Dinagyang Festival Once Again!

One of the competing tribes in the Dinagyang competition.

         Just two weeks from now, the famous and grandest of all Philippine festvial will take place in Iloilo City, in west central Philippines. Dinagyang Festival is held every fourth or last week of January for four decades running. It is a tribal dance competition to the beat of drums and other traditional musical instruments made of indigenous materials. Dancing warriors have their whole body painted with black soot and paint depicting the our ancient ancestors and earliest settlers of the country wearing a tribal costume made of different materials depends on the creativity and ingenuity of each tribe's costume designer. There are also lots of merrymaking, food festival, and other competition to add color to the event. The reason why the city is flocked by hundreds of thousands of tourist this time of the year. But weeks prior to the event, hotels and pension houses are fully booked by tourists and visitors who reserved early to avoid the rush of other guests anticipating the event. I will tell more about Dinagyang Festival later in my blogs.

Famous Personality Deaths In The Year Of My Birth

January – March

January 1 – Alexis Korner, British blues musician and broadcaster (b. 1928)
January 6 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
January 7 – Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
January 11 – Jack La Rue, American actor (b. 1902)
January 14 – Ray Kroc, American entrepreneur (b. 1902)
January 20 – Johnny Weissmuller, Austrian-born swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
January 22 – Sir Count Michael Gonzi, Archbishop of Malta and past politician (b. 1885)
February 9 – Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1914)
February 10 – David Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
February 13 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese adventurer (b. 1941)
March 1 – Jackie Coogan, American actor (b. 1914)
March 5 – William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
March 10 – June Marlowe, American actress (b. 1903)
March 24 – Sam Jaffe, American actor (b. 1891)
March 26 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, president of Guinea (b. 1922)

April – June

April 1 – Marvin Gaye, American singer (b. 1939)
April 8 – Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1894)
April 11 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian statesman and historian (b. 1910)
April 15 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
April 17 – Mark Wayne Clark, American World War II General (b. 1896)
April 20 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer (b. 1943)
May 6 – Mary Cain, Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (b. 1904)
May 8 – Lila Wallace, American publisher (b. 1889)
May 16 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian (b. 1949)
May 24 – Vincent J. McMahon, professional wrestling promoter WWF (b. 1914)
June 25 – Michel Foucault, French philosopher (b. 1926)
June 26 – Carl Foreman, American screenwriter (b. 1914)
June 28 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archeologist, politician and Military Chief of Staff (b. 1917)
June 30 – Henri Fabre, pioneer French aviator & inventor (b. 1882)
June 30 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright (b. 1905)

July – September

July 1 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian founder of the Feldenkrais Method (b. 1904)
July 7 – Flora Robson, English actress (b. 1902)
July 8 – Brassaï, Hungarian-born photographer (b. 1899)
July 17 – Karl Wolff, German Nazi SS Officer (b. 1900)
July 24 – Armando Morales Barillas, Nicaraguan guitarist (b. 1936)
July 25 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer (b. 1926)
July 26 – George Gallup, American statistician and opinion pollster (b. 1901)
July 26 – Ed Gein, American serial killer (b. 1906)
August 2 – Quirino Cristiani, Argentine animated film director (b. 1896)
August 5 – Richard Burton, Welsh actor (b. 1925)
August 25 – Truman Capote, American writer (b. 1924)
August 25 – Viktor Chukarin, Russian Olympic gymnast (b. 1921)
August 29 – Mohammed Naguib, 1st President of Egypt (b. 1901)
September 3 – Arthur Schwartz, American composer (b. 1900)
September 14 – Janet Gaynor, American Academy Award-winning actress (b. 1906)
September 24 – Neil Hamilton, American actor (b. 1899)
September 25 – Walter Pidgeon, Canadian actor (b. 1897)

October – December

October 5 – Leonard Rossiter, British actor (b. 1926)
October 14 – Martin Ryle, English radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1918)
October 20 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896)
October 20 – Paul Dirac, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
October 21 – François Truffaut, French film director (b. 1932)
October 23 – Oskar Werner, Austrian actor (b. 1922)
October 24 – Walter Woolf King, American singer and actor (b. 1899)
October 31 – Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (assassinated) (b. 1917)
November 6 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist and dramatist (b. 1929)
November 14 – Cesar Climaco, Filipino politician (assassinated) (b. 1916)
November 18 – Mary Hamman, American writer and editor, modern living editor LIFE and editor in chief Bride & Home (b. 1907)
December 11 – Oskar Seidlin, Silesian-born Jewish-American literary scholar (b. 1911)
December 11 – George Waggner, American film director (b. 1894)
December 14 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
December 16 – J. Roderick MacArthur, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1920)
December 20 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1946)
December 28 – Sam Peckinpah, American film director (b. 1925)
December 29 – Leo Robin, American composer (b. 1900)

Fabulous Rain Quiz

       As the summer monsoon season squelches to a close in most of the region, try this quiz to find out how much you know about the wet substance that falls from the sky.

