1980s

The 1980s was the decade spanning from 1980 to 1989, also called "The Eighties". The decade saw social, economic and general upheaval as wealth, production and western culture migrated to new industrializing economies. The American led global war on drugs began, and US automakers continued market losses to Japan and other countries. Chasing cheap labor, a lot of global manufacturing relocated into Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, China and Eastern Europe, away from traditional manufacturing strongholds. New middle class economies were beginning to emerge in the old Soviet bloc countries and other parts of the world, and Islamic fundamentalism began to assert itself in the Middle East.

In the United States, the early 1980s were characterized by a religious revival (see Moral Majority) and conservative revival (known as the "Reagan revolution"). The New Right succeeded in building a policy approach and electoral apparatus that propelled Ronald Reagan into the White House in the 1980 presidential election. New Right activists generally denounced abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, feminism, drug legalization, and affirmative action.

The era was characterized by the blend of conservative family values alongside a period of increased telecommunications, a shift towards liberal market economies and the new openness of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR. This transitional period also saw massive democratic revolutions such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China, the Czechoslovak velvet revolution, and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime in Romania and other communist Warsaw Pact states in Central and Eastern Europe. It came to be called as the late 1980s purple passage of the autumn of nations. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century.

The 1980s was also an era of tremendous population growth around the world, surpassing even the 1970s and 1990s for arguably being the largest in human history. This growth occurred not only in developing regions but also developed western nations, where many newborns were the offspring of Baby Boomers. Population growth was particularly astounding in a number of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian countries during this decade, with rates of natural increase close to or exceeding 4% annually.

Social trends

Social attitudes toward minorities began to ease, Baby boomers, who first began to enter positions of power during the 1980s, likely did much to effect this change. During the late 1980s, public bigotry became largely a thing of the past and racial prejudice lost moral acceptance; thus the popularized concept of multiculturalism, particularly in advertising, first appeared.
Conservative talk radio starts in the 1980s and by 1984 Rush Limbaugh begins broadcasting from KFBK AM 1530 in Sacramento, California. In 1989 he moved to his flagship station, WABC in New York City. Limbaugh became nationally syndicated by 1989.
The War on Drugs was instituted by Reagan and the conservatives because of the excesses of drug use in the 1970s. In spite of draconian sentences imposed by the Reagan administration, drug use continued and new drugs such as Crack cocaine appeared.
The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. Continuing the 1970s' trend, more and more women in the English-speaking world took to calling themselves "Ms.", rather than "Mrs." or "Miss." A similar change occurred in Germany, with women choosing "Frau" instead of "Fräulein" in an effort to disassociate marital status from title. In most western countries, women began to exercise the option of keeping their maiden names after marriage; in Canada, legislation was enacted to end the practice of automatically changing a woman's last name upon marriage.
Child abuse gained public attention as alleged incidents of child molestation were reported in various countries particularly at day care facilities in various parts of the United States, and also in countries such as the United Kingdom]] and Australia. Although many of these allegations turned out to be groundless, they helped create an atmosphere in which child abuse could be discussed in public.
Social welfare for handicapped children improved in some countries and these children were no longer ignored or forced into state mental institutions.
National safety campaigns raised awareness of seat belt usage to save lives in automobile accidents, helping to make the measure mandatory in most countries and U.S. states by 1990. Similar efforts arose to push child safety seats and bike helmet use, already mandatory in a number of U.S. states and some countries.
Alcohol education and drug education expanded, bringing about movements such as M.A.D.D., Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign, and D.A.R.E.. By 1990, every state in the U.S. mandated the drinking age to be 21.
Rejection of smoking, perceived as more unhealthy and deadly than in previous decades, increased among Americans following a 1984 reconfirmation of earlier studies into the risks of smoking by the U.S. Surgeon General. "Smoking" and "non-smoking" sections in American restaurants became common, state efforts to combat underage smoking (such as banning cigarette sales to minors) intensified, and acknowledgment of smoking-related birth defects became more common.
Opposition to nuclear power plants grew, especially after the catastrophic 1986 Chernobyl accident.
Environmental concerns intensified. In the United Kingdom, environmentally friendly domestic products surged in popularity. Western European countries adopted "greener" policies to cut back on oil use, recycle most of their nations' waste, and increase focus on water and energy conservation efforts. Similar "Eco-activist" trends appeared in the U.S. in the late 1980s.
In the United States, homosexuals faced renewed discrimination which started with a backlash against disco music which was derided as "fag" music. In 1980, an anti-homosexual documentary was televised by ABC across the nation. The rise of AIDS led to increased public disdain of homosexuality and homosexuals. The Supreme Court upheld laws which criminalize gay sex in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision. MTV banned Dead or Alive music videos because of their homosexual content. However, in the United Kingdom there was increased acceptance of the gay community, partly due to outspoken advocacy by homosexual celebrities.

