1984 was filled with important occurrences. Firstly, the year was the title of a book authored back in 1949 by George Orwell. This story is located in a theoretical future, in 1984 after the world had been put through never ending conflicts, an intrusive government surveillance and fake information. Clearly that future didn't reach fruition back in 1984. Even so, a good deal did occur that year and the following is a variety of some of these:
During Super Bowl 18 in Tampa, Florida on January 22 where the LA Raiders overcome the Washington Redskins 38-9 the game’s broadcaster, CBS, carried an iconic commercial for Apple Computer promoting the Macintosh personal computer. The Macintosh went on sale in the US 2 days later.
On January 25th, the then United States president, Reagan pronounces in his State of the Union address to both houses that the USA will begin development of a permanently manned space station and Reagan asked additional international space agencies to get included. The concept became the International Space Station.
On 16 March the station head of the United States in Beirut, Lebanon, William Francis Buckley, is taken by the Islamic Jihad Organization at his condominium building when he was departing for the embassy. He was subjected to 15 months of torture by Hezbollah before his death in captivity.
On 9th April, the 56th Academy Awards had been held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and was hosted by Johnny Carson. Terms of Endearment picked up best picture. The best actor was gained by Robert Duvall for the role in Tender Mercies as Mac Sledge and the best actress went to Shirley MacLaine for the role in Terms of Endearment as Aurora Greenway.
On , the Soviet Union announced that it will the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, USA which were held 28 July to 12 August. This has been in response to the USA led boycott for the 1980 Summer Olympic Games that were earlier held in Moscow over the Russion attack of Afghanistan. Among the most unforgettable events of the Los Angeles games was the South African athlete Zola Budd that had controversially been given United Kingdom citizenship earlier in the year to compete, ran barefoot in the 3000 metre race, colliding with Mary Decker of the United States of America, resulting in neither of them finishing as medallist in the 3000m.
In India on October the 31st 1984 the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her two Sikh body guards in New Delhi. Protests break out, that leave up to 20,000 Sikhs killed in Delhi and surrounding locations. Rajiv Gandhi then sworn in as Prime Minister of India.
The globes worst type of industrial tragedy in history occurred on the third of December in Bhopal, , India at a Union Carbide pesticide facility. The methyl isocyanate leak killed more than 8000 individuals outright and also injures in over half a million with the later fatality number of over 23 000.
In 1984 in Ethiopia a famine intensifies with just about a million individuals dying of malnourishment by the end of the year. A grouping of performers organized by the muscian, Bob Geldof, Band Aid, records the nonprofit song Do They Know It’s Christmas? in London to raise funds to combat this starvation occuring in Ethiopia.