1984
Bhopal Gas Disaster
A pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide leaked methyl isocyanate gas over the sleeping city of Bhopal in central India. By morning, thousands were dead, their lungs seared by the invisible cloud. Over the following decades, the death toll climbed past fifteen thousand. Bhopal became the world's worst industrial disaster and a byword for corporate negligence.
Apple Macintosh
During the third quarter of the Super Bowl, a commercial directed by Ridley Scott showed a woman smashing a screen of an Orwellian Big Brother. Two days later Apple introduced the Macintosh, the first affordable personal computer with a mouse and a graphical interface. Its founder was twenty-eight and wearing a bow tie.
Indira Gandhi assassinated
In her New Delhi garden, the Indian prime minister was shot by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, in revenge for her ordering troops into the Golden Temple at Amritsar months earlier. Days of anti-Sikh riots killed perhaps three thousand in Delhi alone. Her son Rajiv became prime minister. He too would die by assassination.
Indira Gandhi shot by her bodyguards
At the entrance to her New Delhi garden, the sixty-six-year-old Indian prime minister was gunned down by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, in revenge for her ordering the army into the Golden Temple. The anti-Sikh riots that followed killed thousands. Her son Rajiv became prime minister. India's political violence had found new register.
Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal
A tank of methyl isocyanate at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, leaked a toxic cloud that drifted through the surrounding shantytowns while the residents slept. At least eight thousand died by morning, tens of thousands more in the years after. It remains the worst industrial accident in history, and the compensation paid was minimal.
Thriller dominates the world
Michael Jackson's album Thriller, released the previous year, became the best-selling record of all time, eventually moving more than sixty million copies. Its title-track video, with zombies dancing under a full moon, made MTV essential. Jackson, twenty-five, was the most famous entertainer on the planet, and remarkably, still the most strange.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1984?
Saeculum lists 6 curated events from 1984. The most significant is Bhopal Gas Disaster: A pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide leaked methyl isocyanate gas over the sleeping city of Bhopal in central India.
What era was 1984 part of?
1984 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1984?
The curated events from 1984 span South Asia and North America.