istoryworld
Events relating to north america
US fillm actress Grace Kelly is killed in a car accident in Monte Carlo
Leaders of Canada's Aboriginal peoples form the Assembly of First Nations (AFN)
George Segal's bronze monument The Holocaust is unveiled in San Francisco
Michael Jackson's releases the album Thriller, which goes on to sell 40 million copies in ten years
President Reagan proposes a Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) against nuclear attack
Philip Johnson completes the A.T. & T. skyscraper in New York, an early example of Post-Modernism
The US system MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) becomes the industry standard for electronic communication in music
A new version of the Apple adds the mouse to personal computers
Classical ballerina Natalia Makarova triumphs on Broadway in On Your Toes
President Reagan sends US marines to Grenada after the execution of the island's prime minister, Maurice Bishop
Milos Forman directs the screen version of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus
US poet Robert Pinsky publishes an acclaimed verse translation, The Inferno of Dante
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the title role, that of an almost silent killing machine, in The Terminator
US sprinter and long-jumper Carl Lewis wins four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) releases her second album, Like a Virgin, that goes on to sell millions
The opera Akhnaten, by US composer Philip Glass, has its first performance in Stuttgart
Ronald Reagan is elected for a second presidential term, defeating the Democrat Walter Mondale
President Reagan's administration breaks a US embargo with secret arms sales to Iran in return for assistance in the release of US hostages in Lebanon
US author Don DeLillo publishes a novel of weird disasters, White Noise
Oliver North arranges for clandestine money from Iran to provide illegal support for the Nicaraguan Contras
Live Aid, an all-day concert for famine relief in Africa, is held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia
US artist Christo tightly binds Paris's Pont Neuf in fabric, as one of his international series of wrapped iconic buildings
The first Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast in the USA, beginning a very long open-ended series
The Human Genome Project begins in the US Department of Energy, with the aim of sequencing the whole of human DNA
The US Space shuttle Challenger explodes with seven on board less than two minutes after lift-off
