| 1980 |
Soviets
and Mujaheddin guerrillas clash in Afghanistan after
Soviet invasion.
Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London,
five people killed in rescue raid.
President Carter orders failed military mission
to rescue hostages in the U.S. Embassy in Iran.
87 million American TV viewers wonder "Who
Shot J.R.?"
Ronald Reagan becomes president, Republicans gain
control of Senate.
Former Beatle John Lennon shot dead in New York.
|
| 1981 |
John
Hinckley wounds President Reagan in assassination
attempt.
Peter Sutcliffe, "The Yorkshire Ripper,"
is arrested after 13 murders.
The first U.S. space shuttle, "Columbia,"
makes inaugural flight.
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the U.S. Supreme Court's
first female judge.
|
| 1982 |
England
drives invading Argentines from Falkland Islands.
The Vietnam Veterans' War memorial is dedicated
in Washington, bearing 58,000 names.
The North Carolina Tar Heels win the NCAA basketball
championship.
Lethal injection is used as a death sentence for
the first time.
|
| 1983 |
Reagan
dubs the USSR the "Evil Empire" amid steep
domestic budget cuts.
A bomb planted by Shiites kills 87 at the U.S. Embassy
in Lebanon.
Reagan openly backs Contras against Marxist Sandinistas
in Nicarauga.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day becomes national holiday.
Two-year drought causes massive famine in Ethiopia.
|
| 1984 |
The
United Kingdom agrees to give China eventual control
of Hong Kong.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" tops the
charts in hunger relief effort.
AIDS virus is discovered.
A toxic gas leak from Union Carbide plant in India
kills 2,500.
|
| 1985 |
Mikhail
Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the U.S.S.R.
A tidal wave kills 10,000 in southern Bangladesh.
Palestinians hijack cruise ship "Achille Largo"
with 450 aboard.
Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's all-time hits record
in baseball.
The U.S. becomes the world's biggest debtors, with
a deficit of $130 billion.
|
| 1986 |
South
Africa institutes a "state of emergency,"
detaining 20,000 people.
"Colorization" of black-and-white classics
bothers some film fans.
Phillipine President Ferdinand Marcos flees in the
wake of election rigging allegations.
Reagan admits to secret arms deal with Iran, the
beginning of the Iran-Contra affair.
|
| 1987 |
President
Reagan announces the U.S.'s first trillion-dollar
budget.
Reagan implores Gorbachev to "tear down this
wall" in Berlin.
Bill Gates becomes the computer industry's first
billionaire.
Van Gogh's "Irises" is sold for $49 million.
Dow Jones drops 23 percent in one day during "Black
Monday."
|
| 1988 |
The
USS Vincennes accidentally shoots down an Iranian
airliner, killing 290.
George Bush defeats Michael Dukakis in the presidential
race.
An earthquake in Armenia kills 80,000.
A jury orders tobacco company to pay $400,000 in
smoker's death.
270 are killed in airliner bomb over Scotland.
|
| 1989 |
China
imposes martial law in Tibet.
Thousands of prodemocracy students occupy Tiananmen
Square in Peking.
U.S. invades Panama to oust Manuel Noriega.
DNA evidence is allowed in some criminal trials.
The Exxon Valdez spills eleven million gallons of
oil in Alaska.
Bush authorizes $300 billion tax dollars to prop
up the collapsing savings and loan industry.
|
