1980s

During the 1980s, conservative politics and Reaganomics held sway as the Berlin Wall crumbled, new computer technologies emerged, AIDS ravaged the United States, especially the gay male community, and blockbuster movies and MTV reshaped pop culture.

Featured Overview

Learn about the Iran-Contra Affair under President Reagan who secretly supported an anti-Communist group in Nicaragua and funneled weapons to Iranian terrorists in exchange for American hostages. Discover how Lt. Col. Oliver North was found guilty.

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Government Cheese

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Featured Overview

Learn about the Iran-Contra Affair under President Reagan who secretly supported an anti-Communist group in Nicaragua and funneled weapons to Iranian terrorists in exchange for American hostages. Discover how Lt. Col. Oliver North was found guilty.

4:45m watch

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Rubik's Cube

Power dressing. ’Eatertainment.’ Fad toys that sparked near-riots. Which trends did you participate in?

Author/gay activist Larry Kramer, founder of ACT UP, snuggling w. his friend, author & AIDS victim Vito Russo, as he tries to comfort him while petting his dog at home

Health officials first became aware of AIDS in the summer of 1981, but U.S. leaders remained largely silent for four years.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was made worse when Soviet authorities initially denied the event and then acted slowly to contain it.

The president and Congress clashed over welfare, crime, defense spending and whether to fund Contras in Nicaragua.

Challenger Disaster

How the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Unfolded

Seventy three seconds after take off the Space Shuttle Challenger encounters unexpected disaster. Find out more in this clip from Season 1, "Challenger Disaster."

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1980s
cows

When a variant of Mad Cow Disease moved from cattle to humans in the mid-1990s, panic ensued and the British economy lost billions.

Christa McAuliffe during a microgravity flight aboard NASA's KC-135 zero-gravity aircraft, January 8, 1986.

Christa McAuliffe embraced the chance to be part of a space shuttle mission and, despite the Challenger disaster, left an inspiring legacy.

Seventy three seconds after take off the Space Shuttle Challenger encounters unexpected disaster. Find out more in this clip from Season 1, "Challenger Disaster."

6:57m watch

Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol at a benefit for the Brooklyn Academy of Music on November 7, 1984 at Area Nightclub in New York City.

The young New York graffiti artist and Pop Art icon produced more than 150 works together. Critics in the '80s panned them. Now, some sell for millions.

AIDS activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) protest at the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration on October 11, 1988 in Rockville, Maryland.

ACT UP pressured the government, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies for more patient-centered care during the worst years of the AIDS epidemic.

Motorola alphanumeric pager Memo Express

Once cutting-edge, these gadgets have since been overshadowed.

Underwater explorer and marine biologist Mike Barnette and wreck diver Jimmy Gadomski explore a 20-foot segment of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger that the team discovered in the waters off the coast of Florida.

The 20-foot piece of the NASA space shuttle was found off the coast of Florida during the filming of the new HISTORY Channel series, 'The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters.'

A drugstore clerk removes Tylenol capsules from the shelves of a pharmacy on September 30, 1982 in New York City after reports of tampering. Seven people died in Chicago after taking Tylenol.

The shocking deaths of seven people in the Chicago area from tampered bottles led to a massive recall—and generated fears around candy poisonings.

What Countries Made Up the Soviet Union?

At its height, the USSR comprised of more than a dozen republics stretching across Europe and Asia. After the collapse, each forged a different path.

Rubik's Cube

Power dressing. ’Eatertainment.’ Fad toys that sparked near-riots. Which trends did you participate in?

LOS ANGELES, CA - CIRCA 1984: Gymnast Mary Lou Retton of the United States competes in the vault competition in gymnastics during the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in the 1984 Summer Olympics circa 1984 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

With a dazzling performance in Los Angeles, the West Virginia native helped lay the foundation for future U.S. stars.

ACT UP activists hang a "silence = death" banner on the White House gates in 1992.

HIV and the syndrome it causes, AIDS, began spreading in the United States in the early 1980s. By the late 1980s it had become a public health crisis. Initially the U.S. government did little to address the epidemic, due in part to misconceptions that the disease only affected gay men. Activists came together to demand a response from the government and the international community. By the mid-1990s, HIV/AIDS numbers were on the decline in America. Today, millions of people around the world are living with HIV and tens of thousands of people die of AIDS-related illnesses every year.

Greg Louganis of the USA sets his feet on the edge of the diving board before attempting a dive in the men's spring board competition during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul, South Korea.

During a time when fear and stigma around AIDS and LGBTQ identity were pervasive, Louganis kept his diagnosis secret until years later.

How AIDS Activists Used ‘Die-Ins’ to Jolt the US Government to Act

Protesters feigned mass death to shock and shame government, industry and the media into finally addressing the lethal disease.

How the AIDS Quilt Allowed Millions to Memorialize the Epidemic

The AIDS Memorial Quilt—with 1,920 individual panels, each inscribed with the names of people lost to AIDS—was displayed for the first time on October 11, 1987. It has grown ever since.

How Asian American Women Fought for Garment Workers’ Rights

The 1982 strike led by immigrant women earned better workplace conditions and benefits for New York City’s garment workers.

The Mariel Boatlift: a Cold War-Era Mass Exodus of Cubans to the U.S.

After Fidel Castro loosened emigration policies, some 125,000 Cubans landed on U.S. shores over a span of five months.

History of Seat Belt Laws

The 1980s battle over safety belt laws reflected widespread ambivalence over the role and value of government regulation.

