Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Events and Trends
- Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan
- Reaganomics
- Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British politics.
- Falklands War Britain fights off Argentine invasion of Falkland islands in 1982
- Political correctness
- President Tito of Yugoslavia dies.
- Solidarity movement in Poland eventually topples the country's Communist regime.
- Revolution in Romania, end of the communist period
- Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union
- Fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany
- Bulletin board system popularity
- Popularization of personal computers
- Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hits theaters
- Release of Americans held hostage in Iran
- Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988 kills one million people.
- Iran-Contra Scandal
- Soviet Union ends its disasterous millitary campaign in Afghanistan.
- "People Power" in the Philippines topples Marcos dicatorship; inspired a trend of peaceful revolts worldwide
- Salman Rushdie wanted dead by Iranian leader Khomeini
- Students protest on Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China
- Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland
- Largest one-day stock market drop, on October 19, 1987
- Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
- Hip hop began to achieve mainstream success in the United States, with artists like Kurtis Blow and N.W.A.; hip hop's spread outside of New York City, especially to Los Angeles, accelerates
- Rise of cable television
- Fall of economic security in the United States
- 24 hour television news channels (e.g., CNN)
- Music videos (and MTV) begin to have an affect record industry in the United States
World Leaders
- Deng Xiaoping (People's Republic of China)
- President Anwar Sadat (Egypt)
- President Hosni Mubarak (Egypt)
- President François Mitterrand (France)
- Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (India)
- Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (India)
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iran)
- President Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
- Prime Minister Menachem Begin (Israel)
- Prime Minister Shimon Peres (Israel)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope John Paul II
- Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet Union)
- Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union)
- Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom)
- President Jimmy Carter (United States)
- President Ronald Reagan (United States)
- Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (West Germany)
- Chancellor Helmut Kohl (West Germany)
Film
- Ghostbusters
- Meg Ryan
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator)
- Charlie Sheen[?]
- Matthew Broderick
- Phoebe Cates
- Tom Cruise
- Matt Dillon[?]
- Clint Eastwood
- Harrison Ford (as Indiana Jones)
- Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future)
- Mel Gibson
- Batman (Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson)
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Brat Pack[?], John Hughes, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink[?], Hairspray[?]
- Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee[?])
- Top Gun
- Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop[?])
- Sean Penn
- Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: First Blood[?])
- Patrick Swayze[?] (Dirty Dancing[?])
Television
- The A-Team (including Mr. T)
- Saturday Night Live
Music
- see hip hop, old school rap, heavy metal music, twee pop, hair metal, New Wave music, New Romantic, shoegazing, jangle pop[?], alternative rock, dream pop, techno, house, acid house
- Aerosmith (Pump[?])
- Afrika Bambaataa (Planet Rock)
- Alabama (awarded ACM "Artists of the Decade")
- Anthrax (State of Euphoria)
- a-ha (Hunting High and Low[?])
- Public Enemy (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back)
- The B-52's (The B-52's[?])
- Bad Religion (Suffer)
- The Bangles (All Over the Place[?])
- Beastie Boys (Licensed to Ill)
- Clint Black (Killin' Time)
- Black Flag
- David Byrne (The Catherine Wheel[?])
- Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Blow[?])
- The Cars (Heartbeat City[?])
- Celtic Frost (Into the Pandemonium)
- Tracy Chapman (Tracy Chapman[?])
- The Clash (London Calling)
- Cocteau Twins (Head over Heels)
- Phil Collins (Face Value[?])
- De La Soul (Three Feet High and Rising)
- Def Leppard (Pyromania)
- Devo (Freedom of Choice)
- Dokken (Tooth and Nail[?])
- Duran Duran (Rio)
- Embrace[?] (Embrace[?])
- Brian Eno (My Life in the Bush of Ghosts[?])
- Eric B. & Rakim (Follow the Leader)
- Faith No More (The Real Thing)
- Fields of the Nephilim ([Dawnrazor]])
- A Flock of Seagulls (A Flock of Seagulls[?])
- John Fogerty (Centerfield[?])
- Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel (3)[?]
- The Go-Go's (The Beauty and the Beat)
- Amy Grant (Straight Ahead[?])
- Guns n' Roses (Appetite for Destruction)
- Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (The Message[?])
- Hüsker Dü (Zen Arcade[?])
- John Cougar Mellencamp (Scarecrow[?])
- Menudo (Reaching Out[?])
