1980s

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The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was one of the most well-known events of the 1980s.

The 1980s was the decade spanning from Jan. 1, 1980 to Dec. 31, 1989. The decade saw social, economic and general upheaval as wealth, production and western culture migrated to new industrializing economies. As economic liberalization increases in the western world, multiple multinational corporations associated with the manufacturing industry relocated into Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, China and new market economies in eastern Europe following the collapse of communism in the region.

Developing countries across the world facing increasing economic and social difficulties as they suffer from multiple debt crises in the 1980s, requiring many of these countries to apply for financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Ethiopia witnesses widespread famine in the mid-1980s resulting in the country having to depend on foreign aid to provide food to its population and worldwide efforts to address and raise money to help Ethiopians, such as the famous Live Aid concert in 1985.

The western world witnessed the political revival of right-wing politics and advancement of neoliberalism with the rule of politicians including Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Ronald Reagan as President of the United States, Helmut Kohl as Chancellor of Germany, Brian Mulroney as Prime Minister of Canada and Carlos Salinas de Gortari as President of Mexico.

Major civil discontent and violence occurs in the Middle East including the Iran-Iraq War, major conflict and violence in Lebanon from 1982 to 1983, U.S. military action against Libya in 1985, and the First Intifada in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

In the eastern world, hostility to authoritarianism and the failing command economies of communist states resulted in a wave of reformist policies by communist regimes such as the policies of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR, along with the overthrows and attempted overthrows of a number of communist regimes, such as in Poland, Hungary, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China, the Czechoslovak velvet revolution, and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime in Romania and other communist Warsaw Pact states in Central and Eastern Europe. It came to be called as the late 1980s purple passage of the autumn of nations. By 1989 with the disintigration of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet Union announced the abandonment of political hostility to the western world and thus the Cold War ended. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century.

The 1980s was also an era of tremendous population growth around the world, surpassing even the 1970s and 1990s for arguably being the largest in human history. This growth occurred not only in developing regions but also developed western nations, where many newborns were the offspring of Baby Boomers. Population growth was particularly rapid in a number of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian countries during this decade, with rates of natural increase close to or exceeding 4% annually.

Social trends

• The War on Drugs was instituted in the United States by President Ronald Reagan because of the excesses of drug use in the 1970s. In spite of the sentences imposed by the Reagan administration, drug use continued and new drugs such as Crack cocaine appeared in the country.
• The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. Continuing the 1970s' trend, more and more women in the English-speaking world took to calling themselves "Ms.", rather than "Mrs." or "Miss." A similar change occurred in Germany, with women choosing "Frau" instead of "Fräulein" in an effort to disassociate marital status from title. In most western countries, women began to exercise the option of keeping their maiden names after marriage; in Canada, legislation was enacted to end the practice of automatically changing a woman's last name upon marriage.
• National safety campaigns raised awareness of seat belt usage to save lives in automobile accidents, helping to make the measure mandatory in most countries and U.S. states by 1990. Similar efforts arose to push child safety seats and bike helmet use, already mandatory in a number of U.S. states and some countries.
• Alcohol education and drug education expanded, bringing about movements such as M.A.D.D., Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign, and D.A.R.E.. By 1990, every state in the U.S. mandated the drinking age to be 21.
• Rejection of smoking increases throughout the western world.
• Opposition to nuclear power plants grew, especially after the catastrophic 1986 Chernobyl accident.
• Environmental concerns intensified. In the United Kingdom, environmentally friendly domestic products surged in popularity. Western European countries adopted "greener" policies to cut back on oil use, recycle most of their nations' waste, and increase focus on water and energy conservation efforts. Similar "Eco-activist" trends appeared in the U.S. in the late 1980s.
• In the United States, homosexuals faced renewed discrimination which started with a backlash against disco music which was derided as "fag" music. In 1980, an anti-homosexual documentary was televised by ABC across the nation^{[citation needed]}. The rise of AIDS led to increased public disdain of homosexuality and homosexuals. The Supreme Court upheld laws which criminalize gay sex in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision. MTV banned Dead or Alive music videos because of their homosexual content. However, in the United Kingdom there was increased acceptance of the gay community, partly due to outspoken advocacy by homosexual celebrities. This is a trend that has continued in the UK into the 21st century.

