Seattle
- The Mariners called up Mark Langston and Edgar Martínez was working his way through the minors; the Kingdome was the city's prime entertainment venue.
- Pioneer Square's First Thursday gallery walk continued to grow as the city's contemporary-art scene gathered momentum.
- The Seattle Repertory Theatre opened the Bagley Wright Theatre's second decade with major regional premieres.
- Boeing rolled out its 757 and 767 wide-bodies, redefining medium-haul aviation.
The United States
- The Tylenol cyanide poisonings in the Chicago area in September–October killed seven people and led to tamper-proof packaging across the entire consumer-products industry.
- Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became the highest-grossing film to that point.
- The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin's "the Wall," was dedicated in Washington, D.C. on November 13.
- Michael Jackson's Thriller was released on November 30 and would become the best-selling album in history.
- Cats opened on Broadway; the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment passed without success.
The World
- The Falklands War between the U.K. and Argentina ran from April to June.
- Israel invaded Lebanon in June; the Sabra and Shatila massacre followed in September.
- Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died in November; Yuri Andropov succeeded him.
- Time named the personal computer "Machine of the Year," the first time a non-person had been chosen.