Culture

In the early 1980s, the first generation of computer, video, and arcade games produced the popular Space Invaders arcade game (first released in 1978), followed by many others.
Computer technology began to enter mainstream culture and appeared in movies such as Tron (1982) and WarGames (1983), using then-state of the art special effects that would go on to have a major impact on movie making.
Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, Teddy Ruxpin, and Trivial Pursuit fads captured the interest of the American and British public.
Rubik's Cube, often used as the defining symbol of the 1980s
Many cartoon characters appeared in the media and on merchandise, becoming huge trends of the 1980s.
Martial arts and Ninja mania swept North America due to the popularity of Kung Fu Theater and ninja movies. The Karate Kid became a blockbuster hit film, and raised interest in karate.
"Raybans" or sunglasses became popular items, as well as sneakers, men's shorts and other athletic wear such as sweats and jerseys for an active generation of young people.
Aerobics surged in popularity. The fad reached across exercise videos, fashion, television, film and music.
MTV, an all-music television station, debuted in the United States in 1981. *Australian pop culture introduced new trends in the U.S. throughout the 1980s to enhance the continent's cultural image. Examples include celebrities Olivia Newton-John, Jacko and Yahoo Serious, musicians INXS, Midnight Oil and Men at Work, the Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies, the Roos shoe brand and Koala Blue chain within the fashion segment, and tastes such as "shrimp on the barbie" and Foster's Lager.
Rap music began to break into the mainstream, resulting in a string of breakdancing movies. Boomboxes became widespread among inner city music listeners and especially breakdancers, for which the device became a vital element to the ritual. "Breakdance battles" were a more peaceful alternative to gang fights and became popular in music videos.
In the U.S., Spanish-language television and radio stations built two major networks to carry shows and music for the U.S. Latino audience, believed at the time to have been left out of the mainstream media.

Sports

The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were disrupted by a boycott led by the United States and 64 other countries in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union responded to the actions taken by the United States and other nations in 1980 by leading Eastern Bloc countries and allies in a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul were the first not to be affected by major boycotts since 1972, but were marred by the disqualification of 100m sprint winner Ben Johnson for failing a drugs test.

In this decade, the West Indies established themselves as the unofficial world champions of cricket, though in a shock upset, they lost the 1983 Cricket World Cup to India. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was won by Australia.

Mike Tyson dominated Professional Boxing and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson brought the National Basketball Association to new heights, just as Michael Jordan was emerging as the league's marquee player.

In Major League Baseball, nine different teams won the World Series—a display of league parity that had not occurred in any previous decade.

The FIFA World Cup was won by Italy in 1982 and by Argentina in 1986.

The inaugural Rugby World Cup was won in 1987 by New Zealand.

Fashion

Music

See also Timeline of musical events#1980s.

