Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Millennia: 2nd millennium
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Categories: Births - Deaths - Architecture
Establishments - Disestablishments


The 1980s was the decade spanning from 1980 to 1989, also called "The Eighties". A millennium (pl millennia) is a period of Time equal to one thousand Years (from Latin la mille, thousand and la annum The second millennium is a period of time that commenced on January 1, 1001, and ended on December 31, 2000. A century (from the Latin centum, meaning one hundred is One hundred consecutive Years Centuries are numbered ordinally (e The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The 21st century is the current century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. See also List of centuries, History This is a list of Decades in history including links to corresponding articles with more information about them The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 The 2010s Decade is a period of 10 years that will begin on January 1, 2010 and will end on December 31, 2019. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) 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 disco backlash connected with a religious revival (see Moral Majority) and conservative revival (known as the "Reagan revolution"). Disco is a Genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define The Moral Majority was a political organization of the United States which had an Agenda of evangelical Christian -oriented political Lobbying 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 is used in several countries as a descriptive term for various forms of conservative right-wing or self-proclaimed dissident oppositional movements and groups that emerged See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) New Right activists generally denounced abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, feminism, drug legalization, and affirmative action. An Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer Same-sex marriage (also referred to as gay marriage) is a term for a legally or Socially recognized Marriage between two people of the same Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate Drug liberalization is the process of eliminating or reducing Drug prohibition laws Affirmative action in the United States|Employment equity (Canada|Reservation in India|Numerus clausus The term affirmative action describes many policies aimed at a historically

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. (Перестройка) is the Russian term (now used in English for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (Гла́сность)is literally defined as publicity and sometimes figuratively interpreted as "tipping a vase to let someone see into the vase but not the bottom of the vase" 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. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square Massacre (referred to in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident, to avoid confusion with two China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The " Velvet Revolution " (sametová revoluce nežná revolúcia ( November 16 &ndash December 29 1989) refers to a non-violent A dictatorship is usually defined as an autocratic Form of government in which the Government is ruled by a Dictator. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Communist state is a term used by many Political scientists to describe a Form of government in which the State operates under a one-party system The Warsaw Pact (see Nomenclature) was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. Central Europe is the Region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. It came to be called as the late 1980s purple passage of the autumn of nations. "Fall of Communism" redirects here For the fall of the Soviet Union itself see History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century. The 21st century is the current century of the Christian Era or Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.

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. Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born during the Post-World War II baby boom between 1946 and 1964 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.

Contents

Social trends

Culture

Sports

Fashion

Like the fashion of all modern decades (the 1960s dipped into the 1920s and hosted a folk music revival, the 1970s dipped into the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s) 1980s fashion in popular culture incorporated distinct trends from different eras. This helped form a cultivating movement of style. The Punk look of the late 1970s was influential, rather as the late 1960s "hippies are cool" look had been in the 1970s. The most conservative, more masculine fashion look that was most indicative of the 1980s was the wide use of shoulder pads. While in the 1970s the silhouette of fashion tended to be characterized by close fitting clothes on top with wider, looser clothes on the bottom, this trend completely reversed itself in the early 1980s as both men and women began to wear looser shirts and tight, close-fitting pants. Men wore power suits as a result of the greater tendency for people to display their wealth. Brand names became increasingly important in this decade, making Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein household names. In the United States, Madonna was titled the "Material Girl" and many teenage girls looked to her for fashion statements. The popular movie Flashdance (1983) made ripped sweatshirts well-known in the general public. The television shows Dallas and Dynasty also had a similar impact. Other fashion trends of the 80's consisted of door knocker earring, bamboo earrings, flashy gold chains, bright Adidas suits for girls and kangol hats for guys. These were also great years for tennis shoes in the rural communities. Shoulder pads, popularized perhaps by Linda Evans from the soap opera Dynasty, remained popular throughout the 1980s and even the first three years of the 1990s. The reason behind the sudden popularity of shoulderpads for women in the 1980s may be that women in the workplace were no longer unusual and wanted to "power dress" to show that they were the equals of men at the office. Many women's outfits had velcro on the inside of the shoulder where various sized shoulderpads could be attached.

The Dynasty television show, watched by over 250 million viewers around the world in the 1980s, influenced the fashion styles in mainstream America. The show, targeted towards females, influenced women to wear jewelry often to show one's economic status. Synthetic fabrics went out of style in the 1980s. Wool, cotton, and silk returned to popularity for their perceived quality.

Men's business attire saw a return of pinstripes for the first time since the 1970s. The new pinstripes were narrower and subtler than 1930s and 1940s suits but similar to the 1970s styles. Three piece suits gradually went out of fashion in the early 'eighties and lapels on suits became very narrow (similar to 1950s styles). While vests in the 1970s had commonly been worn high with six or five buttons, those made in the early 1980s often had only four buttons and were made to be worn low. Neckties also became narrower in the 1980s and skinny versions appeared in leather. Button down collars made a return, both for business and casual wear.

