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.
Pac-Man
A phenomenally popular arcade game released in America in 1980.
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.
John Hinckley, Jr.
The man who tried to shoot President-Elect Ronald Reagan in 1981 in an attempt to impress Jodie Foster.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sally Ride
In 1983, she became the first woman and LGBT person 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.
Microsoft Word
A word processor released in 1983, free copies of the software were given out in “PC World” magazine.
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
A 1986 space tragedy resulting in the death of teacher Christa McAuliffe, Pres. Reagan postponed the State of the Union and found NASA to be at fault.
Oliver North
A National Security Council staff member who took the blame for the Iran-Contra scandal in 1986.
Tower Commission
Commissioned in 1986 by Pres. Reagan in response to Iran-Contra. They found CIA Director William Casey the most guilty party of the affair.
Jim Bakker
Him and his wife, Tammy Bakker, were popular televangelists in the 1980s until he resigned in 1987 amidst a sex scandal.
Tear down this wall!
The challenge issued by Pres. Reagan to Soviet Premier Gorbachev in 1987, initially ignored or criticized as “warmongering” it has risen to iconic status.
Edwards v. Aguillard
(1987) Ruled that creationism is unconstitutional because it advances a particular religion.
Dorothea Puente
An elderly woman who ran a boarding house, murdering demented boarders and collecting their social security. A 1988 cause célèbre.
Pan Am Flight 103
This 1988 terrorist attack left 178 Americans dead and was orchestrated by Muammar Gaddafi.
