80 Iconic Moments From The ’80s

From the birth of pop culture icons to the first personal computer, the 1980’s were anything but boring! These forgotten moments of a momentous decade will leave you speechless!

This picture became an iconic image in 1984 when photographer Steve McCurry captured her intense gaze with his camera while on location. The picture became the cover of National Geographic in June of 1985, and captured the imagination of the world. Sharbat Gula was living in a Pakistani refugee camp and became emblematic of the Soviet occupation of Afganistan. Gula’s image was named the most recognized photograph in the history of National Geographic Magazine, and in 2002 Sharbat Gula saw her image on the magazine for the first time. Madonna Louise Ciccone achieved massive popularity in the 1980’s thanks to regular airtime on MTV and her raunchy, no holds barred personality. The material girl changed fashion, music, and the public perception of femininity in one fell swoop! Outspoken and talented, she paved the way for many female performers to come. Her debut single, “Everybody” was released on Sire Records and became a club hit! Madonna released her debut album in 1983, and to the present day has grossed over $550 million. Mollie Ringwald became the unofficial spokeswoman for teen life in the 1980’s, and the “Bratpack” films by director John Hughes dominated theaters. Mollie played characters that weren’t the cutest or most popular but always seemed to make things work out, plus her clothes were just so cool. The “Bratpack” term was coined in a 1985 New York Magazine article and is now usually defined as the cast of two quintessential 80’s movies- St.Elmo’s Fire and The Breakfast Club. Model and Actress Vanessa Williams became the first African-American to win the title of Miss America in 1984, breaking a boundary that had long existed against women of color. Her term, however, didn’t last long. Williams resigned in July of 1984 when she learned that Penthouse Magazine planned to release unauthorized nude photos of her in an upcoming issue. When the news surfaced her crown was taken away and she was replaced by the first runner-up Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles. Jane Seymour Fonda is not only an award-winning actress, political activist, and former fashion model, she is also a fitness guru! The queen of fit, Ms. Fonda busted out her leg warmers and taught us how to sweat it out in style in the mid-80’s. This beautiful actress was the first big star to embrace the fitness craze and released her own series of exercise videos. Jane Fonda’s first exercise video, Jane Fonda’s Workout became the highest selling video of the time and was the first of 22 videos. The hockey game to end all hockey games! The Russian hockey team had previously won the gold medal in six of the seven previous winter Olympics and were the favorites to win again. But in an unimaginable upset, the American team took the game 4-3 in the final period, and the whole thing was broadcast live into living rooms around the world. The monumental game spawned a successful film in 2004 by Walt Disney Pictures starring Kurt Russell, and a documentary film called Do You Beleive in Miracles? on HBO in 2001. Dallas was one of the most popular TV series of the 1980’s, and it’s third season ended with a massive cliffhanger. Larry Hagman played the show’s villain, J.R. Ewing and the catchphrase, “Who Shot J.R.?” became incredibly popular. The phrase even made its way into the 1980 Presidential election! The fourth season of the series opened with a massive reveal of “Who Done It” where anxious viewers found out that J.R.’s scheming sister-in-law, who also happened to be his mistress, had shot him in a fit of rage. Mark David Chapman became made headlines on December 8, 1980, after he repeatedly shot singer John Lennon outside of his New York City apartment. Lennon, a world renowned singer and peace activist, died on his way to hospital following the attack by Chapman. Chapman had hung around outside Lennon’s apartment building most of the day and even briefly encountered Lennon’s young son and received an autograph from Lennon before firing five hollow point bullets at close range into the singers back. The birth of CNN changed the face of news – allowing it to be broadcast and reported globally 24-hours a day. The first show aired on June 1, 1980, and was hosted by the husband and wife anchor team, David Walker and Lois Hart. Founded by Ted Turner and 25 other original members, the group invested $20 million dollars into the network. Following CNN’s launch, other news networks tried to cash in on the popularity with limited success. CNN was popular with viewers not only for its 24-hour availability but its mix of newscasts and special features. Bob Geldof organized a mega music event in an effort to raise funds for the people of Ethiopia who were suffering from famine. Just a few of the stars present included Madonna, David Bowie, George Michael, and Queen. The dual-venue concert was held on July 13, 1985, and was billed as “the global jukebox” with concerts simultaneously held in London and Philidelphia. LiveAid had an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion people! What an inspiring venture! On November 14, 1985, a volcanic eruption shook Colombia. 