What are the 1980s known for?

• Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.
• Tiananmen Square Massacre
• History of AIDS.
• Challenger Explosion.
• Iran-Contra Affair.
• The Central Park Five.
• The 1980s.
• Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
• Just Say No.
• Sally Ride First U.S. Woman Astronaut
• Falklands War
• Macintosh Computer
• Mikhail Gorbachev Institutes Glasnost and Perestroika in USSR
• Global Warming Warning
• Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader.
• Nimeiri ousted in the Sudan.
• Rainbow Warrior sinks.
• Achille Lauro seiezed.
• TWA flight 847 hijacked.
• US becomes a debtor nation.
• Reagan tax reform.
• Colombian terrorists execute 100 people, including 11 judges
• Since its emergence in the 1980s, HIV has infected 60 million people and caused an estimated 30 million deaths. Scientists think HIV, which stands for human immunodeficiency virus, made the jump from chimpanzees to humans sometime in the mid-20th century
• The music from “Flashdance” has held up a lot better than 1984's “Footloose” soundtrack.
• Prince became a pop superstar.
• David Bowie put on his red shoes and danced the blues.
• It was a “Thriller” year by M. Jackson

Kid Things of the 1980's

• Walkman
• Members Only jackets
• Air Jordans
• A handheld Parker Brothers game that looked like a red cellphone, Merlin was designed by a NASA scientist who apparently thought, "Flying to the moon is fine, but what the world really needs is a more awkward way to play tic tac toe."
• Garbage Pail Kids
• three-ring Trapper binder ($6) with the flap in the front. That satisfying riiiip when you opened the velcro meant that your belongings were completely secure from prying eyes.
• Rubik's Cube
• Fisher Price Cassette Player
• Atari 2600
• Scratch & Sniff stickers
• Slap bracelets
• Spirograph [ just a bunch of plastic circles with holes in them, but this deceptively simple crafting aid could turn anybody into an instant artist]
• Big League Chew [ Gum with the consistency and heft of chewing tobacco—it was shredded and came in a big aluminum foil pouch]
• A Swatch [colorful and tubular timepieces]
• Teddy Ruxpin [talking teddy bear]
• Leg warmers
• Lolo ball [A cross between a pogo stick and a trampoline, the Lolo Ball allowed a person to bounce around any room like a professional gymnast.]
• Jelly Shoes [they made your feet look like they'd been submerged in jello]
• Cabbage Patch Kid doll [adoptable doll]
• Slogan t-shirts

1980s Fashion

Events that specifically happened in 1980

• Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington killing 57
• Rubik's Cube Debuts
• Start of Iran -- Iraq War
• CNN Launches
• The Staggers Act of 1980 comes into effect in October of 1980. The Act allowed for the deregulation of the United States Rail Industry
• 3M begins sales of it's latest product Post-It Notes invented by Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver.
• US defeats Soviet Union in ice hockey in what was labeled the "Miracle on Ice"
• Beatles member John Lennon was shot and killed by obsessed fan Mark David Chapman outside of Lennon’s apartment in Manhattan during December of 1980 at the age of 40.
• Severe Summer Heat Wave in Southern US Causes 1,117 deaths in 20 States
• Mini Gold Rush in Australian outback after gold is discovered.
• US Passes "Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act" to tax high profits by oil companies
• The Killer Clown ( John Wayne Gacy Jr ) sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys and young men.
• Israel Replaces the Pound with a new currency the Shekel
• Fire Destroys the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas
• Right wing terrorists explode a bomb at Bologna railway station, Italy killing over 70
• 6.0 earthquake strikes southern Italy causing the death of more than 3,000 people
• Rioting Liberty City, Miami on on May 17th leaves 18 dead
• A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes four counties in western Wisconsin
• Hurricane Allen hits landfall on Haiti and Jamaica
• Alexander Kielland platform capsized in the North Sea with the loss of 123
• Zimbabwe formerly Rhodesia gains independence and majority black rule in Zimbabwe
• Solidarity Trade Union Formed in Poland and shipyard workers go on strike
• Failed operation by US to free hostages in Iran
• Yassar Arafat is elected the President of the Palestinian National Council
• Ronald Reagan Elected President of the USA
• Terrorists seize Iran embassy and hostages in London leading to the British SAS storming embassy and releasing hostages
• Japan becomes the worlds largest auto producing country
• US leads boycott of Moscow Olympics in protest at Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• Mariel boat lift mass exodus of political refugees from Cuba to the United States
• Spain and United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.

Films or TV

• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Superman II
• Nine to Five
• Raging Bull
• Coal Miner's Daughter
• Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing.

Popular Musicians

• ABBA
• AC/DC
• Adam and the Ants
• Black Sabbath
• Blondie with " Call Me "
• David Bowie
• The Cars
• Eric Clapton
• Alice Cooper
• Elvis Costello
• KC and The Sunshine Band
• Michael Jackson
• Queen with " Another One Bites the Dust "
• Pink Floyd
• Diana Ross " Upside Down "
• Paul McCartney
• Olivia Newton-John with " Magic "
• Electric Light Orchestra
• David Bowie
• The Police

Technology in 1980

• First available Domestic Camcorders available in Japan
• First Available Fax Machines in Japan
• 30% of US car sales are imports
• In Mexico first ever natural birth in captivity of a Giant panda
• Voyager 1 probe sends the first high resolution images of Saturn back to scientists and confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.
• Release of Pac-Man arcade game
• CNN becomes the first 24hrs News Station
• Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet
• 3M begins sales of it's latest product Post-It Notes invented by Arthor Fry and Spencer Silver

Cost of Living in 1980

• Average Cost of new house $68,700
• Median Price Of and Existing Home $62,200
• Average Income per year $19,500.00
• Average Monthly Rent $300.00
• Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.19
• Average cost new car $7,200.00
• Average House Price 13,650
• Gallon of Petrol 0.79