The following events occurred in March 1982:
March 1, 1982 (Monday) The Soviet Union's Venera 3 probe landed on the surface of the planet Venus at 03:57 UTC near the Phoebe Regio and returned data for two hours and seven minutes, eventually failing under temperatures of . The probe returned eight photographs of the surface, the first since the original Venera lander had transmitted the first pictures on October 22, 1975. The U.S. Department of State added the nation of Cuba to its list of countries that "support international terrorism", as described in its annual report to Congress, but removed Iraq from the list. The other three nations listed were Syria, South Yemen and Libya. Iran's parliament, the Majlis, voted to allow the Islamic Republic's government to sell the historic treasures that had been collected by the deposed Shah of Iran during his reign. In Japan, what would become the TX Network of television stations, was created as the "Mega TON Network" when the independent TV Tokyo station began transmitting on a new affiliate distant, TV Osaka and had plans to add another affiliate in Nagoya, reflected in the "TON" name. The TX Network has operated since 1991 with seven stations on Japan's four main islands from Hokkaido to Fukuoka. The Symantec Corporation, developer of cybersecurity software, was incorporated in the U.S. by Gary Hendrix with the aid of a National Science Foundation grant. It would change its name to NortonLifeLock Inc in 2019 and to Gen Digital in 2022. Born: Toyin Lawani, Nigerian fashion designer, entrepreneur and television pwersonality Seymur Hazi, Azerbaijani journalist and politician; in Dünyamalılar, Azerbaijani SSR, Soviet Union
March 2, 1982 (Tuesday) Engineered by the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, a mass prison escape freed 255 inmates from incarceration in the Peruvian city of Ayacucho. In the 5-hour battle, 16 people were killed, including two prison guards. France's Law of Decentralization, drafted by Interior Minister Gaston Defferre, was passed into law by the Assemblée nationale, creating the administrative regions of France, a new level of subnational divisions between the départements and the national government. While the 96 metropolitan départements continue to have autonomy, they were grouped into 22 metropolitan régions française which through mergers have now become 13. The reform also gave autonomy and limited self-government to some minority-populated areas with the creation of the collectivité territoriale, including the island of Corsica.. With self-government for Corsica, the French government released the remaining members of the Fronte di Liberazione Naziunale di a Corsica, including Alain Orsoni, from the Fleury-Mérogis Prison. South Korea's government announced a general amnesty for 2,863 prisoners, including 297 dissidents deemed as political offenders. While former opposition leader Kim Dae Jung was not released, his sentence of life imprisonment was reduced to 20 years incarceration. Observers noted that none of 419 of South Korea's known political prisoners were scheduled for release. U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig said in testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee that he had "overwhelming and irrefutable" evidence that a rebellion against El Salvador's right-wing military government was being directed by foreign powers. The House voted, 396 to 3, to urge U.S. President Ronald Reagan to press for unconditional discussions among El Salvador's political factions to "guarantee a safe and stable environment for free and open elections." Multicandidate elections were held in Algeria for all 282 seats of the People's National Assembly (the Majlis al-Sha'abi). Although all the candidates were members of Algeria's only legal political party, the Front de liberation nationale (FLN), there were 846 candidates, an average of three per seat. Of the 282 seats, 136 incumbents ran, and only 69 won re-election. Israeli troops began removing Jewish settlers from Ophira, an unauthorized settlement near Sharm el-Sheik on the southern tip of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in advance of the scheduled April 25 withdrawal of Israel from the area.Algeria Inter-Parliamentary Union An assassination attempt was made in Belfast against Lord Lowry, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, as two gunmen of the Irish Republican Army fired four shots at him as he arrived at Queen's University for a luncheon. While Lowry was not struck by a bullet, a stray round struck a Queens professor, Robert Parks, in the left buttock. The film Diner, directed by Barry Levinson, had its world premiere at the Senator Theater in Levinson's hometown of Baltimore before going into release throughout the United States on March 5. TriStar Pictures was founded a joint filmmaking venture by three companies (Columbia Pictures, CBS and HBO) as "Nova Pictures", although the name would be changed a year later to avoid confusion with the PBS television series Nova.Stephen Prince, A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989 (New York:Charles Scribner's Sons, 2000) p.31 . Born: Anup Bhandari, Indian composer and Kannada language film director known for directing the popular 2015 mystery film RangiTaranga; in Puttur, Karnataka Died: Philip K. Dick, 53, American science fiction writer known for The Man in the High Castle (1962) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), died from complications of a stroke. Haunani Kahalewai (born Myrna Kahaunaniomaunakeakauiokalewa Kahalewai), 53, Hawaiian American singer, died from a heart attack.
