1983

Top Songs

  • Billy Joel - “Tell Her About It”
  • Bonnie Tyler - “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
  • Cyndi Lauper - "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"
  • Cyndi Lauper - "All Through the Night"
  • David Bowie - “Let’s Dance”
  • Dexys Midnight Runners - “Come On Eileen”
  • Dolly Parton - “Islands In the Stream”
  • Duran Duran - “Hungry Like the Wolf”
  • Eurythmics - “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 
  • Irene Cara - “Flashdance… What a Feeling”
  • Lionel Richie - “All Night Long (All Night)”
  • Men at Work - “Down Under”
  • Men at Work - “The Safety Dance” 
  • Michael Jackson - “Beat It”
  • Michael Jackson - “Billie Jean”
  • Michael Sembello - “Maniac”
  • Pat Benatar - “Love is a Battlefield”
  • Patti Austin ft James Ingram - “Baby, Come to Me”
  • Paul McCartney ft Michael Jackson - “Say Say Say”
  • The Police - “Every Breath You Take”
  • Toto - “Africa”

Top Movies

  • Return of the Jedi
  • Terms of Endearment
  • Flashdance
  • Trading Places
  • War Games
  • Octopussy
  • Sudden Impact
  • Staying Alive
  • Mr. Mom
  • Risky Business

TV shows

TV Shows that started

  • The A-Team
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks
  • Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour
  • Riptide
  • Star Search
  • Webster
  • Love Connection
  • Scarecrow & Mrs. King

TV shows that ended

  • M*A*S*H
  • Laverne & Shirley
  • CHiPs
  • Taxi
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • Quincy, M.E.

Top TV Shows

  • Dallas
  • Dynasty
  • The A-Team
  • Simon & Simon
  • Magnum, PI
  • Kate & Allie
  • The Fall Guy
  • The Love Boat
  • The Facts of Life
  • Knight Rider

Births

  • Carrie Underwood - American country singer, won American Idol in 2005, "Before He Cheats", "Jesus Take the Wheel"
  • Chris Hemsworth - Australian actor, plays Thor in the Marvel films, also in "Ghostbusters"
  • Mila Kunis - actress in "That '70s Show" TV series, in movie "Bad Moms"
  • Future - rapper, "Turn on the Lights"
  • Roman Atwood - American YouTube personality, comedian, vlogger and pranker
  • Aaron Rodgers - NFL quarterback who led the Green Bay Packers to victory in the Super Bowl in 2010 
  • Macklemore - American rapper, has collaborated with produce Ryan Lewis, "Thrift Shop" 
  • Andrew Garfield - British-American actor, in "Hacksaw Ridge" and played Spiderman in the rebooted movies in 2012
  • Miranda Lambert - country singer, "The House that Built Me"; married to Blake Shelton (2011-2015)
  • Kim Jong-un - became Supreme Leader of North Korea at age 29
  • Adam Driver - movie actor, plays Kylo Ren in "Star Wars"
  • Jonah Hill - movie actor, in "Superbad", "Moneyball" and "21 Jump Street"
  • Henry Cavill - movie actor, plays Superman in the 2013 "Man of Steel"
  • Emily Blunt - English actress, in "Edge of Tomorrow", "The Devil Wears Prada" 

Firsts/Technology

  • Mario Bros. game debuts
  • children's show Fraggle Rock debuts
  • Seatbelt use become mandatory in the UK
  • first mobile phones introduced to the public by Motorola
  • Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space in Space Shuttle Challenger
  • Cabbage Patch dolls sold, huge success
  • ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the internet
  • Microsoft Word released
  • Swatch introduces their watches
  • Compact discs (CDs) are launched as a new way to story music by Sony & Phillips

New words

  • bae
  • BOGO
  • bullet point
  • cell phone
  • cruelty-free
  • dry-erase board
  • dumpster diving
  • megapixel
  • metadata
  • mouse pad
  • newb
  • onesie
  • point-and-click
  • ringtone
  • screenshot
  • spell-check
  • stressed-out
  • toolbar
  • yup

Events

747 shot down

South Korean Boeing 747 jetliner bound for Seoul apparently strays into Soviet airspace and is shot down by a Soviet fighter jet after it had tracked the airliner for two hours; all 269 aboard are killed. 

Space Shuttle Challenger maiden voyage

Second space shuttle, Challenger, makes successful maiden voyage, which includes the first US space walk in nine years.

First American Woman in Space

Sally Ride on June 18th becomes first American woman in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Land speed record

Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

BC Place opens

The stadium opened on June 19, and was built as an indoor structure with an air-supported roof, the largest of its kind in the world upon its opening.

Microsoft Word launched

The world's most popular word processing program is launched.

Thriller Music Video

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was a 14-minute long horror-themed music video released on December 2, 1983. It was MTV's first world premiere video. It was voted the most influential pop music video of all time.