1982

1982 was the 111th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• January 2: Arthur Deutsch began his term as Chief of the Birmingham Police Department.
• January 18: A rare snowfall brought 4.4 inches to Birmingham.
• March 16: The Police and Joan Jett performed at the BJCC Coliseum.
• April 23: The Birmingham Sister City Commission was established as Birmingham forged a relationship with Hitachi, Japan.
• May 12: The Rotary Club of Birmingham voted against admitting black members, 120 to 90.
• June 11: A bomb exploded at the entrance to the New Spot Lounge gentlemen's club. No one was injured.
• July: The Texas Instruments Birmingham User's Group formed in Irondale.
• August 8: Frankie Beverly & Maze played at the 4th Annual Southern Heritage Festival at the Alabama State Fairgrounds.
• September 9: O'Rickie McQueen broke into the Birmingham-Jefferson County Women's Center and held its director Lorene Putsch and another woman hostage for a full day before surrendering to police.
• November 2: George Wallace won the 1982 gubernatorial election to claim his fourth term as Governor of Alabama.
• December 29: Jefferson County and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office entered a consent decree to pursue non-discriminatory hiring practices.
• The Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington was founded in Columbiana.
• Organist Tom Helms resumed annual Halloween performances of the Phantom of the Opera at the Alabama Theatre.
• A former alleyway near Five Points South was named Cobb Lane in honor of restauranteur Virginia Cobb.
• The Birmingham Festival of Arts organized a Salute to Japan.
• Rock group Hotel disbanded.
• Eddie Kendricks joined a reunion tour of The Temptations.
• The Friends of the Hoover Public Library was formed.
• Birmingham's "Batman", Willie Perry, appeared on That's Incredible!.
• The Southeastern Blind Rehabilitation Center opened at the Birmingham VA Medical Center.
• The first Mulberry Fork Canoe and Kayak Festival was held.

Business

• Birmingham Trust National Bank became SouthTrust Bank.
• BE&K moved its corporate headquarters to Inverness.
• Bodine, Bryson & Rolling moved to 14th Avenue South.
• Bruno's Supermarkets spun off its Big B Drugs division into an independent company.
• Colonial Bank acquired the Exchange National Bank of Birmingham.
• Larry Langford was hired as community relations director for Birmingham Budweiser.
• City Hotels, Inc., operator of the Holiday Inn-Medical Center, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• The Homewood Library purchased the former Homewood Chuch of Christ to serve as its new home.
• Summerfest Musical Theatre presented ShowBoat, Lil’ Abner, and Guys and Dolls in the 1982 season.
• T. Morris Hackney acquired Dixie Type and Supply and formed the Citation Corporation as a holding company.
• Steve Hewett joined AmSouth Bank.
• UAB began operating the former Guest House Motor Inn as the University Inn.

Openings

• March 17: PT's Sports Grill opened on Hollywood Boulevard.
• Cahaba Cycles first opened.
• Highlands Bar and Grill was opened by Frank Stitt.
• The first Guthrie's opened in Auburn.
• Jack Caddell opened the first Hamburger Heaven on Crestwood Boulevard.
• Joe Lee founded Lee's Buildings and Sheet Metal in Moody.
• New York Pizza opened in the Edgewood Business District.
• Dan Nolen opened The Nick in the former Wooden Nickel building on 10th Avenue South.
• The Screening Room adult cinema opened.
• Snoozy's College Bookstore was founded.
• Loretta Goodwin opened Loretta Goodwin Gallery.
• David and Linda Wheeler opened David's Arts and Frames.
• Tony Romeo founded Romeo's Sporting Goods at the Crestwood Shopping Center.

Education

• Sam and Delores Howard left the faculty of Birmingham-Southern College to become artists in residence at UAB.
• Thompson Reynolds retired from Vestavia Hills High School, where he was head football coach and athletic director.
• Cordell Wynn was named president of Stillman College.

Media

• WTTO-21 went on the air as the city's first independent television channel.
• WBRC-6 began receiving network programming by satellite feed.
• WERC-AM switched to an all-news/talk format.
• Bob Bell bought WJLD-AM from George Johnston.
• Ron Council stopped publishing the 222 newsletter for residents of the 35222 ZIP code.

Religion

• The Church of the Advent was designated the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.
• Dewayne Davis and members of the UAB Gospel Choir founded the More Than Conquerors Faith Church.

