Editing 1983 (section)

==Events==
===January===
* [[January 1]] – The migration of the [[ARPANET]] to [[Internet protocol suite|TCP/IP]] is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the true [[Internet]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Parry |first=Robert |title=The map library in the new millennium |publisher=American Library Association Library Association Pub |location=Chicago; London |year=2001 |isbn=9780838935187 |page=90}}</ref>
* [[January 6]] – [[Pope John Paul II]] appoints a bishop over the Czechoslovak exile community, which the ''[[Rudé právo]]'' newspaper calls a "provocation." This begins a year-long disagreement between the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]] and the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], leading to the eventual restoration of diplomatic relations between the two states.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The 1984 World Book Year Book: A Review of the Events of 1983 |publisher=World Book, Inc. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7166-0484-1 |editor-last=Zeleny |editor-first=Robert O. |location=Chicago |pages=469}}</ref>
* [[January 14]] – The head of [[Bangladesh]]'s military dictatorship, [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad]], announces his intentions to "turn Bangladesh into an Islamic state."<ref name=":0" />
* [[January 18]] – [[United States Secretary of the Interior|U.S. Secretary of the Interior]] [[James G. Watt]] makes controversial remarks blaming poor living conditions on [[Indian reservation|Native American reservations]] on "the failures of [[socialism]]." Watt will eventually resign in September after a series of other controversial remarks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=UPI |date=January 19, 1983 |title=Watt Sees Reservations As Failure of Socialism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/19/us/watt-sees-reservations-as-failure-of-socialism.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[January 24]] – Twenty-five members of the [[Red Brigades]] are sentenced to life imprisonment for the [[1978]] murder of Italian politician [[Aldo Moro]].
* [[January 25]] – [[IRAS]] is launched from [[Vandenberg AFB]], to conduct the world's first all-sky [[infrared]] survey from space.
* [[January 26]] – [[1983 Code of Canon Law]]: [[Pope John Paul II]] revises [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|Roman Catholic canon law]], the first such revision since [[1917 Code of Canon Law|1917]]. Among the changes is a reduction in the number of offenses qualifying for [[Latae sententiae and ferendae sententiae|automatic excommunication]], from 37 to only seven.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Briggs |first=Kenneth A. |date=January 26, 1983 |title=New Code of Canon Law: Modifying the Role of Rules |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/26/us/new-code-of-canon-law-modifying-the-role-of-rules-news-analysis.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[January 27]] – The pilot shaft of the [[Seikan Tunnel]], the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) in Japan, breaks through.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XI7PXtdQMEC&pg=PA354 |title=Ground Improvement: Case Histories |last2=Buddhima Indraratna |last3=Jian Chu |date=7 November 2005 |publisher=Elsevier| isbn=978-0-08-045736-9 }}</ref>
* [[January 30]] – Chinese newspaper [[People's Daily]] reports that the nation will run out of food and clothes by the year 2000 if the state's [[One-child policy|population control]] efforts are not successful.<ref name=":0" />

===February===
* [[February 2]] – [[Giovanni Vigliotto]] goes on trial on charges of [[polygamy]] involving 105 women.
* [[February 3]] – [[Prime Minister of Australia]] [[Malcolm Fraser]] is granted a [[double dissolution]] of both houses of parliament, for [[1983 Australian federal election|elections on March 5, 1983]]. As Fraser is being granted the dissolution, [[Bill Hayden]] resigns as leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]], and in the subsequent [[Australian Labor Party leadership spill, 1983|leadership spill]] [[Bob Hawke]] is elected as Hayden's successor unopposed.
* [[February 5]]–[[February 6|6]] – The team of [[A. J. Foyt]], [[Preston Henn]], [[Bob Wollek]] and [[Claude Ballot-Léna]] win the [[24 Hours of Daytona]] automobile race in a [[Porsche 935]].
* [[February 12]] – 100 women protest in [[Lahore]], Pakistan, against military dictator [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-ul-Haq]]'s proposed Law of Evidence. The women are tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up but are successful in repealing the law.
* [[February 16]] – The [[Ash Wednesday bushfires]] in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and [[South Australia]] claim the lives of 75 people, in one of Australia's worst bushfire disasters.
* [[February 18]]
** The [[Venezuelan bolívar]] is devalued and exchange controls are established in an event now referred to as ''Black Friday'' by many Venezuelans (the Bolívar had been the most stable and internationally accepted currency).{{clarify|date=September 2018}}
** [[Nellie massacre]]: Over 2,000 people, mostly Bangladeshi Muslims, are massacred in [[Assam]], India, during the [[Assam agitation]].
** [[Wah Mee massacre]]: 13 people are killed in an attempted robbery in the Chinatown area of [[Seattle]], United States.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/02/19/13-slain-in-Chinatown-gambling-club-robbery-2-suspects-in-custody/3467414478800/ |title=13 slain in Chinatown gambling club robbery; 2 suspects in custody |date=February 19, 1983 |work=UPI |access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>
* [[February 28]] – The final episode of the TV series ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'', entitled [[Goodbye, Farewell and Amen]], airs on [[CBS]], to a total audience of 121.6 million.

