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Greece becomes the 10th member of the European Community on 1st January.

260 people are killed on 6th January when the steamer Novo Amapa sinks in the Amazon River near Macapá, Brazil.

Thirteen black partygoers are killed in a fire at a house in New Cross, south-east London, on Sunday, 18th January.

Bernadette McAliskey, formerly Bernadette Devlin, who had served as the MP for Mid Ulster from 1969-73, is injured in the chest, arm and thigh when three gunmen burst into her home on 16th January.

On 20th January Ronald Reagan is sworn in as 40th President of the USA. At the age of 69 he is the oldest man ever elected to the White House.

52 American hostages are freed from the US Embassy in Tehran after 444 days in captivity.

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison record a tribute single, All Those Years Ago, in memory of John Lennon.

ABBA members Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad get divorced.

Bill Hayley dies in Harlingen, Texas on 9th February, aged 55.

Rupert Murdoch buys The Times and Sunday Times newspapers for £12 million.

48 people are killed in a fire at a Valentine's Day disco in Dublin.

On Monday, 23rd February 350 Spanish MPs are held hostage in an attempted right-wing coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Molina.

On 24th February the engagement is announced of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy, returns from Iran on 28th February with three British missionaries who had been held captive for six months. Waite had flown to Tehran on 26th December 1980 to negotiate for their release.

On 9th March the man known as the M5 Rapist, John Lambe, is sentenced to life on each of 12 counts of rape and given concurrent six year sentences on four charges of attempted rape.

The passengers and crew on board a Pakistan Airways plane, who had been held hostage for almost two weeks, are released in Syria on 15th March.

On 23rd March the UK government bans all animal transport on the Isle of Wight and in southern Hampshire, following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Four ex-Labour MPs (Roy Jenkins, Dr. David Owen, William Rodgers and Shirley Williams) officially launch the new Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Thursday, 26th March.

On Monday, 30th March President Regan is injured in an assassination attempt outside the Hilton Hotel, Washington. Greeting his wife Nancy afterwards, he quips: "Honey, I forgot to duck." John Hinkley, a 25-year old arrested and charged with attempted assassination, is later found not guilty by reason of insanity.

On 4th April Bucks Fizz win the Eurovision Song Contest for Britain with their song Making Your Mind Up.

On the same day police arrest the Red Brigade leader Mario Moretti in Rome.

Bobby Sands, an IRA hunger-striker in the Maze prison, wins the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election on 10th April.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis dies on 12th April.

On 13th April the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, orders an urgent public enquiry, following three days of violent rioting on the streets of Brixton.

Former US Vice-President Spiro Agnew is convicted of taking bribes and is ordered by a Maryland court to repay the money to the state.

IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands dies in the Maze prison on Tuesday, 5th May, 66 days after first refusing to eat. A second hunger striker, Francis Hughes, dies a week later.

On 7th May Ken Livingstone is elected leader of the Greater London Council.

François Mitterand is elected President of France.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats opens at the New London Theatre on Monday, 11th May.

Bob Marley dies of lung cancer and a brain tumour on 11th May, aged 36. His funeral takes place on 22nd May.

Pope John Paul II is wounded in an assassination attempt on 13th May.

On 22nd May the "Yorkshire Ripper", Peter Sutcliffe, is convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Italian coalition government led by Arnaldo Forlani resigns on 26th May in the wake of a scandal over freemasonry.

The president of Bangladesh, Zia Rahman, is assassinated in Chittagong on Saturday, 30th May.

In California on Friday, 5th June, five men with weakened immune systems are diagnosed with a new form of pneumonia, later recognised as the first cases of AIDS.

On 7th June the Israeli air force destroys an Iraqi nuclear reactor at Daura. The attack, which was made to prevent the manufacture of nuclear bombs for use against Israel, is later condemned by the United Nations Security Council.

Two H-block prisoners win seats in the Irish general election. The Fianna Fail party, led by Charles Haughey, is returned to power but without an overall majority. At the first sitting of the Dael the Fine Gael leader, Dr. Garret Fitzgerald, is elected Prime Minister. The Fine Gael and Labour parties form a coalition government.

