At A Glance

17 December 1982 at a glance

Day of the week
17 December 1982 was a Friday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Mickey” by Toni Basil.
Top Film of 1982
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1982 was E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Bestselling Novel of 1982
“E.T., The Extraterrestrial” by William Kotzwinkle was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1982.
Top-Rated TV Show
“60 Minutes” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1982–83 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 December 1982 fell in the Year of the Dog.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 December 1982 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 17 December

  • 1960 Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
  • 1969 Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.
  • 1989 Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years.
  • 2002 Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.
  • 2003 SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first powered and first supersonic flight.

Famous people born on December 17

  • Sarah Paulson, American actress (born 1974)
  • Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-American actress (born 1975)
  • Bill Pullman, American actor (born 1953)
  • Pope Francis, Argentinian Pope of the Catholic Church (1936–2025)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1982 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '1982 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • January 7 – The Commodore 64 8-bit home computer is launched by Commodore International in Las Vegas
  • February 28 – Adobe Systems is founded in the United States.
  • March 29 – The 54th Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire wins Best Picture and three other Academy Awards.
More events of 1982 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in the US in 1982

President

Ronald Reagan

Gas (per gallon)

$1.22

Loaf of Bread

$0.57

Average House

$70,800

Weekly Wage

$298

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Hayden Panettiere21 August 1989Actress & singerView their day →Alan Ritchson28 November 1982ActorView their day →Anne Hathaway12 November 1982ActressView their day →Dakota Johnson4 October 1989Actress & modelView their day →Macklemore19 June 1983RapperView their day →Andrew Garfield20 August 1983ActorView their day →Julia Stiles28 March 1981ActressView their day →Taylor Swift13 December 1989Singer-songwriterView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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