===March===
* [[March 1]] – The [[Balearic Islands]] and [[Community of Madrid|Madrid]] become [[Autonomous communities of Spain]].
* [[March 5]] – [[1983 Australian federal election|Australian federal election]]: The [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] led by [[Bob Hawke]] defeats the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]/[[National Party of Australia|National]] [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] [[Fraser government|government]] led by [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Malcolm Fraser]]. Hawke is to be sworn in on [[March 11]]. As soon as the results become clear, Fraser resigns from the Liberal leadership; he is [[1983 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election|replaced]] by outgoing [[Minister for Industry (Australia)|Minister for Industry and Commerce]] [[Andrew Peacock]].
* [[March 9]] – The [[3D printer]] is invented by [[Chuck Hull]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://3dprint.com/72171/first-3d-printer-chuck-hull/|title=You Can Now See the First Ever 3D Printer—Invented by Chuck Hull—In the National Inventors Hall of Fame|work=3DPrint.com|date=June 10, 2015}}</ref>
* [[March 15]] – [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] rabbis in the U.S. vote to affirm both patrilineal and matrilineal descent for determining [[Jewish identity]]. While Jewish [[Matrilineality in Judaism|tradition]] defines a Jew as someone with a Jewish mother, this decision by the [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] amends this principle to mean one Jewish "parent."<ref>{{Cite news |last=AP |date=March 17, 1983 |title=Reform Rabbis Change Rule on Who is a Jew |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/17/us/reform-rabbis-change-rule-on-who-is-a-jew.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[March 21]] – [[Yamoussoukro]] officially becomes the [[Cote d’Ivoire|Ivorian]] political capital after transfer from [[Abidjan]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=New capital grows in rural Africa: PETER BLACKBURN reports on Yamoussoukro's dramatic promotion from an obscure village buried in the bush to the capital of the Ivory Coast|last=Blackburn|first=Peter|date=May 28, 1983|work=South China Morning Post|language=en|id={{ProQuest|1553829422}}}}</ref>
* [[March 25]] – [[Sweden]] re-establishes diplomatic ties with the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] after a 450-year interruption. Sweden broke off relations in [[1534]] in keeping with the rise of [[Lutheranism]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 25, 1983 |title=Vatican and Sweden Resume Ties After a 450-Year Break |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/25/world/vatican-and-sweden-resume-ties-after-a-450-year-break.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[March 29]] – Germany's first elected [[Die Grünen|Green Party]] representatives take their seats in the [[West Germany|West German]] [[Bundestag]], dressed in jeans and sweaters and accompanied by [[Bongo drum|bongo]] drums.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Freudenheim |first=Milt |date=April 3, 1983 |title=The Greening of the Bundestag |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/03/weekinreview/the-world-the-greening-of-the-bundestag.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>

===April===
* [[April 4]] – The [[Space Shuttle Challenger|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'']] is launched on its maiden voyage: [[STS-6]].
* [[April 11]] – Spain's [[Seve Ballesteros]] won the 47th PGA [[Masters Tournament]]
* [[April 18]] 
** The [[1983 United States embassy bombing in Beirut]] kills 63 people.
** [[The Disney Channel]] launches in the United States.
* [[April 22]] – A reactor shutdown due to failure of fuel rods occurs at [[Kursk Nuclear Power Plant]], Russia.

