-
Nobel Peace Prize:
Lech Walesa - Poland
-
Crack cocaine is developed in
the Bahamas and soon appears in the US
-
The FCC authorizes Motorola to
begin testing cellular phone service in Chicago
-
Terrorist explosion kills US Marines in Beirut
-
US invades Grenada
-
Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., 50, political rival of Philippines President Ferdinand
Marcos, is assassinated
-
South Korean Boeing 747 jetliner bound for Seoul apparently strays into Soviet
airspace and is shot down by a Soviet SU-15 fighter; all 269 aboard are killed
-
Ronald W. Reagan is President, George Bush
is Vice President
-
U.S.
Population: 233,791,994
-
Life expectancy: 74.6 years
-
Second space shuttle, Challenger, makes successful maiden voyage, which includes
the first US space walk in nine years
-
US Supreme Court declares many local abortion restrictions unconstitutional
-
-
Sally K. Ride, 32, first US woman astronaut in space as a crew member aboard
space shuttle Challenger
-
US admits shielding former Nazi Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, 69, the "butcher of
Lyon," wanted in France for war crimes
-
US GDP (1998 dollars): $3,514.50 billion,
Federal spending: $808.38 billion Federal debt: $1371.7 billion
-
Median Household Income:
(current dollars): $20,885
-
Unemployment: 9.6%
-
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.20
-
Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song
Trilogy wins the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and Tony Award for
best play, marking the acceptance of gay theater
-
A US Navy officer assassinated by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front
