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Rubik's Cube Becomes Popular
In the early 1980's is when the Rubik's cube became popular. It was like one of the next big inventions that everyone had to have. Erno was the one that made the Rubik cube for a small class, but after it become the next new item. He sold an estimated amount 350 million. -
Ted Turner Establishes CNN
Ted took over his fathers business, the name of it was Turners advertising, but he wanted to get to a larger audience. So he used satellite tech, and had an idea for a news network, and so then CNN aired for the first time in 1980. This is significant, because it was the first time people were able to get news on the TV, and this was just the start of all the other networks Ted would create. For example the Cartoon Network. -
Pac-Man Video Game Released
Pac-Man started as a Japaneze video game in May 1980, and was developed in the US by October 1980. Pac-Man was created by Namco -
John Lennon Assassinated
John and his wife were returning home from a transfer session, and he got out of his car and was shot by Mark David Chapman. Hours earlier he signed a new album for the guy that shot him. Cops arrested Mark. -
Personal Computer(PC) Introduced by IBM
Lowe picked a group of 12 strategist to make a hardware software for his new invention. Don Estridge he volunteered to head the project.The development team broke all the rules and went outside the traditional boundaries of product development in the IBM.They went to outside vendors for most of the parts, and then went to outside developers for the operating system.Those tactics enable them to develop and announce the IBM PC in 12 months.Its the fastest any hardware product was made in the IBM. -
New Plague Identified as AIDS
So scientist believed that HIV was around in the 1980s which is where AIDS comes from. They believe that the the HIV virus was originated from the democratic republic of congo. The first person who was diagnosed with AIDS was in 1981. It was discovered that young gay men and IV drug users were getting the disease more when it was seen with a damage immune system. If was a big deal, because it was a new disease that could kill people and no one knew much about it so there was no treatment. -
E.T Movie Released
Steven Spielberg in 1982 released the movie E.T. From the first showing of the movie through the closing night there was huge buzz about the movie. Everyone loved the movie and even Richard Corliss raved about how great the movie was in his TIME magazine. -
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
Micheal Jackson's album has become the first album to be certifed 30 times. Thriller become one of the best selling records of that time. This significance of that is that it show what kind of music the generation was into at that time. -
Regan Announces Defense Plan Called Star Wars
Proposed the development of the technology to intercept enemy nuclear missiles. The actual name was called Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI. It was dubbed Star Wars by it' critics. It is signifigant because it was one of Regan's successful defense programs. -
Sally Ride Become the First American Women in Space
The space shuttle Challenger is launched into space, on it's second mission. Aboard the shuttle was Doctor Sally Ride. Who is a mission specialist and became the first woman to travel to space. During the 6th day mission Ride and astrophysicist operated the shuttle robot arm which she helped design. It's signifigant because she showed the world girls can do anything boys can do. -
PG-13 Movie Rating Created
The Motion Picture Association of America was the first one to introduce the PG-13 rating. They used to have the categories G, R, and X, but in July the introduced the PG-13, to indicate a movie with higher level of intensity. It said that it may be too inappropriate for children under the age of 13, and it had strong language, nudity, etc... This is important, because they started making movies that are more appropriate for teens, but still have the action that everyone wants to see. -
Hole in the Ozone Layer Discovered
The spring temperature begins to rise and the ice starts to evaporate. 2 British scientists, discovered a recurring spring time Antarctic ozone hole. This is important because it was the start to the idea of global warming. -
Terrorists Hijack TWA Flight 847
TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome is hijack by Shiite Hezbollah terrorist who immediately demanded to know the identity of those with Jewish sounding names. 2 of the Lebanese terrorists armed with grenades a 9-MM pistol been forced the blame to land in Beirut Lebanon. Its important because it was one of the first terrorist attacks on our country. -
Wreck of the Titanic Found
73 years after the Titanic sunk, to the north of the Atlantic ocean floor, a joint US french expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic. The sunken liner was about 400 miles east of New foundland. It is important because it was the first lead they had on what happened that night when it suck . -
Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes
When challenger went up it exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. Everyone died bringing a end to the spacecrafts 10th mission. Its important it was one of the first liftoffs that failed, and people died, which made people worried about spacecraft. -
U.S.S.R Launches Mir Space Station
Mir was a space station that operated for more than 15 years in low Earth orbit. The design was conceived under the Soviet Union, and the station continued work under Russia after the union fell apart in the early 1990's. The space station served as an important precursor to today's International Space Station. Aboard Mir, crews dealt for the first time with long-duration stays in space of more than 400 days. Health effects and psychological situations were observed and documented. -
U.S. Bombs Libya
The United States launches air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and citizens. The raid, which began shortly before 7 p.m. involved more than 100 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft, and was over within an hour. Five military targets and “terrorism centers” were hit, including the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi. -
The Oprah Winfrey Show Gets National Syndication
The Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast nationally for the first time. A huge success, her daytime television talk show turns Winfrey into one of the most powerful, wealthy people in show business and, arguably, the most influential woman in America. -
Iran-Contra Scandal Unfolds
Eugene Hasenfus is captured by troops in Nicaragua. After the plane in which he is flying was shot down. 2 others on the plane died in the crash. -
New York Stock Exchange Suffers Huge Drop on "Black Monday"
It was on this day that the stock market again crashed, precipitating one of the first financial crises of the modern globalized era, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 508 points, or 22.6% of its value.Within that one day, over $500 billion was lost from the Dow Jones Index.2 When people heard what was happening on Wall Street, they tried to contact their brokers, but could not reach them due to the influx of phone calls. Millions were lost instantly. -
World Wide Web Invented
Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989. The web was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automatic information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world. The first website at CERN - and in the world - was dedicated to the World Wide Web project itself and was hosted on Berners-Lee's NeXT computer. -
Students Massacred in China's Tiananmen Square
Chinese troops and security police stormed through Tiananmen Square, firing randomly into the crowds of protesters.Turmoil ensued, as tens of thousands of the young students tried to escape the rampaging Chinese forces.Other protesters fought back, stoning the attacking troops and overturning and setting fire to military vehicles.Reporters and Western diplomats on the scene estimated that at least 300 and thousands of the protesters had been killed and as many as 10,000 were arrested. -
Berlin Wall Falls
When the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War. -
Romanian Leader Nicolae Ceausescu and His Wife Are Executed
Nicolae Ceausescu was the leader of Communist Romania for more than two decades until his execution in 1989. He ruled Romania according to orthodox Communist principles, causing food shortages by forcing the export of most of the country's agricultural products. The resulting unrest led to the collapse of Ceausescu's regime and his execution in 1989. -
Exxon Valdez Spills Millions of Gallons of Oil on Coastline
Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef just off the coast of Alaska, dumping more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine environment.
