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Gorbachev calls for “Glasnost” and “Perestroika”
A political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union -
US attempt at rescue of hostages in Tehran
An ill-fated military operation to rescue the 52 American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight U.S. servicemen dead and no hostages rescued. -
Pac-Man
Was first released in May in Japan, then by October, it was released in the US -
CNN
CNN first broadcast was on June 1, 1980 -
Comedian Richard Pryor sets himself on fire
Pryor was drinking rum and doing cocaine. -
Death of John Lennon
Lennon was shot in New York by a crazed fan -
MS-DOS released
The first version of the Microsoft Disk Operating System. It is a command-line-based system, where all commands are entered in text form and there is no graphical user interface. -
Assassination attempt on Reagan
Reagan was shot once by John Hinckley Jr. because he was trying to get Jodi Fosters attention. -
First U.S. IVF Baby
Elizabeth Jordan Carr is the United States first baby born from in-vitro fertilization. -
Michael Jackson "Thriller"
Michael Jackson released the song Thriller. -
We are the World
U.S.A for Africa releases We are the World -
Nike releases Air Jordan 1
Nike released the first Air Jordan for $65 -
Ryan White
Student who was diagnosed with AIDS and returned to school. -
Hands Across America
A public event in which approximately 6.5 million people held hands for fifteen minutes in an attempt to form a continuous human chain across the contiguous United States. -
Chernobyl
At a nuclear plant in Ukraine, a nuclear rector exploded and burned. -
Soviet Troops withdraw from Afghanistan
The final and complete withdrawal of Soviet combatant forces from Afghanistan. -
The Central Park Five
Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson. Five teenagers who were arrested and charged with attempted murder, rape and assault. -
Simpsons debut
The famous and future predicting show was first televised in 1989