1. What is the wettest place in the world?

          Mawsynram in Meghalaya State, India. Go to 8.
          Legaspi, Bicol Region, in the Philippines. Go to 4.

2. Congratulations! Those 150 days deliver an annual rainfall of more than 78 inches. For rain forests that’s ideal growing weather. If you’ve kept your powder dry, you’ll have followed the fastest route through our quiz – only 18 steps (1-8-15-10-11-19-7-16-13-6-20-12-25-27-21-26-28-2)

3. Wrong. Back to 13 once more.

4. Sorry, wrong answer. But, when it comes to rain, Legaspi does have one to claim to fame – on August 13, 1963, Legaspi weather station recorded rainfall of 17.01 inches in a deluge that lasted for 15 minutes. Try again at 1.

5. Down the tubes! The rain forests of Southeast Asia just aren’t as rainy as you thought. Track back through the jungle to 28.

6. Bingo! This is the expert’s assessment, and between them these 1500 to 2000 thunderstorms generate about 6000 flashes of lightning every minute. Now put on your galoshes and head for 20.

7. What animal life caused alarm by escaping from riverside pens when exceptional rainfall led to widespread flooding in Thailand late in 1995?

        Crocodiles. Go to 16.
        Piranha fish. Go to 24.
        Otters. Go to 30.

8. Fine beginning. Mawsynram on average receives a soaking of 467 ½ inches a year, making it the wettest place in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. All this rain is due to Mawsynram’s high elevation (4623 feet) and its location on the crest of one of the southern ranges of the Khasi Hills, where it is perfectly placed to be on the receiving end during the Southwest monsoon season. Next to 15 – you won’t need your raingear.

9. You ran into a puddle. Back to 13.

10. Hurrah! Right answer. The annual mean rainfall on the Pacific coast of Chile between Arica and Antofagasta is less than 0.004 inches, making it the driest place in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. This is because high pressure is an almost permanent feature in the area. Now rain-dance your way to 11.

11. What is the most rain that has fallen in any one place during a 24-hour period?

          74 inches. Go to 19.
          40 inches. Go to 23.

12. Very knowledgeable. Throughout Asia our ancestors wove raincoats of materials readily available. Now take the plunge at 25.

13. At any given moment, approximately how many thunderstorms are occurring around the world?

          50 to 60. Go to 3.
          1500 to 2000. Go to 6.
          Over 5000. Go to 9.

14. Sorry. With the Himalayas acting as a barrier against the monsoons, this region receive less than 20 inches of rain a year, but other places are even more parched. Go back to 15.

15. Where is the driest place in the world?

           Southeast region of Tibet. Go to 14.
           Chile. Go to 10.
           Arizona, U.S.A. Go to 17.

16. You got it right. Hundreds of crocodiles – some as long as 13 feet – used the flooding to escape from the riverside pens. Crocodiles are farmed in Thailand for their meat – it has a unique sweet taste – and their skin, which is used to make luxury leather goods. Wade on to 13.

17. No. But the Guinness Book of Records says Yuma in Arizona is the sunniest place in the world, with an annual average of 91 percent of the possible hours of sunshine – a mean of 4055 hours out of 4456. Go back to 15.

18. Missed! Backtrack to 21.

19. Excellent! To be precise, the record amount of rain was 73.62 inches and it fell on Cilaos, Reunion Islands, Indian Ocean, in 24 hours on March 15 and 16, 1952. This is equal to over 7550 metric tons of rain per acre. Paddle to 7.

20. Who, in days of old, used to protect themselves against the wet by wearing “raincoats” made of rice straw or reeds?

            Asians. Go to 12.
            Eskimos. Go to 22.
            South American Indians. Go to 31.

21. Some scientists speculate that a continuous downpour helped to form the Earht. For about how many years do they believe it rained?

