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Where you around in 1984?

1984 was filled with important occurrences. First of all, that year was the name of a book published back in 1949 by George Orwell. This book is positioned in a hypothetical future, in 1984 after the planet ended up being put through constant conflicts, an over reaching authorities surveillance and propaganda. Of course that foreseeable future didn’t come to fruition in 1984. Nonetheless, a good deal did occur this year and here is a selection of several of them:

During Superbowl XVIII in Tampa, Florida on January 22nd where the LA Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38-9 the game’s broadcaster, CBS, ran a legendary commercial for Apple Computer promoting the Macintosh computer system. The Macintosh was released in the US 2 days later.

On the 25th of January, the then USA president, Reagan proclaims in his State of the Union speach to both houses that the United States Of America will commence development of a permanently manned space station and Reagan invited other national space agencies to get involved. The idea became the ISS.

On March 16 the station head of the USA CIA in Beirut, William Francis Buckley, is taken by the Islamic Jihad Organization from his residence building as he was leaving for work. He was subjected to fifteen months of torture from Hezbollah before his passing away in captivity.

On the 9th April 1984, the 56th Academy Awards were held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and hosted by Johnny Carson. Terms of Endearment picked up best . Best actor was achieved by Robert Duvall for his part in Tender Mercies as Mac Sledge and best actress went to Shirley MacLaine for her role she played in Terms of Endearment as Aurora Greenway.

On the 8th of May 1984, the USSR announces that it will boycott the Olympics in Los Angeles which were held on 28 July to August 12. This has been as a result of the American led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games which were earlier held in Russia protesting the USSR’s invasion in Afghanistan. Among the more memorable events of these Olympics had been the South African runner Zola Budd who’d controversially been given British citizenship earlier in 1984 to take part, ran barefoot in the 3000m, colliding with Mary Decker from the US, causing neither of them completing as medallist in the 3000m.

In India on the 31st of October 1984 the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi is mudered by her two Sikh body guards in New Delhi. Riots break out, that leave up to 20,000 Sikhs dead in Delhi and surrounding locations. Rajiv Gandhi subsequently becomes Prime Minister of India.

The globes most severe industrial tragedy ever happened on the third of December in Bhopal, , In india at the Union Carbide pesticide factory. The chemical leak results in the deaths of greater than 8000 individuals soon after it happened along with injures in over half a million with the final fatality number reaching 23 000.

During the year in Ethiopia a famine intensifies with pretty much a million people passing away of malnourishment by the end of the year. A lot of performers got together by Bob Geldof, Band Aid, records the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? in London to raise money to overcome this starvation happening in Ethiopia.