13-year-old Omayra Sanchez was trapped in water and concrete for three days before sadly succumbing to her injuries and dying in front of the press. This image was captured by not long before she died by photojournalist Fank Fournier. Omayra’s story caused worldwide controversy due to the Colombian government’s apparent lack of response following the natural disaster. The death toll following the eruption increased due to the lack of early warnings for residents and ill-preparedness of communities in the path of destruction. Crowds Flee Cuba[/post_page_title] The Mariel boatlift was one of the largest influxes of Cuban refugees in American history! After the Cuban economy took a sharp downturn President Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro reached an agreement that allowed for any citizen who wished to leave Cuba to do so in April of 1980. President Carter was ill prepared for the great influx of people, and more than 125,000 Cubans arrived on over 1,700 boats. Before fleeing by boat, several attempts had been made by Cuban nationals to seek asylum at various South American embassies. On May 18, 1980, tragedy struck at Mount St. Helens in Washington State. 57 people were killed when an earthquake triggered a volcanic eruption that left a massive crater and spread volcanic ash across several states. Two months of earthquakes caused a fracture on the north side of the slope of the mountain. The sudden eruption rose over 80,000 feet and deposited ash in eleven American states. The explosion caused over a billion dollars in damages, and it was recorded as the only significant eruption in US history since 1915. January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in the air only 73 seconds after blast off. Millions watched the live televised launch in horror as the shuttle disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean killing seven crew members. After the disaster, NASA enacted a 32-month hiatus on the national space program, and a special commission was appointed by President Reagan to investigate the incident. Media coverage following the event was quite extensive, and the Challenger disaster has been used as a case study in engineering safety and workplace ethics. The shipyard strikes in Gdansk, Poland led by Lech Walesa in August 1980 paved the way for massive public reforms. In an effort to improve the working conditions a series of strikes were held, which eventually led to organized unions in Poland. Solidarity was the first independent and self-governing trade union not connected to the Communist party. The government tried to squelch the union by imposing martial law from December 1981 to July 1983, where were then followed by years of political repression. The series that focused on the life of a military medical unit during the Korean War still holds the record for the most watched finale of any television series. 125 million viewers tuned in for the 1983 finale of the show and a chance to say bye to Hawkeye and Hotlips! M*A*S*H was adapted from a 1970 feature film and premiered in September of 1972. Many of the stories featured on the show were based on tales of real surgeons in the Korean War. Beginning in November of 1979 Iranian students stormed the American embassy in Tehran and demanded the extradition of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi from the USA. 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days and were finally released on January 20, 1981. The Iranian Hostage Crisis is the longest hostage crisis in recorded history and considered a pivotal moment in the history of Iranian-United States relations. In recent years a film adaptation of the story was made starring Ben Affleck, and Bryan Cranston called Argo. As of 2014, approximately 36.9 million people around the world had HIV. The AIDS epidemic officially began on June 5, 1981, when the center for disease control noticed unusual clusters of Pneumocystis pneumonia in five homosexual men in Los Angeles. Health authorities soon realized the disease was not limited to homosexual men and in fact was an opportunistic disease that had devastating effects. Migrants and other vulnerable populations were also hit hard by the disease, and the outbreak led to advanced research into autoimmune disorders and preventative measures. Only sixty-nine days into his Presidency, Ronald Regan was shot while leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981. The shooter, John Hinckley Jr. apparently shot the President in an attempt to garner the affections of actress Jodie Foster with whom he was obsessed. Regan was shot in the chest and suffered a punctured lung, and internal bleeding. Press secretary James Brady was also shot and left paralyzed from the incident. This photo was taken just moments before the President was wounded. From 1986-1991 the driving force on the Hip Hop scene was a group called NWA. Their single, Straight Outta Compton, earned them a place among the most controversial and influential. Their album was one of the first to receive a Parental Advisory sticker. Their controversial and explicit lyrics, as well as their apparent glorification of the seedy underbelly of city life, led to their music being banned from most mainstream stations. In 2016, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and is