            One million. Go to 18.
            60,000. Go to 26.

22. No, no. Eskimos put their trust in rainwear they made by stitching together seal intestines, feathers and fur. Dodge the showers as you go back to 20.

23. Unfortunately, you’ve got it wrong. Go back to 11.

24. No, sorry. These voracious little killers can plead not guilty this time. Splash back to 7.

25. What are people in Japan talking about when they refer to the “divine wind?”

            Typhoons. Go to 27.
            The wind that brings early summer rain. Go to 29.

26. Yippee! You got it right. According to some scientists it took 60,000 years of continuous rainfall to fill the oceans and scour the land. Others debate the exact figure but agree it did rain for tens of thousands of years. Now on to 28.

27. Bull’s-eye! The Japanese have the destructive seasonal typhoons to thank for their historic independence from China. Twice the 13th century emperor Kublai Khan sent ships and troops against the Japanese islands and twice the typhoon’s onslaught wrecked the invader’s fleet. Now head for 21.

28. How often does it rain each year in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia?

             About 150 days. Go to 2.
             About 310 days. Go to 5.

29. Sorry, no. Return to 25.

30. Oh, no. These cute creatures wouldn’t frighten anybody. Back to 7.

31. You guessed wrongly. The South American Indian waterproofed his clothes with liquid latex from rubber trees. Back to 20.

Famous Personalities Birth In The Same Year I Was Born

January

January 1 – Michael Witt, Australian rugby league player
January 12 – Scott Olsen, American baseball player
January 15 – Megan Quann, American swimmer
January 16 – Craig Beattie, Scottish footballer
January 18 – Seung-hui Cho, Korean-born American Virginia Tech massacre gunman (d. 2007)
January 18 – Kristy Lee Cook, American Idol finalist
January 18 – Benji Schwimmer, Winner of So You Think You Can Dance 2006
January 19 – Zakia Mrisho Mohamed, Tanzanian long distance runner
January 20 – Toni Gonzaga, Filipina Actress and Singer
January 25 – Robinho, Brazilian footballer
January 29 – Nuno Morais, Portuguese footballer


February

February 1 – Darren Fletcher, Scottish football player
February 5 – Nate Salley, American football player
February 6 – Darren Bent, English footballer
February 10 – Brent Everett, Canadian gay pornographic actor
February 10 – Kim Hyo Jin, Korean actress
February 16 – Oussama Mellouli, Tunisian swimmer
February 20 – Ben Lovejoy, American hockey player
February 25 – Filip Šebo, Slovak footballer


March

March 1 – Naima Mora, winner of America's Next Top Model cycle 4
March 4 – Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
March 4 – Zak Whitbread, American soccer player
March 20 – Justine Ezarik, American Internet personality
March 20 – Fernando Torres, Spanish football player
March 25 – Katharine McPhee, American Idol finalist
March 28 – Nikki Sanderson, English actress
March 30 – Anna Nalick, American singer


April
April 4 – Sean May, American basketball player
April 7 – Alex Smith, American football player
April 10 – Mandy Moore, American singer and actress
April 17 – Rosanna Davison, Irish model
April 18 – America Ferrera, American actress
April 19 – Lee Da Hae, South Korean actress
April 22 – Amelle Berrabah, British singer (Sugababes)
April 27 – Patrick Stump, American singer (Fall Out Boy)
April 29 – Taylor Cole, American actress and model


May

May 3 – Cheryl Burke (Dancer)
May 11 – Andrés Iniesta, Spanish footballer
May 14 – Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook
May 29 – Carmelo Anthony, American basketball player
May 31 – Jason Smith, Australian actor
May 31 – Milorad Cavic, Serbian swimmer


June

June 8 – Todd Boeckman, College quarterback
June 8 – Andrea Casiraghi, Prince of Monaco
June 8 – Javier Mascherano, Argentinian footballer
June 9 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
June 11 – Vágner Love, Brazilian footballer
June 13 – Berangere Schuh, French archer
June 14 – Siobhán Donaghy, British singer
June 25 – Lauren Bush, American model
June 30 – Fantasia Barrino, American Idol winner and singer


July

July 4 – Gina Glocksen, American Idol finalist
July 9 – Jacob Hoggard,Canadian singer/lead singer of Hedley
July 12 – Gareth Gates, English singer
July 21 – Blake Lewis, American Idol runner- up


