1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.
Events
- January 15 – K.C. and the Sunshine Band's Harry Wayne Casey is seriously injured in an automobile accident in Miami, Florida.
- January 17 – Tommy Tucker, writer of "Hi Heel Sneakers", dies of carbon tetrachloride poisoning sustained while he was finishing floors in his home.
- January 20 – Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off of a live bat thrown at him during a performance. Osbourne is hospitalized with rabies.
- January 21 – B.B. King donates his personal record collection, which includes nearly 7,000 rare blues records, to the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
- February 13 – A 300-pound gravestone from the grave of Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant is stolen from an Orange Park, Florida cemetery. Police found the gravestone two weeks later in a dry river bed.
- February 20 – Pat Benatar marries her guitarist, Neil Giraldo on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
- March 4 – Frank Zappa's son Dweezil and daughter Moon Unit form Fred Zeppelin.
- March 5 – Comedian and Blues Brother John Belushi is found dead of an apparent drug overdose in the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
- March 18 – Teddy Pendergrass is severely injured in a car accident in Philadelphia. Pendergrass' injuries result in him being paralyzed from the waist down.
- March 19 – Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist, Randy Rhoads is killed in a freak accident in Leesburg, Florida when the plane he's riding in buzzes Osbourne's tour bus and crashes into a house. The plane's pilot and a female passenger are also killed.
- March 28 – In Los Angeles, California, David Crosby is arrested for possession of Quaaludes and drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence of cocaine and carrying a concealed weapon.
- March 29 – Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney release their single "Ebony and Ivory".
- March 31 – The Doobie Brothers announce that they are breaking up.
- April 2 – The Falklands War begins.
- April 15 – Billy Joel is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Long Island, New York. Joel spends over a month in the hospital undergoing physical therapy for his hand.
- April – Amy Grant marries Gary Chapman.
- April 26 – Rod Stewart is mugged in Los Angeles, California. Stewart loses his $50,000 Porsche to the mugger, but was not hurt.
- June 20 – The Falklands War ends.
- August 17 – The first mass production of compact discs begins in Langenhagen near Hanover, Germany.
- September 7 – The musical Cats begins its 18-year run on Broadway.
- September 30 – The TV show Cheers premieres.
- November 5 – First broadcast of The Tube was shown on Channel 4 in the UK.
- November 13 – Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated.
Births
Deaths
Movies released
- 48 Hrs.
- Annie
- Blade Runner
- Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
- Conan the Barbarian
- Das Boot
- Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
- Death Wish II
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Fanny and Alexander
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- First Blood
- Frances
- Friday the 13th, Part 3
- Gandhi
- Grease 2
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch
- Megaforce
- Missing
- My Favorite Year
- An Officer and a Gentleman
- Parasite
- Poltergeist
- Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip
- The Road Warrior
- Rocky III, starring Sylvester Stallone
- The Secret of NIMH
- Sophie's Choice
- Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
- Time Stands Still
- Tootsie
- Tron
- The Verdict
- Veronika Voss
- Victor/Victoria
- The World According to Garp
- Yol
Hit songs
New books
- Jumangi by Chris Van Allsburg
Nobel Prizes
1982 Facts for Kids.
Kiddle Encyclopedia.