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Pac-Man
This iconic arcade game set the stage for many famous games to come -
CNN
Cable News Network, the world’s first 24-hour television news network, makes its debut -
US attempt at rescue of Hostages in Tehran
President Jimmy Carter ordered the military mission as an attempt to save 52 hostages in Iran, but by the end of the mission eight U.S. servicemen were dead and no hostages rescued. -
Comedian Richard Pryor
This comedian, in a drug-induced psychosis, poured rum over his body and set himself on fire. -
Death of John Lennon
Singer John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside his apartment building in New York City -
Assassination Attempt on Reagan
John Hinckley, Jr. shoots President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. by which he was only ten feet away from Reagan when he began shooting, and fortunately he missed and the President was rushed to the hospital. -
MS-DOS released
Microsoft Disk Operating System is a non-graphical command line operating system created for IBM compatible computers. -
First U.S. IVF baby
Elizabeth Jordan Carr is the United States' first baby born from the in-vitro fertilization procedure -
Michael Jackson “Thriller”
Michael Jackson releases his iconic song Thriller -
“We Are the World”
The music industry came together to raise awareness and funds for the tragic famine in Africa -
NIKE releases Air Jordan 1
The first ever Air Jordan sneaker is debuted -
Hands Across America
Hands Across America was a public event by which approximately 6.5 million people held hands for fifteen minutes in an attempt to form a continuous human chain across the United States -
Ryan White
Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS at 13 after a blood transfusion, and then became the poster child for AIDS -
Gorbachev calls for “Glasnost” and “Perestroika”
Gorbachev was the first Soviet leader to call for political and economic restructuring, perestroika, and a new era of transparency, glasnost. -
Chernobyl
The explosion was the result of a flawed reactor which allowed for radiation to escape into the atmosphere and caused many to die of radiation poisoning. -
Simpsons Debut
Classic show Simpsons makes its television debut -
Soviet Troops withdrew from Afghanistan
After eight years of occupying Afghanistan, Soviet troops decide to withdraw -
The Central Park Five
Five African American teens were wrongly accused of raping a white women in central park