August

August 6 – Marco Airosa, Angolan footballer
August 12 – Marian Rivera, Filipino Actress
August 12 – Sherone Simpson, Jamaican athlete
August 21 – Alizée Jacotey, French singer
August 24 – Kyle Schmid, Canadian actor
August 22 – Lee Camp, English footballer


September

September 5 – Trey Hill, Grammy-nominated musician
September 14 – Adam Lamberg, American actor
September 15 – Prince Harry of Wales
September 26 – Keisha Buchanan, British Singer (Sugababes)
September 27 – Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer
September 28 – Melody Thornton, American singer (Pussycat Dolls)


October

October 3 – Ashlee Simpson, American singer and actress
October 3 – Yoon Eun Hye, Korean singer, model, actress and entertainer
October 7 – Ikuta Toma, Japanese drama actor
October 10 – Chiaki Kuriyama, Japanese actress
October 10 – Steve Turner, Australian rugby league player
October 14 – Santino Quaranta, American soccer player
October 16 – Shayne Ward, British singer and winner of reality TV show The X Factor
October 23 – Meghan McCain, Author and Daughter of Senator John McCain
October 25 – Sara Lumholdt, Swedish singer
October 25 – Katy Perry, American singer and actress
October 26 – Sasha Cohen, American figure skater
October 27 – Kelly Osbourne, English singer


November

November 7 – Amelia Vega, Miss Universe 2003, from the Dominican Republic
November 12 – Sandara Park, Member of South Korean girl group 2NE1 and former Filipino Actress
November 22 – Scarlett Johansson, American actress
November 23 – Lucas Grabeel, American actor
November 29 – Sitti Navarro, Philippine bossa nova artist


December

December 4 – Lindsay Felton, American actress
December 4 – Lauren London, American actress and model
December 22 – Jonas Erik Altberg, Swedish singer
December 25 – The Veronicas, Lisa and Jess Origliasso, Australian Singers
December 28 – Festus, American professional wrestler
December 30 – LeBron James, American basketball player

Year End Review: 2009 In My Life

The year 2009 or the year of the ox has been a vibrant yet dramatic turning point in the quarter of a century of my life. It has lots of surprises and tribulations that build up the character in me. The events that transpired in the year can shape up the events that will unfold in the future. Here’s the rundown of events that happened in 2009 that has a significant impact in my life.


January – I woke up early in the first day of the year to work. I never went out of house usually in the first day yet I need to work. The month is a busy month working to earn. There is nothing much special or unusual in this month except that I spent most of the time at work.

February – The month of love. I am always dreaming of that special someone who is still faceless yet I can imagine his touch, actions and the way he speak. I somehow enjoy my time with my co-workers, chatting inside the workplace and spend meal time outdoors.

March – Still time for work. I enjoy spending the great outdoors with our team building, the first time since the other year. I enjoy the nature, the rugged mountains, the spectacular sceneries most especially the vast ocean facing the last frontier and also the waterfalls. Though team building consists of only five of us, I still have fun enduring the long trip.

April - Summer begins and time for reflections. It is extremely hot during this month, and I feel uncomfortable with occasional fever and diarrhea yet I recover. Sad news came this month. Due to global recession, there is a massive layoff in the company. The company executives handpicked workers based on their poor performance and weak work ethics to be put on red list and instantly be fired disguised as forced resignation cleverly to avoid implications by the Philippine labor law because it is illegal to fire a worker unjustly. About half of my co-agents in our team was removed from the office leaving us with more work and lonelier days.

May – I undergone retraining and reassessment to see if I am still worthy of working in the company. Few days later, I decided to resign due to the fact of uncertainty and tiresome, stressful job. Would you imagine yourself sleeping for only 4 hours, working 9 hours straight, go home travelling for a distance of _ miles for about 50 minutes. I will sleep for 3 hours again before returning back to work. That is my schedule for nine months and I think it is just the right time to leave. This month is also the birth of this blog. I created the blog inspired by a youth oriented show on television with a few pieces about the blog and all about myself, how I feel and what I look into the future.

June – I spend my time at home helping with the household chores and relaxing in front of TV, read book or write some blogs. Then came the tragic news of the sudden death of my ill and bedridden uncle who just came out of the hospital due to his worsening tuberculosis. He died suddenly last June 19 while recuperating from his illness and was buried more than a week later on a Sunday, July 5.

