Technology
Bulletin board system popularity. Popularization of personal computers, Walkmans, VHS videocassette recorders, and compact disc ("CD") players . Introduction of the IBM PC in 1981. At home video games become enormously popular, virtually all notably Atari until the market crashes in 1983; the rise of Nintendo brings about to the full recovery. A 1st Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, launched in 1981. Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. A Soviet Union launches the space station Mir in 1986. Apple Macintosh, first commercially successful GUI, is released inside 1984. Accident at Chernobyl nuclear reactor, April 1986. Framework (office suite) launched

Science
Discovery of the W and Z bosons at CERN. Development of the scanning tunneling microscope by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer.

War, peace and politics
Cold War peaks; fall of the Iron Curtain. Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow; Eastern Bloc countries boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Solidarity movement in Poland launched in 1981. It finally topples a united states's Communist regime. Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative, derided as "Star Wars." Deploys Pershing missiles in American Europe to counter a Soviet SS-20, to some protests. Soviet fighters down Korean Air Flight 007 in 1983, leading to a high point around international tensions. 3 Soviet Premiers die in rapid succession: Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko. Gorbachev introduces Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union. Fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany in 1989, preparing the way to German reunification. Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia. Revolution in Romania, execution of Ceauşescu. Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British politics. A "Reagan Revolution", beginning with a election of 1980, introduces so-supposed neoconservatives to Washington. Inside 1981, François Mitterrand becomes France's President, the virtually all politically successful Socialist in French history. Helmut Kohl is elected in West Germany in 1982, leading to a defeat of the anti-deployment movement; he becomes the yearn serving Chancellor so far. Falklands War; Argentina invades the Falkland islands in 1982 but defeated by the United Kingdom. Israel invades Lebanon in 1982, . The suicide bomber kills 241 U.S. marines stationed there as peacekeepers. Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988 causes the deaths of at least hundreds of thousands. Terminated 120,000 flee Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift, during which Fidel Castro released many malefactor into Our contries harbors. P.W. Botha suppresses anti-apartheid activists; international boycotts of South Africa continue. King Juan Carlos of Spain prevents a military coup within 1980. Spain joined NATO in 1982; it joined the European Union with Portugal in 1986. Within 1989 students protest on Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China and are sooner or later suppressed. Big protests in the Philippines topples the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship; military rule ends when protests within Argentina and South Korea. Augusto Pinochet forms the newly constitutiin, holds a referendum on rule & loses. Democracy is restored. A Soviet Union ends its disastrous campaign around Afghanistan. Previous United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is exposed as a previous Nazi Vietnam continues its military occupation of Cambodia. Within Europe, rise of alleged neo-fascist parties (Le Pen in France, Schönhuber/Republikaner in Germany, Haider in Austria), parallel to a rise of Green parties. Political correctness becomes a concern within mainstream politics. Ronald Reagan decides to invade Grenada in 1984 and depose the nascent hardline communist government. A Reagan administration bombs Libya in 1986 in response to alleged Libyan support for attacks in U.S. servicemen inside Europe. Under George H. W. Bush, the U.S. invades Panama in 1989 to overthrow Manuel Noriega. A Reagan Doctrine implements support for anti-communist or anti-Soviet insurgencies most notably in Nicaragua, Angola, Cambodia, and Afghanistan. This leads to continued civil war, a deposition of many regimes, occasionally democratisation, however likewise a Iran-Contra scandal. A United States launches a covert war against a Sandinista government of Nicaragua and is condemned by the World Court for mining Nicaragua's harbour, an authority and judgement a U.S. administration did does'nt recognize. President Tito of Yugoslavia dies. Release of Americans held surety within Iran. Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa urging the killing of Salman Rushdie. Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland. Inside 1985, A radical PLO offshoot called Palestine Liberation Front hijacks the Achille Lauro and shoots the wheelchair-attached Leon Klinghoffer, throwing him overboard. Terror groups Abu Nidal and Hezbollah rise to prominence in American attention. Dark years for Malta and its politics. Violence is culminated per slaying of Raymond Caruana and blocking entry to Nationalist supporters into the southern village of Zejtun.

Economics
Reaganomics, Thatcherism and Rogernomics. In a United States the hanker bull market in history begins in 1983; Dow Jones Industrial Average passes 2000 point milestone January 8, 1987. OPEC controls slip; petroleum prices collapse below $10 by the barrel by mid-1986, devastating oil-producing nations such as Mexico. U.S. Midwest Farm Crisis 1981–1985. East Asian Tigers' share of globe trade rises significantly. U.S. balance of trade falls into chronic deficit; populists criticize trade relations with Japan. Stockmarkets through the world crash in Black Monday, October 19, 1987. A New York Stock Exchange suffers its largest 1-day stock exchange drop. Late 1980s recession

