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Pac-Man Released
Pac-Man is the most successful coin operated video game in history. The game was created and release first in Japan and then in 1980 it hit the US and it became an immediate hit. So much so that now people see pac-man as a symbol of the 80s. People would go to the corner store or an arcade and play for hours saying that it gave them a sense of accomplishment. Pac-Man paved the way for more video games to emerge and stayed a hug hit at the same time -
Rubik's Cube Becomes Popular
The Rubik's cube was released into stores in the early 1980's in the United States and it became the fastest selling puzzle of all time. Many people were fascinated with and and also frustrated because the simple object was so difficult to solve. By 1982, more than 100 million had been sold. Even now it is a success and in 2015 seven million of them were sold and over the years more than 300 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold, making it one of the most popular toys of the 20th century -
Ted Turner Establishes CNN
If it wasn’t for CNN, there might not be any 24 hour news channel on air today. Ted Turner created CNN in 1980 just because someone told him it couldn't be done. It took 4 years to be developed and then in 1980 it was launched with Ted Turner himself as the announcer. As cable TV grew so did CNN. Many events made the channel popular but it wasn't until the Gulf War when over a billion viewers were watching to broadcast the war. Now it has become vital all over the world to broadcast information -
John Lennon Assassinated
John Lennon, a of the members of the The Beatles, was shot outside of his apartment. Lennon and his wife were returning to Manhattan after spending the day signing autographs. Where he had signed a copy of their new album for Mark. Mark David Chapman shot him twice outside and Lennon died on his way to the hospital. He stayed on scene and confessed to the crime and was sentenced to 20 years to life. So many people were struck with grief and a tribute followed John Lennon’s assassination -
PCs introduced by IBM
IBM introduced their first personal computer in 1981 and it was the first portable and desktop computer made by IBM, but it still weighed about 50 pounds. The computer used Microsoft and allowed the computer to be $1,500 instead of the much larger IBM computers that costed about 9 billion dollars and required 60 people to set up. -
E.T released
Was a science fiction film that that was directed by Steven Spielberg. It's about a little boy who becomes friends with E.T and helps him return home. When the movie was released it was an instant hit and become the highest-grossing film of all time. Then, in 1994 it was selected for preservation with people saying that it was significant to culture and history. -
Thriller by Michael Jackson
When Michael Jackson release his album thriller the music industry was in a slump because everyone was spending their time playing video games instead of listening to music. The when the album was released it set a new standard for the music industry because of how ahead of its time it was. With Thriller, Michael Jackson was the first black artist to have videos shown on MTV, and it helped other black artists gain recognition. -
Reagan Announces Defense Plan Called Star Wars
Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Start Wars was put into affect by Ronald Reagan. The purpose of Star Wars was to create a anti-ballistic system to prevent missile attacks from other countries. The naming of the program was Star Wars was partially because of the abstract ideas in the initiative, and also because people viewed it like the movie with new and innovative technologies -
AIDS Identified
The discovery of AIDS and finally being able to identify what the disease was tremendous because they could start to research acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. It was later name HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). The discovery of this helped scientist have an answer as to how patients had rare types of pneumonia, cancer, and other illnesses. -
Sally Ride: First Woman In Space
Sally Ride beat of 1,000 other applicants for a spot in the NASA's space program. She completed the intense training and got to her chance to be the first woman in space. Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. She was a mission specialist and helped to deploy satellites. The following year she served as a mission specialist on a space shuttle flight. This was significant because she proved to women that they could do the things men were doing. -
Hole in Ozone Layer Discovered
British scientists announced they had found a hole in the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica. If the hole had grown in size it would have increased the levels of cancer-causing radiation. To prevent this from happening the Montreal Protocal was put into place, banning all manmade chemicals responsible for the hole. -
PG-13 movie rating
First Indiana Jones came out and then Gremlins, parents were upset because they believed some movies were appropriate for small children and adults. This new rating allowed 13 years and older you could go see the movie and if you were younger you had to have an adult with you. This allowed for more violent movies to be released and parents not having to worry about their small children seeing them. In 1984, Red Dawn became the first movie to have a PG-13 rating. -
Terrorists Hijack TWA Flight 847
A flight from Athens to Rome was hijacked by Shiite Hezbollah terrorists who demanded people with Jewish-sounding names. They then forced the plane to land in Lebanon, soon after they killed Navy diver Robert Stethem, and dumped his body on the runway. 5 of the passengers were singled out and taken to Beirut. On July 30th the hostages were released with no injuries. This showed the rise of terrorist attacks and an American Navy man was killed because they could not find Jewish passengers. -
