1983 Trivia, Fun Facts and History

1983 Trivia, Fun Facts and History

Quick Facts from 1983:

• World Changing Event: President Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “Evil Empire” in a speech in Florida.
• The Top Song was Every Breath You Take by The Police
• Influential Songs include: Rockit by Herbie Hancock, Puttin’ On The Ritz – Taco, She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby , She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer and Flashdance (What A Feeling) by Irene Cara
• The Movies to Watch include WarGames, Yellowbeard, Zelig, Silkwood, The Outsiders, Yentl, The Big Chill, A Christmas Story, Vacation and Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Michael Jackson
• Notable books include: Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins
• Programmer Jaron Lanier first coined the term “virtual reality”.
• The final TV episode of M*A*S*H aired on CBS, an estimated 125 million watched in the US.
• Price of 15 oz Arnold Stuffing mix in 1983: $1.35
  Swiss Cheese: $3.49/pound
• The Funny Guy was: Eddie Murphy
  The Funny Duo were: Cheech and Chong
• The Conversation: Mr. Rogers Neighborhood aired a 5 episode arc about nuclear war titled Conflict in November 1983. The episodes have not aired in reruns since.

Notable events that took place in 1983:

• The first edition of the mobile phone game Snake was released on the Nokia 6110.
• The United States invaded Grenada, a small island nation in the Caribbean.
• The United States and the Soviet Union signed a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
• The space shuttle Challenger was launched for the first time.
• The first edition of the Apple Macintosh computer went on sale.
• Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.
• The Soviet Union shot down a Korean Airlines passenger plane, killing all 269 people on board.

“Say hello to my little friend!”
– Tony Montana in Scarface

“Would you like to play a game?”
– NORAD W.O.P.R. in WarGames

Captain Bob Pearson landed Flight 143, piloting an Air Canada Boeing 767, at the RCAF Station Gimli, a closed air force base, with several mechanical failures going on, and NO FUEL.

Korean Air flight 007 was shot down over Soviet airspace without warning.

Scarface (1983) staring Al Pacino is a remake of the 1932 original film about Italian immigrant Antonio “Tony” Camonte, a Chicago gangster, both based on a 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trai, based on Al Capone.

Actor Kevin Costner was ‘the dead guy in the opening of the film The Big Chill, but we never saw his face.

In 1983’s Return of the Jedi, for the speeder chase, Garrett Brown walked through the forest shooting at less than one frame per second. By walking at about 5 mph and projecting the footage at 24 frame/s, the motion seen in the film appeared as if it were moving at around 120 mph.

In their 1983 film Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life, the Pythons defined the meaning of life as “Try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

In a 1983 court case, the New York Times conceded that their ‘Bestseller List’ is not “objective factual content” or a comprehensive list of the country’s best-selling books but admitted it was ‘editorial content.’

Austria does not usually allow dual citizenship, but they made a special exception for Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1983 when he became a US citizen.

In 1983, Russian Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov heroically prevented a full retaliatory nuclear attack against the United States and NATO allies when his Oko nuclear early warning system detected 6 missiles coming from the US and immediately declared it a false alarm.

Peter Reyn-Bardt confessed to the murder and dismemberment of his wife in 1983 after a corpse was discovered in the town peat bog. The body was then dated to 1740 AD, and Reyn-Bardt tried to retract his confession but was still convicted.

Donna Griffiths started sneezing on January 13th,1981 and didn’t stop until September 16th, 1983(997th day). It’s estimated she sneezed 1 million times in the first 365 days.

The 1983 United States Invasion of Grenada was planned using a tourist map and a copy of The Economist.

The lowest reliably measured temperature on Earth was −128.6 °F, recorded in Antarctica in 1983.

The modern computer mouse was invented.

The first videogame console with the possibility to install videogames over the internet was the Atari 2600 in 1983.

Purina’s Chuck Wagon dog food was given a promotional video game for the Atari 2600 called “Chase the Chuck Wagon”. It could only be received by proof of purchase labels and now a very collectible Atari 2600 video game.

Video game revenues peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, then fell to around $100 million by 1985 (a drop of almost 97 percent). The crash abruptly ended what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America.

As a consequence of the Video game crash of 1983, Atari discreetly buried much of its excess stock, as well as an unsold stock of earlier games, in a landfill near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Redondo Beach, CA, adopted the Goodyear Blimp as the city’s official bird in 1983.

Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover dam in Nevada/Arizona, hasn’t been at full capacity since 1983.

In 1966 Dick Shulze founded his stereo store, “The Sound of Music.” In 1983, he renamed it “Best Buy” and started the current chain of home electronics stores.

All of NBC’s 1983 fall shows were canceled by the end of their first season. This is the first and only time this has happened in television history.

Michael Jackson’s Thriller album was the best-selling album in the U.S. for 2 years straight, sold 32 million copies worldwide by 1983, and was certified 34x Platinum by the RIAA in 2021, making it one of only two albums ever to get more than 3x Diamond certified. The Eagles Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is number one.

Sally Ride became the first American woman in Space. At the time, reporters asked her questions like “Do you cry when things go wrong on the job?” and “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?”

J. Crew began selling through a mail-order catalog.

The oldest continuous trophy in sports is America’s Cup. It started in 1851, with Americans winning for 132 consecutive years until Australia took the Cup in 1983.

The 1983 Dodge Caravan was the first car with built-in cup holders.

In 1983, the city of Redondo Beach, California, adopted the Goodyear Blimp as the official city bird.

Walter Johnson’s record of 3508 career strikeouts stood for nearly 50 years before 3 different pitchers (Ryan, Carlton, & Perry) each broke the record in the 1983 season.

Troy Aikman was Oklahoma’s 1983 high school typing champion.

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1983: $400,000

January 15 – February 11:
Down Under – Men at Work

February 12 – February 18:
Africa – Toto

February 19 – March 4:
Baby, Come To Me – Patti Austin featuring James Ingram

March 5 – April 22:
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson

April 23 – April 29:
Come On Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners

April 30 – May 20:
Beat It – Michael Jackson

May 21 – May 27:
Let’s Dance – David Bowie

May 28 – July 8:
Flashdance… What A Feeling – Irene Cara

July 9 – September 2:
Every Breath You Take – The Police

September 3 – September 9:
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Eurythmics

September 10 – September 23:
Maniac – Michael Sembello

September 24 – September 30:
Tell Her About It – Billy Joel

October 1 – October 28:
Total Eclipse of the Heart – Bonnie Tyler

October 29 – November 11:
Islands In the Stream – Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton

November 12 – December 9:
All Night Long (All Night) – Lionel Richie

December 10, 1983 – January 20, 1984:
Say Say Say – Paul McCartney featuring Michael Jackson