What Happened in 1985?
In world events and culture, 1985 can be characterized as heralding in the new. Windows 1.0 is released, the FDA develops a test for screening blood for AIDS, the first successful artificial heart transplant occurs, Gorbachev becomes the de facto leader of the Soviet Union, and the NES game system hits the US. Heck, even Coke was new in 1985. On the music front, this was the year of both “We Are the World” and “Live Aid.” Big singles...
80s TV – Nielsen Ratings Top Shows by Year
We were clearly obsessed with the Ewing and Huxtable families in the 80s; of the eleven years shown below (stretching slightly back into 1979 and forward into 1990 to account for the span of a television season), “Dallas” and “The Cosby Show” took the top spot a whopping eight times! Top 80s TV Show by Year 1979–1980: 60 Minutes (CBS) 1980–1981: Dallas (CBS) 1981–1982: Dallas (CBS) 1982–1983: 60 Minutes (CBS)...
What Happened in 1987?
1987 saw its share of strife and turmoil. The current events of the time included an Amtrak train crash, the Iran-Contra affair, the Unabomber bombing Salt Lake City and the Black Monday stock market crash on October 19th. Add in a typhoon in the Philippines and two different plane crashes and it’s no wonder that this was also the year that Prozac hit the market for the first time. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. Aretha Franklin...
What Happened in 1989?
In many ways, 1989 provided the perfect bookend to this decade that saw so much change. It continued the social, political and technological changes that mark the 1980s. The Berlin Wall came down, the first GPS satellite was put into orbit, and the first black governor in the US was elected. Progress indeed. On the darker side, we suffered through Hurricane Hugo, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The music...
What Happened in 1984?
Some would argue that the launch of “Miami Vice” alone is enough to claim 1984 as the height of the 80s. If that weren’t enough, it saw the release of the first Apple Macintosh and had us asking “Where’s the Beef?” With Reagan re-elected, Space Shuttle Discovery taking off on its maiden voyage and Michael Jackson burned in the filming of Pepsi commercial, 1984 certainly had its share of excitement. 1984 gave us too many great 80s...
