1983 Newspaper Headlines
Which 1983 headlines caught the attention of reporters and made it into the headlines? With original 1983 newspaper articles you can gain a deeper insight into what it was like to live the experience. Understanding history is the best way to understand the present, and it is essential to be aware of the events of the past which shaped the world today.
It was the year Sally Ride became the first woman in space, the most famous music video ever made, “Thriller”, was broadcast for the first time, and an IRA car bomb killed 6 people outside Harrods in London. Read about all these events and more in an authentic 1983 newspaper from Historic Newspapers’ extensive collection.
22nd January 1983
Björn Borg retires from tennis after winning five consecutive Wimbledon championships.
31st January 1983
Seatbelt use for drivers and front seat passengers becomes mandatory in the United Kingdom.
4th February 1983
Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (b. 1950) dies from heart failure, which is attributed to her long battle with anorexia.
5th March 1983
Bob Hawke is elected Prime Minister of Australia.
18th April 1983
The April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut kills sixty-three people.
9th June 1983
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister since 1979, wins the 1983 general election in a landslide victory over Michael Foot with forty-nine percent of the popular vote.
18th June 1983
Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, on the Space Shuttle ‘Challenger’
21st July 1983
The lowest temperature on earth is recorded in Vostok Station, Antarctica with -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F).
29th July 1983
David Niven, English actor (b. 1910) dies.
16th August 1983
“The Bill” first airs on television as “Woodentop“.
25th September 1983
Thirty-eight Irish republican prisoners, armed with six handguns, hijack a prison meals lorry and smash their way out of HMP Maze in the largest prison escape in British history.
2nd October 1983
Neil Kinnock is elected leader of the Labour Party.
4th October 1983
Richard Noble sets a new land speed record of 633.468 mph, driving ‘Thrust 2’ at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
26th November 1983
6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are taken from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport. Only a fraction of the gold is ever recovered, and only two men are convicted of the crime.
2nd December 1983
Michael Jackson’s music video for “Thriller” is broadcast for the first time. It becomes the most famous music video ever made, increasing record sales of the already popular album “Thriller”.
17th December 1983
A Provisional IRA car bomb kills six Christmas shoppers and injures ninety other people outside Harrods.
31st December 1983
Brunei gains independence from the United Kingdom.
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