The 1980s were known for bright colors, big hair, and the introduction of new technologies like early cell phones. Key historical events included the assassination of John Lennon, the marriage of Prince Charles and Diana, and the Chernobyl disaster. Wars in the 1980s included the Iran-Iraq War and the Falklands War between the UK and Argentina. The first space shuttle launched in 1981. New movies like E.T. and Blade Runner were popular, as were songs by Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, and Madonna.

1. Aaliyah Leggett
THE 1980’S

2. • The 80’s was a decade known for wearing bright colours and having big
hair!
• The drink that gives you wings, Red Bull, was actually first available in
1987. They even used the same slogan.
• The earliest cell phones had huge battery packs and could weigh over 20
pounds.
• Duran Duran got their name from a character in a 1960s film Barbarella.
• Coca-Cola caused a big hullabaloo when they changed the formula of
Coke. The public was unhappy and expressed their disapproval, causing
Coca-Cola to go back to the original formula; they called it Coke Classic.
• The awesome guitar in Michael Jackson’s song ‘Beat It’ was none other
than Eddie Van Halen.
• Computers in the early 80s only had 64 kilobytes of memory.
• McDonalds Chicken McNuggets were put on its ever-expanding menu in
1981, changing the lives of children everywhere.
FUN FACTS

3. • Bad – Meaning Good or Great, as popularized by Michael Jackson. Brill –
Shortened word for brilliant
• Dude – A cool male
• Dudette – A cool female
• Lame – The opposite to cool
• Ponce – Another great insult term. If somebody did something stupid, for
example scored an own goal playing football then a cry of “you ponce”
would be a suitable put down.
SLANG WORDS

4. • Murder of John Lennon in 1980, where he was shot in New York.
• Charles and Diana marry in 1981.
• The Chernobyl disaster 1986, Ukraine and much of the world is filled with
radioactive debris, Chernobyl is still inhabitable.
• The fall of the Berlin wall happened in 1989, this is considered to be the
most momentous event of the 80’s.
KEY HISTORICAL EVENTS

5. • From 1980-1988, the Iran–Iraq War leads to over one million dead and $1
trillion spent, this is the 20th century’s longest conventional war.
• Argentina invaded the British territory of the Falkland Islands in 1982.
• American president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachey
eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the
Cold War, 1985.
• On 4 June 1989, the Chinese army used gunfire to break up a peaceful
protest in Tiananmen Square, wounding and killing many hundreds,
possibly thousands, of demonstrators; an accurate figure will probably
never be known.
WAR

6. • Ethiopia witnesses widespread famine in the mid 1980’s, during the
corrupt rule of Mengistu Haile Mariam resulting in the country having to
depend on foreign aid to provide food to its population and worldwide
efforts to address and raise money to help Ethiopians, such as the famous
Live Aid concert in 1985.
• Developing countries across the world faced economic and social
difficulties as they suffered from multiple debt crises in the 1980s,
requiring many of these countries to apply for financial assistance from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
• In January 1982 an economic recession lead to high unemployment.
• Conservative PM Margaret Thatcher is re-elected in 1983, and then in 1987
she is elected again for a third term.
KEY SOCIAL, POLITICAL &
ECONOMIC EVENTS

7. • In 1981, the first space shuttle, Columbia, lifted off. Columbia was the first
space-rated Space Shuttle in NASA’s orbiter fleet. It launched for the firt
time on 12th April 1981 to complete the first flight of the Space Shuttle
program. Over 22 years of service it completed 27 missions before
disintegrating near the end of its 28th mission, on 1st February 2003,
resulting in the deaths of all seven crew.
• Humber bridge opened in 1981, the longest single-span bridge in the world
• The World Wide Web is invented in 1989 by Tim Burners-Lee, a huge
invention as now the world wide web is extremely important to our culture.
NEW INVENTIONS

8. • The 80’s revealed many great movies, movies that people will still remember
and watch today such as E.T. The Extra Terrestrial - (1982, Steven
Spielberg), Blade Runner - (1982, Ridley Scott), The Shining - (1980,
Stanley Kubrick), Die Hard - (1988), The Untouchables - (1987), Scarface
- (1983), Poltergeist - (1982), Back to the Future - (1985), The Little
Mermaid - (1989) and many more.
• The 80’s also had particular artists and famous songs such as Bon Jovi / "Livin'
on a Prayer" (1986), Michael Jackson / "Billie Jean" (1982), Guns N' Roses /
Sweet Child O' Mine (1987), Madonna / "Like a Virgin" (1984), Journey /
Don't Stop Believing (1981), Whitney Houston / "How Will I Know" (1985),
U2 / "With Or Without You" (1987), Cyndi Lauper / "Time After Time"
(1984) and other artists such as Duran Duran, Run DMC, WHAM!, Aerosmith
and so on.
• Before August of 1981, there was no MTV. The first video aired was ‘Video
Killed the Radio Star’ by the Buggles.
MEDIA