Sports

• The Alabama Magic of the American Football Association went 6-4 in their only season.
• The Birmingham South Stars of the Central Hockey League began their sole season.
• The BJCC hosted the 1982 Mideast regional Semifinals and finals of the NCAA college basketball tournament. The 4th-seeded UAB Blazers upset top seed Virginia 68-66 in the round of sixteen, then lost to 3rd-seed Louisville in the regional final.
• The Alabama Crimson Tide also made it to the Sweet Sixteen, led by Ennis Whatley.
• Auburn won the 1982 Iron Bowl 23-22 on freshman Bo Jackson's last second touchdown.
• Marvin Warner founded the Birmingham Stallions for the new United States Football League.
• Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500.
• Benny Parsons turned in a qualifying lap for the Winston 500 at over 200 mph, setting a NASCAR record at the Talladega Superspeedway.
• Bear Bryant coached his final Alabama team, retiring with 323 wins after an 8-4 season which ended with a 21-15 victory over Illinois in the Liberty Bowl on December 29.
• Alabama's Jeremiah Castille, Mike Pitts and Tommy Wilcox were named College Football All-Americans.
• Sprinter Carl Lewis beat the 10-second 100-meter sprint at Modesto, California
• Pitcher Vida Blue was traded to the Kansas City Royals.
• Alabama State University joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
• Vince Gibson retired as head football coach at Tulane University.
• Lamar Johnson signed with the Texas Rangers.
• UAB Blazers star Oliver Robinson was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs.
• Alabama Crimson Tide star Eddie Phillips was drafted by the New Jersey Nets.
• Eli Gold began hosting NASCAR Live on the Motor Racing Network.
• David Cutcliffe was hired as an assistant at Tennessee.
• Jerry Pate won the PGA Tournament Player's Championship
• Jackie Sherrill became head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies.
• David Langner became head coach at Pickens Academy in Carrollton

Works

• Strange Celestial Road, album by Sun Ra
• "Buffalo Optical", painting by Robert Cottingham
• Jim Bob & the Leisure Suits album, by Jim Bob & the Leisure Suits
• Birmingham's Homage to Leonardo: Vitruvian Man, modeled by Enzo Plazotta, was cast.
• All About Birmingham board game.
• "Moon Over Homewood" novelty song by Jack Voorhies
• "Benny's Place", an ABC-TV movie starring Louis Gossett, Jr and Cicely Tyson aired. It was filmed at ACIPCO, Southside (The Garages) and West End.

Books

• Marylin Davis Hahn, Cemeteries of Jefferson County, Vol. I. Birmingham: Birmingham Public Library
• James Caldwell Fletcher, Coping With Genetic Disorders: a Guide for Clergy and Parent. San Francisco, California: Harper & Row ISBN 0060626658

Buildings

1982 Hewitt Trussville High School

• 1442 Montgomery Highway in Vestavia Hills
• Bama 6 in Tuscaloosa
• Carmike 10 on Lorna Ridge Road
• Colonial Plaza at 2101 6th Avenue North
• Financial Center
• Garywood Assembly of God, new 1,600-seat sanctuary
• Hewitt-Trussville High School
• Memorial Park Recreation Center renovations
• St Clair County Courthouse additions
• South Central Bell Alabama Operations Center
• Southridge Office Building
• Spring Gardens housing project for the elderly and disabled in Tarrant
• West Jefferson Correctional Facility
• The Empire Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
• The Ritz Theatre and other buildings on the 1700 block of 2nd Avenue North were demolished.
• The Buck Short Bridge was relocated onto new supports 12 feet south of its original abutments on Mount Olive Road over the Locust Fork River.
• Landscape improvements to 19th Street North by Pedro Costa

Individuals

• Astronaut Hank Hartsfield made his first space flight as pilot of the Columbia on mission STS-4, carrying a West End High School banner.
• Kenneth Daniel succeeded Robert Luckie Jr as president of The Club.
• Birmingham News editorial cartoonist Charles Brooks was invited to the White House.
• Organist Cecil Whitmire returned to Birmingham from Knoxville and took a job at Long Lewis Hardware.
• Madelyn Poole retired from the Town and Gown Theatre.
• James Crutcher left the pulpit of 16th Street Baptist Church.
• Joseph Marino was assigned to the Catholic campus ministry at UAB.
• Ben McKinnon assumed the presidency of the Alabama Broadcasters Association.
• Paul Zahl began his ministerial career as Rector of St Mary's Church in Scarborough, New York.
• Jay Glass became Chief Deputy Coroner for Jefferson County.
• Sam Pointer Jr became chief judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
• Annetta Verin joined the staff of the Legal Services Corporation in Tuscaloosa.
• Larry Gipson succeeded Brinkley Morton as Dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent.
• Joe Langston and Herb Winches returned to WBRC-TV from WVTM-TV.