Culture

Main article: Culture of the 1980s

• In the early 1980s, the first generation of computer, video, and arcade games were produced.
• Computer technology began to enter mainstream culture and appeared in movies such as Tron (1982) that would go on to have a major impact on movie making.
• Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, Teddy Ruxpin, and Trivial Pursuit fads captured the interest of the American and British public.
  

  

  Rubik's Cube, often used as the defining symbol of the 1980s
• MTV, an all-music television station, debuted in the United States in 1981. *Australian pop culture introduced new trends in the U.S. throughout the 1980s to enhance the continent's cultural image. Examples include celebrities Olivia Newton-John, Jacko and Yahoo Serious, musicians INXS, Midnight Oil and Men at Work, the Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies, the Roos shoe brand and Koala Blue chain within the fashion segment, and tastes such as "shrimp on the barbie" and Foster's Lager.
• Rap music began to become increasing popular in the United States.

Sports

• The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were disrupted by a boycott led by the United States and 64 other countries in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
• The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are boycotted by the Soviet Union in response to the actions taken by the United States and other countries in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow by leading Eastern Bloc countries and allies.
• The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Yugoslavia becomes the second communist country to host the Olympic Games, but unlike the Soviet Union in 1980, there were no boycotts on the games by western countries.

• In this decade, the West Indies established themselves as the unofficial world champions of cricket, though in a shock upset, they lost the 1983 Cricket World Cup to India. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was won by Australia.

• The FIFA World Cup was won by Italy in 1982 and by Argentina in 1986.

• The inaugural Rugby World Cup was won in 1987 by New Zealand.

• The Jamaica national bobsled team stunned the world and received major media attention at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada for its unexpected good performance which overcame the stereotype that northern countries were the only efficient competitors in winter olympic games. The events surrounding the Jamaica bobsled team in 1988 would lead to the creation of the hit Disney movie Cool Runnings five years later which was based on Jamaica's 1988 bobsled team.

• Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky rises to fame as a dominant player in the North American National Hockey League (NHL) during 1980’s.

Fashion

Main article: 1980s in fashion

Music

See also Timeline of musical events#1980s.

Stage view of Live Aid concert at John F. Kennedy Stadium in the United States in 1985. The concert was an international effort by musicians and activists to sponsor action to send aid to the people of Ethiopia who were suffering from a major famine.

• The decade began with a backlash against disco music in the United states, and a movement away from the orchestral arrangements that had characterized much of the music of the 1970s. Music in the 1980s was characterized by unheard of electronic sounds accomplished through the use of synthesizers and keyboards, along with drum machines. This made a dramatic change in music.
• In the United States, MTV was launched and music videos began to have a huge effect on the record industry. The first video aired was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the British band The Buggles, and it proved oddly prophetic. Bands such as Duran Duran made lavish music videos which made MTV a cultural phenomenon. Pop artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson mastered the format and turned it into big business.
• New Wave and Synthpop were developed by many British and American artists, and become popular phenomena throughout the decade, especially in the early and mid eighties.
• Hard rock, Heavy metal, Big Hair Bands and Glam metal, experienced extreme popularity in 1980s, becoming one of the most dominating music genres of the 1980s (especially in the late 80s) with artists such as Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Journey, Whitesnake, Poison, ZZ Top, Metallica, Cinderella, Skid Row, Ratt, Twisted Sister, and Quiet Riot achieving numerous multi-platinum albums and extensive airplay.
• Live Aid concert in 1985 containing many artists promotes attention and action to send food aid to Ethiopia whose people were suffering from a major famine.
• The Hip hop scene evolved to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. As hip hop artists gathered mainstream attention, hip hop's influence began to spread outside of Los Angeles and New York City, eventually taking off into America's shores during the 1980s in 1986.
• In the U.S., contemporary Christian music gained popularity in the mid-80s.

