1980s

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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". 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"). 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 activists generally denounced abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, feminism, drug legalization, and affirmative action.

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. 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. It came to be called as the late 1980s purple passage of the autumn of nations. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century.

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. 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

  • Social attitudes toward minorities began to ease, Baby boomers, who first began to enter positions of power during the 1980s, likely did much to effect this change. During the late 1980s, public bigotry became largely a thing of the past and racial prejudice lost moral acceptance; thus the popularized concept of multiculturalism, particularly in advertising, first appeared.
  • Conservative talk radio starts in the 1980s and by 1984 Rush Limbaugh begins broadcasting from KFBK AM 1530 in Sacramento, California. In 1989 he moved to his flagship station, WABC in New York City. Limbaugh became nationally syndicated by 1989.
  • The War on Drugs is instituted by Reagan and the conservatives because of the excesses of drug use in the 1970s. In spite of draconian sentences which are now being imposed by the Reagan administration, drug use continued and new drugs such as "crack" cocaine came into use. abated. The crack epidemic inspired new music; "White Lines" by Grand Master Flash was a hit and yet it still a very meaningful message. It spoke of the effects of drugs and their uselessness and telling kids and adults as well to stay clean and be a good example. Ironically, Grandmaster Flash was using drugs when he wrote the song, which brought the American people to think it was extremely hypocritical to be singing about staying clean.
  • The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. Continuing the 1970s' trend, more and more women in the English-speaking world took to calling themselves "Ms.", rather than "Mrs." or "Miss." A similar change occurred in Germany, with women choosing "Frau" instead of "Fräulein" in an effort to disassociate marital status from title. In most western countries, women began to exercise the option of keeping their maiden names after marriage; in Canada, legislation was enacted to end the practice of automatically changing a woman's last name upon marriage.
  • Child abuse gained public attention as alleged incidents of child molestation were reported, particularly at day care facilities in various parts of the United States. Several court cases were followed by the media, including California (the McMartin Preschool case), North Carolina (the Little Rascals Day Care case) and New Jersey (the Wee Care Nursery School case), spreading hysteria among parents and teachers. Similar large-scale cases were also reported in Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
  • Social welfare for handicapped children improved, and these children were no longer ignored or forced into state mental institutions.
  • National safety campaigns raised awareness of seat belt usage to save lives in automobile accidents, helping to make the measure mandatory in most countries and U.S. states by 1990. Similar efforts arose to push child safety seats and bike helmet use, already mandatory in a number of U.S. states and some countries.
  • Alcohol education and drug education expanded, bringing about movements such as M.A.D.D., Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign, and D.A.R.E.. By 1990, every state in the U.S. mandated the drinking age to be 21, the only country to ever do so.
  • Rejection of smoking, perceived as more unhealthy and deadly than in previous decades, increased among Americans following a 1984 reconfirmation of earlier studies into the risks of smoking by the U.S. Surgeon General. "Smoking" and "non-smoking" sections in American restaurants became common, state efforts to combat underage smoking (such as banning cigarette sales to minors) intensified, and acknowledgment of smoking-related birth defects became more common.
  • Opposition to nuclear power plants grew, especially after the catastrophic 1986 Chernobyl accident.
  • Environmental concerns intensified. In the United Kingdom, environmentally friendly domestic products surged in popularity. Western European countries adopted "greener" policies to cut back on oil use, recycle most of their nations' waste, and increase focus on water and energy conservation efforts. Similar "Eco-activist" trends appeared in the U.S. in the late 1980s.
  • Gay people faced renewed discrimination which started with a backlash against disco music which was derided as "fag" music. In 1980, an anti-homosexual documentary was televised by ABC across the nation. The rise of AIDS led to increased public disdain of homosexuality and homosexuals. The Supreme Court upheld laws which criminalize gay sex in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision. MTV banned Dead or Alive music videos because of their homosexual content.
  • The U.S. support and pressure group Remove Intoxicated Drivers experienced rapid growth.
  • Research on alcohol and weight expanded.

Culture

Sports

Fashion

Main article: 1980s in fashion

Music

See also Timeline of musical events#1980s.