On 11th June the Queen visits the City of London to open the National Westminster Tower - at the time the UK's tallest office building.

Two days later, on Saturday, 13th June, a 17-year-old former cadet, Marcus Serjeant, fires six blank shots at the Queen as she rides down the Mall on horseback during the Trooping of the Colour ceremony.

Mark Chapman, on trial for murdering John Lennon in New York in December 1980, surprises his lawyers on Monday, 22nd June by changing his plea to guilty.

On 3rd July there are riots on the streets of Southall, London. On 4th July riots break out in the Toxteth area of Liverpool and continue for several days. For the first time on mainland Britain the police use CS gas to disperse the rioters. On 7th July further riots erupt in the Moss Side area of Manchester. In response the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, bans all marches in London till 14th August and Michael Heseltine heads a government investigation into inner city conditions.

On Tuesday, 7th July the General Synod of the Church of England decrees that divorcees can remarry in church.

British Gas workers hold a 24-hour strike on 13th July in protest at the UK government's plans to sell off 900 British Gas showrooms.

Harry Chapin, who wrote the New Seekers' 1972 hit Circles and had hits of his own with W.O.L.D. and Cats In The Cradle, is killed in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway on 16th July.

On 17th July two overhead walkways fall onto a dance floor at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Kansas City, killing 111 people.

The Humber Bridge, which opened to traffic on 24th June, is officially opened by the Queen on 17th July. Under construction since January 1980, it is the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world.

On 29th July the UK celebrates the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

MTV is launched on 1xt August. The first music video shown is Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles.

US air traffic controllers begin a nationwide strike on 3rd August.

On 5th August Olivia Newton-John is awarded a 'Gold Star' on Hollywood Boulevard.

Thirteen people die on 13th August when a helicopter ferrying gas rig workers crashes off the Norfolk coast.

On 24th August Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life for the murder of John Lennon.

IBM announce the arrival of the personal computer. The software for the PC is supplied by a little-known company called Microsoft.

Another Maze prisoner, Owen Carron, wins the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election.

On 30th August the President of Iran, Mohammad Ali Rajai, and the Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar, are both assassinated in a bomb attack in Tehran.

On Wednesday, 4th September a remotely-controlled camera is sent down to the seabed of the North Atlantic to take photographs of the wreck of the Titanic, 73 years after the ocean liner had been sunk by an iceberg.

Christy Brown, author of My Left Foot, dies on 7th September.

A teenager who fired blank shots at the Queen is jailed for five years on 14th September.

On 16th September the Liberal Party Assembly, meeting in Llandudno, votes in favour of forming an electoral pact with the new Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The death penalty is abolished in France on Friday, 18th September, nearly 200 years after beheading by guillotine became the standard method of capital punishment.

Simon and Garfunkel get together after 11 years for a reunion concert in Central Park, New York on 19th September.

On 21st September Guatemala breaks off diplomatic relations with the UK in protest at Britain's decision to grant independence to Belize.

Songwriter Harry Warren dies on 22nd September, aged 88.

The TGV, a new high speed train, is brought into service in France.

The President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, is assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists on Tuesday, 6th October while reviewing a military parade in Cairo. The Vice-President, Hosni Mubarak, is sworn in as President on 14th October.

A nail bomb explodes outside Chelsea barracks on 10th October, killing two civilians. 22 soldiers and 16 other civilians are injured.

On 22nd October William Pitt wins the Croydon North West by-election for the new Liberal-Social Democratic Alliance.

On Friday, 30th October Nicholas Reed, the secretary of the pro-euthanasia group Exit, is sent to prison for two-and-a-half years, having been found guilty on three counts of aiding and abetting suicide and one of conspiracy to aid and abet.

Citizens' Band radio becomes legal in the UK on 2nd November.

The Queen opens the Tyne and Wear Metro on 6th November.

On 12th November the Church of England's General Synod votes to allow women to take Holy Orders.

Shirley Williams returns to Parliament after winning the Crosby by-election for the SDP.

Natalie Wood, star of films such as Rebel Without A Cause and West Side Story, dies on 29th November, aged 43.

