November 1982

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev dies, former KGB director Yuri Andropov becomes the new leader of the USSR

The following events occurred in November 1982:

November 1, 1982 (Monday)

• As the Iran–Iraq War continued, Iran launched Operation Muharram at 10:08 p.m. local time in an attempt to recapture parts of the mountainous Ilam province that had been lost to Iraq. Over the next five days, 4,000 Iranians and 3,000 Iraqis were killed, but the offensive made only small gains.
• On the campus of the Trinity University College at Carmarthen in Wales, the British government launched S4C, the first television channel directed exclusively to speakers of the Welsh language
• The downfall of United American Bank, which would be shut down three months later on February 14, 1983 in the fourth-largest bank failure in U.S. history up to that time, began as a U.S. government team of 180 bank regulators from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation simultaneously raided all 29 branches and offices of the UAB on a search warrant arising from suspicions of fraud being committed by the two brothers who controlled the largest share of banking in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Jake Butcher and C. H. Butcher Jr. The seizure took place the day after the closing of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, an event which had been primariy sponsored by the Butcher brothers.
• Died:
  • King Vidor, 88, American film producer, director and screen writer best known for the silent film The Big Parade (1925) and for the sound film Duel in the Sun (1946)
  • James Broderick, 55, American TV and film actor, died from thyroid cancer.

November 2, 1982 (Tuesday)

• Great Britain launched Channel 4, its fourth television network, joining BBC1, BBC2 and ITV, at 4:30 in the afternoon. Paul Coia opened regular broadcasting, telling viewers "Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be able to say to you, welcome to Channel 4." Over the next 15 minutes, a montage of clips from its upcoming programming was shown, after which the game show Countdown began at 4:45.
• Midterm elections were held in the United States for all 435 seats of the U.S. House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats of the U.S. Senate, as well as for the governors of 36 of the 50 states. In the House, the Democratic Party increased its lead over the Republican Party from 243-191 to 269-165, while the Republicans maintained their 54 to 46 majority over the Democrats.
• The city of Keizer, Oregon, now the 14th most populous municipality in the U.S. state of Oregon, was incorporated by voters in Marion County, after the council Salem, the state capital, had discussed plans to annex the area.
• Born: Kyoko Fukada, Japanese film actress known for Kamikaze Girls; in Kita, Tokyo
• Died: Lester Roloff, 68, American fundamentalist Baptist preacher and radio evangelist who founded the Rebekah Home for Girls, chain of homes for homeless teenagers, was killed in a plane crash along with four other people, during a storm that brought the aircraft down outside of Normangee, Texas.

November 3, 1982 (Wednesday)

• A fire and carbon monoxide inside the 1.66 miles (2.67 km) long Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan killed as many as 2,700 Soviet soldiers and Afghan civilians according to early reports. The Soviet government, which was in the third year of its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan conceded the deaths of no more than 64 soldiers and 112 civilians. The first Western reports put the estimate at several hundred people. The fire began when the lead vehicle in a Soviet Army convoy collided with a fuel truck, causing the gasoline fire and toxic smoke. An alphabetical list, written in 1994 after the breakup of the Soviet Union, gives the names of 1,424 Red Army soldiers as part of a "Book of Remembrance of Soviet Soldiers Who Died in Afghanistan".
• In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average, indicative of the performance of the major companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange closed above 1,000 points for its first all-time high in more than 9 years, ending the day at 1,065.49 after surging by 4.25 percent or 43.41 points.
• Randy Smith of the San Diego Clippers set a new National Basketball Association record by playing in his 845th consecutive regular season game, a 130 to 111 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Smith had not missed a game since February 15, 1972, and would extend the streak to 906 appearances in a row, ending the streak after his last game with San Diego on March 13, 1983.
• Born:
  • Pekka Rinne, Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender and 2017-18 Vezina Trophy winner; in Kempele
  • Evgeni Plushenko, Russian figure skater and 2006 Olympic gold medalist; in Dzhamku, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
• Died:
  • Dr. Alan Parks, 61, British physician, president of the Royal College of Surgeons and pioneer of colorectal surgery, known for his 1976 development of the ileal pouch–anal anastomosis (also called the restorative proctocolectomy), died during emergency cardiac surgery after having a heart attack in his office as president.
  • Bob Paulson, 40, British member of the England national speedway team, committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisioning.

