Production complete on the Star Wars sequel that would darken and deepen its saga, though this is placed for illustrative structure only.

Apple introduced the Apple II Plus, boosting memory and refining the machine that had already begun pulling personal computers into ordinary homes and offices.

Amid the ongoing U.S. hostage crisis, Iran's revolutionary government pressed forward with sweeping nationalizations, deepening its break from the West.

South Korean paratroopers begin a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju, killing hundreds in one of the darkest chapters of the country's authoritarian era.

IBM formally struck the deal with the tiny Microsoft Corporation to supply an operating system for its forthcoming personal computer.

Josip Broz Tito, who led Yugoslavia for 35 years, died in Ljubljana, triggering a state funeral attended by 128 nations.

Workers across Poland launched a wave of strikes after the government raised meat prices, foreshadowing the labor unrest that would birth the Solidarity movement.

Ted Turner launched Cable News Network, the first channel devoted to round-the-clock news coverage, from a converted Atlanta country club.

The Polish government signed the Gdańsk Agreement with striking shipyard workers, legalizing independent trade unions and giving birth to the Solidarity movement.

Polish communist authorities signed the Gdańsk Agreement with striking shipyard workers, legalizing the independent trade union Solidarity led by Lech Wałęsa.

Polish workers and government officials finalized an agreement in Gdańsk that led to the registration of Solidarity, the Eastern Bloc's first independent trade union.

Ted Turner's Cable News Network began broadcasting the world's first 24-hour news channel from a converted Atlanta country club, changing how the world consumed news.

Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon four times outside his New York apartment building, killing the ex-Beatle at age 40.

Workers at a Depression-era construction site in New York first placed a small, undecorated evergreen at Rockefeller Center in 1931, beginning a beloved holiday tradition.