During December the UK has the heaviest snowfalls and the lowest temperatures since 1878.

On 1st December Vince Clarke announces that he is leaving Depeche Mode to form Yazoo with Alison Moyet.

On 8th December Arthur Scargill is elected President of the National Union of Mineworkers.

On Sunday, 13th December martial law is imposed in Poland and thousands are arrested, including Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity trade union.

On 14th December Israel announces plans to annex the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1973.

On 16th December the National Executive Committee of the UK Labour Party votes by 15:14 not to endorse Peter Tatchell as the Labour candidate in Bermondsey.

On Saturday, 19th December the eight crew members of the RNLI Penlee lifeboat, Solomon Browne, are killed in rough seas off the south coast of Cornwall, when responding to a rescue call from the freighter Union Star.

American songwriter Hoagie Carmichael dies on 27th December, aged 82.

• ABC
  
• Bucks Fizz
  
• Phil Collins
  
• Depeche Mode
  
• Duran Duran
  
• Eurythmics
  
• Fun Boy Three
  
• Julio Iglesias
  
• Kirsty MacColl
  
• New Order
  
• Talking Heads
  
• U2
  
  

• ABBA
  Lay All Your Love On Me
  
• ABBA
  One Of Us
  
• Adam and the Ants
  Prince Charming
  
• Adam and the Ants
  Stand and Deliver
  
• Altered Images
  Happy Birthday
  
• Aneka
  Japanese Boy
  
• Bucks Fizz
  Making Your Mind Up
  [Eurovision Song Contest Winner]
  
• Kim Carnes
  Bette Davis Eyes
  
• Coast to Coast
  (Do) The Hucklebuck
  
• Phil Collins
  In The Air Tonight
  
• Elvis Costello and the Attractions
  A Good Year For The Roses
  
• Kiki Dee
  Star
  
• Department S
  Is Vic There?
  
• Depeche Mode
  Just Can't Get Enough
  
• Dire Straits
  Romeo and Juliet
  
• Sheena Easton
  For Your Eyes Only
  
• Godley and Creme
  Under Your Thumb
  
• Human League
  Don't You Want Me
  
• Headgirl (Motorhead and Girlschool)
  St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP
  
• Julio Iglesias
  Begin The Beguine (Volver A Empezar)
  
• Imagination
  Body Talk
  
• Michael Jackson
  One Day In Your Life
  
• Landscape
  Einstein A Go-Go
  
• John Lennon
  Imagine
  
• John Lennon
  Woman
  
• Look
  I Am The Beat
  
• Kirsty MacColl
  There's A Guy Works Down The Chipshop Swears He's Elvis
  
• Madness
  It Must Be Love
  
• Bob Marley and the Wailers
  No Woman, No Cry
  
• Olivia Newton-John
  Physical
  
• Hazel O'Connor
  Will You
  
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
  Joan Of Arc
  
• Ottawan
  Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)
  
• Elaine Paige
  Memory
  
• Police
  Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
  
• Police
  Invisible Sun
  
• Queen and David Bowie
  Under Pressure
  
• Cliff Richard
  Daddy's Home
  
• Cliff Richard
  Wired For Sound
  
• Smokey Robinson
  Being With You
  
• Roxy Music
  Jealous Guy
  
• Soft Cell
  Tainted Love
  
• Specials
  Ghost Town
  
• Squeeze
  Labelled With Love
  
• Shakin' Stevens
  Green Door
  
• Shakin' Stevens
  This Ole House
  
• Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin
  It's My Party
  
• Talking Heads
  Once In A Lifetime
  
• Teardrop Explodes
  Reward
  
• Tom Tom Club
  Wordy Rappinghood
  
• Tweets
  The Birdie Song (Birdie Dance)
  
