Timeline October 1983

Events in October 1983 11

• 1899 – 1983 Pat O'Brien (1899-1983) American actor, the Irish priest, cop and coach of Warner Bros. films, including Knute Rockne, All American.
• 1902 – 1983 Ralph Richardson (1902-1983) English actor, one of the great stage actors of his generation alongside Olivier and Gielgud.
• 1907 – 1983 Earl Tupper (1907-1983) Died 5 October 1983, aged 76 Earl Tupper was an American businessman who invented Tupperware, the airtight plastic food storage containers that became a household staple worldwide. He built a sales phenomenon around the "Tupperware party" marketing model. His products remain in common use decades later.
• 1983 Lech Walesa Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Solidarity leader honored for nonviolent resistance Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and leading the Solidarity movement against communist rule. Fearing he would not be allowed to return, he did not travel to Oslo to accept it in person. He later became Poland's first post-communist president in 1990.
• 1983 Ralph Richardson dies in London Ralph Richardson dies aged 80.
• 1983 Pat O'Brien dies in Santa Monica Pat O'Brien dies aged 83.
• 1983 Hong Kong Dollar Pegged to US Dollar Currency board system introduced amid confidence crisis Hong Kong's government fixed the Hong Kong dollar to the US dollar at a rate of 7.8 to 1, establishing a linked exchange rate system after a currency crisis tied to uncertainty over the colony's future. The peg has remained in place since. It stabilized Hong Kong's currency through subsequent decades of political change.
• 1983 Beirut Barracks Bombings Truck bombs kill 241 US and 58 French troops Simultaneous suicide truck bombings struck US Marine and French paratrooper barracks in Beirut, killing 241 American and 58 French peacekeepers. It was the deadliest single-day death toll for the US Marine Corps since Iwo Jima. The attacks led to the withdrawal of multinational forces from Lebanon.
• 1983 United States Invades Grenada Operation Urgent Fury topples revolutionary government US forces, joined by troops from several Caribbean states, invaded Grenada days after a coup killed Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. The operation, code-named Urgent Fury, was officially justified by the safety of American medical students on the island. It was the first major US military action since the Vietnam War.
• 1983 Raul Alfonsin Elected President of Argentina Vote marks return to civilian rule Raul Alfonsin won Argentina's presidential election, ending years of military dictatorship following its defeat in the Falklands War. His government later prosecuted former junta leaders for human rights abuses. The transition marked the restoration of democracy in Argentina.
• 1983 – present Alexander Grischuk Russian blitz specialist Alexander Grischuk became one of the world's leading blitz and rapid players while competing regularly at elite classical level.