1982 Snapshot
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The Vibe
Pop Culture
E.T. Movie
Slang
"Fer Sure"
Price Check
Gas: $1.22
Notable Deaths
Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Leonid Brezhnev
Music & Style
Thriller Era
World Affairs
Brezhnev Dies
Falklands War
Year's Summary
- Global Events: The Falklands War between the UK and Argentina. The first permanent artificial heart is implanted in Barney Clark. Time magazine names the 'Computer' as Man of the Year.
- Culture & Mood: Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which would become the best-selling album of all time. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial captures the world's imagination.
- Fashion & Slang: Members Only jackets and side-ponytails. 'Gag me with a spoon!'
- Fun Fact: The first CD (Compact Disc) player is sold in Japan, and 1982 was the year the first 'Emoticon' :-) was used in an online message!
- 2 Apr: Outbreak of the Falklands War Between Argentina and Great Britain – Argentine military forces invaded and occupied the British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), triggering a swift military response from United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who dispatched a naval task force to reclaim the islands in a high-stakes South Atlantic conflict.
- 17 Apr: Proclamation of the Constitution Act and Patriation of Canada's Constitution – Queen Elizabeth II and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau signed the Proclamation of the Constitution Act in Ottawa, formally patriating Canada's constitution from the British Parliament and embedding the landmark Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms into national law.
- 6 Jun: Israeli Defense Forces Launch Invasion of Lebanon – Following escalating cross-border skirmishes and the attempted assassination of Israel's ambassador in London, Israeli military forces launched Operation Peace for Galilee, invading southern Lebanon to target Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) strongholds and initiating years of regional military involvement.
- 14 Jun: Surrender of Argentine Forces Concludes the Falklands War – British forces liberated Stanley, forcing the unconditional surrender of Argentine commander Mario Menéndez, ending seventy-four days of intense armed conflict that restored British governance to the Falkland Islands and precipitated the eventual political downfall of Argentina's military junta.
- 12 Aug: Mexico Announces Debt Default, Triggering Latin American Sovereign Debt Crisis – Mexican Finance Minister Jesús Silva-Herzog informed international financial institutions that Mexico could no longer service its foreign debt burden, initiating a catastrophic multi-year economic crisis that spread across Latin America and fundamentally restructured international banking and sovereign lending regulations.
- 1 Oct: CD Player and Compact Disc Commercial Release Revolutionizes Audio – Sony launched the world's first commercially available digital compact disc player (the CDP-101) alongside Billy Joel's album *52nd Street* in Japan, marking the dawn of consumer digital audio technology and setting off a massive shift away from traditional analog vinyl records and cassette tapes.
- 10 Nov: Passing of Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev – Leonid Brezhnev, who had governed the Soviet Union as General Secretary of the Communist Party for eighteen years during the peak of Cold War nuclear parity and strategic stagnation, passed away at age seventy-five, leading to the appointment of former KGB chief Yuri Andropov as his successor.