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ronald regan
Ronald Reagan was elected U.S. President in 1980. 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. -
Period: to
1980s
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mt st helens
Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, U.S. on May 18, 1980, killing 57 people. -
john lennon assassinated
Musician and former member of The Beatles John Lennon was assassinated in New York City on December 8, 1980. -
ibm pc
IBM 5150, the first model of the IBM PC, was released in 1981. The IBM PCs and compatible models from other vendors would become the most widely used computer systems in the world. -
ronald reagan shooting
Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981 by John Hinckley, a mentally disturbed young man who also stalked actress Jodie Foster. Reagan's press secretary James Brady was also shot, along with a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent. The latter two recovered, along with Reagan himself, but Brady used a wheelchair as a result of brain damage thereafter and would become an advocate of gun control. -
el mozote
El Mozote massacre in El Salvador on December 11, 1981 against civilians, committed by government forces supported by the United States during their anti-guerrilla campaign against Marxist-Leninist rebels. -
commodore 64
Commodore 64, with sales estimated at more than 17 million units in 1982–1994 became the best-selling computer model of all time. -
canadas independence
Canada gained official independence from the United Kingdom with a new Constitution on 17 April 1982, authorized by the signature by Elizabeth II. This act severed all political dependencies of the United Kingdom in Canada (although the Queen remained the titular head of state). -
aids
Beginning of the AIDS pandemic. a std virus that is deadly. -
soviets shoot down airliner
On September 1, 1983, Soviet Union fighter jets shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, which was carrying 269 people, none of whom survived. -
air india flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was destroyed on June 23, 1985 by Sikh-Canadian militants. It was the biggest mass murder involving Canadians in Canada's history. -
challenger explodes
On January 28, 1986, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, killing all of the crew on board. This was the first disaster involving the destruction of a NASA space shuttle. A faulty O-ring was the cause of the accident. -
chernobyl
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster, a large-scale nuclear meltdown in the Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, spread a large amount of radioactive material across Europe, killing 47 people, dooming countless others to future radiation-related cancer, and causing the displacement of 300,000 people.