News, Politics, Music, TV, Movies & Deaths in the 80s
The 1980s was a decade of profound geopolitical shifts, marked by the intensifying drama of the Cold War and the eventual crumbling of the Iron Curtain. The era began with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, whose “Reaganomics” and firm “Evil Empire” stance against the Soviet Union defined global politics. However, the mid-decade rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, with his twin policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), signaled a thawing of tensions that culminated in the miraculous fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Beyond the halls of power, the decade was punctuated by both triumph and tragedy: the 1981 Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana captivated billions, while the 1986 Challenger disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident served as sobering reminders of the risks of technological advancement. Socially, the 1985 Live Aid concert demonstrated the power of global media to address the Ethiopian famine, even as the world began to grapple with the emerging AIDS epidemic and the escalating “War on Drugs.”
Key 1980s Historical Timeline
Major Event
Impact
Mt. St. Helens Erupts (1980)
One of the most destructive volcanic events in North America.
Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia (1981)
Ushered in the era of reusable spacecraft.
Falklands War (1982)
A ten-week conflict between Argentina and the UK.
Macintosh Computer Released (1984)
Revolutionized personal computing with a graphical interface.
Challenger & Chernobyl (1986)
Major disasters that led to global safety reforms.
Tiananmen Square Protests (1989)
A student-led demonstration for democracy in China.
More News, Politics, History, Music, TV, Movies, People who died in 1980s
What happened in 1980
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Ronald
Reagan became the 40th President of the United
States of America, after a landslide victory over Jimmy Carter…
Zimbabwe
achieves Black African majority rule. Robert Mugabe becomes the first Prime
Minister.
Mount
St Helens erupted (Washington state, USA),
36 die
Bjorn
Borg defeats John McEnroe to win his fifth
successive Wimbledon title
the
22nd Olympic Games
are held in Moscow, and are boycotted by over 50 nations
War
begins between Iraq and Iran
when Iraq invades Iran in an attempt to gain control over Abadan and the
Shatt al Arab waterway.
MUSIC
The
Rose by Bette Middler…from the movie
Don’t
Stand So Close To Me by The Police
Fade
to Grey by Visage
Going
Underground by The Jam
I
Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats
Love
Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
Rapture
by Blondie
Turning
Japanese by The Vapors
Video
Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles
TV
and at the MOVIES
The
Dukes Of Hazzard (Those Good Ole Boys and
the General Lee)
Diff’rent
Strokes (What you looking at Willis?)
Soap
, the bubbliest take off of all the soaps
The
Love Boat sailed through another season
Dallas
asked us ‘who shot JR?’
Battlestar
Gallactica (I never watched that)
Kramer
vs Kramer won the Best Movie at the Oscars
Dustin
Hoffman (Kramer vs Kramer) was Best Actor
Sally
Field (Norma Rae) was Best Actress
The
Empire Strikes Back told us who Luke’s father
really was
Airplane!
had us all laughing in the aisles
People
who died in 1980
Alfred
Hitchcock (b.1899, film director)
John
Lennon (b.1940 musician, assassinated in New
York)
Peter
Sellers (b.1925, British comedian)
Mae
West (b.1890, film actress)
Steve
McQueen (b.1930, actor)
Jimmy
Durante (b.1893, american comedian)
What happened in 1981
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Pope
John Paul II is shot twice in St Peter’s Square
(recovers fully)
The
Iranian President,
Prime Minister and 29 others were killed in a bomb attack
Peter
Sutcliffe is arrested in Sheffield, UK and charged with the 13 ‘Yorkshire
Ripper’ murders.
The
Springbok (South
African) Rugby tour of New Zealand. Over 1000 people were arrested during
the two months of the tour.
Prince
Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are married
at St Pauls Cathedral.