The decade began with a backlash against disco music in the United states, and a movement away from the orchestral arrangements that had characterized much of the music of the 1970s. Music in the 1980s was characterized by unheard of electronic sounds accomplished through the use of synthesizers and keyboards, along with drum machines. This made a dramatic change in music.
In the United States, MTV was launched and music videos began to have a huge effect on the record industry. The first video aired was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the British band The Buggles, and it proved oddly prophetic. Bands such as Duran Duran made lavish music videos which made MTV a cultural phenomenon. Pop artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson mastered the format and turned it into big business.
New Wave and Synthpop were developed by many British and American artists, and become popular phenomena throughout the decade, especially in the early and mid eighties.
Heavy metal, Big Hair Bands and Glam metal, experienced extreme popularity in 1980s, becoming one of the most dominating music genres of the 1980s (especially in the late 80s) with artists receiving extensive airplay.
The Hip hop scene evolved to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. As hip hop artists gathered mainstream attention, hip hop's influence began to spread outside of Los Angeles and New York City, eventually taking off into America's shores during the 1980s in 1986.
In the U.S., contemporary Christian music gained popularity in the mid-80s.

New styles of music

Thrash metal appeared and became an underground sensation originating mostly in the Bay Area (San Francisco), and New York City. A few of these acts managed to achieve mainstream exposure (especially during the early 1990s), and were frequently seen as alternatives to the poppier "glam metal" bands of the day.
Extreme metal began, and gained prominence in the underground.
House music was a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade and later developed into acid house, a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
American singer Prince, French band Indochine ("3e sexe"), Canadian singer Norman Iceberg ("Be My Human Tonight"), Spanish band Mecano ("Mujer Contra Mujer") became part of a worldwide movement of artists writing innovative lyrics filled with sexual innuendos reflecting the then-popular and highly fashionable androgynous style.

With increased commercialization of popular music, thousands of new bands from all over the country sprang up in opposition by performing aggressive, stripped-down punk rock with an even larger amount of political and social awareness injected into the lyrics. Known as Hardcore punk, it would go on to influence and create other musical genres well into the 21st century.
El General recorded a first album and reggaeton was born in Panama.
Prince was credited with jump-starting the Minneapolis sound.

Successful artists

Top-charting artists of the 1980s included Metallica, David Bowie, Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, Guns N' Roses, Robert Palmer, New Kids on the Block, The Police, Lionel Richie, Bananarama, The Go-Go's, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Van Halen, Foreigner, John Farnham, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, Wang Chung, Tears for Fears, Poison, Ratt, KISS, Tigertailz, Dokken, Twisted Sister, Pretty Boy Floyd, Mötley Crüe, Cinderella, Europe, Scorpions, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Heart, Juice Newton, Culture Club, The Eurythmics, Def Leppard, Deacon Blue, Bryan Adams, Iron Maiden, Queen, Depeche Mode, U2, Simple Minds, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Cher, Rick Springfield, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Rick Astley, Olivia Newton-John, Prince, Michael Jackson (the best-selling artist worldwide in the entire decade), Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Beastie Boys, Kim Wilde, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Laura Branigan, The Cars, Bon Jovi and George Michael (Wham!).
Records in aid of Ethiopian famine relief, by Band Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") and USA for Africa ("We Are the World") topped the charts, while the Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia attracted thousands of attendees and millions of television viewers. Other artists pushed for nuclear disarmament, racial harmony (Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney in a 1981 duet release: Ebony and Ivory), and AIDS awareness.

