January
1st	ITV companies Central Independent Television, Television South and Television South West start broadcasting, replacing ATV, Southern Television and Westward Television respectively
10th	The lowest ever United Kingdom temperature of -27.2°C is recorded at Braemar, in Aberdeenshire. This equals the record set in the same place in 1895, and the record would be equalled again at Altnaharra in 1995
11th	Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara during the Paris-Dakar rally. He is rescued January 14
13th	Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. On the same day, a Washington Metro train derails to the north, killing 3 (the system's first, worst, and so far only fatal accident)
26th	Mauno Koivisto is elected President of Finland
26th	Unemployment in the United Kingdom increases by 129,918 to 3,070,621, a post-war record
27th	The Garret Fitzgerald government of the Republic of Ireland is defeated 82-81 on its budget; Fitzgerald announced his resignation
28th	U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces after 42 days of captivity under the Red Brigades

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February
2nd	The Hama Massacre begins in Syria
3rd	Syrian president Hafez al-Assad orders the army to purge the city of Harran of the Muslim Brotherhood
5th	London-based Laker Airways collapses, leaving 6,000 stranded passengers and debts of $270 million
9th	Japan Airlines Flight 350 crashes in Tokyo Bay due to thrust reversal on approach to Tokyo International Airport, killing 24 people among the 174 people on board
15th	The oil platform Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing all 84 rig workers aboard
19th	The DeLorean Car factory in Belfast is put into receivership
24th	In South Africa, 22 National Party MPs led by Andries Treurnicht vote for no confidence in P. W. Botha
25th	The European Court of Human Rights rules that teachers who cane, belt or tawse children against the wishes of their parents are in breach of the Human Rights Convention
27th	In Atlanta, Georgia, Wayne Williams is convicted of murdering 2 children, and given 2 consecutive life terms

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March
3rd	The Queen opens the Barbican Centre in London
9th	Charles Haughey becomes Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland
10th	The United States places an embargo on Libyan oil imports, alleging Libyan support of terrorist groups
18th	An Argentine scrap metal dealer raises the Argentine flag in South Georgia
19th	Argentines land on South Georgia Island, precipitating The Falklands War
25th	Roy Jenkins wins the Glasgow Hillhead by-election for the Social Democratic Party
29th	The 54th Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California with Gandhi winning Best Picture, as well as 7 other Academy Awards

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April
2nd	Argentina invades the Falkland Islands
4th	The British Falkland Islands government surrenders, placing the islands in Argentine control
5th	The Royal Navy task force sails to recapture the Falklands
12th	A 200-mile 'total exclusion zone' around the Falklands proclaimed by the United Kingdom comes into effect
17th	By Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on Parliament Hill, Canada patriates its constitution, granting full political independence from the United Kingdom; included is the country's first entrenched bill of rights
24th	The German singer Nicole wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 for Germany, with the song Ein Bisschen Frieden
25th	Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty

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May
1st	A Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bomber takes off from Ascension Island and bombs Stanley Airport
2nd	The nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano killing 323 sailors
4th	HMS Sheffield is hit by an Exocet missile, and burns out of control; 20 sailors are killed. The ship sank on May 10
8th	French-Canadian racing driver Gilles Villeneuve is killed during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix
12th	Spanish priest Juan María Fernández y Krohn tries to stab Pope John Paul II with a bayonet during the latter's pilgrimage to the Fatima, Portugal shrine
12th	Braniff International Airways is declared bankrupt and ceases all flights
21st	Royal Marines and paratroopers from the British Task Force land at San Carlos Bay on the Falkland Islands and raise the Union Flag
22nd	HMS Ardent is sunk by Argentine aircraft, killing 22 sailors
23rd	HMS Antelope of the Royal Navy explodes, two killed
24th	KGB head Yuri Andropov is appointed to the Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
25th	The merchant navy ship Atlantic Conveyor is sunk by an Argentine Exocet missile, killing 12 and depriving British forces of the helicopters intended to be used in the later stages of the conflict
26th	Aston Villa win the European Cup beating Bayern Munich 1-0 after a 69 minute goal by Peter Withe in Rotterdam
27th	Tottenham Hotspur win the FA Cup beating QPR 1-0 in a replay
28th	British troops reach Darwin, Falkland Islands
29th	In the Battle of Goose Green, British paratroopers defeat a larger force of Argentine troops in the first land battle of the war
30th	Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955
31st	The Battle of Stanley is fought in the Falklands

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June
5th	The first Rubik's Cube World Championships is held in Budapest, Hungary
6th	Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut
6th	The United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon
8th	In the Falklands War, British landing ship logistic RFA Sir Galahad is destroyed, killing 48
12th	A rally against nuclear weapons draws 750,000 to New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt attend
13th	In Alberta, Canada 15 members of the Black Leopards Karate Club demolish a house with bare hands and feet with the owner's consent
13th	The 1982 FIFA World Cup begins in Spain
14th	The Falklands War ends as a formal surrender is agreed by Argentine forces
18th	Argentine military dictator Leopoldo Galtieri resigns, in the wake of his country's defeat in the Falklands War
19th	The body of "God's Banker", Roberto Calvi, chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London
21st	Prince William is born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London

