1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was .
Events
January – June
January 3 – Kilauea on the island of Hawaii begins erupting. February 16 – The Ash Wednesday bushfires hit Victoria and South Australia. February 28 – The TV Show, M*A*S*H ends with 125 million people watching the last show. April 3 – In Mexico, the 2nd festival of the popular Juguemos a Cantar series begins, it ends five weeks later on May 1. April 4 – The Space Shuttle Challenger is launched on its maiden voyage: STS-6. April 11 – Spain's Seve Ballesteros won the 47th PGA Masters Tournament April 13 – Minnesota's largest retailer Target Corporation expands into California, opening 11 stores. April 18 The 1983 United States embassy bombing in Beirut kills 63 people. Channel broadcasting is founded by the Disney Channel. April 22 – A reactor shut-down due to failure of fuel rods occurs at Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, Russia. April 25 – Cold War: Manchester, Maine, U.S., schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov, after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. May 6 – The fake Hitler Diaries are published by Stern magazine. May 26 – An earthquake and tsunami hits Honshu, Japan, killing 104 people. June 9 – In the UK, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party scores a landslide election victory over Michael Foot's Labour Party. June 18 – Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
July – December
July 1 – A North Korean Ilyushin II-62 jet crashes in Guinea-Bissau. August 4 – Thomas Sankara takes control in Upper Volta, which he renames Burkina Faso exactly a year later. August 21 – Filipino opposition leader Benigno Aquino is assassinated. September 1 – Korean Airlines Flight 007 is shot down by the Soviet Union, after it passed over Sakhalin Island, as it had come off-course. All 269 people on board are killed. September 19 – St. Kitts and Nevis becomes an independent nation. September 27 – The GNU Project is announced publicly on net.unix wizards and net.usoftnewsgroups. October 19 – Grenadan prime minister Maurice Bishop, and 40 other people are assassinated in a coup. November 11 – Ronald Reagan addressed the Japanese Diet (national legislature). November 25- The Great Man Called Suman Was Born.....In Kolkata, Westbengal, India. December 10 – Military rule ends in Argentina. December 31 – Brunei becomes independent.
Culture
Compact discs are introduced; vinyl records begin a dramatic decline in sales. "Crack" cocaine is first developed. Phish forms Billie Jean King retires from tennis
Births
January – June
January 2 – Kate Bosworth, American actress
January 16 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
January 17 – Yelle, French singer and songwriter
January 21 – Maryse Ouellet, Canadian professional wrestler
February 3 – Gabriel Sargissian, Armenian chess Grandmaster
February 23 – Emily Blunt, English actress
February 25 – Eduardo da Silva, Brazilian-Croatian footballer
March 9 – Clint Dempsey, American footballer
April 1 – Franck Ribéry, French footballer
April 14 – James McFadden, Scottish footballer
April 18 - Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
April 23 – Taio Cruz, English singer
May 11 – Matt Leinart, American football player
May 11 – Holly Valance, Australian actress and singer
June 8 – Kim Clijsters, Belgian tennis player
June 19 – Mark Selby, English snooker player
June 30 – Cheryl Cole, English singer (Girls Aloud)
July – December
July 5 – Zheng Jie, Chinese tennis player
August 6 – Robin van Persie, Dutch footballer
August 14 – Mila Kunis, Russian-American actress
August 18 – Mika, Lebanese-English singer
August 18 – Kris Boyd, Scottish footballer
September 14 – Amy Winehouse, English singer
September 26 – Ricardo Quaresma, Portuguese footballer
October 14 – Lin Dan, Chinese badminton player
October 17 – Ivan Saenko, Russian footballer
November 11 – Philipp Lahm, German footballer
December 9 – Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
December 15 – Ronnie Radke, American singer
December 31 – Sayaka Ichii, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
Deaths
January
January 18 – Arturo Umberto Illia, 34th President of Argentina (b. 1900) January 20 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933) January 24 – George Cukor, American film director and producer (b. 1899) January 28 – Frank Forde, Australian politician (b. 1890) January 28 – Billy Fury, English singer (b. 1940)