1980s Flashcards
The Iran hostage crisis
Iranian college students took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, making Carter look weak, they were released when Reagan was being sworn in.
Canadian Caper
The joint U.S.-Canadian effort in 1980 to save a handful of hostages from the Iranian embassy, immortalized in the film “Argo.”
New Mexico State Penitentiary riot
A sickeningly violent 1980 prison riot.
Abscam
A 1980 FBI sting operation in which agents posed as rich oil sheiks and bribed members of Congress.
Miracle on Ice
The 1980 victory of the American men’s ice hockey team over their Soviet challengers.
1980 Olympics
Pres. Carter announced that the U.S. would boycott these Moscow-held games.
Silver Thursday
A steep fall in silver prices occurring in 1980.
Mariel boatlift
A mass exodus of Cuban immigrants to Florida occurring in the year 1980.
Operation Eagle Claw
A fatal flawed opperation planned by Pres. Carter in 1980 to try and rescue the Iranian hostages, but instead resulted in a number of deaths.
Arthur McDuffie
A black man whose death at the hands of four acquitted white officers resulted in the 1980 Miami riots.
Pac-Man
A phenomenally popular arcade game released in America in 1980.
1980 Democratic Primary
Sen. Ted Kennedy almost overtook incumbent Pres. Carter.
1980 United States heat wave
This deadly heat wave occurred during Carter’s presidency, furthering the depressed mood of the nation.
Soviet war in Afghanistan
After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1980, Pres. Carter proclaimed that all 19-21 year old men must register for a peacetime draft.
Equal Rights Amendment
A proposed constitutional amendment that failed to be ratified in time as a result of the campaigning of antifeminist lawyer Phyllis Schlafly. In 1980, the Republican Party officially dropped its support for the amendment.
The Religious Right
A group which propelled Reagan into the White House by taking socially conservative positions.
Unabomber
Ted Kaczynski was the target of one of the FBI’s costliest investigations. He sent multiple bombs to locations killing 3 people and injuring 23 in all.
Ordinary People
A 1980 film depicting the disintegration of a middle class family.
Staggers Rail Act
1980 law that deregulated the railroads.
United States presidential election, 1980
Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in an electoral landslide, by attacking Carter’s failures in the Iran hostage crisis, as well as rising inflation and unemployment.
Reagan Revolution
The conservative realignment of American politics that took place in 1980, signalled by the Republicans taking control of the Congress for the first time in years.
Who shot J. R.?
A 1980 episode of the TV show “Dallas” that was a culturally significant moment.
Mark David Chapman
The assassin of John Lennon.
Superfund
1980 law which empowered the EPA to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances as well as broadly define “pollutants or contaminants.”
Michael Donald
An African-American young man lynched by two Klan members in 1981, his mother successfully sued the Klans of America for her son’s death.
John Hinckley, Jr.
The man who tried to shoot President-Elect Ronald Reagan in 1981 in an attempt to impress Jodie Foster.
James Brady
Reagan’s aide who was paralyzed in a 1981 assassination attempt, who went on to campaign against gun violence.
Early 1980s recession
A severe recession which lasted for six months. It was caused by contractionary monetary policy undertaken by the Federal Reserve to combat double digit inflation and residual effects of the energy crisis. It caused a move from Keynesian economics towards neoliberal policies.
AIDS
A disease emerging in the 1980s that seemed to only affect gay men. It crippled the gay rights movement, empowered the homophobic right, and killed a whole generation of men. Pres. Reagan and the FDA were criticized for not doing enough during the 1980s.
Wayne Williams
A black serial killer arrested in 1981, assumed to be the culprit behind over 20 child murders.
Sandra Day O’Connor
The first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, in 1981 by Pres. Reagan. Her politics were center-right with liberal views on abortion.
Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
Over 200 died in this 1981 tragedy, which changed the way architecture is taught and practiced.
Adam Walsh
A figure in the missing children’s movement after he was murdered in 1981.
MTV
An influential TV channel which premiered in 1981, playing music videos.
The air-traffic controllers strike
In 1981 Pres. Reagan fired over 11,000 air-traffic controllers after they didn’t comply with his demand for them to go back to work.