Meanwhile women's fashion and business shoes returned to styles that had been popular in the 1950s and early 1960s with pointed toes and spiked heels. Some stores stocked canvas or satin covered fashion shoes in white and dyed them to the customer's preferred color. While the most popular shoes amongst young women were bright colored high heels, a trend started to emerge which saw 'Jellies' - colorful, transparent plastic flats - become popular

New Romanticism was a manufactured scene within London nightclubs in the early 1980s. The posers within the group, often the more creative people who had always been more interested in the sartorial aspects of dressing up than the anarchic statement of punk anti fashion, looked for new ideas to draw attention to themselves.

Adapted factual or fictional themes and Hollywood glamour were chosen by the New Romantics to make a personal look. The flamboyant, colourful dramatic look used frills and luscious fabrics associated with historical periods. In contrast to punks the wearers made an effort to look flamboyant in an attractive, luxuriant, beautiful, narcissistic way. Right - Adam Ant a new romantic pop star who epitomised the more beautiful aspects of New Romantiscm.

Clubs London night clubs started to change their format from Friday and Saturday nights as being the only important music nights. The club 'Gossips' in Soho began to do Bowie nights on Tuesdays and then more one night specials for niche tastes. That set the scene for special one night club evenings throughout London. Narrow tastes could be catered for.

The former punk posers had taken to glamour and romance in clothing and the club venues offered them a chance to show off that glamour at dedicated evenings. Theatrical ensembles were worn to selected clubs in London such as Blitz and St. Moritz. These were the recognised venues where the romantic movement started.

Designers of New Romantic Clothing The early designers of the romantic look were Vivienne Westwood, Colin Swift, Stevie Stewart and David Holah. Westwood began her romantic ideas with adaptations of dandified Regency designs which later she developed into a Pirate look. She designed especially for Adam and The Ants.

Occasion wear included a return of cocktail dresses and evening suits with flared basque jackets, or Chanel line brocade jackets and just above knee short straight skirts.

Dresses in slinky satins and foulard silks or polyesters were often batwing or with set in sleeves. Both styles had shoulder pads and frequently swathes of fabric were gathered and ruched onto hip bands, with falling silk, crepe de chine or chiffon asymmetric draped swirling skirts.

Lace was popular for evening, especially cream lace bound with cream satin collars. Lace collars made an appearance after being worn by the Princess of Wales. Mohair sweaters were oversized, but covered with lavish beading and satin appliqué they could be worn for evening too. Highly styled intarsia knit jumpers became fashionable.

Glamorous occasion wear was a reaction and an alternative to the dressing down that was emerging from the wearing of sport and fitness wear as casual wear. The 1980s in particular produced one of the most naff garments of the century.

The garment that still creates hoots of laughter and is often used by television producers to typify elements of the era, was the sports inspired Shell Suit, the least likely outfit you would ever find in the wardrobe of a New Romantic. However fashion oft repeats itself, bloomers and all. Skip a generation or two and a frilly new romantic inspired shell suit, jump or flying suit might appeal to someone. Already there are collectors of 1980's shell suits.

Music

Television

See also: 1980s in television

Film

Horror movies of the 1980s (which probably begin in 1979 with Alien) exist at the glorious watershed when special visual effects finally caught up with the gory imaginings of horror fans and movie makers. Technical advances in the field of animatronics, and liquid and foam latex meant that the human frame could be distorted to an entirely new dimension, onscreen, in realistic close up. This coincided with the materialistic ethos of the 1980s, when having it all was important, but to be seen to be having it all was paramount. People demanded tangible tokens of material success - they wanted bigger, shinier, faster, with more knobs on - as verification of their own value in society. In the same way, horror films during this decade delivered the full colour close-up, look-no-strings-attached, special effect in a way that previous practitioners of the art could only dream about. Everything that had lurked in the shadows of horror films in the 1950s could now be brought into the light of day. The monsters were finally out of the closet. Once they were exposed to the light, however, these monsters proved to be the same as ever: ghosts (of supernatural origin), werebeings (of human origin), and slimy things (origin unknown). The latter maintained a strong presence; the cuddly aliens represented in Star Wars and ET were counterbalanced by the grotesque extraterrestrials of the Alien Trilogy and The Thing. Werewolves made a strong showing in the early 1980s with the Howling series and An American Werewolf in London - and perhaps, as in the 1940s, reflected a fear of the 'wolves' stalking each other under the aegis of the Cold War. Ghosts were not so numerous but still provided cause for terror, whether they were traditional ones, such as those haunting The Overlook Hotel in The Shining (1980), or of more ambiguous status: Freddy Krueger is technically a ghost.

After establishing a successful track record with Dark Star, Halloween and Big Trouble in Little China, Carpenter decided he wanted to remake a movie that had entranced him as a child, The Thing From Another World. This black-and-white RKO picture revolves around the (largely) unseen threat to an isolated group of scientists working on an ice station. When we finally get to see what has been menacing the men, it looks unfortunately like an overgrown carrot, and the sinister effect is somewhat undermined. Carpenter wanted no such disappointment with his version, and engaged Rob Bottin as special effects designer. Apart from working with Carpenter on The Fog, Bottin had previously created the state-of-the-art special effects in The Howling, producing frightening and convincing man-to-wolf transformation scenes. From the very beginning (ie before Carpenter hired him), he had a very clear concept of how the Thing should look and behave, and the result is some of the most grotesque images ever brought to the cinema screen.

