What Happened in 1986?
Timbuk 3 said it best in one of the year’s top songs, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” 1986 was marked by both advances and setbacks. Technology advances helped the Soviet Union launch the Mir Space Station and had the UK and France building the Chunnel. Sadly, it also saw the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and the explosion of one of the nuclear reactors at Chernobyl. We saw Fergie get married to the Duke of York and...
What Happened in 1988?
1988 was a politically active year with indictments handed down in the Iran-Contra affair, a presidential election in which George HW Bush beats out Michael Dukakis, and the election of Sonny Bono as the new mayor of Palm Springs. To escape the politics and the natural and manmade disasters, people flocked to the movies to see some great cinema. This was the year of Rainman, Coming to America, Die Hard, Beetlejuice, and A Fish Called...
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...
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...
What Happened in 1983?
One site reader described the awesomeness of 1983 as follows. 1983, hands down. Michael Jackson and The Police dominate the Billboard charts, while “Murmur” is released and the Smiths put out their first single. Hair bands have not yet screwed up MTV for the rest of us. “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and “Valley Girl” are in the theaters, but George Lucas has hinted at the suck in our movie...
The Cootie Catcher – 80s Fortune Telling
Got a burning question you’ve just got to know the answer to like, Will I marry Scott Baio? Use a cootie catcher! It’s all the craze – or at least it was in 1982 when the Like Totally 80s crowd was in the 5th grade. But, don’t let Mrs. Asher catch you with it, or she’ll grab it up and you’ll have to make a whole new one . . . Sometimes called a fortune teller or scrunchie, cootie catchers were the arts...
Play 80s Arcade Games Online
Paul Neave of Neave Interactive has done a very good thing. He has created flash-based clone versions of some of our favorite early 80s video games. You can play these games on his site for free using the links below. Play Online Here Asteroids Space Invaders Pacman Frogger Simon Tic Tac Toe (like from the 1983 movie WarGames) Tetris Galaga Donkey Kong In making my way through the games on his site I am struck with how shamefully out...
80s Trivia & Puzzles
Today’s 80s Puzzle: Today’s 80s Trivia Question: Q: What lead singer of a chart topping 80s band was offered the lead singer spot with both Toto and Chicago but turned them down? A: Richard Page, lead singer of Mr. Mister. Read past 80s trivia questions below; they are organized by category – music, movies, culture, etc. We are always on the look out for interesting and little know 80s factoids. If you’ve got...
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: 1980 – 1989
We can tell a lot about a decade by the people (or things in this case) chosen by Time Magazine as their person of the year. It gives us a sense of the important events and societal changes that were going on during the 1980s. 1980 Ronald Reagan (b.1911–d.2004) 1981 Lech Wałęsa (b.1943) 1982 The Computer (first non-human “abstract” chosen) 1983 Ronald Reagan (b.1911–d.2004) (2nd time) & Yuri Andropov...
Then & Now: Soleil Moon Frye
Ever wonder what happened to the cute and spunky Soleil Moon Frye, star of the 80s feel good show Punky Brewster? Well, here’s the scoop (and pictures) that tell it all. Then: She began acting at age two after seeing both her father and brother in their TV roles. She went on to be the star of the 80s family show, Punky Brewster (1984-1988), Soleil Moon Frye captured hearts and taught valuable everyday lessons to viewers. Where...
Then & Now: Lee Horsley
Ever wonder what happened to the uber-hunky Lee Horsley, star of the 80s detective show, Matt Houston? Well, here’s the scoop (and pictures) that tell it all. Then: Star of the 80s detective show, Matt Houston, Lee Horsley hit his peak in fame in the mid 1980s. He starred in several other roles on big 80s shows like Dynasty and The Love Boat. Where is Lee now and what is he up to? Take a look below. Then… Now…...
80s Jokes
Welcome to the 1980s humor time warp. Here is our collection of 80s-themed jokes. Humor that only exists in its time context. Q: What did Michael Jackson do when his hair caught fire? (user submitted 06.05.07) A: Beat it! Q: What do you call Dolly Parton doing the backstroke? A: Islands in the Stream Q: Where did the cantaloupe take his vacation? A: John Cougar’s Melon Camp Q: What’s grosser than sweat on Olivia...
MASH Game
The fortune-telling game of pre-teen girls in the 80s. Oh, the hours whiled away figuring out just who I’d marry, where we’d live, how many kids we’d have, the kind of car I’d drive and so on. Strangely, this game did not accurately predict that I would live in the South, have one child and drive a Nissan Murano (navy) and work on the Internet – oh well. They didn’t have Nissan Muranos in 1983...
