1980's events.

1980

• January: Rubik’s Cube debuts at the International Toy Fair.
• April 24: U.S. rescue attempt to save hostages in Tehran fails.
• May 18: Mount St. Helens erupts.
• May 22: Pac-Man video game is released.
• June 1: Ted Turner establishes CNN.
• June 9: Richard Pryor sets himself on fire while freebasing cocaine.

• November 21: 83,000,000 viewers tune in to find out Who shot J.R.? on “Dallas”. 
• December 8: John Lennon is murdered “9 to 5” starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin is released.

 1981

• January 12: “Dynasty” debuts. 
• March 30: John Hinckley Jr. attempts to assassinate President Reagan.
• April 12: The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched.
• May 13: Mehmet Ali Agca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
• July 29: Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
• December 28: Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first U.S. IVF baby, is born.
• AIDS recognized by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
• MS-DOS released.
• The first IBM-PC released.

 1982

• April 2: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
• June 11: The movie “E.T.” released.
• September: Jane Fonda releases her “Workout” video.
• November 13: Vietnam War Memorial opens in Washington, D.C.
• Calvin Klein’s first underwear ad featuring Tom Hintnaus stops traffic in Times Square.
• 14-year old skateboarder Tony Hawk joins the Bones Brigade and turns professional.

 1983

• February 28: “M*A*S*H” ends after 251 episodes.
• March 23: President Reagan announces defence plan called Star Wars.

• April 18: U.S. Embassy in Beirut bombed.
• June 18: Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
• October 13: The first commercial cell phone call is made.
• December 2: Michael Jackson releases “Thriller”.

 1984

• January 24: Steve Jobs introduces the first Macintosh computer.
• September 14: Madonna performs “Like a Virgin” at the first-ever MTV Awards.
• September 20: “The Cosby Show” debuts.
• Huge poison gas leak at Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India.
• Two bodyguards assassinate Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
• October 16: Bishop Desmond Tutu receives Nobel Peace Prize.
• Lee Iacocca appears in television commercials for Chrysler.
• Bernhard Goetz shoots four would-be attackers on a New York subway.

 1985

• January 28: “We Are the World” is recorded in Los Angeles.
• May 24: Steve Jobs leaves Apple Computers.
• August 20: Iran-Contra scandal erupts.
• September 3: Bob Ballard discovers the wreck of the Titanic.
• November 20: Microsoft introduces Windows.
• Hole in the ozone first reported.
• Nike releases the Air Jordan 1.
• Mikhail Gorbachev calls for glasnost and perestroika.
• “Back to the Future” starring Michael J. Fox is released.

 1986

• January 28: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lift-off.
• February 20: USSR launches Mir Space Station.
• April 26: Chernobyl nuclear meltdown occurs.
• July 4: RUN DMC releases “Walk This Way”.  
• Oliver Stone wins Academy Award for best director for “Platoon”.

 1987

• April 18: “Headbangers Ball” debuts on MTV.
• October 4: U.S. and Canada sign free trade agreement.
• October 19: U.S. stock market plunges on Black Monday.
• December: Eli Lilly Drug Company receives final approval to market Prozac.
• DNA first used to convict criminals and exonerate innocent prisoners on death row.
• West German pilot lands in Red Square.
• Motivational speaker and firewalker Tony Robbins publishes his first book, “Unlimited Power”.

 1988

• February 20: Salt n’ Pepa’s “Push It” peaks on the Billboard charts at #19.
• May 15: Soviet troops begin to withdraw from Afghanistan after nine-year occupation.
• November: George Bush Sr. elected president of the United States.
• December 21: Pan Am Flight 103 is bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland.
• “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is the top-grossing film of the year.
• CDs outsell vinyl records and tapes for the first time.
• President Reagan names Ben and Jerry Small Business Persons of the Year.

1989

• March 24: Exxon Valdez spills millions of gallons of oil on Alaskan coastline.
• June 4: Student protesters killed in China’s Tiananmen Square.
• September 20: F. W. DeKlerk becomes president of South Africa, promising apartheid reforms.
• November 9: Berlin Wall falls.
• September 22: “Bay Watch” debuts.
• December 17: “The Simpsons” debuts.
• Gameboy is released.
• The Internet goes global.