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The 1980s have been called “the decade of decadence,” and one of the era’s most notable movie characters, Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko, famously declared that “greed is…good.” But the decade was about more than just excess.
- Jennifer Rosenberg
- 1980. The first year of the decade was memorable for political drama, cable TV, and games we couldn't keep our hands off of. Arcades were jammed with people playing a new video game called Pac-Man.
- 1981. By 1981, homes and offices were beginning to adapt to new technologies. If you had cable TV you probably were watching MTV after it began broadcasting in August.
- 1982. The big news in 1982 literally was the news when USA Today, with its colorful graphics and short articles, made headlines as the first nationwide newspaper.
- 1983. The year that saw the birth of the Internet also saw volcanic eruptions and aircraft tragedies; the first woman in space and that holiday season craze of the Cabbage Patch Kids.
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- 1989
Political Events in the Year 1980
1. Iran-Iraq war began on September 22, 1980. It is also widely known as the First Persian Gulf war. 2. Ronald Reagan was elected as President of the United States. Hereafter, he held the position till January 1989.
Assassinations in the Year 1980
1. John Lennon, lead vocalist from the ever-famous and loved band Beatles, was shot dead by Mark Chapman on December 8, in New York City. The murderer later pleaded “not guilty” by stating insanity as the reason.
Disasters in the Year 1980
1. Mt. St. Helens in Washington erupted after precisely 123 years; a total of 34 people were killed. 2. Hurricane Allen devastated Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Texas, and St. Lucia, killing 270 people. 3. An extremely harsh heat wave killed over 1,250 people in the United States. 4. Two successive earthquakes in Algeria claimed 3,500 lives. 5. Over 9,000 were injured and 3,000 were killed by a powerful earthquake in Italy.
Political Events in the Year 1981
1. Hostages taken captive from the US embassy in Tehran were finally released by Iran on January 20, 1981 after a total of 444 days. 2. On January 20, Ronald Reagan was ushered in as the President of the United States.
Assassinations in the Year 1981
1. Mark Hinckley attempted to murder the then-US president Ronald Reagan on March 30. 2. A Turk, allegedly from the group ‘Grey Wolves’ attempted to murder Pope John Paul II on May 13. Though the Pope was shot, luckily he recovered from his injuries soon enough.
Disasters in the Year 1981
1. Two successive earthquakes in Iran killed 3,000 and 1,500 people, respectively.
Political Events in the Year 1982
1. Great Britain and Argentina were at war. 2. Argentina invaded Falkland Islands. 3. Canada gained complete independence. 4. Reverend Sun Myung Moon married 2,075 couples at the Madison Square Garden.
Disasters in the Year 1982
1. 1,500 people lost their lives as an earthquake hit Yemen.
Entertainment in the Year 1982
1. Charles and Diana were blessed with a baby boy, Prince William.
Political Events in the Year 1983
1. Hindu-Muslim riots in Assam, India claimed 1,500 lives. 2. US Embassy was bombed in Beirut, Lebanon by a suicide bomber truck weighing 400 pounds. Over 400 people were injured while 63 lost their lives.
Assassinations in the Year 1983
1. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. was assassinated in Manila, Philippines. He was known to have a strong political rivalry with the then-President of Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos.
Disasters in the Year 1983
1. An earthquake in Turkey claimed 1,200 lives.
Political Events in the Year 1984
1. The US and the Vatican reinstated diplomatic ties after more than a century. 2. British coal mine workers went on a strike in March. The strike continued for almost a year.
Assassinations in the Year 1984
1. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31 by her own bodyguards. 2. Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre was kidnapped and murdered in England.
Disasters in the Year 1984
1. Large-scale chemical disaster in Bhopal, India on December 3 claimed over 2,000 lives overnight. Almost 13,000 others passed away later due to gas-related diseases. Several thousands are still suffering from permanent disabilities till date. 2. The death toll in the Ethiopian famine was a shocking 1 million (lasted throughout 1984).
Political Events in the Year 1985
1. Soviet leader Gorbachev and US president Reagan met for the first time at the Geneva Summit of 1985 to discuss disarmament and diplomatic relations. 2. First hole in the Ozone layer was detected near the Antarctic region by scientists Farman, Gardiner, and Shanklin of the British Antarctic Survey. 3. Titanic wreckage was discovered and filmed.
Disasters in the Year 1985
1. A shocking total of 25,000 people died due to a volcanic eruption in Columbia. 2. 10,000 lives were lost due to a cyclone in Bangladesh. 3. Mexico City was struck by an earthquake of 8.1 magnitude on the Richter scale, leaving more than 9,000 dead.
