1980s
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Events and Trends
- Rap first became a recorded medium and hip-hop began its ascent to become the most influential cultural movement of the 20th century, second only to jazz.
- Rise of cable television
- Fall of economic security
- 24 hour news channels (e.g., CNN)
- Music videos and MTV affect record industry
- Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan
- Reaganomics
- Political correctness
- Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union, fall of the Berlin Wall
- Bulletin board system popularity
- Lennon Wall in Prague created, and maintained by fans of John Lennon.
- Popularization of personal computers
- Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hits theaters
- Release of Americans held hostage in Iran
- Iran-Contra Scandal
- People Power in the Philippines topples Marcos dicatorship; inspired a trend of peaceful revolts worldwide
- Berlin Wall falls on November 9, 1989
- Salmon Rushdie wanted dead by Iranian leader Khomeini
- Students protest on Tienanmen Square, Beijing, China
- Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland
- Largest one-day stock market drop on October 19, 1987
- Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
World Leaders
- President George H.W. Bush - U.S.
- President Jimmy Carter - U.S.
- Mikhail Gorbachev - U.S.S.R.
- President Ronald Reagan - U.S.
- Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - U.K.
- Deng Xiaoping - China
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - Iran
- Prime Minister Jacques Chirac - France
- Helmut Kohl - West Germany
- Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan
Entertainers
- Public Enemy
- Run DMC
- Beastie Boys
- Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray in Ghostbusters
- Matthew Broderick
- Phoebe Cates
- Tom Cruise
- Matt Dillon
- Clint Eastwood
- Harrison Ford (as Indiana Jones)
- Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future)
- Mel Gibson
- Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee)
- Michael Jackson
- Michael Keaton (Batman (1989 movie))
- Madonna
- Mr. T
- Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop)
- Jack Nicholson (Batman (1989 movie))
- Sean Penn
- Molly Ringwald
- Meg Ryan
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator)
- Charlie Sheen
- Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: First Blood)
- Patrick Swayze
- U2
- Bruce Willis
- ZZ Top
- See also 1980s music groups