FUNKY. FRESH.

REVOLUTIONARY.
Important
People
 Political People
Jimmy Carter- President of the U.S. 1977 to 1981.

Ronald Reagan- President of the U.S. 1981 to 1989.

Nancy Reagan- FIrst Lady of the U.S.

Mikhail Gorbachev - first president of the Soviet

Union.

George H.W. Bush- Vice president under Ronald

Reagan and later became president.

Jesse Jackson- Civil rights leader. Ran twice for

U.S. president. 1st African-American to run for
president.

Sandra Day O'Connor- 1st woman appointed to

the U.S. Supreme Court.

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 entertainment

Clint Eastwood

Oscar-winning
filmmaker

Steven Spielberg

Academy award
winning director,
screenwriter, and
producer Tom Cruise

Action movie actor

Icon of the 80s.

Bill Cosby

Popular on television
Eddie Murphy
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 Musicians

Whitney Houston
Pop Diva
Michael Jackson
King of Pop

Madonna
Queen of Pop

George Michael

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Artists AND
Athletes

Jean Michel Basquiat Michael Jordan

Neo-Expressionist painter Basketball player

Mike Tyson
former boxer and world
heavyweight champion.

Keith Haring
American artist known
Hulk Hogan
for his graffiti-inspired
drawings. Wrestler and reality T.V star
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Science and
technology
Steve Jobs

Inventor and co-founder of

Apple

Sally Ride

Astronaut and
astrophysicist; first American
woman in space.

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SOCIAL CHANGE
ART

Amidst social and political turmoil, art spoke as a

political statement.

Artists such as Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring

tackled police brutality and the AIDS crisis through
colorful street art.

Julian Schnabel, David Salle, and Eric Fischl were

popular revolutionists of the time.

It should also be noted that sexuality was greatly

embraced.
MUSIC Music blossomed like crazy.

Pop, Hiphop, Rock, Low Fi, and Funk,

just to name a few.

Music not only spoke about political

issues, but reflected the feelings of
each individual person of the time.

People would find themselves

dancing in clubs of every city. This
scene led to an all time high of drug
usage.
FASHION AND FADS!
GAMES, SPORTS, AND MORE
Baseball, football, hockey, boxing, and everything
else under the sports umbrella.

Mike Tyson dominated the boxing scene, and Joe

Montana placed himself in the hearts of football
fans nationwide.

Videogames experienced their biggest revival yet.

The introduction of Pacman, Mario, Tetris, Zelda,
and Galaga revolutionized recreation.

It was the era of the arcade!

MOVIES
From slice of life comedies, to
futuristic thrillers and slasher movies,
the 80s was a prime time in movies.

It welcomes the creation and extended

popularity of characters like Indiana
Jones, the Star Wars’ cast, Marty
Mcfly, and more.
TV TV was largely dominated by family comedies and cartoons
in an attempt to reach out to the nation of America as a
whole.

Cop and military dramas were also hugely popular.

Diversity began to spread as more African American

characters were depicted as
legendary figures.
Political
changes
 AMENDMENTS
One of the biggest amendments of its time
was the Equal rights amendments. The
amendment was proposed in 1972 and had
a 7 year deadline on the ratification. This
called for equal rights of all citizens
regardless of gender. It sought to end the
legal distinctions between men and women
in terms of divorce, property, employment,
and other matters.
“The Reagan Years”
The 80’s were called this
because Reagan served
for 8 of the years. During
his first term the
recession ended, taxes
were reduced, and
America felt hopeful that
they could make money
again. His presidency led
to a skyrocket in drug
related incarceration.
Around this time black
and white people were
consuming and dealing
drugs at similar rates.
Black dealers and users
were more likely to be
incarcerated.
CIVIL RIGHTS

President Reagan was against

women’s rights. He closed many
government agencies, like the office
on Domestic VIolence. He spoke out
against changing the Constitution

to outlaw sexual discrimination.

Scandals

The Keating Five were five United

States Senators accused of
corruption in 1989, igniting a major
political scandal as part of the
larger Savings and Loan crisis of
the late 1980s.This scandal caused
the Lincoln savings and loan
association to have billions of
dollars worth of damages.
Historical
events
1980

Rubik’s Cube debuts and Mt.