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July
2nd	Larry Walters (Lawn Chair Larry), flies 16,000 feet above Long Beach, California in lawn chair with weather balloons attached
2nd	Roy Jenkins is elected Leader of the Social Democratic Party
3rd	ASLEF train drivers in the United Kingdom went on strike over hours of work; they returned to work on July 18
9th	Pan Am Flight 759 (Boeing 727) crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 146 on board and 8 on the ground
9th	Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan visits Queen Elizabeth II in her bedroom
11th	Italy win the football World Cup in Spain, beating West Germany 3 - 1 in the final
15th	Geoffrey Prime, a GCHQ civil servant, is remanded in custody on charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911
16th	In New York City, The Reverend Sun Myung Moon is sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $25,000 for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice
20th	The Provisional IRA detonates 2 bombs in central London, killing 8 soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses
21st	HMS Hermes, the Royal Navy flagship during the Falklands War, returns home to Portsmouth to a hero's welcome
23rd	The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling by 1986
23rd	A coroner's jury returns a verdict of suicide on Roberto Calvi, who has been found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge
24th	Torrential rain and mudslides in Nagasaki, Japan destroy bridges and kill 299

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August
4th	The United Nations Security Council votes to censure Israel because its troops are still in Lebanon
7th	Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Spadolini resigns
12th	Mexico announces it is unable to pay its large foreign debt, triggering a debt crisis that quickly spread throughout Latin America
13th	In Hong Kong, health warnings on cigarette packets are made statutory
17th	The first compact discs (CDs) are released for sale to the public in Germany
20th	A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. French troops arrive August 21, U.S. Marines August 25

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September
3rd	Italian general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa is killed in a mafia ambush
14th	Lebanese President-elect Bachir Gemayel is assassinated in Beirut
18th	The Lebanese Christian Militia (the Phalange) kill thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps with the overlooking of Israeli troops in West Beirut. The massacre is in retaliation for the assassination of pro-Israel president-elect, Bachir Gemayel, as well as several Palestinian committed massacres towards Lebanese Christians
21st	The first International Day of Peace (United Nations) ever
23rd	Amin Gemayel, brother of Bachir, is elected president of Lebanon
25th	In Israel, 400,000 marchers demand the resignation of Prime Minister Menachem Begin
26th	Thermals take Australian parachutist Rich Collins up to 2,800 metres (9,200 ft) during a jump; he almost blacks out due to lack of oxygen. He releases his main parachute to fall to lower altitude and lands by his reserve parachute

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October
1st	Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a Constructive Vote of No Confidence
1st	In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World opens the second largest theme park, Epcot, to the public for the first time
1st	Sony launches the first consumer compact disc player (model CDP-101)
8th	Poland bans Solidarity after having suspended it on 13 December 1981
11th	The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII of England that sank in 1545, is raised
13th	The Ford Sierra is launched in Europe. It replaces the Ford Cortina
19th	John De Lorean is arrested for selling cocaine to undercover FBI agents (he is later found not guilty due to entrapment)
20th	During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem at least 63 and probably many more people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster
27th	In Canada, Dominion Day is officially renamed to Canada Day
28th	The Socialist Party wins the election in Spain; Felipe González is elected Prime Minister

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November
1st	The Welsh language station, S4C, launches in Wales
2nd	Channel 4, the fourth terrestrial television channel, is launched in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland with the first program broadcast being the game show Countdown, which is still in production
3rd	A gasoline tanker explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, killing at least 2,000 people
7th	The Thames Barrier is first publicly demonstrated
12th	In the Soviet Union, former KGB head Yuri Andropov is selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Leonid I. Brezhnev
13th	The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans
14th	The leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity movement, Lech Wałęsa, is released from 11 months of internment near the Soviet border
27th	Yasuhiro Nakasone becomes Prime minister of Japan
28th	Representatives from 88 countries gather in Geneva to discuss world trade and ways to work toward aspects of free trade
30th	Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the biggest selling album of all time

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December
1st	Miguel de la Madrid takes office as President of Mexico
2nd	At the University of Utah, 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart (he will live for 112 days with the device)
2nd	British comedian and writer Marty Feldman dies in Mexico
4th	The People's Republic of China adopts its current constitution
7th	The first U.S. execution by lethal injection is carried out in Texas
12th	Women's peace protest at Greenham Common: 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence
13th	At least 1,507 killed, Richer Scale 6.0 magnitude at Dhamar earthquake, northern Yemen
26th	Time Magazine's Man of the Year is given for the first time to a non-human, the computer