Attempted
assassination of Ronald Reagan
by John Hinckley
Civil
War rages in Lebanon
Egyptian
President, Anwar Sadat
is assassinated
Muhammad
Ali retires from boxing
MUSIC
Don’t
You Want Me by Human League
Gloria
by U2
Pretty
in Pink by the Psychedelic Furs
Golden
Brown by the Stranglers
Tainted
Love by Soft Cell
Just
Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode
Never
Say Never by Romeo Void
TV
and at the MOVIES
Those
def babysitting College Girls at The Facts
of Life
Family
Ties (Alex Keaton was my hero)
Brideshead
Revisitted (Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews…British
heaven)
An
American Werewolf in London scared the pants
of everyone
Arthur
was just soooooo funny
Gallipoli
made sure that we should never forget
An
Officer and a Gentleman took us up where we
belong
Raiders
of the Lost Ark introduced us to Indiana Jones
Chariots
of Fire was an Olympic effort
People
who died in 1981
Bill
Haley (b.1925) American bandleader
Joe
Louis (b.1914) American boxer
Bob
Marley (b.1945) Jamaican reggae musician
William
Holden (b.1918) American actor
Natalie
Wood (b.1938) American actress
Hoagy
Carmichael (b.1899) American songwriter
What happened in 1982
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Argentine
forces invade the Falkland Islands
Italy’s
43rd Government since 1945 takes power
Neoli
Farrell, of New Zealand, becomes the first
paraplegic to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, in archery.
Israel
returns the Sinai
to Egypt in accordance with the Camp David agreement
Israel
invades Lebanon and advances on Beirut to
drive PLO fighters from the country
The
Indian Government institutes
a pollution free zone around the Taj Mahal
MUSIC
Back
on the Chain Gang by The Pretenders
Puttin
on the Ritz by Taco
Come
on Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Cruel
Summer by Bananarama
Rock
the Casbah by The Clash
Do
you Really Want to Hurt Me by Culture Club
Is
There Something I Should Know? by Duran Duran
I
Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow
Our
House by Madness
TV
and at the MOVIES
Silver
Spoons (Ricky Schroeder……what a babe)
Remington
Steele (The debonair Pierce Brosnan)
Cheers
where everyone knows your name
ET
The Extra Terrestrial had us cycling to the
moon
First
Blood Introduced us to Rambo
Chariots
of Fire won the Best Movie at the Oscars
Henry
Fonda (On Golden Pond) was Best Actor
Katherine
Hepburn (On Golden Pond) was Best Actress
Tootsie
Dustin Hoffman was a real drag!!!
Ghandi
had us noticing the life of an amazing man
People
who died in 1982
John
Belishi (b.1949, American actor)
Grace
Kelly (b.1929, American actress and Princess
of Monaco)
Ingrid
Bergman (b.1915, Swedish film actress)
Henry
Fonda (b.1905, film actor)
Leonid
Brezhnev (b.1906, Soviet Leader)
Marty
Robbins (b.1925, American country and western
singer)
Carl
Orff (b.1895, West German composer)
Marty
Feldman (b.1934, British comedian)
Kenneth
More (b.1914, English actor)
What happened in 1983
POLITICS
and HISTORY
President
Reagan dubs the Soviet Union the Evil Empire
and proposes a revolutionary new anti-missile defense system…the strategic
defense initiative, nicknamed ‘Star Wars’
Israel
and Lebanon sign
a peace treaty, yet civil war in Lebanon continues
Australia
wins the America’s Cup
after 132 years of unbroken American victory
M*A*S*H
ends after 251 episodes
A
bomb planted by Shi’ite Muslims destroys the U.S embassy in Beirut (87
people killed)
MUSIC
99
Luftballoons by Nena
1999
by Prince
Total
Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
Send
me an Angel by Real Life
Love
Cats by The Cure
Every
Day I write the Book by Elvis Costello
TV
and at the MOVIES
M*A*S*H
closed the operating room for good
Kevin
Costner gave his best acting performance ever in
The Big Chill
William
Hurt gave us the chills in Gorky Park
Babs
became a boy in Yentl
Michael
Caine was Educating Rita
Hill
St Blues policed our tv screens
People
who died in 1983
Karen
Carpenter (b.1951) American singer
