Events of 1984

January 27:Michael Jackson's hair catches on fire

During shooting of Pepsi commercial, sparks from a special-effects mishap ignite Jackson's hair.

March 6:Miner's Strike in the U.K. (1984-1985)
April 1:Marvin Gaye is killed

The Motown legend is shot by his father in a domestic dispute.

May 7:Soviets boycott Los Angeles Summer Olympics

Citing "undisguised threats" against their athletes, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, and East Germany do not attend the Summer Games.

July 18:McDonald's massacre

After telling his wife he was going "hunting for humans", James Huberty shoots 40 people at a McDonald's in San Ysidro, California. He kills 21 people before he was shot to death by police.

October 26:Surgeons implant baboon heart into "Baby Fae"

The 12 day old baby, born with a malformed heart, gets a baboon heart. She dies three weeks later.

October 31:Indira Gandhi assassinated

Prime Minister Gandhi is shot to death by two of her Sikh bodyguards, resulting in anti-Sikh riots that killed more than a thousand people.

November 25:Band Aid

Bob Geldof and 35 artists record "Do They Know It's Christmas" to raise money for famine relief.

December 22:Bernhard Goetz opens fire

The "subway vigilante", Goetz, shoots four young men on a New York City subway, after they allegedly threatened him.