in 1997. (Oct. 31) Indian prime minister Indira
Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards;
the killing sparks riots in New Delhi, and about
2,700 Sikhs are killed.
Government and politics:(Feb. 29) Canadian prime
minister Pierre Trudeau announces his retire-
ment. (Jun. 30) John Turner becomes Canada’s
seventeenth prime minister. (Jul. 12) At its na-
tional convention in San Francisco, the Demo-
cratic Party nominates Walter Mondale for presi-
dent and Geraldine Ferraro for vice president—
the first woman nominated to that position. (Aug.
23) President Reagan and Vice President George
H. W. Bush are nominated for second terms at
the Republican National Convention in Dallas.
(Sept. 4) The Progressive Conservative Party of
Canada, led by Brian Mulroney, wins 211 seats in
the House of Commons, forming the largest ma-
jority government in Canadian history. (Nov. 6)
President Reagan defeats Mondale with 59 per-
cent of the popular vote, the largest percentage
since Richard Nixon’s 61 percent victory in 1972.
Military and war:(Feb. 26) The U.S. Marines pull
out of Beirut, Lebanon.
Society:(Jun. 3) A unanimous Supreme Court up-
holds a Minnesota law that bars private clubs from
discriminating against women. (Jul. 23) Vanessa
Williams becomes the first Miss America to resign,
surrendering her crown after nude photos of her
are published inPenthousemagazine. (Oct.) The
National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) sends
a letter to thirty record labels and the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) in which
it proposes that labels be placed on recordings
with “explicit lyrics or content.”
Business and economics:(Jan. 1) AT&T divests into
twenty-four independent regional units. (Jan. 24)
The first Apple Macintosh computer goes on sale.
(Nov. 4) Michael Dell, a student at the University
of Texas, founds PCs Limited, which sells IBM-
compatible personal computers built from stock
components; the company will eventually change
its name to Dell Computers.
Transportation and communications:Deregulation
by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) enables the first infomercials to appear on
television. (Jun. 22) Virgin Atlantic Airways makes
its debut flight.
Science and technology:(Jan. 5) Richard Stallman
starts to develop GNU, a free software mass col-
laboration project. (Feb. 7) Astronauts Bruce Mc-
Candless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first
untethered space walk. (Aug. 30) The space shut-
tleDiscover ytakes its maiden voyage. (Oct. 5)
Marc Garneau, an astronaut on the space shuttle
Challenger, becomes the first Canadian in space.
Environment and health:(Oct. 26) Physicians at
Loma Linda University Medical Center perform
the first animal-to-human transplant in a new-
born, when they place a baboon’s heart into the
chest of Baby Fae, a twelve-day-old infant. (Dec. 3)
A chemical leak from a Union Carbide pesticide
plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 1,000 peo-
ple and injures from 15,000 to 22,000 others, of
whom 6,000 will later die from their injuries.
Arts and literature:William Gibson coins the term
“cyberspace” in his novelNeuromancer. Other nov-
els published in 1984 includeBright Lights, Big
City, by Brat Packer author Jay McInerney, and
The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy. (Apr.)
Ironweedby novelist William Kennedy,Glengarr y
Glen Rossby playwright David Mamet, andAmer-
ican Primitiveby poet Mary Oliver are among
the year’s Pulitzer Prize winners. (Oct. 11)Ma
Rainey’s Black Bottomopens on Broadway; play-
wright August Wilson will later receive the New
York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.
Popular culture:The first all-rap radio format is in-
troduced at Los Angeles radio station KDAY. Run-
D.M.C. is the first rap group to have an album cer-
tified gold. (Sept. 14) The first MTV Video Music
Awards are held in Radio City Music Hall, New
York City, where “You Might Think” by the Cars is
named Video of the Year. (Sept. 20)The Cosby
Showpremieres on NBC.
Sports:(Feb. 8) The 1984 Winter Olympics open in
Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. (May 8) The Soviet Union
announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer
Olympics in Los Angeles. (May 8) The longest
game in MLB history begins; the game between
the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White
Sox will be played over the course of two days and
twenty-five innings, with a total time of eight
hours and six minutes. (Jul. 4) Richard Petty wins
his two-hundredth career NASCAR victory at the
Firecracker 400 in Daytona, Florida. (Jul. 28-Aug.
12) The 1984 Summer Olympics are held in Los
Angeles.
Crime:(Mar. 22) Teachers at the McMartin Pre-
school in Manhattan Beach, California, areThe Eighties in America Time Line 1149