Seattle
- Apple's Macintosh became one of the first widely adopted GUI personal computers; Microsoft was working on its own GUI, Windows.
- Mark Langston's rookie season for the Mariners produced 17 wins and 204 strikeouts.
- Local independent music labels including C/Z Records were quietly capturing the "Deep Six" set of bands (Soundgarden, Green River, Melvins, Skin Yard, Malfunkshun, U-Men) that would become known as grunge.
- Boeing's commercial-aircraft delivery numbers powered a regional economic recovery from the late-1970s slump.
The United States
- Apple's Macintosh launched on January 24 with the iconic Ridley Scott "1984" Super Bowl ad.
- The Los Angeles Summer Olympics opened in July, boycotted by the Soviet Union and most of the Eastern Bloc; Carl Lewis won four gold medals.
- Reagan defeated Walter Mondale in a 49-state landslide; Geraldine Ferraro became the first female vice-presidential nominee on a major party ticket.
- Madonna's Like a Virgin and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. were released.
- AT&T was broken up into the regional "Baby Bells" on January 1.
The World
- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards on October 31.
- The Bhopal gas disaster on the night of December 2–3 killed thousands in India and remains the worst industrial accident in history.
- Famine in Ethiopia drew global attention; Band Aid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in November.
- George Orwell's 1984 was, finally, 1984; sales of the novel surged.