SFX aside, The Thing also contains some fine, understated performances from an interesting selection of character actors. Kurt Russell has worked with Carpenter many times, but for the rest of the cast, Carpenter decided he wanted an 'uncomfortable' feel, and chose an array of unfamiliar faces. The Thing's storyline is conventional enough - monster threatens isolated community and picks off the inhabitants one-by-one - but never predictable, in that it is impossible to judge who will be next. There is deliberate ambiguity about who is taken over by the Thing when, and even repeat viewers of the film share the cast's edgy mistrust of each other.

The ending, as Mac (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) settle down to a slow suicide by hypothermia has provoked much discussion. One, both or neither of the men being a Thing are all valid possibilities, and the mysterious absence of frozen breath coming from Child's mouth simply fuels the debate. There is no triumphant resolution here, no final destruction of the Thing to prove that humans are the superior race. We are left with a real sense of unease, and cannot acquiesce to MacReady's suggestion that we "just wait here for a little while. . . see what happens. " The credits roll and we never know what happens. Despite having 'what happens' thrust in our faces in full, grotesque detail earlier on in the movie, we are never allowed to see what happens at the end. Thus The Thing is that genuine scary movie, a parade of visual nightmares which keeps you jittery long after the last remnant of gore has faded from your retina.

Video games

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. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. 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. is an arcade Video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located 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 and its popularity continues today. is an Arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution is a Platform game developed by Nintendo in late 1985 and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System, a sequel to the 1983 game Mario

In the 1980s, Atari failed to apply proper quality control to the software development process for its popular Video Computer System game console. Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. The Atari 2600 is a Video game console released in October 1977 The amount of low-quality software caused a massive collapse of the home console industry. The North American video game crash of 1983 (sometimes known as the video game crash of 1984 because it was in that year that the full effects of the crash became apparent 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. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive were next generation game consoles that were released during the last years of the decade. The, known as TurboGrafx-16 in the USA is a Video game console developed by the Nippon Electric Company (NEC and released in Japan on October The is a 16-bit Video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 North America in 1989 and the PAL region in 1990

Home computers become popular in the 1980s and during that decade they were used heavily for gaming, especially the ZX Spectrum. A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd 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. The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation.

International issues

In the United States

In Canada

In Europe

In 1981 there was a assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square. An attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II occurred on May 13, 1981. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Pope Saint Peter's Square, or Saint Peter's Piazza ( Italian: Piazza San Pietro) is located directly in front of St In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Sven Olof Joachim Palme ( ( 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician The Assassination of Olof Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden, took place on Friday 28 February 1986 in Stockholm,

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. The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 The 1979 European elections were parliamentary Elections held across all then-9 European Community member states. The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union (EU through the accession of new member states. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) At the end of the decade, the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 would be followed in 1990 by the German reunification. The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer was a physical barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic (GDR ( East Germany) including Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung took place twice after 1945 first in 1957 the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany

In the United Kingdom

In Australia

Natural disasters

People

Many people were influential in shaping the 1980s, including entertainers, sports figures and politicians. The Richter magnitude scale, or more correctly local magnitude M L scale assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico Nevado del Ruiz, also known as Mount Ruiz, is an Andean Stratovolcano in Caldas Department, Colombia. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Lake Nyos is a Crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon. The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Entertainers

Notable individuals and groups who provided entertainment in the 1980s are divided as follows.

Musicians and Bands

Actors

Sports figures

Political figures

See also

External links

The spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada is the wife or husband of the Prime Minister of Canada. Geills McCrae Kilgour Turner (first name pronounced " Jill " (born December 23, 1937 in Winnipeg Manitoba) is the wife of John Milica "Mila" Mulroney (born July 13, 1953 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia) is the wife of the 18th The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( First Secretary in 1953-1966 was the title synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union after Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev ( Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov;; born 2 March 1931 in Privolnoye Stavropol Krai) is a Russian politician The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( First Secretary in 1953-1966 was the title synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union after Martin Kippenberger (b 25 February 1953 in Dortmund - d 7 March 1997 in Vienna) was a German Artist José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (xoˈse ðanjεl ɔrteγa saˈβeðra(born 11 November 1945 is the current President of Nicaragua. Nicaragua (ˌnɪkəˈrɑgwə officially the Republic of Nicaragua () is a representative democratic republic and the largest nation in Central America Like the fashion of all modern decades 1980s fashion in Popular culture incorporated distinct trends from different eras Events The 1980s saw the continued rise of the blockbuster, an increased amount of Nudity in film and the increasing emphasis in the American industry on film This page indexes the individual year in Television This page indexes the individual year in music pages 2000s

Dictionary

1980s

-noun

  1. The decade that included the years 1980 to 1989. Also abbreviated as "the '80s."
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic