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1980s
Millennia: 1st millennium - 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium
Events and trends
Technology
Science
War, peace and politics
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Cold War peaks; fall of the Iron Curtain
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Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British politics. The so-called Reagan Revolution introduces neoconservatives to Washington
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Falklands War; Argentina invades the Falkland islands in 1982 but defeated by the United Kingdom
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Israel invades Lebanon in 1982 killing 20,000 people. A suicide bomber kills 241 U.S. marines stationed there as peacekeepers.
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Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988 kills one million people
- Over 120,000 flee Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift
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P.W. Botha suppresses anti-apartheid activists; international boycotts of South Africa continue
- King Juan Carlos of Spain prevents a military coup in 1980. Spain joined NATO in 1982; it joined the European Union with Portugal in 1986.
- In 1989 students protest on Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China and are ruthlessly suppressed
- "People Power" in the Philippines topples the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship; military rule ends after protests in Argentina and South Korea
- The Soviet Union ends its disastrous military campaign in Afghanistan
- Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is exposed as a former Nazi
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Vietnam continues its military occupation of Cambodia
- In Europe, rise of right wing parties (Le Pen in France, Schönhuber /Republikaner in Germany, Haider in Austria), parallel to a rise of Green parties.
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Political correctness
- U.S. invades Grenada
- U.S. invades Panama killing 3,000 civilians according to the Panamanians.
- The Reagan Doctrine implements anti-communist insurgencies leading to massive state terror in El Salvador and elsewhere, but leads to the Iran-Contra scandal
- The United States launches a covert war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and is condemned by the World Court for mining Nicaragua's harbour
Economics
Culture
- The "Me Generation" manifests itself in conspicuous consumption among American yuppies, but fashions and dialogue trend conservative
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Television networks are challenged by cable television. In the U.S., Cheers and The Cosby Show top ratings and the Fox network is launched. CNN becomes the first 24-hour news channel.
- The video game console outstrips the arcade game
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Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opens in 1982 and shatters records for box office gross receipts
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Music videos (and MTV) begin to have an effect on record industry in the United States. Pop artists Michael Jackson and Madonna are pioneers; groups such as Duran Duran benefit
- Massive sales for Ethiopian famine relief records by Band Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") and USA for Africa ("We Are the World"), followed by Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia. Other artists push for nuclear disarmament
- In the United States, hair metal enjoys popularity
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Andrew Lloyd Webber and Schönberg and Boublil's Les Misérables dominate musical theatre
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He-Man, the first animated children's television program built exclusively around a toyline, starts a new trend of increasing the connection between children's programming and toy advertising, alarming many parents and watchdog organizations; an explosive number of toy tie-in cartoons follow
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Hip hop began to achieve mainstream success in the United States, with artists like Kurtis Blow and N.W.A.; hip hop's spread outside of New York City, especially to Los Angeles, accelerates
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"Gorbymania"
- The Rubik's cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, and Trivial Pursuit fads capture the interest of the American public
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Soap operas gain popularity among high-schoolers and college students in the United States, thanks in part to the supercoupling of Luke and Laura on the most popular soap of the day, General Hospital.
Others
People
World Leaders
Entertainers
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Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Glory)
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Phoebe Cates (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins)
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Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Rain Man, Risky Business, The Color of Money)
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Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Young Guns)
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Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones series, Star Wars series, Blade Runner, Witness)
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Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future series)(Teen Wolf
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Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon series, Mad Max series)
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Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee)
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Michael Keaton (Batman, Mr. Mom , Night Shift)
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George Lucas (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Captain Eo)
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Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live, Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places)
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Jack Nicholson (Terms of Endearment, The Shining, Batman, Prizzi's Honor, Ironweed, Reds)
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Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, Dangerous Liaisons)
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Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator, Conan the Barbarian)
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Michael Jackson (Thriller)
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Madonna (Material Girl)
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U2 (War, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum)
Sports figures
Film
Television
See Also: 1980s in television
Music
Musical genres popular during the 1980s include hip hop, old school rap, heavy metal music, twee pop, hair metal, New Wave music, New Romantic, shoegazing, jangle pop, hardcore punk, alternative rock, dream pop, techno, house, acid house, two-tone
See also: 1980s music groups, List of rock and roll albums in the 1980s
External links
Last updated: 10-17-2005 09:03:14
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