Television

See also: 1980s in television

United States

In 1980, black television shows disappeared and would only finally reappear in 1984 with theThe Cosby Show. It was rated number 1 in the Nielsen Ratings in the United States for five consecutive TV seasons.
Music videos featuring minorities were not played by MTV (e.g. they refused to play Donna Summer's video for the 1980 rock hit "The Wanderer", the video of "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton John (1981) was edited to remove all gay references) and gays were portrayed poorly by the media, especially by a widely seen homophobic documentary (which aired in 1980) about gays in San Francisco.
The gay community received an upsurge in popular exposure, with U.S. prime time ratings giants Dynasty and The Golden Girls and UK soap operas Brookside and EastEnders, featuring either regular or recurring gay characters throughout their long runs.
The music-based cable networks MTV and MuchMusic first appeared on the airwaves, and became major pop cultural influences with music videos and in-depth coverage of musicians and trends among North American youth.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the first animated children's television program built exclusively around a toy line, started a new trend of increasing the connection between children's programming and toy advertising, alarming many parents and watchdog organizations.
Animation in the United States and elsewhere saw a dramatic improvement in production values and saw a resurgence of mainstream appeal, both in feature films and on television. Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets, Voltron, and Robotech helped to develop the first wave of organized anime fandom in North America.
Star Trek: The Next Generation, brought the Star Trek franchise back to television in 1987.
On February 1 1982, David Letterman became the host of NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, which remained on the air until 1993 when Letterman left for CBS.
Miami Vice (1984) redefined the cop show genre, combining film-like production values with MTV style music videos.^{[original research?]}
The Oprah Winfrey Show began production. According to a Yale study, the tabloid talk show genre popularized by Oprah Winfrey's success provided much needed high impact media visibility for gay, bisexual, transsexual, and transgender people, allowing them greater entry into mainstream culture.[1]
Brandon Tartikoff became an executive at NBC and is credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, and Cheers.
The Fox network was launched. CNN became the first 24-hour news channel. The growth of cable television with hundreds of new cable networks of a certain field or interest, such as The Weather Channel which debuted in 1982, offered television viewers a much expanded menu from which to choose.
In the UK, two rival satellite television services launch in 1989. British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television offered viewers up to five extra channels, but both failed to gain the success enjoyed by cable television in North America. The two companies would later merge.
Soap operas gained popularity among high-schoolers and college students in the United States. High-budget evening soap operas were also popular with Dynasty, Knot's Landing, and Dallas running for most of the decade in the 10 p.m. time slot.
The #1 shows on American network television throughout the decade:^{[citation needed]}
- 1979–1981: 60 Minutes
- 1981–1982: Dallas
- 1982–1983: 60 Minutes
- 1983–1984: Dallas
- 1984–1985: Dynasty
- 1985–1990: The Cosby Show (shared with Roseanne 1989-90).
The Simpsons shorts debuted on the The Tracey Ullman Show. The Simpsons would go on over the next two decades to become the longest-running American sitcom in history.

The rest of the world

On July 29 1981, television coverage of the marriage of Prince Charles and lady Diana Spencer reached an estimated television audience of 750 million people.
On December 6 1989, the once successful and popular British science fiction series Doctor Who came to an end after more than 26 years and 703 episodes.

Film

Video games

See also History of video games#1980s

Although popularity of video games and arcades began in the mid to late 1970s, it continued throughout the 1980s with rapid growth in video game technology throughout the decade. Space Invaders, developed in Japan in 1978, was first previewed at a UK trade show in 1979, making a huge impact on the early 80s gaming scene. Many other games followed including Pac-Man, creating a Pac Man fever craze early in the decade, especially in 1982 and 1983; Super Mario Bros. games became a highly successful franchise starting in 1985, with its popularity continuing today.

In the 1980s, Atari failed to apply proper quality control to the software development process for its popular Video Computer System game console. The amount of low-quality software caused a massive collapse of the home console industry. The release of Nintendo's Famicom/NES console rectified the problem and revived home gaming by only being able to play games approved by the company. PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive were next generation game consoles that were released during the last years of the decade.

Home computers become popular in the 1980s and during that decade they were used heavily for gaming, especially the ZX Spectrum. The prevailing IBM PC standard was born in 1981 but had a status of a non-entertainment computer throughout the decade. Along with the IBM PC, the Commodore 64 (1982) was the most popular 8-bit home computer and its successor, the Amiga (1985), was the most popular 16-bit home computer.