still a highly respected group in the rap world. The king of Reggae died in May of 1981 at the age of 36 after a relatively short battle with skin cancer that started on his toe and spread to his vital organs. Diagnosed only a few year before, Marley left a legacy of music and served as a symbol not only of Jamaica but the Rastafari lifestyle. The son of a white Englishman and Afro-Jamaican, Marley infused politics, spirituality, and island vibes into his music to create a sound that was uniquely his. An explosion in a generator caused a major power outage on September 9, 1981, that lasted over four hours and caused massive problems for the city of New York. The stock exchange and the Subway were affected, and in this image, you can see countless people trudging across the Brooklyn Bridge returning home after work. For a city of over 8 million people, a power outage of this size was not only inconvenient but dangerous. NYC has had several power outages in the last decades, the latest in 2003. A young girl fell into a well in her aunts’ backyard on October 14, 1987, and the nation watched as crews desperately tried to rescue her for a whopping 58 hours. Rescue crews had not anticipated the difficulty of the operation and found that their tools were not strong enough to cut through the shaft. Thanks to the CNN broadcasting crews, 24-hour coverage was available, and after baby Jessica was saved this Pulitzer Prize winning photo was snapped. Baby Jessica McClure’s story became the focus of a made for TV movie in 1989 called Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure.  After a decade apart, the famed 60’s songbirds reunited for a free concert in New York’s Central Park on September 21, 1981. Over 500,000 fans turned up to witness history in the making. Following their live performance, the folk duo released their first live album, The Concert in Central Park in February of 1982. The concert and new album excited fans but the reunion was short-lived and the pair fell out of touch again until 1990 when they appeared together for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The First Persian Gulf War began on September 22, 1980. Longstanding border disputes finally reached a head, and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Iran’s oil-rich province of Khuzestan in an apparent attempt to replace Iran as the dominant country in the  Persian Gulf. Thousands died and large populated areas of both countries were heavily bombed, and oil prices around the world jumped! The United Nations Security Council called for a ceasefire in 1988, but the last prisoners of war were released only in 2003. The summer Olympics of 1980 were held in Moscow and boycotted by over sixty countries. These were the first games to be held in Eastern Europe and the first to be held in a Socialist country. The USA led the boycott in response to the Russian presence in Afganistan. Only eighty nations were represented at the games, the smallest number of participants since 1956. Many of the boycotting nations participated in the Liberty Bell classic in Philidelphia instead. Originally invented in 1974 by Hungarian Professor Erno Rubik, the puzzle was sold to Ideal Toy Corp. In 1980 it won the German game of the year award and reached the height of its popularity. The ‘cube craze’ exploded seemingly overnight, and in March of 1981, the very first speedcubing competition took place in conjunction with The Guinness Book of World Records. Most people could only solve one or two sides, which prompted numerous cheat books to be published, including You Can Do The Cube in 1981. In 2009 over 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide. Sandra Day O’Connor broke the glass ceiling when she was appointed to the Supreme Court Bench on September 25, 1981. Her appointment opened doors for women around the world when she became the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Sandra Day O’Connor was considered a conservative and moderate Republican who served for twenty-four years as a public servant. She is also a vocal advocate for Alzheimer’s awareness after losing her husband, John Jay O’Connor III to the disease in 2009. IBM released their first personal computer in 1981. The computer was known as 5150 and sold for $1,565 at Computerland and Sears locations. This “personal compact computer” conveniently weighed only 25 pounds! Developed in only 12 months, faster than any other hardware product in the company’s history, the first personal computer had 16k RAM and no disk drive. IBM had a $36 million dollar marketing campaign behind their product that featured The Little Tramp character made famous by Charlie Chaplin. The Canada Act passed on March 25, 1982, making Canada wholly independent from the United Kingdom and allowing for parliamentary bills to be passed without the approval of British Parliment. The British North America Act of 1867 created the modern state of Canada but still placed the infant country under British legislation and made the Governer General responsible for fulfilling constitutional obligations. In the picture below you can see Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau singing the official document. Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat was assassinated on October 6th of 1981, as he watched an annual victory day parade pass. Fundamentalist army officers opened fire and killed the Nobel Peace Prize Winner along with several other dignitaries. Following the Camp David Accords and the peace agreement between Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, a fatwa for the assassination of Sadat was issued. Following his death, Hosni Mubarak became President for nearly 30 years until he was forced to resign in 2011 as a result of a Revolution in Egypt. Barney Clark received the first ever artificial heart at the age of 61. Clark was an ideal candidate as he suffered from congestive heart failure and had no other options left at his disposal. Doctor Robert Jarvik is credited with the invention, but sadly the patient only survived 112 days after the procedure. The heart came to be known as the Jarvik Heart and was state of the art for its time although still far from perfect. Patients ran a risk of contracting various infections and other associated pulmonary problems. The Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila were ground zero for intense fighting between right-wing Lebanese forces and PLO fighters. Between 762 and 3,500 civilians were massacred by militia forces while Israeli Military forces did little to limit casualties. Lebanese Phalangists were ordered to clear the camp of PLO fighters as part of Israel’s operation into West Beirut; the atrocities that the Phalanges committed shocked the world. A 1983 UN Commission declared the event as an act of genocide and placed primary responsibility on Israel as the occupying power at the time. The end on an era was marked with the death of Russian Leader Leonid Brezhnev who led the Soviet Union for 18 years. His death on November 10, 1982, marked the beginning of a new chapter for Russia and her citizens. The funeral was attended by thirty-two heads of state, fourteen foreign ministers and four Princes and American Vice President at the time George H.W. Bush. Brezhnev suffered from various health ailments and was stricken by a severe stroke in May of 1982. He refused to step down from his position and held office until his death. The Russain people were notified of his passing when the usual television broadcasting was altered and state news reporters appeared in somber clothing on air. Motorola released the first mobile phone in America in 1983 changing the world for good and for bad. It cost over $100 million to develop! The technology of the day was a far cry from what we have come to expect from mobile devices, however. A full charge took up to 10 hours to complete and only allowed for 30 minutes of talk time. You too could purchase your mobile phone for the low price of $3,995 in 1984. In 1983 Michael Jackson released a 13-minute music video for his hit Thriller. Perhaps one of the best videos of all time, Billboard Magazine claims it’s, “More of a pop culture event than a mere music video.” Thriller was the sixth studio album for Jackson, and in just over a year it became the world’s best-selling album. A constant clip broadcast at Halloween; the undead rocking those dance moves is still one of the best videos of all time! The Cold War officially ended with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. This physical separation limited exchange between East and West Germany but moreover the Communist and Western worlds. Between the years 1961-1989 around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall. The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the “Anti-Fascist Protective Wall”  but West Berliners sometimes also called it “The Wall of Shame.” In 1989 a series of radical and successive political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc that led to an erosion of power. Hundreds of demonstrators lost their lives when the Chinese government forcibly suppressed student-led demonstrations. The protest, also known as the June Fourth Incident, reflected the fears of the new generation against a backdrop of economic insecurity.  This unknown rebel bravely stood in front of tanks that threatened a peaceful protest. The Chinese government was widely condemned for their use of force, and today this event is still a source of contention in Mainland China. Millions around the globe watched as Lady Diana Spencer tied the knot with Prince Charles on July 29, 1981. Diana was a fashion icon and humanitarian, and the couple’s wedding was spectacular! The Ceremony was a traditional Church of England service and billed as a “fairytale wedding” when it was broadcast to a global Television audience.  There was even a national holiday declared to mark the day! Sadly, this fairytale ended in divorce in 1996, and Princess Diana tragically died in a car accident in Paris in 1997. It would come to be known as “Black Monday,” the largest one-day market crash in our history. On October 19th, 1987, the market was flooded with billions of dollars of sell orders within minutes, which caused both futures and stock markets to crash simultaneously. The crash began in Hong Kong and quickly spread to Europe and then the United States. The Dow Jones experienced a fall of exactly 508 points – the largest ever one-day decline in history. Fortunately, the American economy was not as negatively affected as speculators believed it would be and the Dow Jones recuperated in early 1989.