===May===
*[[May 6]] – ''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'' magazine publishes the "[[Hitler Diaries]]" (which are later found to be forgeries).
*[[May 11]] – [[Aberdeen F.C.]] beat [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]] 2–1 to win the [[1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983]] and become only the third [[football in Scotland|Scottish]] side to win a European trophy.
*[[May 17]] – [[Lebanon]], [[Israel]], and the United States sign an [[May 17 Agreement|agreement]] on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
*[[May 20]]
** Two separate research groups led by [[Robert Gallo]] and [[Luc Montagnier]] independently declare that a novel [[retrovirus]] may have been infecting people with [[HIV/AIDS]], and publish their findings in the same issue of the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]''.<ref name=Gallo>{{cite journal |author1=RC Gallo |author2=PS Sarin |author3=EP Gelmann |author4=M Robert-Guroff |author5=E Richardson |author6=VS Kalyanaraman |author7=D Mann |author8=GD Sidhu |author9=RE Stahl |author10=S Zolla-Pazner |author11=J Leibowitch |author12=M Popovic | journal=Science |title=Isolation of human T-cell leukemia virus in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) | year=1983 | pages=865–867 | volume=220 | doi=10.1126/science.6601823 | pmid=6601823 | issue=4599|bibcode = 1983Sci...220..865G}}</ref><ref name=Montagnier >{{Cite journal  |last1 = Barre-Sinoussi | first1 = F. |last2 = Chermann | first2 = J. |last3 = Rey | first3 = F. |last4 = Nugeyre | first4 = M. |last5 = Chamaret | first5 = S. |last6 = Gruest | first6 = J. |last7 = Dauguet | first7 = C. |last8 = Axler-Blin | first8 = C. |last9 = Vézinet-Brun | first9 = F. |doi = 10.1126/science.6189183  |last10 = Rouzioux | first10 = C. |last11 = Rozenbaum | first11 = W. |last12 = Montagnier | first12 = L. | s2cid = 390173 |title = Isolation of a T-lymphotropic retrovirus from a patient at risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) |journal = Science  |volume = 220  |issue = 4599  |pages = 868–871  |year = 1983  |pmid = 6189183|bibcode = 1983Sci...220..868B }}</ref>
** [[Church Street bombing]]: A car bombing in [[Pretoria]], South Africa, kills 19 people. The bomb has been planted by members of [[Umkhonto we Sizwe]], a military wing of the [[African National Congress]].
*[[May 25]] – [[Hamburger SV]] defeat [[Juventus FC|Juventus]] 1–0 in the final of the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldfootball.net/report/champions-league-1982-1983-endspiel-hamburger-sv-juventus/ |title=Champions League 1982/1983 » Final » Hamburger SV - Juventus 1:0 |date= 25 May 1983 |website=worldfootball.net}}</ref>
*[[May 26]] – The 7.8 {{M|w}} [[1983 Sea of Japan earthquake|Sea of Japan earthquake]] shakes northern [[Honshu]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of VIII (''Severe''). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
*[[May 27]] – [[Benton fireworks disaster]]. An explosion at an unlicensed and illegal [[fireworks]] operation near [[Benton, Tennessee]], kills eleven and injures one. The blast is heard within a radius of {{convert|20|mi|km}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19830530&id=5O0vAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,8211234 |title=Fireworks suspect charged with deaths |date= 30 May 1983 |website=ay 3news.google.com |publisher=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |access-date=April 19, 2014}}</ref>
*[[May 28]] – The [[9th G7 summit]] begins at [[Williamsburg, Virginia]], United States.

===June===
*[[June 5]] – The [[Second Sudanese Civil War]] begins in [[Sudan]].
*[[June 9]] – Britain's [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government, led by [[Margaret Thatcher]], is [[1983 United Kingdom general election|re-elected]] by a landslide majority.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/9/newsid_2500000/2500847.stm|title=1983: Thatcher wins landslide victory|date=June 9, 1983|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
* [[June 9]]–[[June 25|25]] – The [[1983 Cricket World Cup]] is held in England with India defeating West Indies in the final.
*[[June 13]]
** ''[[Pioneer 10]]'' passes the orbit of [[Neptune]], becoming the first human-made object to leave the vicinity of the major planets of the [[Solar System]].
** The first worldwide mobile telephone, the [[Motorola DynaTAC]], enters the market.
*[[June 18]] – 
**[[Iran]]ian teenager [[Mona Mahmudnizhad]] and nine other women are hanged because they are members of the [[Baháʼí Faith]]. 
**[[Sally Ride]] becomes the first female American astronaut in space when she launches on board Challenger's [[STS-7]] mission together with four male crewmates.
*[[June 18]]–[[June 19|19]] – The team of [[Vern Schuppan]], [[Al Holbert]] and [[Hurley Haywood]] wins the [[24 Hours of Le Mans]].
*[[June 22]] – [[Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi|Emanuela Orlandi]], a 15-year-old [[Vatican City|Vatican]] girl, mysteriously disappears in [[Rome]] while returning home from a music lesson. The disappearance of the girl led to many speculations involving international terrorism, Italian organized crime, and even a plot inside the Vatican to cover a sexual scandal inside the [[Holy See]]. Because of all these theories, the Orlandi case would later become [[Italy]]'s most famous mystery. 
*[[June 25]] – India wins the [[Cricket World Cup]], defeating the [[West Indies]] by 43 runs.
*[[June 30]] – A total loss of [[coolant]] occurs at the [[Embalse Nuclear Power Station]], [[Argentina]]. It is classified as an "Accident With Local Consequences" – level 4 on the [[International Nuclear Event Scale]].