July – I am happy because I receive a gift from a friend consists of a DVD – RW for my pc, tv antenna and the newly-released Sims 3 games. I tried and played the game but unfortunately I was frustrated because it was so slow due to the current computer specifications that was installed so I plan to upgrade the pc in the coming months.

August – not much activities due to deep slumber and inactivity at home

September - I am busy preparing for the town’s annual festivities. The house is cleaned and decorated and mouth watering native delicacies were prepared but only a few visitors pay a visit. We have lots of food remaining that we share the leftovers with guests to bring home to their families as is the customs and traditions in this town.

October – I spend my time in and out of the house to relive boredom. I sent write the pc to be repaired and upgraded so I updated my blogs in an internet café near the plaza or in the market place. This month saw tremendous page hits on my blogs, being recognized and appreciated by readers all over the world.

November – The month of the saints and the dead. We honor the holy servants of the church as well as pay respect to our departed loved ones. I registered my blogs to different blog directories generating more page views. This month I bought several peripheral devices needed for the pc to be upgraded. When the pc was done, I played the Sims 3 for the first time since July. If I enjoyed the last two Sims much more with the 3rd edition with more revisions, lots of additions and also more new features.

December – The happiest month of the year since Christmas is all about love, food and merrymaking but I haven’t enjoyed it because I want to be in a far place outside the country to experience snow, the warmth of the people in cold places and the blast of celebrations in a different country. Hopefully, in 2010 or the year of the tiger will make it into fruition and turn my dreams into reality. I am sick and tired of unforgiving and cold hearted people that I want to experience the real joy brought by the kindness of people in a different place. This blog is not intended to depress and make the readers feel lonely but to open their eyes and minds to reality. But I am a positive minded person that these things are happening for greater and better reasons.

Classic Filipino Movie

His Darkest Hour Poster

Lebran: One of the Big Four in the 50s,

Of the Big Four in the '50s, Lebran was the newest film outfit, having been established only in 1949 by Rafael Anton and business associates. The three others were set up earlier: Sampaguita, LVN and Premiere.

Aside from the local audience, Lebran also targeted the Asian market, producing films with Tagalog and English versions.

It's more important movies were He Promised to Return, His Darkest Hour, The Spell, Song of Santo Tomas, Romeo at Julieta, Sigfredo, Kalbaryo ni Hesus, Pagsilang ng Mesiyas, Buhay Alamang, No Place To Hide, Saigon, Aklat ng Pag-Ibig, The Pirates Go To Town.

The stars of Lebran included Neil Young, Leopoldo Salcedo, Erlinda Cortes, Oscar Moreno, Jennings Sturgeon, Manuel Conde, Anita Linda, Fred Castro, Cris de Vera, Fernando Royo, Rosa Aguirre, Pedro Faustino, Berting Labra, Fara Lizardo, Ricardo Montes (Ric Rodrigo), Fred Montilla, Lirio del Valle, Rosa del Rosario, David Brian, Marsha Hunt.

Major Events During My Birth Year

January 1 - Brunei becomes a fully independent state.
January 7 - Brunei becomes the 6th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
January 10 - The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.

January 24 - The Apple Macintosh is introduced.


February 1 - Medicare comes into effect in Australia.

February 3 - Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
February 7 - Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk.
February 13 - Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
February 28 - Michael Jackson won a record eight Grammy Awards.
February 29 - Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announce his retirement.


March 5 - Iran accuses Iraq of using chemical weapons; the United Nations condemns their use on March 30.
March 16 - The CIA station chief in Beirut, William Francis Buckley, is kidnapped by Islamic Jihad and later dies in captivity.
March 22 - Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the schoolchildren (the charges are later dropped as completely unfounded).
March 23 - General Rahimuddin Khan becomes the first man in Pakistan's history to rule over 2 of its provinces, after becoming interim Governor of Sindh.


April 4 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.
April 12 - Palestinian gunmen take Israeli Bus Number 300 hostage. Israeli special forces storm the bus, freeing the hostages (1 hostage, 2 hijackers killed).
April 19 - Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.
April 25 - The term of Sultan Ahmad Shah as the 7th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia ends.
April 26 - Sultan Iskandar, Sultan of Johor, becomes the 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.