- Mercyful Fate (Don't Break the Oath)
- Michael Jackson (Thriller)
- Mission UK (The First Chapter[?])
- The Jam (Sound Affects[?])
- Jane's Addiction (Nothing's Shocking)
- Jesus & Mary Chain (Pyschocandy[?])
- Joy Division (Closer)
- Kraftwerk (Computer World[?])
- Cyndi Lauper (She's So Unusual)
- k.d. lang (Shadowland[?])
- LL Cool J (Radio)
- Madonna (Like a Virgin)
- Bob Marley (Uprising)
- Ministry (The Land of Rape and Honey[?])
- Sugar Minnott (Good Thing Going[?])
- Mötley Crüe (Shout at the Devil)
- My Bloody Valentine (Isn't Anything[?])
- My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (I See Good Spirits & I See Bad Spirits[?])
- Nine Inch Nails (Pretty Hate Machine)
- N.W.A. (Straight Outta Compton)
- The Offspring (The Offspring)
- Quiet Riot (Metal Health)
- Augustus Pablo (Earth's Rightful Ruler[?])
- Pixies (Doolittle)
- Poison (Open Up & Say...Ahh![?])
- The Police (Synchronicity
- The Pogues (Rum Sodomy & the Lash[?])
- The Pretenders (The Pretenders)
- Prince (Purple Rain)
- R.E.M. (Murmur[?])
- Rainbow (Down to Earth)
- Red Hot Chili Peppers (Freaky Styley[?])
- The Replacements (Tim)
- Rick Springfield (Working Class Dog[?])
- Rockin' Sidney (My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues[?])
- Run DMC (Kings of Rock[?])
- Sepultura (Beneath the Remains)
- Simple Minds (Once Upon a Time[?])
- Sisters of Mercy (Floodland[?])
- Skinny Puppy ((VIVISect VI[?])
- Slick Rick (The Great Adventures of Slick Rick)
- The Smiths (The Queen Is Dead)
- Soft Cell (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing[?])
- Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation)
- Sting (The Dream of the Blue Turtles[?])
- The Specials (More Specials)
- Bruce Springsteen (Born in the U.S.A.)
- Stryper (The Yellow and Black Attack[?])
- Talking Heads (Speaking in Tongues[?])
- Tina Turner (Private Dancer)
- Randy Travis (Storms of Life[?])
- Peter Tosh (Mama Africa[?])
- U2 (The Joshua Tree)
- Van Halen (Women and Children First[?])
- Violent Femmes (Violent Femmes[?])
- W.A.S.P. (F**k Like a Beast[?])
- Wham! (Make It Big[?])
- Whitesnake (Saints and Sinners[?])
- Yellowman (Mister Yellowman[?])
- Y La Tengo[?] (New Wave Hot Dogs[?])
- Dwight Yoakam (Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.[?])
- ZZ Top (Afterburner)
- Various artists - C-86[?]
See also: 1980s music groups, List of rock and roll albums in the 1980s
Common misspelling and questions (FAQ)
980s 180s 190s 198s 1980 9180s 1890s 1908s 198s0 1980 11980s 19980s 19880s 19800s 1980ss ~980s q980s 2980s q980s 1880s 1i80s 1o80s 1080s 1o80s 1970s 19u0s 19i0s 1990s 19i0s 1989s 198os 198ps 198-s 198ps 1980w 1980a 1980z 1980e 1980x 1980e 1980d 1980x 1980esto notice me again one day?" then, with a mocking nod to Philip, he left Suddenly Guida said to herself: "My handkerchief--why did he take my Prince of Vaufontaine, my faith! What did he come here for?" Guida looked at him in surprise. She scarcely grasped the significance and without hesitation she told him all that had happened--it was so very save that Detricand had carried off the handkerchief, and she could not Detricand's stand-point, but he was wise enough from his own stand-point no motive that she knew, he from an ulterior one. He was angry too: she had caught and held even the slight line of association Detricand decide all between Guida and himself. Used to bold moves, in this affair here added the last touch to his resolution, nerved him to follow his that he loved her; to-day there should be a still more daring venture. had seized his emotions from the first moment, and had held them. To him most humorous of temper, the most sincere. She had no duplicity, no inspirations, and he would back his knowledge, his inspiration, by an commander. That had decided him. To-day Guida should hear a message from his face, and he was his old buoyant self again. "I'm to make an .