1981-1985

1981

1981 Pope John Paul II Shot Twice Pope John Paul II was wounded in an assassination attempt. The assassin was Turkish-born Mehmet Ali Agca. There have been many reports indicating that the assassination attempt was the work of the Eastern bloc's intelligence community.
1981 Mitterand Elected French Premier Francois Mitterand was elected as the first French Socialist President in a surprise win over incumbent, Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
1981 Martial Law in Poland Martial law was imposed in Poland by Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski. The Solidarity Labor Union was outlawed and its leaders, including Lech Walesa, imprisoned.
1981 Israel Destroys Iraq's Nuclear Reactor Israeli fighter bombers launched an air attack against Iraq's nuclear reactor that had been scheduled to go on line shortly. Iraq maintained an obvious program to build atomic weaponry. The Israeli government, fearing that such a weapon would be used against Israel, took the pre-emptive action of destroying the reactor and disrupting Iraq's plan to become a nuclear power.
1981 Anwar Sadat Assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Moslem extremists who opposed his peace agreement with Israel. Hosni Mubarak became the new Egyptian President.
1981 President progress $180 Billion in new arms President Reagan proposed a $180 billion expansion of the American military over the next six years. The plan included 100 B-1 bombers that President Carter had canceled. The plan was received favorably by Congress, and by-and-large was approved.
1981 President Reagan Fires Air traffic Controllers President Reagan fired 2,000 of the nation's striking air traffic controllers, after they refused to return to work. The strikers defied a law that bars strikes by federal workers. The controllers rejected a proposed 11.4% annual wage increase. The failure of the strike was a major defeat for organized labor.
1981 Assasination attempt on President Reagan On March 30, President Reagan was shot and gravely wounded by a lone gunman, John Hinckley, Jr. President Reagan recovered fully, but his press secretary, Jim Brady, who was wounded in the head, has remained partially paralyzed to this day. Hinckley was committed to a mental institution.
1981 First Woman to the Supreme Court On September 25, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female judge on the Supreme Court. Mrs. O'Connor had been nominated by President Reagan.
1982
1982 Leonid Brezhnev dead Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev died. Yuri Andropov succeeded him.
1982 Israel Invades Lebanon Israel invaded Lebanon on June 6. The immediate cause cited for the invasion was the attempted assassination of Israel's Ambassador in London. Israel's plan was designed first to create a buffer between Lebanon and Northern Israel. The incursion quickly grew to a full-fledged attempt to destroy the P.L.O.

Israeli forces advanced to Beirut. In the course of that advance, a large-scale mini-war broke out with Syria. Over two days, Israel shot down 82 Syrian planes with no losses of its own, and completely destroyed the intricate Soviet-designed anti-aircraft missile system protecting Syria. A cease-fire was reached after Israel surrounded Beirut. Under the terms of the agreement, the P.L.O. was forced to leave Lebanon.
1982 Lebanon Phalanges Massacre at Sabre and Shatilla On September 16, Lebanese Christian troops entered the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla. There, they opened fire on Palestinian civilians, killing hundreds. The Israelis were not directly involved in the massacres, but their presence nearby and their tactical control of the area resulted in sharp criticism of the Israeli Army at home and abroad. An Israeli commission of inquiry laid the blame on a number of Israelis, including Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon.
1982 War in the Falkland islands On April 2, the Argentinean military seized the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina. The islands had been administered by Great Britain. The Argentineans claimed the islands were part of Argentina and renamed them "The Malvinas." The British government announced that they would send a task force to recapture the islands.

On May 4, the British sank the Argentinean cruiser General Belgrano. The British destroyer Sheffield was subsequently sunk by an Exocet missile. On May 21, the first British troops landed on the Falklands and rapidly defeated the Argentinean forces. The British lost 225 servicemen and the Argentineans lost 712.

1983

1983 US Deploys Pershing Missiles- Soviets Walk Out of Talks On November 23, the US deployed the first Persing Intermediate-range Ballistic Missile, in West Germany. The Pershing was developed and deployed in response to the Soviet intermediate missile previously targeted at Western Europe. The Soviets opposed US deployments, and peace groups throughout Europe demonstrated against them. On the day the deployments took place, the Soviets walked out of the disarmament talks taking place in Geneva, in protest.
1983 Korean Airline Shot Down In this tragedy, 269 people were killed when the Soviets shot down a Korean Air 747 that strayed over its airspace. The plane was shot down without warning on a flight from New York to Seoul, Korea. The Soviets claimed that the plane was flying on a spy mission. In fact, however, the actions of Soviet were a horrible accident.
1983 Northern Chad Seized by Libyans and Rebels Libya continued its involvement in Chad. The government requested and received aid from both the US and French governments.
1983 US Peace Keepers Killed In Lebanon Over 200 Marines were killed when a truck loaded with explosives crashed into the US Marine compound at Beirut Airport. The Marines, who had been in Beirut as part of a multi-national force to promote peace in Lebanon, had after a short stay in Lebanon become a target of Syrian-supported extremists. Soon after the bombing, US forces withdrew from Lebanon.

