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Period: to
1980-1990
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Grain Embargo - Jimmy Carter
this banned the export of grain and technology to the Soviet Union in response to the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The effects were negaitive with the Soviet Union simply acquiring grain from alternative sources in South America and Europe.[1] Commodity prices dropped following the embargo, contributing to a severe farm crisis. -
Abscam
Breaking the ABSCAM Story FBI personnel target members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation (AMERICAN HUSTLE) -
Olympics held in NY
The 1980 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York. -
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Commonwealth Trade Union Council established
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NYC Transport Works Union Local 100 strike
continues for 11 days. -
St. Pauls Riot
Bristol, TN -
US & Iran diplomatic relations get cut off
Also imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979. -
Operation Eagle Claw aborted
A commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages is aborted after mechanical problems. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation. -
Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington
killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage. -
The International Court of Justice
Calls for the release of U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran. -
CNN
1st 24-hour news station created -
U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs Proclamation 4771,
requiring 18- to 25-year-old males to register for a peacetime military draft, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. -
Inititating of the Iran-Iraq War
The command council of Iraq orders its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets," -
The Staggers Rail Act
deregulating American railroads. -
Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter
In international affairs, Reagan pursued a hardline policy towards preventing the spread of communism, initiating a considerable buildup of U.S. military power to challenge the Soviet Union. He further directly challenges the Iron Curtain by demanding that the Soviet Union dismantle the Berlin Wall. -
Voyager
closest approach to Saturn and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth. -
John Lennon
shot outside of his apartment in New York City by Mark David Chapman. -
US & Iranian agreement
to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity. -
President Ronald Reagan gets shot
in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. -
Bob Marley, dies from cancer at 36
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First recognition of AIDS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia -
Donkey Kong released
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MTV
1st 24-hour music video channel -
IBM PC
more specifically a desktop microcomputer compatible with IBM's PC products. Within a short time of the introduction, third-party suppliers of periperhal devices, expansion cards, and software proliferated; the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market was substantial in standardizing a platform for personal computers. -
Gulf of Sidra incident
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sends two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two U.S. fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroy the Libyan fighters. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
takes her seat as the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. -
Iran-Contra scandal
President Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 authorizing the CIA to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua. -
US & USSR - Geneva
begin negotiating intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe -
El Mozote massacre
in El Salvador against civilians, committed by government forces supported by the United States during their anti-guerrilla campaign against Marxist-Leninist rebels. -
1st Ameican test-tube baby
Elizabeth Jordan Carr, born in Norfolk, Virginia. -
Air Florida Flight 90
crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78. On the same day, a Washington Metro train derails to the north, killing 3 (the system's first fatal accident -
US places an embargo on Libya
oil imports, alleging Libyan support for terrorist groups. -
Falklands War begins
was a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British overseas territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It began on Friday 2 April 1982 when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it has long claimed over them. -
1982 World's Fair
A crowd of over 100,000 attends the first day of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is kicked off with an address by President Ronald Reagan. Over 11 million people attend during its 6-month run. -
Nuclear weapon rally
750,000 rally against nukes in Central Park, NY -
1st International Day of Peace
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Sony releases 1st CD player
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Michael Jackson releases Thriller
the biggest selling album of all time. -
The first U.S. execution by lethal injection
Texas was the first state with the execution of Charles Brooks Jr -
Times magazine gives 'Man of the Year' to computer
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"Star Wars"
President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. -
Disney Channel is founded
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Lebanon, Israel, & United States sign agreement
on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. -
Sally Ride
First American women in space on Space Shuttle Challenger -
Wheel of Fortune aires
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Grenada
U.S.-led invasion triggered by a military coup which ousted a brief revolutionary government. The successful invasion led to a change of government but was controversial due to charges of American imperialism, Cold War politics, the involvement of Cuba, the unstable state of the Grenadian government, and Grenada's status as a Commonwealth realm. -
MLK Jr. Day
President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honor American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. -
RR & Japan
Ronald Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the Diet, Japan's national legislature -
Apple
Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States -
AIDS virus becomes public
United States researchers announce their discovery of the AIDS virus -
Walkman becomes a popular item
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RR wins pres. election
Ronald Reagan defeats Walter F. Mondale with 59% of the popular vote -
William J. Schroeder
First person to leave the hospital with an artificial heart. he ends up living for 620 days -
"We Are The World"
In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa. -
Breakfast Club is released
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Back to the Future
ends up being the highest grossing film of 1985 in the United States and the first film in the successful franchise. -
Vice President George H.W. Bush
serves as Acting President for 8 hours, while President Ronald W. Reagan undergoes colon cancer surgery. -
40th ann. of Hiroshima
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Iran-Contra Affair
The first arms, 96 BGM-71 TOWs, are sent to Iran in exchange for hostages in Lebanon and profits for the Nicaraguan Contras. The public does not know about the arms sale -
Aspen, Colorado
The first smoking ban banning smoking in restaurants in the United States is passed -
Titanic
The wreck of the RMS Titanic (1912) in the North Atlantic is located by a joint American-French expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard (WHOI) and Jean-Louis Michel (Ifremer) using side-scan sonar from RV Knorr. -
Super Mario Bros.