May 2 - The Liverpool International Garden Festival opens in Liverpool.
May 5 - The Herreys win the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 for Sweden, with the song Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Ley.
May 8 - The longest game in Major League Baseball history begins at 7:30 PM between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox. The game is played over the course of 2 days, lasting 25 innings, with a total time of 8 hours and 6 minutes.
May 11 - A transit of Earth from Mars takes place.
May 14 - The one dollar coin is introduced in Australia.
May 23 - Methane gas explosion at Abbeystead water treatment works in Lancashire, England kills 16 people.
May 27 - An overnight flash flood rages through neighborhoods in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nearly 15 inches of rain falls in some areas over a four-hour period. 14 persons are killed.
May 31 - Mecklenburg Correctional Center - 6 inmates - including James and Linwood Briley escape from a death row facility, the first and only occasion this has ever happened in the US.


June 5 - The Indian government begins Operation Blue Star, the planned attack on the Golden Tempel in Amritsar.
June 6 - Indian troops storm the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the Sikhs' holiest shrine, killing an estimated 2,000 people.
June 8 - A deadly F5 tornado nearly destroys the town of Barneveld, Wisconsin killing 9 people, injuring nearly 200, and causing over $25,000,000 in damage.
June 22 - The official name of the Turkish city Urfa is changed into Sanliurfa.
June 22 - Virgin Atlantic Airways makes its inaugural flight.
June 28 - Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker," murders his first confirmed victim.
June 30 - John Napier Turner become Canada's 17th Prime Minister.


July 14 - New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon calls a snap election and is heavily defeated by opposition Labour leader David Lange.
July 18 - Beverly Lynn Burns becomes the first woman Boeing 747 captain in the world.
July 18 - In San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Oliver Huberty sprays a McDonald's restaurant with gunfire, killing 21 people before being shot and killed.
July 25 - Salyut 7: Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.


August 4 - The African republic Upper Volta changes its name to Burkina Faso.
August 11 - United States President Ronald Reagan, during a voice check for a radio broadcast remarks, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes".
August 21 - Half a million people in Manila demonstrate against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.
August 28 - Joseph Fritzl drugs and incarcerates his daughter Elisabeth in secret cellar, in Amstetten, Austria; she was released only after 24 years of sexual abuse and mental ordeal.
August 30 - STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.


September 2 - Seven people are shot and killed and 12 wounded in the Milperra Massacre, a shootout between the rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros in Sydney.
September 4 - The Sandinista Front wins the Nicaraguan general elections.
September 5 - The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage.
September 5 - Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment.
September 18 - Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to cross the Atlantic, solo, in a hot air balloon.
September 20 - Hezbollah car-bombs the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 22 people.
September 26 - The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.


October 4 - Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer become the first Australians to summit Mount Everest.
October 11 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.
October 19 - Polish secret police kidnap Jerzy Popieluszko Catholic priest who supports the Solidarity movement. His dead body is found in a reservoir 11 days later on October 30.
October 23 -The world learns from moving BBC News TV reports that a famine is plaguing Ethiopia where thousands of people have already died of starvation due to a famine and as many as 10,000,000 more lives are at risk.
October 31 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her 2 Sikh security guards . Riots soon break out in New Delhi, and some 2,700 Sikhs are killed. Rajiv Gandhi becomes prime minister of India.

November 2 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

November 9 – Cesar Chavez delivers his speech, "What The Future Holds For Farm Workers And Hispanics", at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

November 14 – Zamboanga City mayor Cesar Climaco, a prominent critic of the government of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, is assassinated in his home city.

November 19 – A series of explosions at the PEMEX Petroleum Storage Facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec, in Mexico City, ignites a major fire and kills about 500 people.

November 25 – Band Aid records the charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? to raise money to combat the famine in Ethiopia. The all-British act, led by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, includes George Michael, Bono, Phil Young and David Bowie as well as the members of bands including Status Quo, Spandau Ballet and Bananarama.

November 28 – Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States.

November 30 – The Tamil Tigers begin the purge of the Sinhalese from North and East Sri Lanka; 127 are killed.

December – A peace agreement between Kenya and Somalia is signed in the Egyptian capital Cairo. With this agreement, in which Somalia officially renounces its historical territorial claims, relations between the two countries began to improve.

December 3 – Bhopal Disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, kills more than 8,000 people outright and injures over half a million (with more later dying from their injuries the death toll is now 23,000+) in the worst industrial disaster in history.

December 4 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane and kill 4 passengers.

December 19 – The People's Republic of China and United Kingdom sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong.

December 22 – In Malta, Prime Minister Dom Mintoff resigns.

December 31 – Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen gets in a serious car accident, severing his left arm.