The Concert in Central Park
Simon & Garfunkel’s 1981 live recording of a concert attended by half a million people.
General Hospital
This soap opera’s viewership peaked in 1981, with the marriage of characters Luke and Laura.
NSDD-17
A directive signed by Reagan in 1981 authorizing the Central Intelligence Agency to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
In vitro fertilisation
A method of conception first successfully performed in 1981.
Conch Republic
A tongue-in-cheek micronation consisting of Florida Keys islands which declared independence in 1982, the government treated them with serious resistance all the same.
1982 Anti-nuclear protest
One million people demonstrated in New York City’s Central Park against nuclear weapons and for an end to the cold war arms race. It was the largest anti-nuclear protest and the largest political demonstration in American history.
Larry Walters
A man who, in 1982, flew a lawn chair by attaching weather balloons to it.
Sun Myung Moon
A controversial Korean religious leader who was influential in the 1970s Eastern Religious Movement. His followers saw him as a True Father while his critics called him a cult leader. In 1982 he was arrested for tax fraud.
Lebanese Civil War
In 1982, Marines arrived in Lebanon to ensure the withdrawal of the PLO.
Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act
Legislation passed to relieve the ongoing recession by closing tax loopholes, it was settled by Pres. Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill
Johnny Gosch
A kidnapped paper boy whose disappearance contributed to the 1980s Missing Children’s Movement.
Chicago Tylenol murders
A series of 1982 poisonings that lead to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws.
Thriller
Michael Jackson’s 1982 album that was the biggest selling of all time.
Artificial heart
A medical device first employed in 1982.
Apple Lisa
A poorly selling Apple P.C. released in 1983.
Personal Justice Denied
A 1983 congressional report decrying the practice of Japanese internment as unjust and calling for reparations.
MAS*H
A beloved TV series which aired its very popular series finale in 1983.
Anne Gorsuch Burford
Served as the head of the EPA. She resigned in 1983 after mishandling funds and placating polluters.
Star Wars
Pres. Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, plan proposed in 1983 to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons.
Moonwalk
An iconic dance performed by Michael Jackson in 1983.
1983 United States embassy bombing
The bombing of the American embassy in Lebanon, orchestrated by Hezbollah in response to American intervention in the Lebanese Civil War.
Samantha Smith
An American little girl, a Cold War figure, invited to visit the USSR by Yuri Andropov, after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
National Missing Children’s Day
The height of the Missing Children’s Movement, this holiday was proclaimed in 1983.
Sally Ride
In 1983, she became the first woman and LGBT person in space.
Guion Bluford
In 1983, he became the first African-American in space.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
A commercial airliner shot down in 1983 by the USSR, killing a U.S. Congressman. The Soviet government claimed the plane was on a spy mission, but the American consensus was that the Soviets were trying to provoke a war. It was one of the tensest moments of the Cold War, caused the Reagan administration to allow worldwide access to the U.S. military’s GPS technology.
Vanessa L. Williams
In 1983 she became the first African-American crowned Miss America, only to have her crown taken away several months later after a nude photo scandal.
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
A suicide bomb attack killing over a hundred American troops, prompting the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from Lebanon, where they had been since the PLO invaded Lebanon in response to Israel invading Lebanon.
Eugenia Charles
The Prime Minister of Grenada who, in 1983, asked for U.S. intervention in response to a coup which led to the death of the previous Prime Minister.
Operation Urgent Fury
The 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada, which took place in response to a bloody military coup orchestrated by the leftist New Jewel Movement- which was very popular with the Grenadian populace.
Microsoft Word
A word processor released in 1983, free copies of the software were given out in “PC World” magazine.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
A holiday created in 1983 by Pres. Reagan, despite Reagan having had made statements critical of Reagan immediately following his assassination, when Reagan was governor of California.
ciclosporin
A drug approved by the FDA in 1983 causing rapid developments in the world of transplants.
Thriller video
Released in 1983, it remains the most popular music video of all time.
1984 (advertisement)
An iconic commercial advertising Apple computers that aired in 1983.
Jesse Jackson
A Baptist minister who launched a surprisingly successful presidential campaign beginning in 1983.
minivans
A type of suburban car first released by Chrysler in the mid-1980s.