After a guerrilla war and the Lancaster House Agreement, Rhodesia became the internationally recognised independent state of Zimbabwe, with Robert Mugabe as prime minister.
Argentina seizes the Falkland Islands; Britain dispatches a task force and retakes the islands after a 74-day conflict.
Drought combined with civil war and government policies caused a major famine in Ethiopia that killed several hundred thousand to a million people and prompted the Live Aid relief effort.
The Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde begins commercial passenger flights.
Black schoolchildren in Soweto protested against compulsory instruction in Afrikaans; police opened fire, and the ensuing crackdown left hundreds dead.
Following Portugal's Carnation Revolution, Mozambique and Angola became independent, ending over four centuries of Portuguese presence; both soon fell into long civil wars.
After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela walked free from Victor Verster Prison, opening the way to negotiations to end apartheid.