released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. -
Nintendo Entertainment System
The first Nintendo home video game console in United States is released -
Windows 1.0.
Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, -
Voyager 2
space probe makes its first encounter with Uranus. -
Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates 73 seconds after launch
CNN: Challenger Disaster Live on CNN killing the crew of 7 astronauts, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. -
Pixar Animation Studios is opened
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The United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.
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Chernobyl disaster
A mishandled safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union "killed at least 4056 people and damaged almost $7 billion of property". Radioactive fallout from the accident is concentrated near Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and at least 350,000 people are forcibly resettled away from these areas. After the accident, "traces of radioactive deposits unique to Chernobyl were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere". -
Top Gun is released
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Stand by Me is released
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Goldwater–Nichols Act
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Goldwater–Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret, in order to secure the release of 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon -
Iran-Contra Affair
National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary, Fawn Hall, start shredding documents implicating them in selling weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. -
Iran-Contra Affair
U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. -
Iran-Contra Affair
U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that on December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will serve as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission). Reagan denies involvement in the scandal. -
Period: to
War on Drugs PSA becomes popular
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Pres. RR surgery
President Ronald Reagan undergoes prostate surgery, causing speculation about his physical fitness to continue in office. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Tower Commission rebukes U.S. President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his National Security Council staff. -
AZT
AZT is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of HIV/AIDS -
Edwards v. Aguillard
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools whenever evolution is taught is unconstitutional. -
Michael Jackson releases his hit album Bad.
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U.S. ships destroy 2 Iranian oil platforms in Persian Gulf.
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Iran-Contra Affair
U.S. Senate and House panels release reports charging President Ronald Reagan with 'ultimate responsibility' for the affair -
Iran-Contra Affair
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. -
California v. Greenwood
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police officers do not need a search warrant to search through discarded garbage. -
Morrison v. Olson
The United States Supreme Court upholds the law allowing special prosecutors to investigate suspected crimes by executive branch officials. -
Al-Qaeda is formed by Osama bin Laden.
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The Iran–Iraq War ends
with an estimated one million lives lost. -
RR & US Embassy
Ronald Reagan decides to tear down the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow because of Soviet listening devices in the building structure. -
George W. H. Bush
elected over Michael Dukakis, becoming the first sitting Vice President of the United States in 152 years to be elected as President of the United States. -
War on Drugs
U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill providing the death penalty for murderous drug traffickers.The Reagan Administration accelerated the War on Drugs, publicized through anti-drug campaigns including the Just Say No campaign of First Lady Nancy Reagan. Drugs became a serious problem in the '80s. Cocaine was popular among celebrities and the young, sophisticated "yuppies", while crack, a cheaper and more potent offshoot of the drug, turned the inner cities into war zones. -
Gulf of Sidra incident
Two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are engaged and shot down by 2 US Navy F-14 Tomcats. -
The Berne Convention
an international treaty on copyrights, is ratified by the United States. -
Gun control
U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States. -
Say Anything... is released
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President Bush orders 1,900 U.S. troops to Panama
to protect Americans there. -
Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune.
