WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO APRIL 1983
Find out what all happened February to April 1983

100 women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law. (12. February 1983)

Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history. (18. February 1983)

Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon. (11. March 1983)

The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia's second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night. (8. February 1983)

A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people. (18. April 1983)

Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space (STS-6). (4. April 1983)

U.S. President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire". (8. March 1983)

American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. (25. April 1983)

A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II. (24. February 1983)

The first United States Football League game is played. (6. March 1983)

The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia kill 75. (16. February 1983)

The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri. (23. February 1983)

During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk. (7. April 1983)

Compact Discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan. (2. March 1983)

Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last wooden radio tower in Germany. (16. March 1983)

Bertha Wilson is appointed the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada. (4. March 1983)

The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. (22. February 1983)

United American Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee collapses. Its president, Jake Butcher, is later convicted of fraud. (14. February 1983)

A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people. (13. February 1983)

Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. (23. March 1983)