Births

• January 26: Billy Ray Brewton, writer and filmmaker
• February 10: Cat Whitehill, soccer player (born Catherine Reddick)
• February 20: Kerri Fair, baseball player
• March 17: Eric Hall, minister
• March 7: Austin Tubb, baseball player
• April 15: Edwardo Sierra, baseball player
• May 3: Rob Ehsan, UAB Blazers men's basketball coach
• May 20: Candace Bailey, actress
• June 16: Jerrico Cotchery, NFL wide receiver
• July 29: Michael Morrison, urban planner
• July 29: Robert Turner, AME minister
• October 14: Jeremy Schatz, attorney
• October 15: Travis Hendrix, Birmingham Police Department community project coordinator
• October 29: Kenny Hollis, football player and prison guard
• December 3: Adam Wingard, film director
• December 11: Roman Harper, football player
• Camille Boggs, artist
• Christopher Burson, floral designer
• Shwetak Patel, computer scientist
• Dan Sartain, musician
• Crystal Stone, boutique owner

Awards

• Nell Carter won an Emmy for her starring role in NBC's televised version of Ain't Misbehavin'.
• Yolanda Fernandez was named Miss Alabama.
• Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, 15 inductees
• Dorothy Hoeschen's "Rock and Water Interaction" won the Bluff Park Art Association purchase award.
• Raymond Weeks was given the Presidential Citizens Medal for his efforts to establish Veterans Day as a national holiday.
• Andrew Toney was named to the NBA's All-Star Team.
• Alabama Academy of Honor: Glenn Ireland II and James Pittman
• Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductees: Frank Bolling, Paul Burnum, Tucker Frederickson, Elbert Jemison, Benny Marshall and Zeke Smith

Graduations

• Mike Anderson graduated from the University of Tulsa.
• Alan King and Greg Shaw earned degrees from the Cumberland School of Law.
• Vijay Misra earned his M.D. at the Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad, India.
• Eduardo Neiva earned his masters in communications studies at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
• Carol Robinson graduated from Vestavia Hills High School.
• Richard Shahan earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Oklahoma.
• Finis St John IV graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law.
• Susan Swider earned her bachelor of arts at Ohio State University.

Deaths

• March 1: Temple Tutwiler II, civic booster
• March 29: Bessie Estell, educator and Birmingham City Council member
• April 5: Cheater Sanfilippo, Rocco & Cheater's Speed Shop owner
• May 17: Fred Walker, baseball player
• June 8: Satchel Paige, baseball player
• September 4: Buster Bray, baseball player
• October 14: Bill Justis, musician
• October 24: Lottice Howell, singer and actress

See also: List of Birmingham homicides in 1982

Context

In 1982 AT&T split up into 22 independent companies. Wayne Gretzky set a new record for goals scored in an NHL season. The solar system's 9 planets aligned on one side of the sun. Ground was broken for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The Falklands War took place, ending in Argentina's surrender to the UK. The World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Weather Channel debuted on cable. Cal Ripken began his record-setting streak of consecutive games played. The El Chichón volcano in southern Mexico erupted. Israel invaded Lebanon. Spain hosted the World Cup, which was won by Italy. The Epcot Center opened at Walt Disney World. Sony released its first compact disc player. John De Lorean was arrested for possession of cocaine. The St Louis Cardinals won the World Series. Michael Jackson's Thriller was released. Texas pioneered lethal injection for the execution of convicted criminals. The "computer" was named "Man of the Year" by TIME magazine. Toyota introduced the Camry.

Gandhi won Best Picture of 1982 at the Oscars. E. T. was the highest-grossing film at the box office. Other notable films included Tootsie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Sophie's Choice. The top single on the pop charts was Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", which was featured in Rocky III. Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" headed the Billboard hot 100. Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" was awarded "Song of the Year" and "Record of the Year" at the Grammy Awards.

1982 births include those of basketball star Dwyane Wade, quarterback Ben Roethlisburger, actresses Jessica Biel and Thora Birch, vocalists Jewel and Kelly Clarkson, skaters Apolo Anton Ohno and Tara Lipinski, Prince William of Wales, sprinter Tyson Gay, and tennis player Andy Roddick.

Deaths in 1982 included those of actors Henry Fonda, Paul Lynde and John Belushi, pianists Thelonious Monk and Glenn Gould, authors Philip K. Dick and Ayn Rand, actresses Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly, and Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev.

1980s

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works