November 4, 1982 (Thursday)

• Ireland's Taoiseach (prime minister) Charles Haughey lost on motion on confidence that he had brought before the members of the Dáil, failing by two votes, with 82 against and only 80 for, and bringing down his government. A new election was set for November 24.
• Ruud Lubbers took office as the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands, after his colleague in the Christen-Democratisch Appèl party, Dries van Agt, announced his resignation from office.
• Born:
  • Kamila Skolimowska, Polish track and field athlete and 2000 Olympic gold medalist for the women's hammer throw; in Warsaw (died from a pulmonary embolism, 2009)
  • Chu Pak Hong, Hong Kong film actor; in Sha Tin, Hong Kong
• Died: Dominique Dunne, 22, American television and film actress who had recently appeared in the hit film Poltergeist, died five days after she was strangled by her ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney.She had never regained consciousness after her attack and was taken off of life support with the consent of her father.

November 5, 1982 (Friday)

• FIFA, the worldwide governing body of soccer football, approved the cancellation of plans to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup in the South American nation of Colombia, after the nation's new president, Belisario Betancur, had made his intentions known on October 25. FIFA announced that other Western Hemisphere nations could make their bids, with the site to be awarded on May 20, 1983. Mexico, which had hosted the World Cup in 1970, would be unanimously selected as the site of the 1986 tournament.
• The new classical composition Shadows (Opus 82), written by Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen, was performed for the first time. The premiere took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as part of a concert by the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra, and was conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich.
• Died:
  • Jacques Tati (stage name for Jacques Tatischeff), 75, French mime and actor known for his character "Monsieur Hulot" in five films from 1953 to 1971
  • Shabab Kiranvi (stage name for Nazir Ahmed), 57, Pakistani film director and producer
  • Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, 31, South Korean-born American novelist, was murdered one week after the publication of her novel Dictée, while attempting to meet her husband Richard Barnes at the Puck Building in New York City. A security guard at the building, Joey Sanza, raped and strangled Cha when she entered the building.

November 6, 1982 (Saturday)

• Prime Minister Paul Biya was sworn in as the second President of Cameroon, two days after Ahmadou Ahidjo had made the surprise announcement of his resignation after 22 years in office."Premier Is Installed As Cameroon President". Reuters. November 7, 1982. p. 5.

November 7, 1982 (Sunday)

• The government of the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), led by Saye Zerbo, was overthrown in a coup d'état led by Colonel Gabriel Somé Yorian, who installed Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo two days later as president of the West African nation. On November 21, Ouédraogo announced that the ruling military junta, the Conseil de Salut du Peuple ("Council of the Salvation of the People") would install a civilian regime within two years.
• Voters in Turkey overwhelmingly approved a new constitution and endorsed the rule of General Kenan Evren, who had led a 1980 military coup to overthrow the government. Evren formally took office as President of Turkey two days later, on November 9, for a seven-year term.
• Voters in the Malagasy Republic, encompassing the entire island of Madagascar, elected incumbent President Didier Ratsiraka, who had more than four times as many votes as his opponent, Monja Jaona, in the first multi-candidate presidential election in the African nation since 1965.
• On the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution that installed Communist rule in Russia and created the Soviet Union, the 115 feet (35 m) tall Peoples' Friendship Arch was unveiled in Kyiv, capital of the Ukrainian SSR during celebrations of the 1,500th anniversary of the 582 AD founding of Kyiv. The Arch was a commemoration of the "Union of Russia and Ukraine" by the Pereiaslav Agreement on January 18, 1654. After the independence of Ukraine and its separation from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, the People's Friendship Arch would be renamed the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People in 2022. Initially scheduled to be dismantled by 2024, the Arch was repurposed after taking it down proved to be more expensive than funds would allow.
• Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev made his final public appearance, standing with other Soviet Communist Party officials on the balcony of Lenin's Tomb for two hours during in freezing temperatures to review the military parade commemorating the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution of November 7, 1917. Afterward, he delivered a speech at the Kremlin, proclaiming the USSR's "sincere striving for equitable and fruitful cooperation with all who want such cooperation", and declaring his belief that "exactly such a way will lead mankind to peace for the living and future generations." Brezhnev died from a heart attack three days later.