New styles of music

  • Thrash metal appeared and became an underground sensation originating mostly in the Bay Area (San Francisco), and New York City. A few of these acts managed to achieve mainstream exposure (especially during the early 1990s), and were frequently seen as alternatives to the poppier "glam metal" bands of the day.
  • Extreme metal began, with bands such as Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Death, Possessed, Morbid Angel and gained prominence in the underground.
  • House music was a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade and later developed into acid house, a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
  • American singer Prince, French band Indochine ("3e sexe"), Canadian singer Norman Iceberg ("Be My Human Tonight"), Spanish band Mecano ("Mujer Contra Mujer") became part of a worldwide movement of artists writing innovative lyrics filled with sexual innuendos reflecting the then-popular and highly fashionable androgynous style.
  • With increased commercialization of popular music, thousands of new bands from all over the country sprang up in opposition by performing aggressive, stripped-down punk rock with an even larger amount of political and social awareness injected into the lyrics. Known as Hardcore punk, it would go on to influence and create other musical genres well into the 21st century. Popular bands included Dead Kennedys in San Francisco, Minor Threat in Washington DC, Black Flag in Los Angeles and Reagan Youth in New York City.
  • El General recorded a first album and reggaeton was born in Panama.
  • Prince was credited with jump-starting the Minneapolis sound.

Successful artists

Television

See also: 1980s in television

United States

The rest of the world

  • On July 29, 1981, television coverage of the marriage of Prince Charles and lady Diana Spencer reached an estimated television audience of 750 million people.
  • On December 6, 1989, the once extremely successful and popular British science fiction series Doctor Who came to an end after more than 26 years and 703 episodes.

Film

Main article: 1980s in film

Video games

See also History of video games#1980s

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. 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. 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.

In the 1980s, Atari failed to apply proper quality control to the software development process for its popular Video Computer System game console. The amount of low-quality software caused a massive collapse of the home console industry. 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. PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive were next generation game consoles that were released during the last years of the decade.

Home computers become popular in the 1980s and during that decade they were used heavily for gaming, especially the ZX Spectrum. 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.

International issues

In the United States

In Canada

  • The 1986 World's Fair, Expo '86, opened on May 2, 1986 and lasted until mid-October. It brought huge international attention to Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada. The fair had an attendance of over 22 million and was considered a great success. The fair attracted many celebrities, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, Margaret Thatcher, Vincent Price, and George Bush Sr. The fair was also credited as showing that World Expositions were still a viable venture during its times.
  • Political unrest in the province of Quebec, which rooted from the many differences between the dominant francophone population versus the anglophone minority and the francophones rights in the dominantly English-speaking Canada, came to a head in 1980 when the provincial government called a public referendum on partial separation from the rest of Canada. The referendum ended with the "no" side winning majority (59.56% no, 40.44% yes).
  • During The Right Honourable Pierre Elliot Trudeau's term as Prime Minister of Canada (and under his oversight), Queen Elizabeth II signed the New Constitution of Canada on 17 April 1982. This Act severed all Political Dependencies of the United Kingdom in Canada.
  • In 1984, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leader Brian Mulroney became Prime Minister of Canada; he remained Prime Minister until 1993, ending almost 67 years of rule by the Liberal Party of Canada.
  • The Meech Lake Accord, a package of changes and amendments to the constitution of Canada, was created in conference and pushed ahead by Brian Mulroney for ratification from the provinces. The accord gave each province more immigration powers and gave Quebec the status of a "distinct society" and a constitutional veto. It was voted down and followed by another set of amendments, which was also voted down in the 1990s. The creation of and eventual failure of the Meech Lake accords eventually, and the following Charlottetown Accords set the stage for another referendum in Quebec, in 1995.

In Europe

In 1981 there was a assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square. In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated.

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. At the end of the decade, the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 would be followed in 1990 by the German reunification.

In the United Kingdom

In Australia

Disasters

Man-made disasters

Two major disasters made world headlines in the 1980s. In 1984 the Bhopal disaster resulted from a toxic gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. In 1986 the Chernobyl disaster spread a large amount of radioactive material across Europe, killing 47 people (with thousands more possibly dying from radiation-caused cancers)and resulting the rehousing of over 300,000 people into safer areas.


See also

External links

This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.


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