William
Demerest (b.1892) Uncle Charlie in ‘My Three
Sons’, actor
Ira
Gershwin (b.1897) American lyricist
David
Niven (b.1910) English actor
Muddy
Waters (b.1914) American Blues singer
Slim
Pickens (b.1919) American westerns film actor
Gloria
Swanson (b.1899) American silent film actress
What happened in 1984
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Bishop
Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Los
Angeles host the Olympic Games
Indian
Prime Minister, Indira Ghandi
is assassinated
The
UK and China agree that Hong Kong
will revert to China in 1997
Brunei
becomes an Independent Sultanate and the 159th
U.N. member
MUSIC
Careless
Whisper by Wham
Relax
by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Like
a Virgin by Madonna
Original
Sin by INXS
TV
and at the MOVIES
Amadeus
became a foolhardy, farting, genius
We
all rang the Ghostbusters
Gremlins
got into everything
The
Killing Fields shook the world to the atrocities
suffered in Cambodia
Police
Academy started it’s epic movie serial
Night
Court had us watching Bull
Miami
Vice got those groovy pastel suits emptying
off the shelves
People
who died in 1984
Richard
Burton (b.1925) British actor
Yuri
Andropov (b.1914) General Secretary of the
U.S.S.R
Marvin
Gaye (b.1939) American Soul Singer
Johnny
Weismuller (b.1904) actor, famous for his
portrayal of ‘Tarzan’
Count
Basie (b.1904) American Jazz pianist and bandleader
Sam
Peckinpah (b.1925) American film director
James
Mason (b.1909) English actor
Irwin
Shaw (b.1913) American screenwriter and novelist
Jackie
Coogan (b.1914) American actor
Ethel
Merman (b.1909) American popular singer
What happened in 1985
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Mikhail
Gorbachev suceeds Konstantin Cherichenko as
General Secretary of the USSR
Severe
winter in Europe kills more than 100 people
The
UK starts screening blood donations for the AIDS
virus
The
Live Aid Rock Concert in
London and Philadelphia raises over $600M for African famine relief
French
sink the Greenpeace flagship ‘Rainbow Warrior’
in Auckland, New Zealand
MUSIC
Rock
Me Amadeus by Falco
Everybody
Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears
Life
in a Northern Town by Dream Academy
One
Night in Bangkok by Murray Head
Lay
Your Hands on Me by the Thompson Twins
Take
on Me by A-Ha
TV
and at the MOVIES
Michael
J Fox took us Back to the Future
Madonna
was Desperately Seeking Susan
Jack
Nicholson fought for Prizzi’s Honor
Harrison
Ford was Witness protecting
Bruce
Willis and Cybil Shephard were Moonlighting
The
Golden Girls made the Florida lifestyle sound
bearable
Kate
& Allie were eighties women
MacGyver
sold millions of Swiss Army knives
People
who died in 1985
Orson
Welles (b.1915) American film maker
Rock
Hudson (b.1925) American actor
Ricky
Nelson (b.1940) American singer and actor
Yul
Bryner (b.1915) American actor
What happened in 1986
POLITICS
and HISTORY
The
world’s worst nuclear accident takes place when a reactor blows up at Chernobyl
Power Station
US
warplanes bomb Libya
New
Zealand refuses to admit nuclear warships into port- the US and Australia
suspend the ANZUS alliance
Prince
Andrew and Sarah
Ferguson are married and become the Duke and
Duchess of York
Space
Shuttle Challenger explodes
after take-off
MUSIC
Bizzare
Love Triangle by New Order
True
Blue by Madonna
Paradise
City by Guns’n’Roses
Peter
Gunn by Art of Noise
Happy
Hour by the HouseMartins
Les
Miserables and Phantom
of the Opera make their debut
TV
and at the MOVIES
Sledge
Hammer hammed up the LAPD
Paul
Hogan was the Crocodile Dundee
Howard
the Duck just plain old sucked
Meryl
Streep was Out of Africa with
Robert Redford
Bette
Midler and Danny DeVito were Ruthless People
A
kooky cat eating critter from outer space, Alf,
became an instant craze
Valerie
briefly streaked across our screens
People
who died in 1986
The
Challenger Crew
Cary
Grant (b.1925) American actor
James
Cagney (b.1940) American actor
Desi
Arnez (b.1915) American actor
L.