New styles of music

• Thrash metal appeared and became an underground sensation originating mostly in the Bay Area (San Francisco), and New York City. A few of these acts managed to achieve mainstream exposure (especially during the early 1990s), and were frequently seen as alternatives to the poppier "glam metal" bands of the day.
• Extreme metal began, and gained prominence in the underground.
• House music was a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade and later developed into acid house, a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
• American singer Prince, French band Indochine ("3e sexe"), Canadian singer Norman Iceberg ("Be My Human Tonight"), Spanish band Mecano ("Mujer Contra Mujer") became part of a worldwide movement of artists writing innovative lyrics filled with sexual innuendos reflecting the then-popular and highly fashionable androgynous style.
• With increased aphrodisiacs of popular music, thousands of new bands from all over the country sprang up in opposition by performing aggressive, stripped-down punk rock with an even larger amount of political and social awareness injected into the lyrics. Known as Hardcore punk, it would go on to influence and create other musical genres well into the 21st century.
• El General recorded a first album and reggaeton was born in Panama.
• Prince was credited with jump-starting the Minneapolis sound.

Film

Main article: 1980s in film

Video games

See also History of video games#1980s

Although popularity of video games and arcades began in the mid to late 1970s, it continued throughout the 1980s with rapid growth in video game technology throughout the decade. Space Invaders, developed in Japan in 1978, was first previewed at a UK trade show in 1979, making a huge impact on the early 80s gaming scene. Many other games followed including Pac-Man, creating a Pac Man fever craze early in the decade, especially in 1982 and 1983; Super Mario Bros. games became a highly successful franchise starting in 1985, with its popularity continuing today.

In the 1980s, Atari failed to apply proper quality control to the software development process for its popular Video Computer System game console. The amount of low-quality software caused a massive collapse of the home console industry. The release of Nintendo's Famicom/NES console rectified the problem and revived home gaming by only being able to play games approved by the company. PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive were next generation game consoles that were released during the last years of the decade.

Home computers become popular in the 1980s and during that decade they were used heavily for gaming, especially the ZX Spectrum. The prevailing IBM PC standard was born in 1981 but had a status of a non-entertainment computer throughout the decade. Along with the IBM PC, the Commodore 64 (1982) was the most popular 8-bit home computer and its successor, the Amiga (1985), was the most popular 16-bit home computer.

International issues

Africa

• Zimbabwe becomes independent from official colonial rule of the United Kingdom in 1980.
• 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia occurs, resulting in international efforts to help the Ethiopian people, including the famous Live Aid concert in July 1985 which sponsored sending aid to Ethiopia.
• The United States launches an aerial bombardment of Libya in 1986.
• Nigeria suffers military coups in 1983 and 1985.
• Battle of Cuito Cuanavale takes place as part of the Angolan civil war and South African Border War from 1987 to 1988. The battle involves the largest fighting in Africa since World War II between military forces from Angola, Cuba (expeditionary forces), Namibia versus military forces from South Africa and the dissident Angolan UNITA organization.
• The South African Border War between South Africa versus Angola, Namibia, and Zambia ends in 1989, ending over-thirty years of conflict.

Americas

United States President Ronald Reagan plays a pivotal role in the final years of the Cold War and has a large influence in the U.S. and its allied countries in the adoption of neoliberal economic policies.

The Argentine warship General Belgrano sinking after being attacked by British forces during the Falklands War.

• Ten thousand Cubans storm the Peruvian embassy in Havana seeking political asylum on April 6, 1980. On April 7 the Cuban government granted permission for the emigration of Cubans seeking refuge in the Peruvian embassy.
• Peru faces the beginning of internal conflict by the communist Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement in 1980 that would continue until the end of the 1990s.
• Famous former Beatles musician John Lennon is assassinated in 1980 in the United States.
• Political unrest in the province of Quebec, which rooted from the many differences between the dominant francophone population versus the anglophone minority and the francophones rights in the dominantly English-speaking Canada, came to a head in 1980 when the provincial government called a public referendum on partial separation from the rest of Canada. The referendum ended with the "no" side winning majority (59.56% no, 40.44% yes).
• Ronald Reagan is elected U.S. President in 1980. In international affairs, Reagan pursues a hardline policy towards preventing the spread of communism, massive buildup of the U.S. military to challenge the Soviet Union, supporting coups against leftist governments in Central and South America, supporting the government of Columbia's attempts to destroy its large ilicit cocaine-trafficking industry, and challenging the Iron Curtain by demanding that the Soviet Union tear the Berlin Wall.
• 1000 Salvadorian civilians are murdered in the El Mozote massacre on December 11, 1981 in El Salvador by U.S.-trained Salvadorian right-wing paramilitaries.
• Mexico suffers from a debt crisis starting in 1982.
• The Falklands War occurred from 2 April 1982 – 14 July 1982 between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the disputed territory of the Falkland Islands.
• Canada gains official independence from the United Kingdom with a new Constitution on 17 April 1982, authorized by the signature by Queen Elizabeth II. This Act severed all Political Dependencies of the United Kingdom in Canada.
• The United States, along with members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, invaded Grenada in 1983.
• The Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart during takeoff off the coast of central Florida on January 28, 1986, killing all 7 crew members onboard.
• Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is overthrown by a popular uprising on February 6, 1986.
• The 1986 World's Fair, Expo 86, was held in Vancouver.
• Iran-Contra affair erupts, members of the U.S. government are indicted in 1986.
• Enactment of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1989.
• U.S. military action begins against Panama in December 1989 to overthrow its president, Manuel Noriega.
• Military dictatorships give way to democracy in Argentina (1983), Uruguay (1984-5), Brazil (1985-8) and Chile (1988-9).
• Independence is awarded to Antigua, Belize, (both 1981) and St. Kitts (1983).

Asia

Iranian soldier during the Iran-Iraq war.

A famous picture during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China where a protestor blockades a group of tanks from entering the area of the protest. Photo by Jeff Widener (Associated Press).

• The Iran-Iraq war takes place from 1980 to 1988. Iraq is accused of using illegal chemical weapons to kill Iranian forces and against its own dissident Kurdish populations.
• The 1982 Lebanon War occurs when Israel attacks Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) forces inside Lebanon, in which Israel faces war with Lebanese and Syrian armed forces inside Lebanon. The controversial Siege of Beirut by Israeli military forces resulted in enormous damage to the infrastructure and significant civilian casualties in Lebanon's capital and was internationally condemned, even by the United States, a traditional close ally of Israel.[1]
• 1983 Beirut barracks bombing of U.S. marines in Lebanon
• The Bhopal disaster occurs in 1984 when a toxic gas leak occurred in Bhopal, India.
• Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi is assasinated on October 31, 1984.
• The Red Army of the Soviet Union begins to suffer serious casualties and defeats in the ongoing Soviet-Afghan war by 1985 resulting in new Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev beginning to design a strategy for the eventual departure of Red Army forces from Afghanistan.
• The First Intifada (First Uprising) in the Gaza Strip and West Bank begins in 1987 when Palestinian Arabs begin large-scale protests against the Israeli military presence in the Gaza Strip and West Bank which the Palestinians claim as their own. The Intifada soon became violent as the Israeli army and Palestinian militants fought for control over the disputed territories. The First Intifada would continue until peace negotiations began between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli government in 1993.
• Soviet-Afghan war ends on February 15, 1989, ending almost ten years of warfare between the two countries and is the last war that the Soviet Union's Red Army participated in.
• Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 occurs in the People's Republic of China in 1989, in which pro-democracy protestors demand political reform. The protest is repressed by government forces.

Europe

1980 strike at Gdańsk Shipyard, birthplace of the Polish Soldarity movement and the beginning of the eventual collapse of communism in Europe.

Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s engages in major political reforms, such as increasing freedom of the press and works to end the Cold War.

