Taurog, director
- May 7 - Eddit Rabbitt, musician
- May 11 - Bob Marley, reggae musician
- May 18 - William Saroyan, author
- June 28 - Terry Fox, cancer activist
- October 6 - Anwar Sadat, Egyptian president (assassinated)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general
- November 22 - Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, German medical doctor and biochemist
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, pioneer film director
Nobel Prizes
Computing