Ron Hubbard (b.1911) Science Fiction writer
Benny
Goodman (b.1909) American bandleader
Ted
Knight (b. ) American actor
Donna
Reed (b.1921) American actress
Wallis
Simpson (b.1896) Duchess of Windsor
What happen in 1987
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Bill
Gates, 32 year old founder of Microsoft becomes
microcomuptings first billionaire
W.H.O
reports that 8% of all pregnant Zairean women and 17% of Zairean blood
donors are AIDS
infected
Margaret
Thatcher becomes the first British PM this
century to be elected three times
Black
Monday world stock market share prices crash
A
Yugoslavian baby boy is declared the world’s five billionth inhabitant
MUSIC
I
Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany
Livin’
on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
The
Way it Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Walk
Like an Egyptian by the Bangles
With
or Without You by U2
I
Want Your Sex by George Michael
TV
and at the MOVIES
Patrick
Swayze and Jennifer Grey were Dirty Dancing
Glenn
Close proved to be a Fatal Attraction for
Michael Douglas
Wall
Street taught us that ‘Greed is Good’
South
Africa’s apartheid policy was shown to the world in ‘Cry
Freedom’
Jack
Nicholson battled the Witches of Eastwick
Mel
Gibson was a definite Lethal Weapon
Biology
was proven wrong in My Two Dads
People
who died in 1987
Rita
Hayworth (b.1918) American film actress
Fred
Astaire (b.1899) American actor
Danny
Kaye (b.1913) American actor
John
Huston (b.1906 ) American film director
Liberace
(b.1919) American pianist
Jackie
Gleason (b.1916) American actor
Andy
Warhol (b.1928) American film-maker and artist
Lee
Marvin (b.1924) American actor
Baroness
Maria Von Trapp (b.1905) author of ‘The Sound
of Music’
What happened in 1988
POLITICS
and HISTORY
Kurt
Waldheim, Austrian President, is cleared of
war crimes
Widespread
strikes by solidarity supporters take place in
Poland
McDonalds
opens in Moscow
Soviet
troops begin to withdraw from Afghanistan
after nine years occupation
George
Bush defeats Michael Dukakis for the US Presidency
Iran
and Iraq accept a UN peace plan
Canada
and the US sign
a comprehensive free trade agreement
MUSIC
Faith
by George Michael
Never
Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
Sweet
Child O’ Mine by Guns’N’Roses
Heaven
in a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle
Pour
Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard
Simply
Irresistable by Robert Palmer
Don’t
Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
The
Locomotion by Kylie Minogue
TV
and at the MOVIES
Fred
Savage showed us all The Wonder Years
Tom
Hanks wished he was ‘Big’
Kevin
kline and John Cleese were chasing ‘A Fish
Called Wanda’
Robing
Williams cried Good Morning Vietnam
Cher
and Nicholas Cage were Moonstruck
Danny
DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger were Twins
The
Hogan Family joined the tv neighbourhood
Bruce
Willis started to Die Hard
The
Highwayman revived the spooky Twighlight Zone
genre
People
who died in 1988
Heather
O’Rourke (b.1975) American film actress
John
Houseman (b.1902) American actor and filmaker
John
Carradine (b.1906) American actor
Roy
Orbison (b.1936 ) American musician
Enzo
Ferrari (b.1898) Italian Car maker
Trevor
Howard (b.1916) English film actor
Kenneth
Williams (b.1926) English ‘Carry On’ film
actor
The
Berlin Wall crumbles
and East and West Germany are re-united
Thousands
of pro-democracy students occupy Tiananmen
Square, Peking. The government imposes martial
law and uses tanks to disperse the students. Thousands are believed to
be killed.
Hungary
becomes a democratic country
Romanian
Communist Government is overthrown by the
people
Solidarity
is victorious in the Polish Parliamentary elections
F
W DeKlerk becomes President of South Africa,
promising reforms to the apartheid policy
MUSIC
My
Perogative by Bobby Brown
Straight
Up by Paula Abdul
Wind
Beneath My Wings by Bette Middler
Girl
You Know It’s True by Milli Vanilli
The
Look by Roxette
Two
Hearts by Phil Collins
Wild
Thing by Tone Loc
Love
Shack by the B52s
TV
and at the MOVIES
Scott
Bakula and Dean Stockwell took a Quantum Leap
onto our screens
Robin
Williams made Shakespeare fun in Dead Poets
Society
Morgan
Freeman was Driving Miss Daisy
The
awesome Bridges became the Fabulous Baker
Boys
We
all cried in Steel Magnolias
Faking
it became dinnertime entertainment When Harry
Met Sally
Kirstie
Alley and John Travolta had to ‘Look Who’s
Talking’
People
who died in 1989
Bette
Davis (b.1908) American film actress
Lucille
Ball (b.1911) American actress
Salvidor
Dali (b.1904) Spanish surrealist artist
Laurence
Olivier (b.1907) English film and stage actor
Mel
Blanc (b.1908) American cartoon voice (Bugs
Bunny)
Emperor
Hirohito (b.1901) Japanese leader
Irving
Berlin (b.1888) American composer
Samual
Beckett (b.1906) Irish Nobel Playwright
Ferdinand
Marcos (b.1917) former Philippines leader