istoryworld
All Events
Francis Ford Coppola directs Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now
Idi Amin flees from Uganda as Tanzanian troops reach his capital, Kampala
Partial meltdown of a US nuclear power station at Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, spreads radioactive steam over a large surrounding area
Ex-president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is executed in Pakistan for allegedly authorizing the murder of a political opponent
The first multiracial elections held in Rhodesia are won by bishop Abel Muzorewa
Communist measures in Afghanistan provoke a Muslim jihad and the murder of more than 100 Russians in Herat
The Conservative party wins the general election and Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female prime minister
The emergency measures underpinning military rule are repealed in Brazil, and an amnesty restores political rights
John Paul II makes an emotional and influential return to Poland, the country of his birth
Young officers, led by flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, take power in a coup in Ghana
Peter Shaffer's play about Mozart, Amadeus, has its premiere in London
A Sandinista junta, headed by Daniel Ortega, takes power in Nicaragua – bringing to an end four decades of brutal rule by the Somoza dynasty
Daniel Ortega leads the Sandinistas to electoral victory in Nicaragua
Lord Mountbatten is killed by an IRA bomb that explodes on his boat in the bay of Donegal
Opponents of the Sandinistas flee from Nicaragua into Honduras, where they become known as the Contras
Saddam Hussein begins a reign of terror in Iraq, reading out at a meeting the names of fellow Ba'thists who are to be taken out and shot
20-year-old US tennis player John McEnroe wins the singles title in the US Open for the first of four times
British artist Richard Long lays out his Slate Circle at the Tate Gallery in London
French paratroops bring to an end the savage rule of Bokassa in the Central African Republic
Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini seize the US embassy in Tehran, taking hostage 66 US citizens
Soviet troops invade Afghanistan to suppress anti-communist anarchy
A conference in London, at Lancaster House, finally achieves agreement on Southern Rhodesia
Britain agrees to fund the purchase of land of British farmers in Southern Rhodesia willing to sell, for a much-needed land distribution programme
The Global Commission for the Eradication of Smallpox announces that the world is free of the disease
Rhodesia becomes independent, taking the name Zimbabwe, with Robert Mugabe as prime minister
