1980s
During the 1980s, conservative politics and Reaganomics held sway as the Berlin Wall crumbled, new computer technologies emerged, AIDS ravaged the United States, especially the gay male community, and blockbuster movies and MTV reshaped pop culture.
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Power dressing. ’Eatertainment.’ Fad toys that sparked near-riots. Which trends did you participate in?
Health officials first became aware of AIDS in the summer of 1981, but U.S. leaders remained largely silent for four years.
Critical missteps and a poor reactor design resulted in history’s worst nuclear accident.
The president and Congress clashed over welfare, crime, defense spending and whether to fund Contras in Nicaragua.
Challenger Disaster
How the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Unfolded
Seventy three seconds after take off the Space Shuttle Challenger encounters unexpected disaster. Find out more in this clip from Season 1, "Challenger Disaster."
3 Major Events of the 1980s
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The shocking deaths of seven people in the Chicago area from tampered bottles led to a massive recall—and generated fears around candy poisonings.
The NASA shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, killing all 7 crew members, including Christa McAuliffe.
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in the air over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, killing 270 people in a terrorist plot.
The 1980s were a decade of political conservatism, such as Ronald Reagan’s Reaganomics, and of blockbuster movies, MTV music and technology.
Was the unpopularity of New Coke actually a blessing in disguise for Coca-Cola?
From her 1981 fairy tale wedding to her years as a humanitarian icon, Princess Diana's time in the spotlight shaped much of her legacy.
Take a look back at Hands Across America, the charity event in which 5 million people formed a human chain across the United States.
Critical missteps and a poor reactor design resulted in history’s worst nuclear accident.
Fear of satanic cults and secret rituals swept the nation across music, media and even day care centers.
As D&D enchanted imaginative youth, it also became a battleground for parents and pundits who feared its influence.
Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of the worst nuclear accident in history when a routine test went horribly wrong on April 26, 1986.
In 1989, five New York teenagers were falsely accused of rape.
Hudson’s illness galvanized efforts to confront the AIDS crisis Hollywood had been ignoring.
The chief architect of McCarthyism prosecuted the Rosenbergs, purged suspected communists and LGBT government workers and was portrayed in 'Angels in America.'
HIV and the syndrome it causes, AIDS, was first identified in the United States in 1981.
