27th January 1984 | Michael Jackson's scalp is seriously burned by a pyrotechnic accident during filming of a Pepsi television advert. |
14th February 1984 | Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean score twelve perfect 6.0s and win the gold medal for their interpretation of Ravel's Boléro in the 1984 Winter Olympics. This was the only time that a perfect score was achieved in Ice Dancing with the old judging system. |
6th March 1984 | A year-long strike action begins in the British coal industry. |
14th March 1984 | Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams and three others are seriously injured in a gun attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force. |
15th April 1984 | Comedian Tommy Cooper suffers a large heart attack and dies while performing live on television. |
2nd May 1984 | The Liverpool International Garden Festival opens in Liverpool. |
8th May 1984 | The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. |
30th May 1984 | Liverpool FC wins the European Cup, beating Roma on penalties in the final. |
22nd June 1984 | Virgin Atlantic Airways makes its inaugural flight. |
27th June 1984 | France beats Spain 2-0 to win the 1984 European Football Championships. |
28th July 1984 | The 1984 Summer Olympics begin in Los Angeles, California. |
30th August 1984 | The Space Shuttle ‘Discovery’ takes off on its ultimately tragic voyage. |
26th September 1984 | The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997. |
12th October 1984 | The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) attempts to assassinate the British Cabinet in the Brighton hotel bombing. |
31st October 1984 | Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her two Sikh security guards. Riots soon break out in New Delhi and 2,700 Sikhs are killed. Rajiv Gandhi becomes the new Prime Minister of India. |
25th November 1984 | Thirty-six of Britain and Ireland's top pop stars gather in a Notting Hill studio to form Band Aid. They record the song "Do They Know It's Christmas" to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. |
3rd December 1984 | British Telecom is privatised. |