2/2 -- A U.S. senator from New Jersey, a representative from Pennsylvania, and the governor-elect of Louisiana are among the politicians accused of accepting bribes in two FBI undercover operations known as Abscam and Brilab.
2/11 -- Ferdinand Marcos admits that his party used fraud and terrorism to steal the election held the previous month in the Philippines.
3/24 -- Archbishop Oscar Romero, a vocal defender of human rights in strife-torn El Salvador is assassinated while saying mass in a San Salvador church. Thirty people are killed by bombs and sniper fire during his funeral six days later.
3/27 -- Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington erupts for the first time since 1857. Another eruption will occur on May 18, killing 34 persons.
4/2 -- Major U.S. banks increase their prime lending rate to a record high 20%.
4/25 -- An American military mission to rescue the 52 hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran fails, and eight crewmen are killed when a helicopter collides with a C-130 cargo plane at a location known as "Desert One" in Iran.
6/3 -- Nearly 5,000 Cuban refugees reach the U.S., bringing the total since April 21 to over 100,000, including thousands of criminals.
6/30 -- The U.S. Supreme Court rules that state and federal governments have no obligation to pay for abortions.
7/14 -- President Carter's brother Billy finally becomes a registered foreign agent of the Libyan government after admitting receiving a $220,000 "loan" from the Libyans. Two weeks later the president admits having given Billy classified information dealing with Libya.
9/17 -- Anastasio Somoza, president of Nicaragua for 23 years before being forced to flee that country in 1979, is assassinated in Paraguay.
9/18 -- Cuba arrests the two former refugees who had hijacked a Delta Airlines jet in South Carolina and returns them to the United States.
9/22 -- Iranian and Iraqi air and naval forces clash as a conflict over disputed territory escalates into a war that will last most of the decade.
10/24 -- Solidarity, the new independent federation of Polish trade unions is given legal status by a Warsaw court.
11/4 -- Republican Ronald Reagan wins the American presidency, defeating Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. The Republicans also take control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1956.
11/19 -- The Brooke Shields "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins" jeans ad is banned by CBS.
11/21 -- A fire in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas claims the lives of 84 people.
12/8 -- Mark David Chapman shoots and kills John Lennon outside New York City's Dakota apartment building.
12/19 -- Major U.S. banks raise their prime lending rate to 21.5%, a new record. The U.S. economy continues to suffer from rising inflation and high unemployment.