===July ===
*[[July 1]]
** A [[North Korea]]n [[Ilyushin Il-62]]M jet, en route to Conakry Airport in [[Guinea]], [[1983 Chosonminhang Ilyushin Il-62 crash|crashes]] into the Fouta Djall Mountains of [[Guinea]], killing all 23 people on board.
** A technical failure causes the release of [[iodine-131]] from the [[Philippsburg Nuclear Power Plant]], Germany.
*[[July 7]] – Ten-year-old American girl [[Samantha Smith]] accepts her invitation from Soviet Premier [[Yuri Andropov]] and begins her visit to the USSR with her parents.
*[[July 11]] – ''[[Reading Rainbow]]'' debuts on [[PBS]]. 
*[[July 15]]
** [[Nintendo]]'s Family Computer, also known as the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|Famicom]], goes on sale in Japan.
** The [[1983 Orly Airport attack|Orly Airport attack]] in Paris leaves eight dead and 55 injured.
* [[July 16]] – [[1983 British Airways Sikorsky S-61 crash|Sikorsky S-61 disaster]]: A helicopter crashes off the [[Isles of Scilly]], causing 20 fatalities.
* [[July 20]] – The government of Poland announces the end of [[Martial law in Poland|martial law]] and amnesty for political prisoners.
* [[July 21]] – The [[Lowest temperature recorded on Earth|lowest temperature on Earth]] is recorded in [[Vostok Station]], Antarctica with −89.2&nbsp;°C (−128.6&nbsp;°F).
* [[July 22]] – Australian [[Dick Smith (entrepreneur)|Dick Smith]] completes his solo [[circumnavigation]] of the world in a helicopter.
* [[July 23]]
** 13 [[Sri Lanka Army]] soldiers are killed during a [[Four Four Bravo|deadly ambush]] by the militant [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]], thus beginning the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]], which would continue until [[2009]].
** Heavy rain and mudslides in western [[Shimane Prefecture]], Japan, kill 117.
* [[July 24]] – The [[Black July]] anti-Tamil riots begin in [[Sri Lanka]], killing between 400 and 3,000 [[Sri Lankan Tamils]] and [[Hill-country Tamils]].