St. Helens erupts

Pac-Man game released,

CNN was established, and
John Lennon was
assassinated

Smallpox declared
eradicated.
81 & 82
John Hinckley Jr. attempts to assassinate
President Reagan.
FIrst vaccine for Hepatitis B.
MTV
The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched.
Mehmet Ali Agca attempts to assassinate Pope
John Paul II.
AIDS recognized by the Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention.
MS-DOS released.
The first IBM-PC released.
The movie “E.T.” released.
Vietnam War Memorial opens in Washington, D.C.
Calvin Klein’s first underwear ad featuring Tom
Hintnaus stops traffic in Times Square.
l.

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83 & 84

Reagan implements defence program titled

“Star Wars”

Sally Ride becomes the first woman in

space!

Tension in india as terrorist attacks and the

assassination of Indira Gandhi occurs.

PG-13 becomes a rating.

85 & 86
“Back to the future” premieres

Microsoft introduces windows, Titanic is found

Hole in the ozone first reported

“Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez begins his murder spree

Space shuttle challenger explodes short after lift off

Chernobyl nuclear meltdown occurs

Halley’s comet and USSR launching space station.

87 & 88
1987: DNA first used to convict criminals

U.S. stock market plunges on “Black Monday”

1988: “Who framed Roger Rabbit” is top-grossing film of the

year.

George Bush Sr. is elected president.

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1989

Collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Gameboy is released.

The Internet goes global.

The Loma Prieta Earthquake

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Science and
Technology
THE PEOPLE

The 80s welcomed

heaps of scientists
ready to make changes
in the fields of space,
engineering, and
metaphysical theory.
Steve Jobs (Apple)
Luis and Walter Alvarez (Asteroid
and Dinosaurs)
Alan Guth (Big Bang)
Kary Mullis (DNA analysis)
Robert Curl (Nanotechnology)
THE INTERNET
1983 1985
ARPAnet First U.S. 1989
1981 transitions Research & First Internet
Visual to TCP/IP Education Publishing
Simulator Domain Network System is
runs over Name Developed invented
ARPAnet System Microsoft
invented Windows

1980 1982
CSNet 1st public 1986
Developed 1984 1st meeting of
WAN First email
IAB established initiated the Internet
1st network sent to Engineering
The Germany
gateways Internet Task Force.
from the U.S.
was .
introduced

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COMMUNICATION
TRANSPORTATION
Rollerblades invented in 1980.
In 1980 the Metro Central Base expansion was completed.
railroads found a new role in the transportation market during the 1980s .
In 1980 there was over two-dozen Class I railroads still in operation.
From the 1980s onward, transportation infrastructure spending as a share of U.S.
GDP declined.

Mobile phones became available.

The car phone was the standard for portable telephone communications during the
decade.
The first cordless phone occupied a frequency at the 27 MHz range, and only allowed
the user to walk within 100 feet of the transmitter.
Fax machines, in the business world rose dramatically between 1983 and 1989
One-way pager

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 TECHNOLOGY
Advancements
1980 1983
The Sony Sony Betacam
Walkman Camera-recorder that eliminated
1st portable audio the need for a cable
player Nintendo Entertainment 1986
IBM PC System Disposable
Video Cassette 1st Cell Phone Camera
Recorder Apple Macintosh
Camcorder
GPS/GIS

1982
The ZX Spectrum 1989
A chic computer that Nintendo
could have with
either 16kb RAM or 1984 Gameboy
48kb RAM. Flash
Memory

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MEDICINE
Between the danger of the
AIDS crisis, and the
ambition of this decade,
medicinal studies made
starting discoveries.
The development of the MRI
Artificial Hearts, Skin,
Human Growth Hormone
Prozac, Vaccines, The elimination of
Smallpox

A race for the cure to AIDS

followed activism closely.
SCIENTIFIC
DISCOVERIES
In 1986 the first child produced
from surrogacy was born.
In 1989 the first gene transfer
experiment in humans take place.