After strikes at the Gdańsk shipyard, Poland's government accepts the right to form independent trade unions, opening the way for Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity movement.
Argentina seizes the Falkland Islands; Britain dispatches a task force and retakes the islands after a 74-day conflict.
A team at the Pasteur Institute including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier reports the virus later named HIV, the cause of AIDS.
The Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde begins commercial passenger flights.
Dictator Francisco Franco dies; Juan Carlos I becomes king and Spain begins its transition to democracy.
Mikhail Gorbachev is chosen as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and goes on to launch the policies of perestroika and glasnost.
A largely bloodless military coup in Lisbon overthrows the Estado Novo dictatorship, leading to democracy in Portugal and the independence of its African colonies.