Culture
Television networks are challenged by cable television. In the U.S., Cheers and The Cosby Show top ratings and a Fox network is launched. CNN becomes the number 1 Two dozen-hour news channel. A video game console outstrips the arcade game. Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opens in 1982 and shatters records for box office gross receipts. Music videos (and MTV) begin to stand an symptom in record industry in the United States. Pop creative person 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. More creative person click for nuclear disarmament. In the United States, Contemporary Christian music reaches its mainstream popularity peak. Creative person like Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith find success on the pop charts as well as the Christian charts. In the United States, hair metal enjoys popularity. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Schönberg and Boublil's Les Misérables dominate musical theatre . He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the number one animated babies's tv show built entirely around a toyline, starts the fresh trend of increasing the connection between toddlers's programming & toy advertising, alarming many parents & watchdog organizations; an explosive number of toy tie-link cartoons follow. Hip hop began to achieve mainstream success in the United States, with creative person rather Kurtis Blow and N.W.A.; hip hop's spread outside of New York City, especially to Los Angeles, accelerates. "Gorbymania" A Rubik's cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, and Trivial Pursuit fads capture the interest of the American public.*Soap operas gain popularity among high-schoolers & university student in the United States, thanks in a portion to the supercoupling of Luke and Laura on the most popular a measure of laundry detergent of the day, General Hospital. Women's Lib movement increases women's role in the workplace, and establishes new precedents for US women. As a carry-across from either a Seventies, other & other women choose to calling themselves "Ms." versus "Mrs." or "Miss" No-Fault divorce laws pave the way for increased divorcement rate, every bit depicted in the film, Irreconcilable Differences. A increase around only parent homes leads to the phenomenon of Latch-key children, where tykes came front yard to an empty home & follow a great deal of television. Animation in North America begins a striking comeback withinside productiin values & mainstream popular appeal two in feature & on television. Ninja and martial arts mania sweeps North America due to the popularity of Kung Fu Theater and Ninja Movies. Several instructional books come published & sold by numerous authors claiming to exist as experts. This is likewise typically blamed when a beginning of the McDojo trend. New Wave music popular from astir 1978 to 1990.

Others
A AIDS epidemic is identified and known as. Assassination of John Lennon and Olof Palme, attempts in Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Violent crime and drug trafficking soar to record levels in virtually all big Western cities.

People
World Leaders
Chancellor Bruno Kreisky (Austria) Chancellor Fred Sinowatz (Austria) Chancellor Franz Vranitzky (Austria) Prime Minister Bob Hawke (Australia) Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (Australia) President João Figueiredo (Brazil) President José Sarney (Brazil) Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Canada) Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada) General Augusto Pinochet (Chile) Deng Xiaoping (People's Republic of China) President Chiang Ching-kuo (Republic of China on Taiwan) Prime Minister Poul Schlüter (Denmark) Erich Honecker (East Germany) President Anwar Sadat (Egypt) President Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) President Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) President Mengistu Haile Mariam (Ethiopia) President Urho Kekkonen (Finland) President Mauno Koivisto (Finland) President François Mitterrand (France) Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou (Greece) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (India) Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (India) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iran) President Saddam Hussein (Iraq) President Patrick Hillery (Ireland) Taoiseach Charles Haughey (Ireland) Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (Ireland) Prime Minister Menachem Begin (Israel) Prime Minister Shimon Peres (Israel) Emperor Hirohito (Japan) Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (Japan) Emir Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (Kuwait) President Muammar al-Qaddafi (Libya) Pope John Paul II Prime Minister Dom Mintoff (Malta) Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (Malta) Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami (Malta) President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (Mexico) President Samora Machel (Mozambique) Prime Minister Robert Muldoon (New Zealand) Prime Minister David Lange (New Zealand) Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer (New Zealand) Queen Juliana (Netherlands) General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan) President Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines) President Corazon Aquino (Philippines) President Wojciech Jaruzelski (Poland) President Nicolae Ceauşescu (Romania) Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore) President & Prime Minister P.W. Botha (South Africa) President Chun Doo-hwan (South Korea) Premier Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet Union) General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union) King Juan Carlos (Spain) Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka Prime Minister Olof Palme (Sweden) Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom) President George H.W. Bush (United States) President Jimmy Carter (United States) President Ronald Reagan (United States) Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (West Germany) Chancellor Helmut Kohl (West Germany) President Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia) President Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire) President Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)

