Steven Spielberg, director, releases blockbuster movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which sets box-office records and popularizes the phrase “E.T. phone home.” And the British musical Cats debuts on Broadway to critical acclaim. Andrew Lloyd Webber based the show on poet T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Elsewhere that year:

• The Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution is defeated, as only 35 of the required 38 states approve it within the 10-year limit for ratification.

• President Regan orders reinstatement of the U.S. military draft registration for 18-year old males.

• EPCOT Center — the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow — opens at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Under a geodesic dome called Spaceship Earth, EPCOT offers educational exhibits of the future.

• Washington agrees to deregulate television commercials. The old rules limited T.V. ads to a maximum of eight minutes per hour.

• Apple Computer becomes the first personal computer company to reach $1 billion in annual sales.