Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, in exile following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, dies of cancer.

14 Aug.

Polish shipyard workers in Gdansk strike in protest of a new rise in meat prices. By 1 September, Communist Party leader Edward Gierek agrees to the demands set by a dissident labor union, Solidarity. Led by electrician Lech Walesa, Solidarity becomes the first independent labor union in the Soviet bloc.

19 Aug.

Willy Russell's play Educating Rita debuts at London's Piccadilly Theatre, following an opening at the Warehouse Theatre.

20 Aug.

In response to continuing unrest in the East Bloc, the Soviet Union jams western radio broadcasts, thus violating the 1975 Helsinki accords.

4-22 Sept.

Iraqi planes and a ten-thousand-man strike force attack Iranian airfields in the Shatt al Arab estuary, escalating border conflicts and beginning an eight-year war between Iran and Iraq.

17 Sept.

In Asuncion, Paraguay, former Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle is assassinated by gunmen...