• The Soldarity movement begins in Poland in 1980, involving workers demanding political liberalization and democracy in Poland. Attempts by the communist regime to crush the Solidarity movement fail and negotiations between the movement and the government take place. Solidarity would be instrumental in encouraging people in other communist states to demand political reform.
• In 1981 there was a assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square. In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated.
• Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, and intiates major reforms to the Soviet Union's government through increasing the rights of expressing political dissent, allowing some democratic elections (though maintaining Communist dominance). Gorbachev pursues negotiation with the United States to decrease tensions and eventually end the Cold War.
• The European Community's, enlargement continued with the accession of Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986.
• Significant political reforms occurred in a number of communist countries in eastern Europe as the populations of these countries grew increasingly hostile and politically active in opposing the authoritarian communist regimes. These reforms included increasing individual liberties, market liberalization, and promises of democratic renewal. One exception was Romania where the communist regime violently fought against protestors until the regime was overthrown. By 1989, a number of former Warsaw Pact countries had abandoned communism and adopted multi-party democracies.
• In Yugoslavia, following the death of communist dictator Joseph Broz Tito, the trend of political reform of the communist system occurred along with a trend towards ethnic nationalism and inter-ethnic hostility, especially by Serbian communist leader Slobodan Milosevic who aggressively pushed for increased political influence of Serbs in the late 1980s while being opposed by other non-Serb Communist officials which would lead to the collapse of the country in the 1990s.
• At the end of the decade, the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 would be followed in 1990 by the German reunification.

Oceania

• Australia adopts a new constitution in 1986, fully separating Australia's government from influence of the parliament of the United Kingdom.
• The 1988 World's Fair, Expo '88, is held in Brisbane, Australia.
• Sitiveni Rabuka stages two military coups in Fiji in 1987, and declares the country a republic the same year.
• The Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front begins a violent campaign for Independence in New Caledonia.
• Independence is granted to Vanuatu (1980) and Palau (1981).
• Greenpeace's attempts to monitor French nuclear testing on Mururoa are halted by the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.

Disasters

Lake Nyos, Cameroon.

• Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, U.S. on May 18 1980, killing 57 people.
• The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1989 World Series, gaining worldwide attention. Sixty-five people were killed and thousands injured, with major structural damage on freeways and buildings and broken gas-line fires in San Francisco, California. The cost of the damage totaled $13 billion (1989 USD).
• The US Drought of 1988 decimated the US with many parts of the country becoming victim. This was the worst drought to hit the United States in many years. The US Drought of 1988 caused $60 billion in damage (between $80 billion and $120 billion for 2008 USD). The heat waves represented alongside stole 4800 to 17000 thousand lives in the Unites States.
• Hurricane Allen (1980), Hurricane Alicia (1983), Hurricane Gilbert (1988), Hurricane Joan (1988), and Hurricane Hugo (1989)
• Other natural disasters: The 1982–1983 El Nino brought destructive weather to most of the world; the 1985 Mexico earthquake registered 8.1 on the Richter scale and devastated Mexico City and other areas throughout central Mexico; the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz lahar in Colombia; the 1986 Lake Nyos limnic eruption in Cameroon; and the 1988 Armenian earthquake, which rocked the Caucasus region of the USSR.

Non-natural disasters

In 1984 the Bhopal disaster resulted from a toxic MIC gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing 3,000 immediately and ultimately claiming 15,000-20,000 lives.

In 1986 the Chernobyl disaster, a large-scale nuclear meltdown in the Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, spread a large amount of radioactive material across Europe, killing 47 people, dooming countless others to future radiation-related cancer, and causing the displacement of 300,000 people.

In 1986, the Challenger disaster, the NASA Space shuttle Challenger explodes after takeoff, killing all of the crew onboard. This is the first disaster involving the destruction of a NASA space shuttle.

In 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Alaska. Although not among the largest oil spills, its remote and sensitive location made it one of the most devastating ecological disasters ever.

See also

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (July 2008)

External links

• American Cultural History 1980–1989
• The UK in the 1980s
• australia in the 1980s
• CTV: Preserving the Legacy of 80's Alternative Music
• 80s Culture, Fashion, Movies, TV, and Music

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