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Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade is a court case decision for the right to privacy, under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, for a woman's decision to have an abortion. After the third trimester of pregnancy a woman can no longer get an abortion. -
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill won the gold medal for single women's figure skating in the 1976 Olympics. -
1976 Summer Olympics
Nadia Comaneci of Romania recieved the first perfect 10 in gymnastics history, on the uneven bars. -
Rocky
The blockbuster film Rocky, hit theaters on Novemeber 21st, 1976. This film was about a young working man named Rocky Balboa who began boxing locally and eventually takes on the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. -
Elvis Dies
The famous singer, Elvis Presley dies from several years of drug abuse at the age of 42. -
Smallpox Eradication
The last known case of small pox was diagnosed on this day. There have been no such reported cases except for a labratory incident in 1980. -
Test-tube baby
In the UK, the first "test-tube baby", Louise Brown, was born due to advances in science and technology, making it possible for more couples to become parents. -
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's first solo album entitled Off the Wall hit stores. -
Workout fashions
Legwarmers, sweat bands, and spandex were very popular during the 1980's. -
AIDS Awareness
Ken Horn had the first recognized case of AIDS in the US. In the 1980's AIDS became a big topic and recieved much attention as several celebrities began to support AIDS awareness. -
CNN launch
Ted Turner launched the first broadcast of CNN. CNN became the first 24-hour news channel and broadcastor. -
Summer Olympics Boycott
United States president, Jimmy Carter, led the Olympic boycott against the Soviet Union. The USA along with 64 other countries did not participate in the summer Olympics as a form of protest to the Soviet war in Afghanistan. -
John Lennon's Death
John Lennon, singer for the Beatles was assassinated by Mark David Chapman. He was shot in front of his home in New York City. Lennon was a brilliant singer and pacifist. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan became president on January 20th 1981, he was a stong Republican and 40th president of the United States. Furthermore, on February 2, 1982 Reagan passed the Executive Order 12345 promoting physical fitness and participation in sport for children and adults. -
First Woman Justice on Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first female justice appointed to Supreme Court in the United States -
Jane Fonda
Famous Actress Jane Fonda released her first of many workout videos that brought women's fitness to a whole new level. While wearing leg warmers and sporting that big 80's hair, she used the still popular phrases "feel the burn" and "no pain, no gain." During this time period step and aerobics became the hot new workout trend. -
E.T.
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg, came out in theaters and topped the box office with $310 million -
US Embassy Bombing
A suicide bomber drives a vehicle into the side of the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people, 17 of which were American. -
First Woman in Space
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space, taking off in the Challenger in 1983, and then taking another shuttle ride in 1984. She inspired 39 other women to follow in her footsteps. -
Nintendo Enterntainment System
NES, a video game system created by Nintendo was very popular during the 80's. The best selling game for the NES system was Super Mario Brothers released in 1985 -
Macintosh Personal Computer
Steve Jobs released the first version of the personal computers from Apple. It was very expensive but schools found them very popular. This was the start of what Apple would come up with in the future. -
PG-13 Movie Rating Created
The PG-13 was introduced with the advisory "Parents Are Strongly Cautioned to Give Special Guidance for Attendance of Children Under 13 – Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Young Children". -
Seat Belt Law
The first law requiring seat belts in the United States went into effect in New York. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran Contra Affair occured during the Reagan Administration, in which the CIA under president Reagan sold weapons to the Iranian government, who were at the time holding hostages. -
Titanic Wreck was found
On September 1st, 1985 a joint American- French expedition found the Titanic over 2 miles below the ocean surface by using an unmaned submarine called Argo. -
NASA Space Shuttle Challenger
In 1986, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger, it was the first time a civilian was going to go into space. A teacher named Christa McAuliffe had the honor of doing this. Sadly, the Challenger exploded during launch. -
First Woman Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Aretha Franklin was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 -
Full House
The family comedy Full House debuted on ABC. -
Chris Evertt and Martinia Navratilova
Chris Evertt and Martinia Navratilova were professional women's tennis players who had an intense rivarly during the 70's and 80's. Evertt and Navratilova competed over fourteen times for the Grand Slam title.Their final faceoff was on July 8th, 1988 in which Martinia won the Grand Slam title. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989, constructed by the German Democratic Republic. It cut off contact completely from West Berlin and East Berlin. The wall was created to stop the spread of Fascism. The East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. So citizens began climbing over and tearing down the wall to get rid of it. -
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome project started in 1990 and lasted until 2013. The goal of this project was to map out the DNA structure of a human. -
Nutrition Labeling and Education Act
This act was put into place by President George H. W. Bush. This law gave the FDA the authority to make companies put nutrition labels on their food products.
