Year retrospective · 1980s

1984

1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1984th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 984th year of the 2nd millennium, the 84th year of the 20th century, and the 5th year of the 1980s decade.

Recorded events

10

top entries

Notable births

30

Notable deaths

30

Decade

1980s

Timeline

Defining events of 1984

  1. 1984 Singer Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father in his home in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, California.

    American singer and songwriter (1939–1984)

    Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Commonly referred to as the "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul", he helped to shape the sound of Motown and soul music in the 1960s and 1970s.

  2. 1984 President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.

    President of the United States from 1981 to 1989

    Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he became an important figure in the American conservative movement. The period encompassing his presidency is known as the Reagan era.

  3. 1984 Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.

    Country in Central Africa

    Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea, and the Atlantic Ocean.

  4. 1984 Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England.

    Accumulation of partially decayed vegetation

    Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. Sphagnum moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute.

  5. 1984 "We begin bombing in five minutes": United States President Ronald Reagan, while running for re-election, jokes while preparing to make his weekly Saturday address on National Public Radio.

    1984 joke by Ronald Reagan

    "We begin bombing in five minutes" is the last sentence of a controversial, off-the-record joke made by the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in 1984 during the Cold War. While preparing for a scheduled radio address from his vacation home in California, Reagan joked with those present about outlawing and bombing Russia. The joke was not broadcast live, but was recorded and later leaked to the public.

  6. 1984 An infamous brawl takes place at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.

    Baseball brawl between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves

    On August 12, 1984, during an afternoon game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, a series of brawls broke out between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves over a series of attempted beanings and retaliations. The game ended with a record 13 ejections and also 5 arrests, with a few spectators getting involved in the ruckus.

  7. 1984 The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish Armed Forces with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh.
  8. 1984 STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.
  9. 1984 The Republic of Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.
  10. 1984 A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes on approach to Zia International Airport, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing all 49 people on board.

Arrivals

Born in 1984

Gilberto Macena 1984– Brazilian footballer (born 1984)
Faustina Agolley 1984– Australian television presenter (born 1984)
Jeremy Barrett 1984– American pair skater (born 1984)
Mandy Moore 1984– American actress and singer (born 1984)
David Obua 1984– Ugandan footballer (born 1984)
Damien Perquis 1984– Footballer (born 1984)
Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez 1984– Argentine footballer
Kelli Garner 1984– American actress (born 1984)
Nikola Karabatić 1984– French handball player (born 1984)
Aleksey Dmitrik 1984– Russian high jumper
Anders Lindegaard 1984– Danish footballer (born 1984)
Blake Costanzo 1984– American football player (born 1984)

Farewells

Died in 1984

Marvin Gaye American singer and songwriter (1939–1984)
Elizabeth Goudge English novelist and children's writer (1900–1984)
Ralph Kirkpatrick American harpsichordist and musicologist (1911–1984)
Dionysis Papagiannopoulos Greek actor and comedian
Tommy Cooper Welsh comedian, magician and actor (1921–1984)
Marcel Janco Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist
Hristo Prodanov Bulgarian mountaineer
Ansel Adams American photographer and environmentalist (1902–1984)
Rafael Pérez y Pérez Spanish writer (1891–1984)
Count Basie American jazz musician and composer (1904–1984)
Pyotr Kapitsa Soviet physicist and Nobel Laureate (1894–1984)
Alfred A. Knopf Sr. American publisher

On the charts

Culture of 1984

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Across the calendar of 1984

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