Entertainers
Brat Pack David Brooks Matthew Broderick (''Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Glory) Phoebe Cates (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins) Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Rain Man, Risky Business, The Color of Money) Bo Derek Matt Dillon Dalida Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Young Guns) Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones series, Star Wars series, Blade Runner, Witness) Jodie Foster Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future series, Teen Wolf) Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon series, Mad Max series) Rob Halford (Judas Priest) Debbie Harry (Blondie) Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) John Hughes Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders) Michael Jackson (Thriller) Elton John Michael Keaton (Batman, Mr. Mom, Night Shift) Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) George Lucas (Indiana Jones series, Star Wars series, Captain Eo) Madonna (Material Girl) George Michael (Wham!) Eddie Murphy (Saturday Night Live, Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places) Jack Nicholson (Terms of Endearment, The Shining, Batman, Prizzi's Honor, Ironweed, Reds) Queen (band) Sean Penn Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, Dangerous Liaisons) Prince (Purple Rain, Sign O' the Times) Meg Ryan Charlie Sheen Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator, Conan the Barbarian) Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: First Blood) Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing) The Cure U2 (War, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum) Sigourney Weaver

Sports figures
Alexis Arguello (Nicaraguan boxer) Marco van Basten (Dutchsoccer player) Wilfred Benitez (Puerto Rican boxer) Larry Bird (U.S. basketball player) Allan Border (Australian cricket captain/batsman) Ian Botham (Somerset & England cricket all-rounder) Mike Brearley (Middlesex & England cricket captain/batsman) George Brett (U.S. baseball player) Julio Cesar Chavez (Mexican boxer) Roberto Duran (Panamanian boxer) Paulo Roberto Falcão (Brazilian soccer player) Ric Flair (U.S. wrestler) Mike Gatting (Middlesex & England cricket captain/batsman) Sunil Gavaskar (India cricket opening batsman) Wilfredo Gómez (Puerto Rican boxer) Gordon Greenidge (West Indies cricket opening batsman) Wayne Gretzky (Canadian ice hockey player) Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S. track and field athlete) Richard Hadlee (New Zealand cricket convenient bowler) Marvin Hagler (U.S. boxer) Alan Hansen (Liverpool & Scotland footballer)) Thomas Hearns (U.S. boxer) Hulk Hogan (U.S. wrestler) Larry Holmes (U.S. boxer) Bo Jackson (U.S. American football and baseball player) Jahangir Khan (Pakistani squash player) Earvin "Magic" Johnson (U.S. basketball player) Michael Jordan (U.S. basketball player) Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czech track and field athlete) Greg LeMond (U.S. cyclist) Sugar Ray Leonard (U.S. boxer) Carl Lewis (U.S. track and field athlete) Wally Lewis (Australian Rugby League player} Gary Lineker (English footballer) Ronnie Lott (U.S. American football player) Diego Armando Maradona (Argentinesoccer player) Malcolm Marshall (West Indies cricket fast bowler) John McEnroe (U.S. tennis player) Mal Meninga (Australian Rugby League player} Mark Messier (Canadian ice hockey player) Joe Montana (U.S. American football player) Martina Navratilova (Czech/U.S. tennis player) Jack Nicklaus (U.S. golfer) Nelson Piquet (Brazilian racing driver) Michel Platini (French soccer player) Alain Prost (French racing driver) Vivian Richards (West Indies cricket batsman) Nolan Ryan (U.S. baseball player) Ozzie Smith (U.S. baseball player) Michael Spinks (U.S. boxer) Lawrence Taylor (U.S. American football player) Isiah Thomas (U.S. basketball player) Daley Thompson (English track and field athlete) Zico (Brazilian soccer player)

Films
Blade Runner (1980) Caddyshack (1980) Raging Bull (1980) The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Return of the Jedi (1983) Beverly Hills Cop (1984) A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Ghostbusters (1984) Police Academy (1984) Sixteen Candles (1984) The Karate Kid (1984) Back to the Future (1985) The Breakfast Club (1985) The Goonies (1985) Pretty in Pink (1986) Aliens (1986) Top Gun (1986) Short Circuit (1986) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Full Metal Jacket (1986) RoboCop (1987) The Lost Boys (1987) The Princess Bride (1987) Big (1988) Die Hard (1988) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Hairspray (1988) When Harry Met Sally... (1989) Glory (1989) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) The Little Mermaid (1989) Batman (1989) Dead Poets Society (1989) Do the Right Thing (1989)

Television
View Likewise: 1980s in television The A-Team (including Mr. T) ALF Cagney & Lacey Cheers The Comedy Company The Cosby Show Diff'rent Strokes Doctor Who The Dukes of Hazzard Dynasty EastEnders Facts of Life Falcon Crest Fast Forward Family Ties Full House Growing Pains General Hospital Hill Street Blues The Jewel in the Crown Knight Rider L.A. Law Late Night with David Letterman Little Lulu Show Miami Vice Moonlighting MTV Neighbours Only Fools and Horses Perfect Strangers Punky Brewster Roseanne Saturday Night Live Smurfs St. Elsewhere The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Yes, Minister

Music

Genre popular in a period of the Eighties 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, and two-tone. In the United States, country music also remained popular with hits from either a likes of Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait and Randy Travis. 1989 saw Garth Brooks break onto the scene.

Watch as well:'' 1980s music groups, List of rock and roll albums in the 1980s