Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Events and Trends End of communist rule in Eastern Europe: Solidarity movement in Poland eventually topples the country's Communist regime. Gorbachev introduces Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union Fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany, preparing the way to German reunification Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia Revolution in Romania, execution of Ceausescu Assassination of John Lennon and Olof Palme, attempts on Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Reaganomics Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British politics. Falklands War Britain fights off Argentine invasion of Falkland islands in 1982 Political correctness President Tito of Yugoslavia dies. In Europe, rise of right wing parties (Le Pen in France, Schönhuber/Republikaner in Germany, Haider in Austria), parallel to a rise of Green parties. Bulletin board system popularity Popularization of personal computers Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hits theaters Release of Americans held hostage in Iran Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988 kills one million people. Iran-Contra Scandal Soviet Union ends its disastrous military campaign in Afghanistan. "People Power" in the Philippines topples the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship Salman Rushdie wanted dead by Iranian leader Khomeini Students protest on Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China Accident at Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear reactor, April 1986 Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland Largest one-day stock market drop, on October 19, 1987 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes Hip hop began to achieve mainstream success in the United States, with artists like Kurtis Blow and N.W.A; hip hop's spread outside of New York City, especially to Los Angeles, accelerates Rise of cable television Fall of economic security in the United States 24 hour television news channels (e.g., CNN) Music videos (and MTV) begin to have an affect on record industry in the United States World Leaders Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Canada) Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada) Deng Xiaoping (People's Republic of China) President Chiang Ching-kuo (Republic of China on Taiwan) President Anwar Sadat (Egypt) President Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) President François Mitterrand (France) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (India) Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (India) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iran) President Saddam Hussein (Iraq) Prime Minister Menachem Begin (Israel) Prime Minister Shimon Peres (Israel) Emperor Hirohito (Japan) Pope John Paul II Taoiseach Charles Haughey (Republic of Ireland) Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (Republic of Ireland) Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore) Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet Union) Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union) Prime Minister Olof Palme (Sweden) Queen Elizabeth II (United Kingdom) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom) President Jimmy Carter (United States) President Ronald Reagan (United States) Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (West Germany) Chancellor Helmut Kohl (West Germany) Film Ghostbusters Meg Ryan Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) Charlie Sheen Matthew Broderick Phoebe Cates Tom Cruise Matt Dillon Clint Eastwood Harrison Ford (as Indiana Jones) Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future) Mel Gibson Batman (Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson) Ferris Bueller's Day Off Brat Pack John Hughes The Breakfast Club Pretty in Pink Hairspray Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) Top Gun Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop) Sean Penn Sylvester Stallone (Rambo: First Blood) Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing) Television The A-Team (including Mr. T) Saturday Night Live MASK Sports figures Nolan Ryan George Brett Ozzie Smith Bo Jackson Joe Montana Lawrence Taylor Ronnie Lott Larry Bird Earvin "Magic" Johnson Isiah Thomas Michael Jordan Wayne Gretzky Mark Messier 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team ("Miracle On Ice") John McEnroe Martina Navratilova Jack Nicklaus Greg LeMond Alexis Arguello Wilfred Benitez Julio Cesar Chavez Roberto Duran Wilfredo Gómez Sugar Ray Leonard Marvin Hagler Thomas Hearns Larry Holmes Michael Spinks Mike Tyson Music Compact Disc introduced, gradually replaces vinyl records. see hip hop, old school rap, heavy metal music, twee pop, hair metal, New Wave music, New Romantic, shoegazing, jangle pop, alternative rock, dream pop, techno, house, acid house Aerosmith (Pump) Afrika Bambaataa (Planet Rock) Alabama (awarded ACM "Artists of the Decade") Anthrax (State of Euphoria) a-ha (Hunting High and Low) Public Enemy (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back) The B-52's (The B-52's) Bad Religion (Suffer) The Bangles (All Over the Place) Beastie Boys (Licensed to Ill) Clint Black (Killin' Time) Black Flag David Byrne (The Catherine Wheel) Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Blow) The Cars (Heartbeat City) Celtic Frost (Into the Pandemonium) Tracy Chapman (Tracy Chapman) The Clash (London Calling) Cocteau Twins (Head over Heels) Phil Collins (Face Value) De La Soul (Three Feet High and Rising) Def Leppard (Pyromania) Devo (Freedom of Choice) Dokken (Tooth and Nail) Duran Duran (Rio) Embrace (Embrace) Brian Eno & David Byrne (My Life in the Bush of Ghosts) Eric B. & Rakim (Follow the Leader) Faith No More (The Real Thing) Fields of the Nephilim (Dawnrazor) A Flock of Seagulls (A Flock of Seagulls) John Fogerty (Centerfield) Peter Gabriel (''Gabriel III (melting face cover)) The Go-Go's (The Beauty and the Beat) Amy Grant (Straight Ahead) Guns n' Roses (Appetite for Destruction) Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (The Message) Hüsker Dü (Zen Arcade) John Cougar Mellencamp (Scarecrow) Menudo (Reaching Out) Mercyful Fate (Don't Break the Oath) Michael Jackson (Thriller) Mission UK (The First Chapter) The Jam (Sound Affects) Jane's Addiction (Nothing's Shocking) Jesus & Mary Chain (Pyschocandy) Joy Division (Closer) Kraftwerk (Computer World) Cyndi Lauper (She's So Unusual) k.d. lang (Shadowland) LL Cool J (Radio) Madonna (Like a Virgin) Bob Marley (Uprising) Ministry (The Land of Rape and Honey) Sugar Minnott (Good Thing Going) Mötley Crüe (Shout at the Devil) My Bloody Valentine (Isn't Anything) My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (I See Good Spirits & I See Bad Spirits) Nine Inch Nails (Pretty Hate Machine) N.W.A (Straight Outta Compton) The Offspring (The Offspring) Quiet Riot (Metal Health) Augustus Pablo (Earth's Rightful Ruler) Pixies (Doolittle) Poison (Open Up & Say...Ahh) The Police (Synchronicity The Pogues (Rum Sodomy & the Lash) The Pretenders (The Pretenders) Prince (Purple Rain) R.E.M (Murmur) Rainbow (Down to Earth) Red Hot Chili Peppers (Freaky Styley) The Replacements (Tim) Rick Springfield (Working Class Dog) Rockin' Sidney (My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues) Run DMC (Kings of Rock) Sepultura (Beneath the Remains) Simple Minds (Once Upon a Time) Sisters of Mercy (Floodland) Skinny Puppy ((VIVISect VI) Slick Rick (The Great Adventures of Slick Rick) The Smiths (The Queen Is Dead) Soft Cell (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing) Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation) Sting (The Dream of the Blue Turtles) The Specials (More Specials) Bruce Springsteen (Born in the U.S.A) Stryper (The Yellow and Black Attack) Talking Heads (Speaking in Tongues) Tina Turner (Private Dancer) Randy Travis (Storms of Life) Peter Tosh (Mama Africa) U2 (The Joshua Tree) Van Halen (Women and Children First) Violent Femmes (Violent Femmes) W.A.S.P (F**k Like a Beast) Wham (Make It Big) Whitesnake (Saints and Sinners) Yellowman (Mister Yellowman) Y La Tengo (New Wave Hot Dogs) Dwight Yoakam (Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc) ZZ Top (Afterburner) Various artists - C-86 See also: 1980s music groups, List of rock and roll albums in the 1980s