November 8, 1982 (Monday)

• At approximately 9:20 in the evening, a meteorite weighing 6 pounds (2.7 kg) crashed through the roof of a home on Church Street in Wethersfield, Connecticut, then through the second and first floor before landing in the house's living room, then through a doorway and into the dining room. Wanda and Robert Donahue were watching television in another room when the object from outer space struck their house, and were uninjured. Coincidentally, a meteorite had fallen through the roof of another home in Wethersfield, 11 years earlier, at 341 Middletown Avenue, on April 8, 1971, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away from the Church Street home.
• In Biloxi, Mississippi, a mentally ill inmate started a fire at the Harrison County Jail by igniting the polyurethane foam on the walls using a cigarette, killing 29 inmates and injuring 41 other people. At the time that the fire was reported at 1:31 in the morning, there were 97 inmates and three employees present. Keys to the cell were dropped by both a prison guard (who was overcome by the toxic smoke) and the warden (who was being evacuated), slowing down rescue efforts.
• Born: Francesco Molinari, Italian professional golfer and 2018 British Open winner; in Torino
• Died: Marco de Gastyne, 93, French film director and painter

November 9, 1982 (Tuesday)

• Italian-born American bank robber and leftist Silvia Baraldini was located and arrested at her apartment building at 200 West 9th Street on New York City, three years after she had helped Assata Shakur escape from a women's prison and then helped with several bank robberies, during which two security guards had been killed. Found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robberies under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) law, Baraldini would be sentenced to 43 years in a maximum security prison in Lexington, Kentucky, and spend 17 years in American prisons before being moved in 1989 to incarceration in Italy at that nation's request, but moved to house arrest in 2001 and then pardoned in 2006.

November 10, 1982 (Wednesday)

• Died:
  • Leonid Brezhnev, 75, leader of the Soviet Union as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and as President of the Presidium
  • Elio Petri, 53, Italian film director, died from cancer

November 11, 1982 (Thursday)

• In Lebanon, the first bombing of a building in Tyre killed at least 89 people.

November 12, 1982 (Friday)

• In the Soviet Union, former KGB head Yuri Andropov was selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid Brezhnev, who had died two days earlier.
• Born: Anne Hathaway, American film and television actress known for The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada and the 2012 film Les Misérables, for which she won an Academy Award; in Brooklyn, New York City
• Died:
  • Patrick Cowley, 32, American electronic dance music composer and pioneer, died from AIDS
  • Dorothy Round, 73, British tennis player who won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1937, and the Australian Open in 1935

November 13, 1982 (Saturday)

• In a bout in Las Vegas for the World Boxing Association lightweight boxing title, defending champion Ray Mancini knocked down South Korean challenger Duk-koo Kim in the first 19 seconds of the 14th round in two punches after a 39-punch barrage in the 13th. Referee Richard Green stopped the fight and declared Mancini the winner by a knockout, and Kim was able to stand up, but collapsed in the ring and went into a coma from which he never woke up. Transported to Desert Springs Hospital, Kim underwent emergency surgery for two hours after a brain scan showed that he had a subdural hematoma, and then was placed on life support in an intensive care unit until his mother and brother could arrive from Korea, and would be removed from five days later.
• Born: Koda Kumi, Japanese R&B singer with nine No. 1 ranked bestselling albums; in Kyoto
• Died: Chesney Allen, 88, English comedian and musician who was part of the duo of Flanagan and Allen

November 14, 1982 (Sunday)

• The leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, Lech Wałęsa, was released from 11 months of internment near the Soviet border.

