random retro-spective
A white elephant or Mickey Mouse?
The £6m amusement park, EuroDisney, opens in Paris, 1992
the retro hour: 1984
We've been through the archive and compiled everything we think you need to know about the year. To make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, everything is organised into categories.
the top stories
The first untethered space walk took place from the US space shuttle
Challenger
A nationwide miners' strike began as only 21 of Britain's 174 mines were
working normally
Comedian Tommy Cooper died after collapsing on stage
Scientists at the University of East Anglia first warned of the global
greenhouse effect
Robert Maxwell bought the Mirror group of newspapers for £113.4
million
Princess Diana gave birth to her second son, Henry
An IRA bomb blast intended to assassinate most of the British Cabinet
devastated the Grand Hotel in Brighton in October
Prime Minister of India Indira Ghandi was assassinated: her son Rajiv
is the new leader
Band Aid produced the song Do They Know It's Christmas to raise funds
to help the starving in Ethiopia
on the chart
Singer Marvin Gaye was shot dead during an argument with his father at
their home in Los Angeles
The Brit awards for Best Male and Best Female went to David Bowie and
Annie Lennox.
Culture Club took the award for Best Group.
Madame Tussaud's unveiled a waxwork of Boy George
Jim Kerr from Simple Minds married Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders
Band Aid released Do They Know It's Christmas
The Eurovision Song Contest was won by Sweden. The winning song, performed
by Herreys was called Diggi Loo-Diggi Ley.
on the tv and at the cinema
The comedian Eric Morecambe died aged 58, bringing to an end a partnership
of 43 years with Ernie Wise
The top five programmes of the year were: Coronation Street, The Royal
Variety Show, Porridge, Miss World and Bullseye (featuring Jim Bowen and
Tony Green along with some very 80s prizes!)
Donald Duck celebrated his 50th birthday
and was made a member of the Screen Actor's Guild.
Terms Of Endearment won the Oscar for Best Picture.
The box office hits of the year were: Indiana Jones And The Temple Of
Doom, Never Say Never Again, Police Academy, Jaws 3-D and The Lady And
The Tramp
sports achievements and milestones
Yorkshire County Cricket Club reversed its decision to sack Geoffrey
Boycott
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean skated to gold at the Winter Olympics
in Sarajevo with their routine to Ravel's Bolero
Everton beat Watford 2-0 in the FA Cup Final
John McEnroe won his final Wimbledon singles title. The Ladies' title
went to Martina Navratilova.
Liverpool won the First Division title, Everton lifted the FA Cup
At the 23rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles, British winners included Sebastian
Coe (1500m), Daley Thompson (decathlon) and Tessa Sanderson (javelin).
Just before the University Boat Race, the Cambridge boat collided with
a bridge
Hello Dandy won the Grand National at Aintree
Niki Lauda was the Formula One World Champion
Seve Ballesteros won the Open Golf Championship
and finally
The half penny coin was phased out
New words included break-dancing, compassion fatigue and yuppie
Transformers (robots in disguise) and the Renault Espace were launched
Apple Macintosh computers were available for the first time, as were batwing
jumpers and leg warmers