=== August ===
* [[August 4]] 
** [[Thomas Sankara]] becomes President of [[Republic of Upper Volta|Upper Volta]].
** [[Bettino Craxi]] is sworn in as [[Prime Minister of Italy|Italy]]'s first prime minister from the [[Italian Socialist Party|Italian Socialist Party (PSI)]].<ref name=":0" />
* August 7 – [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] authorities pass harsher punishments for [[Alcohol intoxication|drunkenness]] and [[absenteeism]], responding to public calls to curb high rates of [[Alcohol in Russia|alcoholism]].<ref name=":0" />
* [[August 17]] – President [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] authorizes construction of the [[Los Angeles Metro Rail]].<ref name=":0" />
* [[August 18]]
** [[Hurricane Alicia]] hits the [[Texas]] coast, killing 22 and causing over US $3.8 billion ([[2005]] dollars) in damage.
** Five people are killed and 18 others injured when a road train is deliberately driven into a motel at [[Uluru|Ayers Rock]] in the Northern Territory of Australia (the driver, Douglas Edward Crabbe, is convicted in [[March]] [[1984]]).
* [[August 21]] – [[Benigno Aquino Jr.]], [[Philippines]] opposition leader, is [[Assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr.|assassinated]] in [[Manila]] just as he returns from exile.
* [[August 23]] – In a crackdown on crime, the [[China|Chinese]] state [[Capital punishment in China|executes]] 19 people for murder, 10 for rape, and one for auto theft. By the end of the year, [[Amnesty International]] estimates that at least 600 people have been [[Capital punishment in China|executed in China]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 24, 1983 |title=30 Killers and Rapists Executed in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/24/world/around-the-world-30-killers-and-rapists-are-executed-in-china.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* August 24 – [[South Africa]] announces "all outstanding issues" preventing independence for [[South West Africa]] (present-day [[Namibia]]) have been resolved, except for the continuing presence of 23,000 [[Cuban intervention in Angola|Cuban troops]] in neighboring [[Angola]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lelyveld |first=Joseph |date=August 25, 1983 |title=South Africa Calls Cubans Sole Snag on Namibia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/25/world/south-africa-calls-cubans-sole-snag-on-namibia.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>
* [[August 26]] – Heavy rain triggers flooding at [[Bilbao]], Spain, and surrounding areas, killing 44 people and causing millions in damages.
* August 29 – Two [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marines]] are killed by [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] blast in [[Beirut]], marking the first U.S. combat fatalities of the [[Multinational Force in Lebanon]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Richard |date=August 30, 1983 |title=2 Marines Killed in Lebanon and 14 Others Wounded as Beirut Fighting Spreads |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/30/world/2-marines-killed-in-lebanon-and-14-others-are-wounded-as-beirut-fighting-spreads.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>

===September===
* [[September 1]] – [[Cold War]]: [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]] is shot down by [[Soviet Air Force|Soviet Union Air Force]] [[Sukhoi Su-15|Su-15 Flagon]] pilot Major Gennadi Osipovich near [[Moneron Island]] when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board are killed, including U.S. Congressman [[Larry McDonald]].
* [[September 6]] – The [[Soviet Union]] admits to shooting down [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]], stating that the pilots did not know it was a civilian aircraft when it violated Soviet airspace.
* [[September 19]]
** [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]] becomes an independent state.<ref>{{cite book |title=Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States in Force on .. |date=2006 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KunY5Mu_zhMC&pg=PA277 |language=en}}</ref>
** ''[[Press Your Luck]]'' premieres on [[CBS]]. 
* [[September 23]]
** [[Gulf Air Flight 771]] crashes in the [[United Arab Emirates]] after a bomb explodes in the baggage compartment, killing 117.
** Violence erupts in [[New Caledonia]] between native [[Kanak people|Kanaks]] and French expatriates. The French government withdraws the promise of [[independence]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Crisis in New Caledonia in the 1980s. In: France and the South Pacific since 1940.|last=Aldrich|first=Robert|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, London|year=1993|isbn=978-1-349-10830-5|pages=242}}</ref>
* [[September 26]]
** [[1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident]]: Soviet military officer [[Stanislav Petrov]] averts a worldwide nuclear war by correctly identifying a warning of attack by U.S. missiles as a [[false alarm]].
** The ''[[Soyuz T-10-1]]'' mission ends in a pad abort at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]], when a pad fire occurs at the base of the [[Soyuz U]] rocket during the launch countdown. The escape tower system, attached to the top of the capsule containing the crew and [[Soyuz spacecraft]], fires immediately, pulling the crew safe from the vehicle a few seconds before the rocket explodes, destroying the launch complex.
** The [[Atari video game burial|mass burial]] of around 700,000 unsold [[Atari]] video game cartridges, consoles, and computers occurs in [[Alamogordo]], New Mexico.
** The Australian [[yacht]] ''[[Australia II]]'' wins the [[1983 America's Cup|America's Cup]], the first successful challenge to the [[New York Yacht Club]]'s 132-year defence of the [[sailing (sport)|sailing]] trophy.
* [[September 27]] – The [[GNU Project]] is announced publicly on the net.unix-wizards and net.usoft [[newsgroup]]s.

===October===
* [[October 2]] – [[Neil Kinnock]] is elected leader of the British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].
* [[October 4]] – British entrepreneur [[Richard Noble]] sets a new [[land speed record]] of 633.468&nbsp;mph (1,019.468&nbsp;km/h), driving [[Thrust2]] at the [[Black Rock Desert]], [[Nevada]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Howard | first = Geoffrey | title = Automobile aerodynamics : theory and practice for road and track | publisher = Osprey for Motorbooks International | location = London Osceola, Wis., USA | year = 1986 | isbn = 9780850456653 | page=53}}</ref>
* [[October 9]] – The [[Rangoon bombing]] kills South Korea's Foreign Minister, [[Lee Beom-seok (foreign minister)|Lee Bum Suk]], and 21 others. The perpetrators are believed to be [[North Korea]]ns.
* [[October 12]] – Japan's former Prime Minister [[Kakuei Tanaka]] is found guilty of taking a $2&nbsp;million bribe from [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]], and sentenced to 4 years in jail.
* [[October 13]] – The world's first commercial mobile cellular telephone call is made, in Chicago, United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thenextweb.com/news/call-history-witness-the-first-commercial-cellular-phone-call-being-made-in-1983|title=Witness the First Commercial Cellular Call Being Made in 1983|date=April 17, 2013}}</ref>
* [[October 19]] – [[Maurice Bishop]], Prime Minister of [[Grenada]], and 40 others are assassinated in a military coup.
* [[October 21]] – At the 17th General Conference on Weights and Measures, the metre is defined in terms of the [[speed of light]] as the distance light travels in a [[vacuum]] in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
* [[October 23]] – [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing|Beirut barracks bombing]]: Simultaneous suicide truck-bombings destroy both the French Army and [[United States Marine Corps]] barracks in [[Beirut]], killing 241 U.S. servicemen, 58 French paratroopers and 6 Lebanese civilians.
* [[October 25]]
** [[Invasion of Grenada]] by United States troops at the behest of [[Eugenia Charles]] of [[Dominica]], a member of the [[Organization of American States]].
** [[Word processor]] software ''Multi-Tool Word'', soon to become [[Microsoft Word]], is released<ref>{{cite book|first=Roy A.|last=Allen|title=A History of the Personal Computer: the People and the Technology|year=2001|publisher=Allan Publishing|isbn=978-0-9689108-0-1|url=https://archive.org/details/A_History_of_the_Personal_Computer|chapter=Chapter 12: Microsoft in the 1980s|chapter-url=https://archive.org/download/A_History_of_the_Personal_Computer/eBook12.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://archive.org/download/A_History_of_the_Personal_Computer/eBook12.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|pages=12/25–12/26|access-date=2010-11-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101996251033.aspx|title=Microsoft Office online, Getting to know you...again: The Ribbon|access-date=2011-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511074037/http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101996251033.aspx|archive-date=2011-05-11|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofbranding.com/microsoft.html|title=The history of branding, Microsoft history|access-date=2011-06-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528002301/http://www.historyofbranding.com/microsoft.html|archive-date=2009-05-28}}</ref> in the United States. It is primarily the work of programmers [[Richard Brodie (programmer)|Richard Brodie]] and [[Charles Simonyi]]. Free demonstration copies on disk are distributed with the November issue of ''[[PC World]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news|first=Andrew|last=Pollack|title=Computerizing Magazines|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=1983-08-25|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/25/business/technologyandrew-pollack-computerizing-magazines.html|access-date=2011-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512095456/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/25/business/technologyandrew-pollack-computerizing-magazines.html|archive-date=2011-05-12|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[October 30]] – [[1983 Argentine general election|Argentine general election]]: The first democratic elections in [[Argentina]] after seven years of [[National Reorganization Process|military rule]] are held.