March 3, 1982 (Wednesday) An attempt by Ange-Félix Patassé was made to overthrow the government of the Central African Republic and its president, General André Kolingba]. Patassé, leader of the outlawed Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLBC), was able to seize control of a radio station in the capital, Bangui with the aid of about 100 rebel troops led by General François Bozizé, and Bozize announced Kolingba's overthrow. However, the MLBC was unable to persuade other military officers to join. After four days, the coup collapsed and Patasse and Bozise were given sanctuary in the French Embassy, and then left the country. Chavviram Singh Yadav, one of India's most notorious bandit leaders in the Chambal Valley, was killed in a 90-minute gunbattle in the city of Etah in Uttar Pradesh state police, along with 12 of his followers. In addition to terrorizing state residents with his random attacks, Chavviram also committed murders in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. His body and those of his henchmen were then displayed on posts at the town of Aliganj. The Indian press reported his death on March 5. One of Germany's strangest hoaxes, the mystery of "Chopper, was solved in the town of Neutraubling in West Germany by local police. Since 1981, "Chopper" had been haunting the office of dentist Kurt Backseitz, starting with phone calls and, after phone lines were replaced, speaking from sinks, toilets and unplugged electric sockets in the wall. Detectives noticed that the 16-year-old dental assistant, identified only as "Claudia", always turned her back when Chopper's words were heard, and caught her reflection in a mirror. Dr. Backseitz, his wife and Claudia were all brought to the Neutraubling police station and admitted that they had plotted the deception. In all, the police and the phone company had spent 60,000 deutschmarks (DM) (about $26,000 USD) in trying to locate the source of Chopper's voice. Dr. and Mrs. Backseitz were fined DM 35,000 ($15,000) for restitution of the costs expended, and Claudia fined DM 1500. Reino Aventura opened in the Mexico City suburb of Tlalpan as the largest amusement park in Latin America. In 1999 it would be purchased and remodeled, and reopened in 2000 as Six Flags Mexico. The Israeli settlement of Hatzer Adar, established in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in December as one of the last attempts at Jewish settlement on the land before it was to be turned over to Egyptian control by the Camp David Accords, was forcibly dismantled and its 50 settlers were removed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Other settlements in the Yamit Region (Yamit, Atzmona, Nativ Haasara, Sadot, Dekla, Pri-El, Pri Gan, Telmei Yosef, Ugda, Nir Avraham, Neot Sinai, Harovit, Sufa, Avshalom and Holi) had already been closed and its settlers evacuated in advance of the April 15 date for the first withdrawal of the IDF. Born: Jessica Biel, American actress, producer and singer in film and television; in Ely, Minnesota Died: Firaq Gorakhpuri (pen name for Raghupati Sahay, 85, Indian Urdu language poet and commentator Mian Ehsan-ul-Haq, 66, Indian-born Pakistani film producer known for the 1957 hit film Waada Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Majdhub, 62, Sudanese Arabic poet Keshto Mukherjee, 56, Indian character actor and comedian known for his portrayal of drunkards in Hindi language films (despite being a lifelong teetotaler) was killed in an accident in Bombay. Sekine Evren, 59, Turkish activist and wife President Kenan Evren as First Lady of Turkey, died from complications of a 1980 stroke.
March 4, 1982 (Thursday) Bertha Wilson became the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Mario Andretti ceased any further appeals in his attempt to be declared the winner of the 1981 Indianapolis 500. In the race on May 24, 1981, Bobby Unser crossed the finish line first, but was then disqualified and second place finisher Andretti was declared the winner. Unser appealed to the United States Auto Club panel, which restored the win to him on October 8, 1981. Andretti had then appealed but continued to be denied, and abandoned the effort, with Unser winning the race after more than nine months. Born: Landon Donovan, American footballer (soccer player) with 157 caps for the U.S. national team from 2000 to 2014; in Ontario, California K. Michelle (stage name for Kimberly Michelle Pate), American R & B singer, songwriter and TV personality, known for her 2013 album Rebellious Soul and the 2022 hit song "Scooch"; in Memphis, Tennessee Died: Bill DeWitt, 79, American major league baseball team owner and general manager who owned the St. Louis Browns (1948 to 1951) and the Cincinnati Reds (1962 to 1966)
March 5, 1982 (Friday) Zhao Cangbi, the Minister of Public Security for the People's Republic of China, announced a plan to release of 4,327 former Republic of China government officials who had been imprisoned for more than 30 years since the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek by the Chinese Communist Army in 1949. Zhao told the National People's Congress that the government would pay the expenses for transport for those who wanted to move to Taiwan, and that those who chose to stay and who were still able to work would be given jobs. A bulletin from the government's Xinhua News Agency quoted Zhao as saying "These former Kuomintang personnel in custody have repented and by and large have turned over a new leaf after a long period of education and reform. Venera 14, the second of two Soviet space probes, landed on Venus at 0604 UTC, and sent data for about one hour. As with Venera 13, the probe returned data to other Soviet spaceships flying by the planet, which then relayed images back to Earth. Venera 14 landed about southwest of Venera 13, which had also touched down at the Phoebe Regio section of Venus.
Died: John Belushi, American comedian, actor and musician, died after multiple injections of speedball, a combination of cocaine and heroin while he was staying at a bungalow at the Chateau Marmont celebrity resort in Hollywood, California. A female friend, Cathy Smith, would later be convicted in 1986 of involuntary manslaughter.
March 6, 1982 (Saturday)