November 15, 1982 (Monday)

• Died:
  • Vinoba Bhave, 87, Indian philosopher and advocate for nonviolence and human rights
  • Allen Woodring, 84, American sprinter and 1920 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 meter race

November 16, 1982 (Tuesday)

• Born: Amar'e Stoudemire, American and Israeli pro basketball player (known in Israel as Yehoshophat ben Avraham), and 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year and 2026 enshrinee in the Basketball Hall of Fame; in Lake Wales, Florida
• Died: Arthur Askey, 82, English comedian, actor and singer on film, radio and television

November 17, 1982 (Wednesday)

• Died:
  • Duk-koo Kim, 27, South Korean boxer, was declared legally dead four days after suffering irreparable brain damage during a title bout for the WBA lightweight title, although his body was kept on life support until his organs could be removed to be donated to other people.
  • Ruth Donnelly, 86, American film and stage actress

November 18, 1982 (Thursday)

• Born: Damon Wayans Jr., American television actor known for Happy Endings and New Girl; in Huntington, Vermont
• Died:
  • Hilton Edwards, 79, English-born Irish theatrical producer and actor, known for founding the Gate Theatre in Dublin
  • William P. McGivern, 65, American mystery novelist whose works were adapted to film, including 1954's The Big Heat

November 19, 1982 (Friday)

• Born: Shin Dong-hyuk, North Korean defector and human rights activist, known for escaping the maximum security Camp 14 internment prison; at the Kaechon internment camp in Kaechon
• Died:
  • Erving Goffman, 60, Canadian-born American sociologist and pioneer in social theory, known for his 1956 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and for Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (1963)
  • Toña la Negra, 70 (stage name for Antonia del Carmen Peregrino Álvarez), Mexican singer and actress
  • Ernesto Colli, 42, Italian film, TV and stage character actor, died from an undisclosed illness.

November 20, 1982 (Saturday)

• The General Union of Ecuadorian Workers (UGTE) was founded.
• University of California, Berkeley executed "The Play" in a college football game against Stanford. Completing a wacky 57-yard kickoff return that includes five laterals, and ended with Kevin Moen running through Stanford band members who had prematurely come onto the field for what they thought was a 20 to 18 win. Moen's touchdown was upheld by the officials, and California won the game, 25 to 20.

November 21, 1982 (Sunday)

• The first NCAA women's soccer championship was won by the University of North Carolina, 2 to 0, over the University of Central Florida (UCF) at the losing team's home stadium in Orlando. North Carolina had defeated in UCF in the last soccer championship of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in 1981.
• The Clemson Tigers, recognized by the NCAA as the defending national college football champions, were placed on two years probation by the NCAA for recruiting violations, six days before their final game of the season. The ruling meant not only that the team, ranked No. 10 in the polls at the time, would be ineligible for an invitation to a postseason bowl game and, although it finished with the best record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, ineligible to win the ACC title.
• Two weeks after taking power in a military coup, Upper Volta's new president, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, announced on behalf of the ruling junta that civilian rule would be restored within two years and that a new constitution would be set for approval.

