1984 facts for kids

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s – 1980s – 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years:	1981 1982 1983 – 1984 – 1985 1986 1987

This page is about the year 1984. For the book by George Orwell, see Nineteen Eighty-Four.

1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

March 22 – People said the teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California were abusing the children in the school. The police found out that this was not true.
March 23 – Sarah Tisdall, who told The Guardian newspaper that cruise missiles were coming to Britain, was sentenced to six months imprisonment.
March 24 – The Wran Government was chosen in NSW for a 4th term.
April 4 – President Ronald Reagan said that no one should use chemical weapons.
April 12 – Four young Palestinians took an Israeli bus hostage. Israeli special forces got onto the bus and freed the hostages. They killed 1 hostage and two of the hijackers. Two other hijackers were captured and killed by Ehud Yatom. He crushed their skulls while they were tied up. Shin Bet chief Abraham Shalom told them to do this. It caused a major scandal (Kav 300 affair).
April 13 – India started Operation Meghdoot. They took control of most of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir.
April 17 – WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead by a hidden gunman outside the Libyan Embassy in London during the event known as the 1984 Libyan Embassy Siege.
April 19 – Advance Australia Fair was named as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.
April 25 – The end of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Mustain Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Riayatuddin Al-Muadzam Shah's as the 7th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
April 26 – Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, the Sultan of Johor becomes the 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
May 2 – The Liverpool Garden Festival opens in Liverpool.
May 8 – The Soviet Union announced that it was not going to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
May 8 – Denis Lortie killed three people who worked for the government in the National Assembly of Quebec building.
May 11 – A transit of Earth from Mars takes place.
May 14 – The one dollar coin is introduced in Australia.
May 19 – Game show contestant Michael Larson won $100,000 on the game show Press Your Luck. Later, people found out that he won the money by mainly using only two squares of the Press Your Luck "Big Board."
May 22 – Helen Branch was declared legally dead (she disappeared 1977).
May 27 – Fluminense won the Brazilian soccer league, against C.R. Vasco da Gama.
June 5 – The Indian government began Operation Blue Star. It was a planned attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
June 6 – Indian troops attack the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the Sikh's holiest shrine. They killed about 10,000 people.
June 8 – A deadly tornado almost destroyed Barneveld, Wisconsin. It killed nine people, injured almost 200 people, and caused over $25,000,000 in damage.
June 8 – The movie Ghostbusters comes out in theaters. It becomes a summer blockbuster hit. The song "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. became a Top 40 hit.
November 4 – Ronald Reagan defeats Walter Mondale in the largest landslide in United States History during the presidential elections.
November 29 - West Hollywood, California, a predominantly gay community, was incorporated as a city.

Births

April 27 - Patrick Stump,American singer, songwriter, actor, guitarist
Date unknown – Cigerxwîn, Kurdish polymath
January 17 – Calvin Harris, Scottish singer and songwriter
January 23 – Lina Hahne, Miss Sweden 2007
January 25 – Stefan Kießling, German footballer
February 9 – Anna Jurkiewicz, Polish figure skater
February 12 – Alexandra Dahlström, Swedish actress
February 21 – David Odonkor, German footballer
March 25 – Katharine McPhee, American singer
April 10 – Mandy Moore, American actress and singer
April 30 – Shawn Daivari, Iranian-American professional wrestler
May 29 – Carmelo Anthony, NBA star
June 30 – Fantasia Barrino, American singer
July 2 – Johnny Weir, American figure skater
July 11 – Tanith Belbin, American figure skater
August 1 – Bastian Schweinsteiger, German footballer
August 21 – Alizée, French singer
September 2 – Jack Peñate, English singer-songwriter and musician
September 27 – Angela Haynes, American tennis player
September 27 – Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer-songwriter
September 29 – Per Mertesacker, German footballer
October 2 – Marion Bartoli, French tennis player
October 3 – Ashlee Simpson, American singer and actress
October 26 – Sasha Cohen, American figure skater
October 27 – Kelly Osbourne, English singer
November 14 – Marija Šerifović, Serbian singer
November 23 – Lucas Grabeel, American actor, singer and songwriter
November 25 – Hồ Ngọc Hà, Vietnamese singer, model and actress
December 7 – Robert Kubica, Polish Formula 1 driver

Deaths

Movies released

Amadeus
Splash
Missing in Action
Revenge of the Nerds
Ghostbusters

Hit songs

Van Halen – Jump
Ray Parker, Jr. – Ghostbusters (Los Cazafantasmas)
Phil Collins – Against All Odds

New books

The Aquitaine Progression – Robert Ludlum
The Big U – Neal Stephenson (debut novel)
Brother in the Land – Robert Swindells
The Butter Battle Book – Dr. Seuss
Empire of the Sun – James Ballard
First Among Equals – Jeffrey Archer
The Fourth Protocol – Frederick Forsyth
Full Circle – Danielle Steel
Lincoln: A Novel – Gore Vidal
Love and War – John Jakes
Hotel du Lac – Anita Brookner
The Lover (French: L'Amant) – Marguerite Duras
Money – Martin Amis
Neuromancer – William Gibson
The Outsider – Howard Fast
The Practice Effect – David Brin
Random Hearts – Warren Adler
Role of Honour – John Gardner
A Shock to the System – Simon Brett
The Sicilian – Mario Puzo
Slow Learner: Early Stories – Thomas Pynchon
Stanley and the Women – Kingsley Amis
The Talisman – Stephen King, Peter Straub
Thinner – Richard Bachman (nom de plume for Stephen King)
The Tie That Binds – Kent Haruf
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
White Noise – Don DeLillo
The Witches of Eastwick – John Updike

1984 facts for kids

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Movies released

Hit songs

New books