Iran-Contra Scandal Unfolds
It started in 1985 when the Reagan Administration supplied weapons to Iran hoping to get the release of American hostages being held by Hezbollah terrorists. Then the U.S. took millions of dollars from the weapons sale and sent it and guns to Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua. Both of these actions were not approved by the United States Congress contrary to official policies for the Reagan administration. -
Titanic wreck discovered
The Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912 and went down killing more that 1500 passengers and crew. It took 73 years to finally discover the lost wreckage 2 miles deep and 13.2 miles from the position transmitted while the ship was sinking. The ship was discovered by a joint French-American expedition. Finding of the most technologically advanced vessel of the time period was a huge discovery. The discovery recovered thousands of items which have been conserved and put on public display. -
Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes
On the Challenger's 10th mission the shuttle exploded only 73 seconds after liftoff. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts and Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who joined the mission and teach lessons from space to children from space. The catastrophic launched was being broadcast everywhere, including classrooms. This caused NASA's space program to lose credibility and the nation to be devastated. -
U.S.S.R Launches Mir Space Station
Mir was a modular space station, so there were different parts that were shipped up and put together to form the greater whole. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. Mir is most known for hosting long missions during its early years in space -
United States Bombs Libya
The United States launched an airstrike against Libya to respond to a Libyan terrorist attack against American troops and citizens. The attack involved many Air Force and Navy vessels, but lasted less than an hour hitting 5 military targets and terrorrism points - including the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi -
Oprah Winfrey Show Gets National Syndication
On September 8th the Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast nationally for the first time. With the show being a national show it has been very influential, and many of its topics have made an impact on American culture. Winfrey has used the show as an educational platform, showing book clubs, interviews, and self-improvement segments -
New York Stock Exchange Suffers Huge Drop on "Black Monday"
On Monday October 19th crash markets all over the world crashed and it was the largest one-day crash in history. The Dow lost $500 billion dollars and many people lost millions of dollars instantly. During the 80s as PCs were getting increasingly popular that caused businessmen to get an idea that the stock exchange would continue to increase and never go down. After the crash, a system of circuit-breakers were put into place to halt stocks from trading if they started to drop too quickly. -
World Wide Web Invented
Tim Berners-Lee had an idea that all the information should be available on every computer instead of only a single computer. He realized they could share information by using a new technology called hyperlink. By October of 1990, Tim had written the three fundamental technologies that remain a key component in today’s wide web including HTML, URI, and HTTP. -
Exxon Valdez Spills Millions of Gallons of Oil on Coastline
A massive oil spill that happened Prince William Sound, an inlet in the Gulf of Alaska. It happened after a tanker ran aground, spilling nearly 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil and polluting 1,300 miles of shoreline and water. Exxon was put at fault for the accident and supplied $2.1 billion to help clean up efforts, but the spill exterminated much native wildlife in the area. A year later Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act in response to the Exxon Valdez accident. -
Students Massacred in China's Tiananmen Square
Nearly a million students stormed into Beijing to protest for democracy and demand call for the resignations of repressive Chinese Communist Party leaders. Chinese troops rushed into Tiananmen Square, firing randomly into groups protesters. It rapidly turned into chaos as some students tried escaping while others were throwing stones at officers and setting vehicles on fire. This attack was shocking to China's allies and Cold War enemies. The attack even brought out the involvement of the US. -
Berlin Wall Falls
The spokesman for East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in the relationship with the west, he said that starting at midnight that day citizens were free to cross the country’s borders. East and West Berliners flocked to the wall and at midnight, they flooded through the checkpoints. More than 2 million people visited the other side to celebrate. People called wall woodpeckers would even take hammers and pick axes to knock away pieces of the wall while bulldozers took down sections. -
Romanian Leader Nicolae Ceausescu and His Wife are Executed
The despised couple ruled for 25 years leading Romania into misery for most Romanians. Romanians suffered food shortages under his rule because he exported most of their crops and took drastic steps to help the debt of the country. The situation worsened after he appointed his wife first deputy prime minister. They were put on trial which only lasted an hour resulting in the decision both of them were guilty of genocide and sentenced them to be shot by a paratroopers
