-
Cars of the 1980's
Cars of the 1980's had some strange looks. Some looked great and some looked ridiculous. One of the most well-known supercars was the Vector. The Delorean was made famous in the movie "Back To The Future" and its most famous feature are the butterfly doors. The Corvette was also very popular and continues to be to this day. The Ford Escort was introduced in 1981 and became popular because of its low price and size. Ford introduced its first minivan in 1985, the Aerostar. -
Fashion Fads of the 1980's
Some of the fashion fads of the 1980's were leg warmers, spandex, neon colors, penny loafers, big shoulder pads, Swatch watches and denim jackets. One popular look was the "preppy look" with your shirt collar turned up. Many of the looks of the 80's are coming back into style today. -
Other Fads of the 1980's
Some of the popular sayings in the 80's were "Psych", "Word", and "Where's the Beef? Apple computers became increasingly more common and people were walking around trying to solve the Rubik's Cube everywhere. Many young boys were huddled together playing Dungeons and Dragons for hours. Break dancing while carrying your gigantic boombox was the norm. -
Inventions of the 1980's
This was a new era of technologhy. Apple was bursting out with new ideas and their first successful home computer was invented in 1984. The first IBM PC debuted in 1981. DNA fingerprinting was established as well as the invention of the first artificial human heart. The Doppler radar was invented as well as the disposable camera. So many new ideas to make life easier and better came from the 1980's. -
Movies of the 1980's
Some of the more well-known movies of the 1980's are E.T., Raging Bull, Bull Durham, The Terminator, Pretty in Pink, and last but not least, Star Wars. E.T. is the second most profitable movie of all time and earned $763 million dollars. Star Wars is an incredibly popular series of movies that have earned over $2.2 billion (2 in the 80s). Pretty in Pink's soundtrack became very popular as well. The Terminator series helped to make Arnold Shwarzenegger very popular with fans of action films. -
Music of the 1980's
MTV 's first broadcast was in 1981 and was a huge hit and ramped up the exposure to music in general. The CD was also invented in the 80's and made music more portable. There was a second wave of British music to come to the US such as Rick Astley, U2, Billy Idol, Duran Duran and George Michael. Hip Hop music exploded in the 1980's with Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and The Sugar Hill Gang. Heavy Metal/Hair bands were also very popular like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Guns n' Roses, & Van Halen. -
Period: to
The Eighties
-
Ronald Reagan is elected POTUS
Reagan is innaugurated as the 40th President of the United States. The 1980's were controlled by Republican Presidents and a Republican Majority Congress. Ronald Reagan served for 8 years from 1980 - 1988. -
Iran-Contra Affair
President Reagan, with the help of the National Security Council, funds the Nicaraguan Contra who is plotting a guerrilla war against their Sandinista government. He also sold arms to Israeli officials, who sold the parts to Iranians, to secure the release of seven American hostages. -
Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan
John Hinckley, Jr. tried to assassinate President Reagan. One of the six bullets entered Reagan's chest and punctured his lung. He recovered but his Press Secretary was more severely injured after a bullet entered his head. -
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes first woman on Supreme Court.
President Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court . Sandra Day O'Connor is now the first woman on the Supreme Court. -
President Reagan announces the S.D.I.
President Ronald Reagan announced that he was going to start a long-ranged research-and-development effort to counter the threat of Soviet ballistic missiles. This effort was called the Strategic Defense Initiative (S.D.I. for short) and was nicknamed "Star Wars". -
U.S. troops invade Grenada
President Reagan sends 7,000 troops to the country Grenada to try to rid it of communists attempting to take over the government. They later succeed. -
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the Soviet Union leader following Konstantin Chernenko's death. -
The Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion
Seventy seconds into flight, the Challenge Space Shuttle tragically exploded and incinerated over the Atlantic Ocean. There were seven crew members killed. One of the crew members was a school teacher, Christa McAuliffe. -
Mikhail Gorbachev ends economic funding to Soviet satellite states
Mikhail Gorbachev ends economic funding to Soviet satellite states. This eventually changed policies in Europe and how Russia responded to all the change happening in the region. This is an important factor of the Cold War and will contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union. -
Iran-Contra affair revealed to public
U.S. intelligence sources confirmed that a statement in a Lebanese magazine that the United States had been secretly selling arms to the Iranians in return for the release of seven American hostages. -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
Reagan and Gorbechev sign the treaty to remove intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe and the US. -
President George H. W. Bush innaugurated as 41st POTUS
President George H. W. Bush innaugurated as 41st POTUS. -
Soviet troops fully withdraw from Afghanistan
Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan, signaling the end of an almost decade long war and helped to bring the Cold War to an end. -
China killed those protesting for democracy
In Tiananmen Square, the Chinese Army killed those protesting for democracy. This helped to mark the end of the Cold War period. -
Poland and Hungary become independent from Russia
Both countries become independent countries from Russia (Poland first and Hungary soon after) also signalling the end of the Cold War. -
Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania and the Soviet empire ends.
This is the general time frame where many of the communist empires fell. -
Berlin Wall falls
Knocking down the Berlin Wall led to the destruction of communism in Germany and other European countries and was the main symbol of the end of the Cold War. -
Soviet Union has split up
The Soviet Union splits into 15 post-Soviet states which are part of the newly named Russian Federation.