1983 US Invasion of Grenada Prime Minister Maurice Bishop of Grenada was placed under arrest by General Hudson Austin and Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard– both avowed Marxists. The United States feared that Grenada would become another Cuba. Under the guise of an invitation by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, US troops intervened and took control of the island. There were 1,100 American citizens on the island, including a large number of medical students. Ensuring the safety of those Americans was one of the professed goals of attack. Sixteen Americans were killed and seventy-seven were injured in the military action.


1984

1984 Indira Ghandi Murdered While walking home from her office, Indira Gandhi was killed by two of her bodyguards. Her assassins were Sikh extremists retaliating for the raid she ordered on their shrine in Amritsar, which had resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Sikh separatists. Hindu rioting after the assassination killed more than 2,000 Sikhs.
1984 UK and China Agree on Hong Kong Great Britain and the People's Republic of China agreed on terms for the return of Hong Kong to China when the 99-year lease to portions of Hong Kong was to expire in 1997. Under the agreement, Hong Kong was to maintain its capitalist system after its return to Chinese control.
1984 Poison Gas Escapes Union Carbide plant Gas escaped from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. The gas, which was methyl isocyanate (used in the manufacture of insecticides) killed 2,000 people; and 200, 000 suffered long term harm.
1984 300 Die, When the Indian Army Attacks Sikh Temple The Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple, one of the holiest Sikh shrines. The Army claimed it was an arms depot. Three hundred died in the attack.
1984 AIDS Breaks Out French scientists reported isolating the virus that caused Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In 1984, 7,000 cases of AIDS had been reported in the United States; 3,300 of its victims were dead by the end of the year.
1984 Moderates Win Election in El Savador Free elections held in El Salvador brought Jose Napoleon Duarte to power as President. Duarte was considered a moderate. He won 54% of the vote. His chief rival was Roberto d' Aubuisoon, leader of the right-wing party. Duarte became the first civilian leader in El Salvador in 49 years.

1985

1985 Gorbechav Becomes Soviet Leader On March 11, 1985, after the death of Secretary General Cherenenko, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was named the new leader of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev represented a younger generation of Soviet leaders, and began a series of reforms aimed at invigorating the communist system in the Soviet Union, while at the same time improving relations with the West. The changes he began soon developed a momentum of their own.
1985 Nimeiri Ousted in the Sudan General Nimeiri was ousted in the Sudan after serving as head of government since 1969. Nimeiri fought to suppress a rebellion in the non-Muslim south. He imposed Islamic law, but lost almost all support. In April, a military revolt, led by Defense Minister Abdel Raham Siwar el-Dahab, removed Nimeiri from power.
1985 Rainbow Warrior Sunk The Rainbow Warrior, owned by Greenpeace, was sunk in the Auckland harbor. The ship was preparing to protest French nuclear tests. The French government admitted blowing up the ship. The French defense minister was forced to resign.
1985 Achille Lauro Seized Palestinian terrorists seized the cruise ship the Achille Lauro. The terrorists killed an American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, and threw his body off the ship. The terrorists agreed to surrender to Egyptian authorities that promised them safe passage. When they were flown out of Egypt, the US intercepted the plane and forced it to land in Italy, where they were put on trial.
1985 TWA Flight 847 Hijacked A TWA Boeing 727 was hijacked by two Shi'ite terrorist; 153 people were held hostage. Women, children and the elderly were released. One American hostage was killed, and his body thrown out of the plane. The remaining passengers were held in various parts of Beirut. After Israel released 31 of its Shi'ite prisoners, the hostages were released
1985 US Becomes Debtor Nation For the first time since 1914, the United States owed more money to foreigners than it was owed.
1985 Reagan Tax Reform President Reagan unveiled a new tax program that would simplify tax laws and lower America's tax rates. The new laws would lower the maximum personal income tax rate of 35.5 and would decrease the number of rates from 11 to 3. It also lowered corporate rates.
1985 Columbian Terrorists execute 100- Including 11 judges Colombian terrorists of the M-19 group stormed the Palace of Justice in Bogotá. There they held two dozen Justices, as well as over a hundred other hostages. When the army stormed the building, the M-19 killed all the hostages.