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Welcome to 1982, the year of the technological advances, political issues with Argentina, and the birth of rap. Michael Jackson's Thriller is the biggest album seller of all time. President Reagan announces a war on drugs and the nation becomes more aware of the effects of smoking. The new surgeon general's report calls smoking "the chief preventable cause of death."

• On January 8 American Telephone & Telegraph agrees to be broken up into small regional phone companies in a settlement of an anti-trust suit filed in 1974.
• A Boeing 737 crashes into Washington's 14th Street Bridge after takeoff on January 13.
• January 24, in Pontiac, Michigan, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26 to 21 in Super Bowl XVI. It is the San Francisco 49ers very first super bowl win.
• In May, ALL-IN-1, a new concept in integrated office software is introduced.
• Italy wins the 1982 World Cup championship, defeating West Germany 3 to 1 in Madrid on March 4.
• Actor and comedian John Belushi dies March 5 of a cocaine and heroin overdose in Beverly Hills, California. John Belushi is part of the Blues Brothers duo with Dan Ackroyd.
• Three states short of the necessary number of states for ratification, the Equal Rights Amendment fails to be ratified before the deadline of June 30.
• Ingrid Bergman dies of cancer on August 29.
• Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly) dies of a brain hemorrhage on September 14 following an automobile accident.
• USA Today begins publication nationwide on September 15.
• Cheers makes its debut on September 29 on NBC with Ted Danson, Shelley Long, and Rhea Perlman.
• Twelve hundred U.S. Marines land in Lebanon on September 29 as part of an international peace-keeping force and take up positions around Beirut International Airport.
• On October 20 the St. Louis Cardinals win the 1982 World Series defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 4 games to 3.
• Honda starts making cars at the Marysville, Ohio plant in November as Japanese autos take 22.6 percent of U.S. sales.
• A Vietnam War Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. on November 13. It displays the names of all 57,692 killed or missing U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen etched into black granite. The monument was designed by Yale student Maya Lin.
• Barney B. Clark receives the first permanent artificial heart, the Jarvik 7, on December 2 at the Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, he will live 112 days, until March 23, 1983.
• Jimmy Connors wins in men’s singles at Wimbledon, Martina Navratilova wins the women’s singles title; Connors wins his fourth U.S. Open singles title, Chris Evert-Lloyd wins in women’s singles.
• Steven Spielberg’s E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial with Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas and Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange appear in theaters.

• The Boeing 757 airliner makes its first flight.

• Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough, sets a world record, the largest number of extras.

• Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers is the first player in the history of the National Hockey League to score 200 goals in a season.

• Oakland A's Rickey Henderson sets a record with 130 stolen bases.

• Around 1,300 athletes participated in the inaugural Gay Games in San Francisco, California.

55th Annual Academy Awards
Best Actor: Ben Kingsley in Gandhi
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
Best Picture: Gandhi 

Emmy Awards
Best Comedy: Cheers (NBC)
Best Drama: Hill Street  Blues (NBC)

25th Annual Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: Rosanna by Toto
Album of the Year: Toto IV by Toto 
Song of the Year: Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson
Best New Artist: Men at Work

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last updated 03/17/06