Geraldine Ferraro

With their presidential ticket, Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro made history in 1984. But that didn't help them win.

Author/gay activist Larry Kramer, founder of ACT UP, snuggling w. his friend, author & AIDS victim Vito Russo, as he tries to comfort him while petting his dog at home

Health officials first became aware of AIDS in the summer of 1981, but U.S. leaders remained largely silent for four years.

Willie Nelson Organized Farm Aid—Then Realized More Were Needed

In the mid-1980s American farmers faced a dire future. Willie Nelson and other artists decided to help using what they knew best—music.

Cola Wars

Was the unpopularity of New Coke actually a blessing in disguise for Coca-Cola?

The Central Park Five

In 1989, five New York teenagers were falsely accused of rape.

Margaret Thatcher

The 74-day Falklands War became Prime Minister Thatcher's "moment" that led to swift British victory—and also helped save her political skin.

The unit control desk of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant 1983

From a 25-year-old with his finger on the wrong button to a grizzled Communist Party apparatchik who thought evacuation was for sissies, here are the protagonists at the center of the tragedy.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was made worse when Soviet authorities initially denied the event and then acted slowly to contain it.

Roy Cohn

The chief architect of McCarthyism prosecuted the Rosenbergs, purged suspected communists and LGBT government workers and was portrayed in 'Angels in America.'

The shocking disaster delayed the speech for one week.

Gary Hart resignation

Hart dropped out of the 1988 presidential race after journalists reported on one of his many affairs.

The syndrome that inspired Freddie Krueger afflicted a very specific group of people.

President Reagan took three tries to get a Supreme Court nomination approved—and the outcome would have far-reaching consequences for the Court and the country.

A man attacks the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The 1980s were a decade of political conservatism, such as President Ronald Reagan’s Reaganomics, and of blockbuster movies, pop culture and fashion on MTV.

Government Cheese

In the early 1980s, the U.S. government distributed some 300 million pounds of pungent-smelling processed cheese that had been produced with federal funds.

A person holds up a photo showing the city of Prypiat's main square and the 'Energetik' cultural center before the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, against the same site, now abandoned and overgrown with trees, 2015. (Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

With Chernobyl's nuclear radiation raining down, Communist party officials dithered, delayed and hid the truth. Then they gave residents of nearby Prypiat 50 minutes to evacuate.

Chernobyl

Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of the worst nuclear accident in history when a routine test went horribly wrong on April 26, 1986.

Learn about the Iran-Contra Affair under President Reagan who secretly supported an anti-Communist group in Nicaragua and funneled weapons to Iranian terrorists in exchange for American hostages. Discover how Lt. Col. Oliver North was found guilty.

4:45m watch

Oil Spill in Alaska Teams of firefighters cleaning the Alaskan coast following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. (Photo by jean-Louis Atlan/Sygma via Getty Images)

The Exxon Valdez oil spill dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989, damaging the environment and killing wildlife.

Big Bird from Sesame Street, 1969.

Caroll Spinney—the puppeteer in the yellow suit—was in talks to go to space.

President Reagan At Press ConferenceUnited States President Ronald Reagan announces the resignation of national security adviser Robert McFarlane standing beside him to be replaced with Vice Admiral John Poindexter. McFarlane and Poindexter were key figures in the Iran-Contra affair during Reagan's term.

The Iran-Contra Affair was a deal made by the Ronald Reagan administration which sent arms to Iran to secure the release of hostages and fund Nicaraguan rebels.

History of AIDS

HIV and AIDS began spreading among humans in the 1920s and became a public health crisis by the 1980s, before the first effective treatments emerged.

Steve Jobs and the Apple Lisa

June of 2017 marked the 10-year anniversary of the release of Apple’s iPhone, a device that not only revolutionized the way the world communicates, but also helped catapult Apple into a global economic and technological powerhouse. At a time when an estimated 700 million users around the world currently enjoy the fruits of Steve Jobs’ […]

Washington, DC. September 1987: First Lady Nancy Reagan accepts on behalf of the 'Just Say No Club' a check from the Proctor & Gamble company for $150,000.

Just Say No was the name and catchphrase of a youth antidrug campaign led by first lady Nancy Reagan as part of the U.S. government's war on drugs in the 1980s.

Hands Across America, Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Take a look back at Hands Across America, the charity event in which 5 million people formed a human chain across the United States.

Five astronauts and two payload specialists make up the STS 51-L crew, scheduled to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in January of 1986. Crewmembers are (left to right, front row) astronauts Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee and Ronald E. McNair; and Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith A. Resnik. McAuliffe and Jarvis are payload specialists, representing the Teacher in Space Project and Hughes Co., respectively.

The space shuttle Challenger blew apart some 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board.

On January 28, 1986, the tenth mission of the space shuttle Challenger ended in tragic disaster. We remember the seven astronauts who lost their lives that day, including Christa McAuliffe, who was chosen by NASA to pioneer its Teacher in Space program.

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Some of the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 after it crashed onto the town of Lockerbie in Scotland, on 21st December 1988.

More U.S. civilians died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland than in any other terrorist attack except 9/11.

Freddie Mercury of Queen performs on stage at Live Aid on July 13th, 1985.

Find out about Freddie Mercury, the inspiration for today's Google Doodle, and other famous people who helped put a face on the HIV and AIDS crisis.

28th January 1986: The space shuttle Challenger (STS-51L) takes off from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. 73 seconds later the shuttle exploded, killing its seven crew members. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, a disaster that claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard.