What happened in 1982

“I Love Rock 'N Roll”

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts · 7 weeks at #1 in 1982

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1. Jan 2PhysicalOlivia Newton-John4 wks
2. Jan 30I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)Daryl Hall John Oates1 wk
3. Feb 6CenterfoldThe J. Geils Band6 wks
4. Mar 20I Love Rock 'N RollJoan Jett & The Blackhearts7 wks
5. May 8Chariots Of Fire - TitlesVangelis1 wk
6. May 15Ebony And IvoryPaul McCartney And Stevie Wonder7 wks
7. Jul 3Don't You Want MeThe Human League3 wks
8. Jul 24Eye Of The TigerSurvivor6 wks
9. Sep 4AbracadabraThe Steve Miller Band2 wks
10. Sep 11Hard To Say I'm SorryChicago2 wks
11. Oct 2Jack & DianeJohn Cougar4 wks
12. Oct 30Who Can It Be Now?Men At Work1 wk
13. Nov 6Up Where We BelongJoe Cocker And Jennifer Warnes3 wks
14. Nov 27TrulyLionel Richie2 wks
15. Dec 11MickeyToni Basil1 wk
16. Dec 18ManeaterDaryl Hall John Oates2 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1982; weeks count only those in 1982.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Jan 13Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
2. Apr 25Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
3. May 30Cold War: Spain joins NATO.
4. Jun 12A nuclear disarmament rally and concert is held in New York City.
5. Jun 13Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid.
6. Jun 23Chinese American Vincent Chin died after being beaten into a coma in Highland Park, Michigan, U.S., by two automotive workers who were angry about the success of Japanese auto companies.
7. Jul 23A helicopter crashed during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie in Valencia, California, killing actor Vic Morrow and two child actors.
8. Jul 24Heavy rain causes a mudslide that destroys a bridge at Nagasaki, Japan, killing 299.
9. Sep 30Cheers, an American television sitcom, debuted with its pilot episode on NBC.
10. Oct 1Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a constructive vote of no confidence.
11. Oct 1EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) opens at Walt Disney World in Florida.
12. Oct 14U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a war on drugs.
13. Nov 13South Korean boxer Kim Duk-koo suffered fatal brain injuries during a match with American Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, leading to significant rule changes in the sport.
14. Nov 29Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, was released.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  Ronald Reagan

• UK Prime Minister

  Margaret Thatcher

• Prime Minister of Canada

  Pierre Trudeau

• President of France

  François Mitterrand

• German Chancellor

  Helmut Schmidt → Helmut Kohl

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Zenkō Suzuki → Yasuhiro Nakasone

• Soviet leader

  Leonid Brezhnev → Yuri Andropov

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1982, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• Gilbert ArenasAmerican basketball player · Jan 6
• Gaby HoffmannAmerican actress · Jan 8
• Dwyane WadeAmerican basketball player · Jan 17
• Pete ButtigiegAmerican politician · Jan 19
• Adam LambertAmerican singer, songwriter and actor · Jan 29
• Ben RoethlisbergerAmerican football player · Mar 2
• Jessica BielAmerican actress, singer, and producer · Mar 3
• Constance WuAmerican actress · Mar 22
• Jenny SlateAmerican comedian, actress and author · Mar 25
• Danica PatrickAmerican race car driver · Mar 25

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.