At A Glance

20 January 1982 at a glance

Day of the week
20 January 1982 was a Wednesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John.
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 20 January is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 January 1982 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 January 1982 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 20 January

  • 1974 China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam.
  • 1986 In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
  • 1986 Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya.
  • 1990 Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
  • 1991 Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.

Famous people born on January 20

  • J. J. McCarthy, American football player (born 2003)
  • David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter (1946–2025)
  • Evan Peters, American actor (born 1987)
  • Sid Wilson, American musician (born 1977)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

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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