International issues

United States

American schoolgirl Samantha Smith visited the Soviet Union after writing to Yuri Andropov and became involved in the growing peace movement between East and West before her death in 1985.
The United States, along with members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, invaded Grenada in 1983. There was also an attack by the US against Libya in 1986.
John Lennon was assassinated in 1980.
An attempt was made on the life of Ronald Reagan, 1981.
A crack cocaine epidemic occurred in urban areas of the U.S., such that violent crime and drug trafficking soared to record levels in most large American cities. Crime and drug use rates began to fall toward the end of the decade.
Riots took place in the poor section of Miami in May 1980 and January 1989.
A poverty rate of 50% African Americans, 30% Hispanic and 10% White.
Unemployment achieved an overall rate of 10%.

Canada

The 1986 World's Fair, Expo 86, was held in Vancouver.
Political unrest in the province of Quebec, which rooted from the many differences between the dominant francophone population versus the anglophone minority and the francophones rights in the dominantly English-speaking Canada, came to a head in 1980 when the provincial government called a public referendum on partial separation from the rest of Canada. The referendum ended with the "no" side winning majority (59.56% no, 40.44% yes).
During The Right Honourable Pierre Elliot Trudeau's term as Prime Minister of Canada (and under his oversight), Queen Elizabeth II signed the New Constitution of Canada on 17 April 1982. This Act severed all Political Dependencies of the United Kingdom in Canada.
In 1984, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leader Brian Mulroney became Prime Minister of Canada; he remained Prime Minister until 1993, ending almost 67 years of rule by the Liberal Party of Canada.
The Meech Lake Accord, a package of changes and amendments to the constitution of Canada, was created in conference and pushed ahead by Brian Mulroney for ratification from the provinces. The accord gave each province more immigration powers and gave Quebec the status of a "distinct society" and a constitutional veto. It was voted down and followed by another set of amendments, which was also voted down in the 1990s. The creation of and eventual failure of the Meech Lake accords eventually, and the following Charlottetown Accords set the stage for another referendum in Quebec, in 1995.

In Europe

In 1981 there was a assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square. In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated.

In the European Community, after the first direct elections for the European Parliament in 1979, its enlargement continued with the accession of Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. At the end of the decade, the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 would be followed in 1990 by the German reunification.

United Kingdom

Margaret Thatcher held the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
The Falklands War occurred from 2 April 1982 – 14 July 1982 against the Argentinians over the Falkland Islands off the East Coast of Argentina.
Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles 1981.

Australia

Bob Hawke was Prime Minister of Australia for most of the 1980s.
Most Australian states decriminalized homosexuality.
In 1983 the states of Victoria and South Australia were hit by the Ash Wednesday fires. These fast-spreading wildfires claimed the lives of 75 people and left much of south-eastern Australia (including the cities of Melbourne and Adelaide) under a layer of ash.
The 1988 World's Fair, Expo '88, was held in Brisbane.

Latin America

Africa

Middle East

Asia

Disasters

File:Lake nyos.jpg

Lake Nyos, Cameroon.

Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, U.S. on May 18 1980, killing 57 people.
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1989 World Series, gaining worldwide attention. Seventy-two people were killed and thousands injured, with major structural damage on freeways and buildings and broken gas-line fires in San Francisco, California. The cost of the damage totalled $10 billion.
Other natural disasters: The 1982–1983 El Nino brought destructive weather to most of the world; the 1985 Mexico earthquake registered 8.1 on the Richter scale and devastated Mexico City and other areas throughout central Mexico; the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz lahar in Colombia; the 1986 Lake Nyos limnic eruption in Cameroon; and the 1988 Armenian earthquake, which rocked the Caucasus region of the USSR.

Man-made disasters

Two major disasters made world headlines in the 1980s. In 1984 the Bhopal disaster resulted from a toxic gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. In 1986 the Chernobyl disaster spread a large amount of radioactive material across Europe, killing 47 people (with thousands more possibly dying from radiation-caused cancers)and resulting the rehousing of over 300,000 people into safer areas. Major envoronmental disasters included the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

External links

American Cultural History 1980–1989