WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO MAY 1983
Find out what all happened February to May 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)

The German magazine Der Stern claims that the "Hitler Diaries" had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries. (22. April 1983)

The Hitler diaries are revealed as a hoax after examination by experts. (6. May 1983)

A strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills at least 104 people and injures thousands. Many people go missing and thousands of buildings are destroyed. (26. May 1983)

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

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

Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. (1. May 1983)

First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier. (20. May 1983)

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

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

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

Aberdeen F.C. defeat Real Madrid 2-1 to win the European Cup Winners' Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. (11. May 1983)

Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. (17. May 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)

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

Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government. (16. May 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)