===November===
* [[November 2]] – South Africa approves a [[Tricameral Parliament|new constitution]] granting limited political rights to [[Coloured]]s and [[Asian South African|Asian]]s as part of a series of reforms to [[South Africa under apartheid|apartheid]].
* [[November 3]] – Commencement of the [[Battle of Tripoli (1983)|battle of Tripoli]] between [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat]] loyalists and [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]] dissidents.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/04/world/arafat-says-syria-and-libya-have-joined-tripoli-battle.html|title=ARAFAT SAYS SYRIA AND LIBYA HAVE JOINED TRIPOLI BATTLE|first=Joseph B.|last=Treaster|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 November 1983}}</ref>
* [[November 5]] – [[Byford Dolphin]] rig diving bell accident: Off the coast of Norway, 5 divers are killed and 1 is severely wounded in an [[uncontrolled decompression|explosive decompression]] accident.
* [[November 7]] 
** [[Able Archer 83]]: Many Soviet officials misinterpret this [[NATO]] exercise as a nuclear [[Pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike]], causing the last nuclear scare of the [[Cold War]].
** [[1983 U.S. Senate bombing]]: A bomb explodes in the [[United States Senate]] with the intent to kill [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] senators; no one is injured. The perpetrators are members of the [[May 19th Communist Organization]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Frederick S. Calhoun|title=Hunters and Howlers: Threats and Violence Against Federal Judicial Officials in the United States, 1789-1993|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service|year=1998|page=15}}</ref>
* [[November 11]] – [[Ronald Reagan]] becomes the first U.S. president to address the [[National Diet]], Japan's national legislature.
* [[November 13]] – The first United States [[cruise missile]]s arrive at [[RAF Greenham Common]] in the UK amid protests from peace campaigners.<ref name="Nordheimer 1983 p154">{{cite web | last=Nordheimer | first=Jon | title=FIRST U.S. MISSILES ARRIVE BY PLANE AT A BRITISH BASE | website=The New York Times | date=1983-11-15 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/15/world/first-us-missiles-arrive-by-plane-at-a-british-base.html | access-date=2024-02-08}}</ref>
* [[November 14]] – The [[immunosuppressant]] [[cyclosporine]] is approved by the [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]], leading to a revolution in the field of transplantation.
* [[November 15]] – The Turkish part of [[Cyprus]] declares independence.
* [[November 17]] – The [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation]] is founded in Mexico.
* [[November 19]] – An attempted [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacking]] of [[Aeroflot Flight 6833]] in [[Georgian SSR|Soviet Georgia]] results in several dead and wounded.
* [[November 27]] – [[Colombia]]n [[Avianca Flight 011]] crashes near [[Barajas Airport]] in [[Madrid]], Spain, killing 181 of the 192 on board.

===December===
* [[December 4]]
** [[1983 Venezuelan general election|General elections]] are celebrated in [[Venezuela]] in which the opposition party, [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]], wins a majority in both chambers of the Venezuelan Congress and the presidency for the 1984–1989 period under [[Jaime Lusinchi]]. Voter turnout is 87.3% and Lusinchi obtains 58.4% of the votes.
** [[Solar eclipse of December 4, 1983]].
* [[December 5]] – [[ICIMOD]] is established and inaugurated with its headquarters in [[Kathmandu]], [[Nepal]], and legitimised through an Act of Parliament in Nepal this same year.
* [[December 7]] – Two Spanish passenger planes [[1983 Madrid Airport runway collision|collide]] on the foggy runway at a [[Madrid]] airport, killing 93 people.
* [[December 9]] – The [[Australian dollar]] is floated by Federal treasurer [[Paul Keating]]. Under the old flexible peg system, the Reserve Bank bought and sold all Australian dollars and cleared the market at the end of the day. This initiative is taken by the government of [[Bob Hawke]].
* [[December 10]] – Military rule ends and [[democracy]] is restored in [[Argentina]], with the beginning of [[Raúl Alfonsín]]'s first term as [[President of Argentina]].
* [[December 13]] – [[Turgut Özal]], of [[Motherland Party (Turkey)|ANAP]] forms the new government of [[Turkey]] (45th government); beginning a new civilian regime.
* [[December 17]]
** The [[Alcalá 20 nightclub fire]] in [[Madrid]], Spain, injuring 47 and killing 83 people.
** [[Harrods bombings]]: a [[Provisional IRA]] car bomb kills 6 people and injures 90 outside [[Harrods]] department store in London.
* [[December 19]] – The [[Jules Rimet Trophy]] is stolen from the Brazilian Soccer Confederation building in [[Rio de Janeiro]]. {{As of|2022}}, the trophy has not been recovered.
* [[December 27]] – [[Pope John Paul II]] visits [[Rebibbia prison]] to forgive his would-be assassin [[Mehmet Ali Ağca]].
* [[December 31]] – Two bombs explode in France: one on a Paris train kills three and injures 19; the other at Marseille station kills two and injures 34.

===Date unknown===
* [[Leopold Kohr]], the people of [[Palau|Belau]], [[Amory Lovins|Amory]] and [[Hunter Lovins]]/[[Rocky Mountain Institute]] and [[Manfred Max Neef]]/[[CEPAUR]] win the [[Right Livelihood Award]].
* The meteorological [[1982–83 El Niño event]] causes severe weather worldwide.