Entertainment in the Year 1985
1. Rock Hudson (famous actor) died of AIDS; he was the first celebrity who passed away due to the disease.
Political Events in the Year 1986
1. Hands Across America: Seven million Americans participated in a fundraising event on Sunday, May 25, to help the poor and homeless. Participants held hands to form continuous chains; the longest one was about 4,152 miles! Proceeds ($34 million) from this event were directed to local charities. 2. The US space shutter ‘Challenger’ went up in flames immediately after its launch, killing all seven astronauts present inside. 3. Iran-Contra Affair: Later in the year, it was found that Ronald Re...
Assassinations in the Year 1986
1. The Swedish Prime Minister, Olof Palme was shot dead on the night of February 28, in Stockholm, Sweden when he and his wife were walking back from a cinema. He was famous as one of the few political figures who would walk freely without any security or entourage. The case of his murderer has several theories but remains unsolved till date.
Disasters in the Year 1986
1. Lake Nyos in Cameroon released toxic gas, killing 1,500 people. 2. 1,500 lives were lost in El Salvador due to a high-magnitude earthquake.
Political Events in the Year 1987
1. On October 19 — the ‘Black Monday’, the global stock market crashed, starting from Hong Kong, Europe, America, and so on. 2. The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty was signed between the US and the USSR at Washington D.C. on December 8. Hereby, neither of the nations could use nuclear or mid-range weaponry. 3. Margaret Thatcher was elected as the British Prime Minister for the third consecutive time.
Disasters in the Year 1987
1. Typhoon Nina devastated Philippines, submerging 14 islands and killing 1,000 people. 2. In August, a Northwestern Airlines jet crashed before it even took off from the runway, killing all 156 on board except a four-year-old girl. A fault with the plane’s flaps is believed to have caused the crash. 3. 193 died as a ferry capsized in Belgium outside Port of Zeebrugge. Shockingly, only 100-feet away from the shore, the ferry sunk in a matter of seconds.
Entertainment in the Year 1987
1. Fox TV began regular broadcasting. 2. The infamous televangelist Jim Bakker scandal broke out.
Political Events in the Year 1988
1. Benazir Bhutto became the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the first woman to ever lead a Muslim nation. 2. The Iran-Iraq war or the Persian Gulf War finally came to an end after eight years on August 20, 1988. The reported death toll was one million. 3. George H. W. Bush was elected as President of the United States. He is said to have played a key role in improving relations between the US and Soviet Union. 4. Shroud of Turin: Radiocarbon dating tests indicated that the shroud wasn’t Chris...
Assassinations in the Year 1988
1. Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir, founder of the nationalist party ‘Fatah’ and commander of its military wing, died due to multiple gunshots on April 16, 1988 in Tunis, Tunisia.
Disasters in the Year 1988
1. Spitak earthquake in Armenia claimed a staggering 25,000 lives. 2. One of the worst heat waves struck US with the death toll ranging between 5,000 to 10,000.
Political Events in the Year 1989
1. End of the Cold War: The cold war ended in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin wall. Alternatively, it is said to have ended in 1991 with the disintegration of USSR; both the theories are considered equally correct. 2. Tiananmen Square Massacre: Student protests for democracy in Beijing, China gained mass popularity during this period. Eventually, on May 20, the Chinese government declared martial law, leading to army intervention. Though the exact figures are unclear with different organizat...
Assassinations in the Year 1989
1. Ayatollah Khomeini, the religious political figure behind Iran’s Islamic revolution, passed away on June 3, 1989. The cause of his death was a heart condition he was ailing from over the previous three decades (almost). US intelligence suspected him to be suffering from cancer; however, the same was neither confirmed by the family nor doctors.
Disasters in the Year 1989
1. Hillsborough Disaster: In a shocking turn of events, the semifinal match of the FA cup between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool turned into a blood bath as 96 people were crushed to death against a high-wired fence.
Aug 23, 2018 · The 1980s were a decade of political conservatism, such as President Ronald Reagan’s Reaganomics, and of blockbuster movies, pop culture and fashion on MTV.
The 1980s was an era defined by conservative politics, the rise of computer technology, the AIDS crisis and the end of the Cold War, as well as 1980s fashion and music.
The 1980s (pronounced "nineteen-eighties", shortened to "the '80s" or "the Eighties") was a decade that began on January 1, 1980, and ended on December 31, 1989.. The decade saw a dominance of conservatism and free market economics, and a socioeconomic change due to advances in technology and a worldwide move away from planned economies and towards laissez-faire capitalism compared to the 1970s.
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1980's Major News Events in History. 1980 Ronald Reagan is elected as the President of the United States. 1981 Lady Diana Spencer and Charles the Prince of Wales are married. 1982 "The Computer" is named Time Magazine's Man of the Year. 1983 Microsoft releases "Word" their word processing program.