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January
13th |
An Air Florida passenger flight crashed into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge shortly after takeoff resulting in the death of killing 74 passengers and 4 people on the ground. |
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January
28th |
U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier was rescued by Italian anti-terrorism personnel 42 days after he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades. |
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January
31st |
Greek singer, Elena Paparizou, was born in Boras, Sweden. She won the Eurovision song contest in 2005. |
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February
1st |
David Letterman began hosting the 'Late Night with David Letterman' television show on the NBC channel. it run for 11 years and became one of the most successful late night shows in the world. After a fallout with NBC, concerning who would replace the legendary Johny Carson, Letterman departed for the CBS channel. |
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February
2nd |
Syrian troops launched an attack on the town of Hama, killing thousands of people. |
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February
10th |
American sprinter, Justin Gatlin, was born in New York. He won the gold medal in the 100 meters race of the Athens 2004 Olympics. |
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February
15th |
An oil drilling platform off the coast of Newfoundland sank during a severe storm resulting in the death of 84 workers. |
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March
5th |
American comedian, John Belushi, was found dead of a drug overdose at the age 33. He is most remembered for his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers. |
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March
19th |
Argentinean troops landed on South Georgia Island, sparking the Falklands War between Argentina and England. |
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March
22nd |
A law allowing non-religious marriages was enacted in Greece. |
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April
2nd |
Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, sparkling the begining of the Falklands War. |
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May
8th |
Formula car driver, Gilles Villeneuve, died after a crash during the qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix. |
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May
25th |
During the course of the Falklands war between Argentina and the United Kingdom, Argentinean aircraft struck and sunk the British destroyer class ship 'HMS Coventry'. 19 of its 287 crew died as a result. |
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June
6th |
Israeli forces under the command of then, defence minister Ariel Sharon, invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion had come as a response to the assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, by the Abu Nidal Organization. |
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June
12th |
More than 750000 people attended a rally against nuclear weapons in New York City's Central Park. |
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June
14th |
The Falklands war ended with the unconditional surrender of Argentine forces. |
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June
19th |
David S. Dodge, the president of the American University in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah. |
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July
8th |
An assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein took place in the city of Dujail. Following the failed attempt against him, reprisals were taken against the inhabitants of the city. These reprisals were one of the main charges against the former Iraqi leader during his 2006 trial which resulted in his sentencing to death. |
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July
9th |
A Pan Am passenger flight crashed in Kenner, Louisiana resulting in the death of all 146 people on board as well as 8 more on the ground. |
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August
29th |
Swedish actress, Ingrid Bergman, died at the age of 67. She died on the day of her 67th birthday following a long battle with breast cancer. |
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September
14th |
American actress and princess Monaco, Grace Kelly, died at the age of 52 in an automobile accident. She was one of the most famous actress of her time that later became 'Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco' after her marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Officially it is said that Princess Grace suffered a stroke while driving, which resulted in the fatal accident. Her daughter, Princess Stephanie, was also in the car but suffered only minor injuries. It has been alleged that Princess Stephanie was the actual driver, though this has never been proven. |
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September
15th |
The first issue of USA Today was published by the Gannett Corporation. It is the paper with the widest circulation in the United States and second in the world, after The Times of India. |
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September
30th |
Six people died in Chicago, after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol pills. The incident has since been known as the Tylenol murders. The culprit was never arrested, but the incident changed laws regarding the packaging of over the counter medicine. |
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October
13th |
Australian swimmer, Ian Thorpe, was born in Sydney, Australia. Nicknamed, the Thorpedo, he is considered as one of the greatest middle-distance swimmers of all time. He has won five gold, three silver and one bronze medals in two Olympics so far (2006). |
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November
2nd |
The United Kingdom's television station, Channel 4, was launched. |
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November
10th |
Premier of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, died at the age of 76. |
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November
12th |
Yuri Andropov was selected to succeed the Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee. |
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December
16th |
British engineer, Colin Chapman, died at the age of 64. He was on of the most innovative automobile engineers of the world, whose ideas and concepts can still be seen in the industry. He was the founder of the sports cars company Lotus. |
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December
20th |
Polish-born pianist, Arthur Rubinstein, died at the age of 95. He is widely considered as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century. |
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December
26th |
TIME magazine awards its 'Man of the Year' award to a non-human, the personal computer. |