November 22, 1982 (Monday)

• Born: Steve Angello (stage name for Steve Patrik Fragogiannis), Greek-born Swedish singer who was a member of the Swedish House Mafia trio; in Athens
• Died: Roy Hofheinz, 70, mayor of Houston, Texas from 1953 to 1956, known for being co-owner of the Houston Astros major league baseball team and for the development of the first domed stadium for baseball and football, the Astrodome

November 23, 1982 (Tuesday)

• Born: Asafa Powell, Jamaican sprinter who twice held the world record for the fastest 100 meters from 2005 to 2008; in Spanish Town

November 24, 1982 (Wednesday)

• Representatives from 88 countries gathered in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade.
• Born: Mangte Chungneijang "Mary" Kom, Indian boxer, winner of six world championships in women's boxing and former member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's national parliament; in Kagathei village, Churachandpur, Manipur state
• Died: Barack Obama Sr., 48, Kenyan economist and former economic analyst for the Kenyan government, known for being the father of future U.S. President Barack Obama, was killed in an automobile accident in Nairobi

November 25, 1982 (Thursday)

• Born: Minna Kauppi, Finnish orienteer with 10 gold medals in six world championships; in Asikkala
• Died: Hugh Harman, 79, American animator known for his co-creation (with Rudolf Ising) of Harman-Ising Productions and creation of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon franchise

November 26, 1982 (Friday)

• Yasuhiro Nakasone was elected by Japan's Parliament, the National Diet as the new Prime Minister of Japan, succeeding Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki, who had announced his resignation in October. Nakasone had succeeded Suzuki as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on November 24. In a vote along party lines, Nakasone defeated Japan Socialist Party chairman Ichio Asukata, 287 to 102 in Japan's House of Representatives and 130-106 in the House of Councillors. Nakasone had been assured approval after winning the presidency of the LDP on November 24.
• Died: Robert Coote, 73, English character actor in film and on stage, known for originating the role of Colonel Pickering in the long-running Broadway musical of My Fair Lady

November 27, 1982 (Saturday)

• Born: Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Russian soccer football striker with 91 caps for the Russia national team; in Kingisepp, Leningrad Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
• Died: Steve Gordon, 44, American film director who had written and directed the 1981 hit film Arthur, died from a heart attack

November 28, 1982 (Sunday)

• The Edmonton Eskimos won an unprecedented fifth consecutive Grey Cup – a championship feat that had not yet been unaccomplished by any professional football franchise – with a 32–16 defeat of the .
• Al Ahly SC won the African Cup of Champions club (later known as the CAF Champions League) for the first time after, defeating Ghanaian Asante Kotoko in the final
• Died: Helen of Greece and Denmark, 86, daughter of King Constantine I of Greece and Queen Mother of Romania from 1940 to 1947

November 29, 1982 (Monday)

• Michael Jackson released Thriller, in the United States as sixth studio album. Thriller would go on to be the best-selling record album of all time.
• Born:
  • Lucas Black, American film and TV actor known for three of the Fast & Furious films and for the shows American Gothic and NCIS: New Orleans; in Decatur, Alabama
  • John Mensah, Ghanaian soccer football centre with 86 caps for the Ghana national team; in Obuasi
• Died:
  • Percy Williams, 74, Canadian sprinter who set the world record (10.3 seconds) for the fastest 100 meter dash and held it from 1930 to 1936, and won 1928 Olympic gold medal for the 100m and 200m races, shot himself to death with a shotgun that he had been awarded for his Olympic achievement.
  • General Hermann Balck, 88, German Army officer who was General of Armored Troops (General der Panzertruppe) during World War II

November 30, 1982 (Tuesday)

• The Columbia Pictures epic film Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley (Krishna Pandit Bhanji) in the title role premiered at theaters in New Delhi before being released in the UK on December 3 and in the United States on December 8. With more than 300,000 extras it had the largest paid cast of any film in world history.
• Born: Elisha Cuthbert, Canadian TV and film actress known for the 1998 film Airspeed and for the TV series 24 in Calgary
• Died:
  • Salvatore Scaglione, 42, Sicilian crime boss, was murdered on orders of gangland rival Salvatore Riina of the Corleonesi family, along with Rosario Riccobono and three other members of his gang after being invited to a meeting at San Giuseppe Jato. Scaglione's disappearance made his death an uncertainty to investigators, and his body would never be found.
  • Verna Fields, 64, American film editor and sound editor

References