• Ultravox
  Vienna
  
• Visage
  Fade To Grey
  
• Kim Wilde
  Chequered Love
  
• Kim Wilde
  Kids In America
  
• Stevie Wonder
  Happy Birthday
  
• Stevie Wonder
  Lately
  

• Laurie Anderson
  O Superman
  
• Joe Dolce Music Theatre
  Shaddap You Face
  
• Keith Marshall
  Only Crying
  
• Passions
  I'm In Love With A German Film Star
  
• Kate Robbins and Beyond
  More Than In Love
  
• Fred Wedlock
  Oldest Swinger In Town
  

• ABBA
  The Visitors
  
• Joan Armatrading
  Walk Under Ladders
  
• Elkie Brooks
  Pearls
  
• Phil Collins
  Face Value
  
• Elvis Costello
  Almost Blue
  
• Christopher Cross
  Christopher Cross
  
• Billy Field
  Bad Habits
  
• Art Garfunkel
  Scissors Cut
  
• Genesis
  Abacab
  
• Billy Joel
  Songs In The Attic
  
• Human League
  Dare
  
• Madness
  Madness 7
  
• Olivia Newton-John
  Physical
  
• Stevie Nicks
  Bella Donna
  
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
  Architecture and Morality
  
• Police
  Ghost In The Machine
  
• Cliff Richard
  Love Songs
  
• Cliff Richard
  Wired For Sound
  
• Sky
  Sky 3
  
• Soft Cell
  Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
  
• Jim Steinman
  Bad For Good
  
• Vangelis
  Chariots Of Fire
  [Film Soundtrack]
  
• Kim Wilde
  Kim Wilde
  

• An American Werewolf In London
  
• Arthur
  
• Chariots Of Fire
  
• Coal Miner's Daughter
  
• Diva
  
• For Your Eyes Only
  
• The French Lieutenant's Woman
  
• History Of The World Part 1
  
• The Jazz Singer
  
• 9 to 5
  
• Ordinary People
  
• The Postman Always Rings Twice
  
• Private Benjamin
  
• Raiders Of The Lost Ark
  
• Raging Bull
  
• Stir Crazy
  
• Tess
  
  

• Are You Being Served?
  (Series 8)
  
• Bergerac
  
• The Borgias
  
• Brideshead Revisited
  
• The Chinese Detective
  
• Dangermouse
  
• The Dick Emery Show
  (last series)
  
• A Fine Romance
  (Series 1)
  
• Game For A Laugh
  
• Hi-De-Hi!
  (Series 1 and 2)
  
• The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  
• It Ain't Half Hot Mum
  (Series 8)
  
• Nanny
  
• Only Fools and Horses
  (Series 1)
  
• Open All Hours
  (Series 2)
  
• Postman Pat
  
• Punchlines
  
• Three Of A Kind
  
• To The Manor Born
  (Series 3)
  
• The Two Ronnies
  (Series 9)
  
• Yes, Minister
  (Series 2)
  
  

Ice Skating: On 6th February Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean win the European Ice Dancing Championships at Innsbruck.
They follow this, a month later, with victory in the World Ice Dancing Championship at Hartford, Connecticut.

Athletics: 7,500 people take part in the inaugural London Marathon on Sunday, 29th March. 6,255 of them make it to the finishing line on Constitution Hill.

Football: Tottenham Hotspur win the 100th FA Cup, beating Manchester City 3:2 in a replay of the final.
Liverpool win the European Cup for the third time, beating Real Madrid 1:0 in the Paris final.

Horse Racing: Bob Champion wins the Grand National on Aldaniti.
Shergar wins the Derby by a record 10-length margin.

Snooker: Steve Davis becomes World Snooker Champion. He also wins the UK Championship for the second year in a row, beating Terry Griffiths 16-3 in the final.

Tennis: John McEnroe ends Björn Borg's reign as men's singles Champion at Wimbledon.
Chris Lloyd beats Hana Mandlikova in the women's singles final (6-2, 6-2).

Golf: Bill Rogers wins the Open Championship at Royal St. George's, Sandwich.

Cricket: England beat Australia by 18 runs in the Third Ashes Test at Headingley, having lost the First at Trent Bridge and drawn the Second at Lords. England go on to win the series with a second victory in the Fourth Test at Old Trafford and a draw in the final Test at Edgbaston, completing one of the most remarkable turnarounds in cricketing history.

Athletics: Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe both break the World Record for the Mile. Coe has the new fastest time of 3 minutes, 47.33 seconds.

Darts: Jocky Wilson wins the first World Professional Darts Championship.