The 1980s The Reagan Era

1. The 1980sThe Reagan Era

2. 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics This led to Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The U.S and 64 other countries boycotted the games because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

3. CNN Goes On The Air Ted Turner established CNN, the first all news service.

4. John Lennon Assassinated Mark David Chapman

5. Mount St. Helens Eruption Located in the state of Washington Fifty-seven people were killed

6. video of Mt St Helens

7. 1980 Presidential Election REPUBLICAN Ronald Reagan DEMOCRATIC Jimmy Carter

8. Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time in 28 years

9. Solidarity (Polish Trade Union) • Solidarity was the first non-communist party-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. • The government attempted to destroy the union, but talks between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989.

10. Assassination attempt on President Reagan on March 30, 1981 John Hinckley, Jr

11. Sandra Day O’Connor First woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court 1981-2006

12. April 1981 The space shuttle launches for the first time  Columbia

13. AIDS

14. August 1: The birth of MTV, the 24 hour-a-day music television station

15. Air Traffic Controller Strike Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored a return to work order

16. IBM introduced the first personal computer, or PC

17. Chicago Tylenol Murders1982 Acetaminophen Cyanide

18. The Equal Rights Amendment died, three states short of ratification.

19. The Vietnam Memorial was erected in Washington D.C.

20. Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed "Lawnchair Larry"  • Tied 42 weather balloons to a lawn chair and flew as high as 16,000 feet before shooting the balloons with a pellet gun and landing about 90 minutes later. • The FAA fined him $1,500.

21. 1982-1983

22. Reagan Announces Defense Plan Called SDI….or ‘Star Wars’1983

23. Sally Ride The First American Woman in Space

24. Embassy in Beirut BombingApril 18, 1983 • A suicide bombing against the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. • Killed over 60 people, mostly embassy staff, Marines and sailors. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission up to that time, and is seen by some as marking the beginning of anti-U.S. attacks by Islamist groups.

25. “Just Say No" The anti-drug slogan was created and championed by First Lady Nancy Reagan during her husband's presidency

26. Invasion of Grenada • US invaded Grenada after coup on the islands.

27. Reagan sent U.S. forces to invade the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada. • Congress was notified, but not consulted. • The reasons given to the American people for this invasion (officially called Operation Urgent Fury) were that a recent coup that had taken place in Grenada put American citizens (students at a medical school on the island) in danger. More medals were handed out during the invasion than during the entire Vietnam war.

28. The Macintosh Personal Computer1894

29. 1984 Presidential Election Republican President Reagan Democratic Walter Mondale

30. Geraldine Ferraro Became the first woman Vice President running mate.

33. PG-13 Movie Rating Created

34. The Opening of the Soviet Union1985 Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev called for glasnost (Openness) … and perestroika (political and economic reform) Perestroika is often argued to be one reason for the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and for the end of the Cold War

35. New Coke The Original Coke…or “Classic Coke” New Coke was a failure. The new product continued to be sold and retained the name Coca-Cola (until 1992, when it was officially renamed Coca-Cola II), so the old product was named Coca-Cola Classic, more commonly Coke Classic and later just Coke. 

36. Wreckage of the Titanicdiscovered

37. Crack Cocaine

38. Wembley Stadium, London A multi-venue rock music concert held on July 13, 1985  to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia.  JFK Stadium in Philadelphia

39. Challenger Space Shuttle DisasterJanuary 28, 1986 It broke apart 73 seconds into its flight

40. Chernobyl Nuclear Accident April 1986 in Ukraine (then in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union). It is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history and is the only level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The town of Pripyat, Ukraine was abandoned after the Chernobyl incident.

41. Iran-Contra Scandal •  A political scandal during the Reagan administration, in which senior U.S. figures, including President Ronald Reagan, agreed to make possible the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo. • U.S. officials hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of six U.S. hostages held by the Lenonese • It would also allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund Nicaraguan contras.

42. U.S. Bombs Libya The U.S. launched air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and citizens. 

43. “Baby Jessica," Jessica McClure fell down a well • Workers spent 58 hours trying to rescue her.

44. New York Stock Exchange Suffers Huge Drop on "Black Monday"

45. SALT II

46. Music

48. Heavy Metal Hair Bands Motley Crue today

49. New Wave

50. The Cool Stuff