decades-1980's

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE AWESOME 80s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**
Aaron + Liza = 1980s. And Awesomeness!!!!!

We TOTALLY Started The AWESOME

Ronald Reagan, Nancy, Conservatives get fancy, Reagan Revolution plays the country for a fool,

Yuppies and gay priders, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, Nike sneakers, fad diets, ‘shades’ are cool,

VHS, Walkmans, Donkey Kong and Pac-Man fans, Arcade games like Space Invaders, Frogger’s so posh

Toss vinyl, here’s a CD, we’re loving the security, Computers hit the main stream, first Apple Macintosh,

We totally started the AWESOME, we’re just minting money, and our hair is funny, We totally started the AWESOME, Christian middle class, we don’t take no sass

CNN, cable, Cheers is on the table, Cosby Show and Smurfs have their Family Ties

Michael Jackson, MTV, synth and AC/DC, Man or woman Bowie? and Madonna, those thighs!

Terminator, E.T., Star Wars has its trilogy, Bill and Ted’s Adventure, excellent and obtuse

Ferris Bueller has his day, Breakfast Club writes their essay, Sundance Film Festival, and yes we’re Footloose

We totally started the AWESOME, it’s a bit bizarre but who killed JR? We totally started the AWESOME, while the poor get screwed, Kowabunga dude!

Big hair, shoulder pads, bounce in those aerobics ads, Work out with Jane Fonda, just pop in that cassette

Flock of seagulls, stretchy pants, leg warmers, it supplants Any sense of reason, can’t explain the mullet

Princess Di, Sally Ride, Christie Brinkley’s Billy’s bride, Our Chicago takes control, da Bears win the Superbowl

John Belushi’s OD stature, iron rule of Maggie Thatcher, Sandra Day O’Connor gains Supreme Court role

We totally started the AWESOME, but it has begun, girls want to have fun, We totally started the AWESOME, just enjoy advances in business finances

Women in the Ivy League, Iran Contra’s intrigue, Vietnam Memorial’s no instant success

Hip-hop, break dance, rap music has a chance, Challenger’s big mess causes distress in the press

John Lennon shot dead, Exxon Valdez’ oils spread, crack cocaine, it invades, Gottlieb learns about AIDS

Cold war drops the ball, fall of the Berlin Wall slip on some ‘cool shades,’ the greatest of the decades!

We totally started the AWESOME, we’re just minting money, and our hair is funny, We totally started the AWESOME, Christian middle class, we don’t take no sass We totally started the AWESOME, but it has begun, girls want to have fun, We totally started the AWESOME, just enjoy advances in business finances We totally started the AWESOME, it’s a bit bizarre but who killed JR? We TOTALLY started the AWESOME, while the poor get screwed, Kowabunga dude!

TOTALLY AWESOME VIDEOS!!!!!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jhb_-II16PQ - Jane Fonda...metallic leotard, belt, white sneakers. Oh Jane. http://youtube.com/watch?v=NxAd2sHtMf0 - What could be better than the end of the Cold War? Oh, I don't know...How about the end of the Cold War, PLUS David Hasselhoff! http://youtube.com/watch?v=L-l6b1fKgR8 - CRACK

Foreign Policy The 1980s were dominated by Ronald Reagan, and so it was his foreign policy vision that shaped America's in international interactions. And that vision was very much that of a war hawk, stepping aggressively back into the Cold War, in particular in the Third World. The Reagan administration rarely actually employed military personnel-American troops did little directly, except in Lebanon during its civil war. Instead, Reagan supplied funds and weapons to right-wing governments and counterinsurgency groups, letting them do the actual Communist-fighting themselves. This tactic was used all over, in Afghanistan, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America (the most famous of which was illegal diversion of funds to a paramilitary group in Nicaragua, in what became known as the Iran-Contra Affair). As far as the USSR, Reagan came in with a hard-line stance toward what he termed, "the evil empire." The arms race shot up with the Strategic Defense Initiative, Star Wars-type missile defense system. East-West tensions rose as well, until Gorbachev's perestroika (opening up to the West) began to take effect in Russia.

Political Events Reagan's election in 1980 began what is known as the Reagan Revolution, a political shift across America in the direction of the right. Reagan's slightly crazy mingling of theological principle with government was seen as a move back to American middle class values. Reelected in 1984, Reagan set this tone for the 80s political climate. Most political events of this decade could be more correctly named scandals. As mentioned above, the clearest example comes in the 1986 Iran-Contra Affair. The Reagan administration helped to illegally sell arms to avowed enemy Iran, using the profits to (again illegally) fund the anti-Communist terrorist group, the Contras, in Nicaragua. The president denied any knowledge of such transactions, withholding many documents from investigation. Of course, the biggest event in this decade would be the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, whose fall symbolized the end of the Cold War.

Social Events The marriage of the decade was the royal wedding of Prince Charles and the kindergarden teacher Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981 -**The spacecraft Voyager 2, made the closest approach to Saturn on August 25, 1981, Uranus on January 24, 1986, and Neptune on August 25, 1989, taking pictures of the planets.** - **On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. made an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity but was confined at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington D.C.** - **During this decade, AIDS became one of the biggest news stories. The first AIDS cases were reported in the U.S. in 1981. The virus was first observed only in the gay population, then spread through other parts of the population. During the 1980's there were approximately 151,339 cases of AIDS diagnosed in the U.S.**
 * Princess Grace of Monaco, the actress and beloved American, passed away on September 14, 1982 because a stroke caused her to drive her car off of a mountain side.**
 * Cultural Events**
 * On July 7, 1981, President Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor.**


 * A New York Times article on AIDS from 1983:** http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D7163BF935A35751C0A965948260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=1


 * Economic Events**
 * The greatest economic event of the 1980's was Black Monday. On Monday, October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 508 points, closing at a record low. This is known as the worst stock market crash in history, almost doubling the percentage lost in the crash of 1929.**


 * The causes of the crash include program trading, overvaluation, illiquidity, and market psychology. The effects were not as devestating as expected, as there was no depression. People took advantage of this as a great buying opportunity and in the following decade, the market made a comeback and rose once again.**


 * Trends in Popular Culture**
 * -fashion of the 80's matched the materialistic, big attitude: shoulder pads, mini skirts, leg warmers, leggings, "cool shades," velcro, off-the-shoulder shirts, big belts, frizzy hair, men wore one earring.**
 * -Computer graphics and arcade games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Frogger**
 * -The Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, cartoon characters such as Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and My Little Pony**


 * -Martial Arts and Ninja swept over the country**
 * -fad diets, "cool shades," aerobics, Jane Fonda workout videos, breakdancing**
 * -Michael Jackson, Madonna**
 * -Oprah Winfrey, Cheers, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Flashdance, Footloose, movie sequals**


 * Trends in American Life**
 * - Return of middle-class values**
 * - Creation of the 'Yuppie'**
 * (Young urban professional)**
 * - Alcohol and drug education has huge increase in prominence, in part due to the efforts of Nancy Reagan**
 * - Beginning of political correctness in politics**
 * - Gay issues and gay pride attract more attention**
 * - Social attitudes of white American majority towards minorities ease (multi-culturalism is popularized)**


 * Key People**
 * -Ronald Reagan**
 * -Nancy Reagan**
 * -Margaret Thatcher**
 * -Sandra Day O'Connor**
 * -Sally Ride**
 * -Michael Jordan**
 * -Madonna**
 * -Jane Fonda**
 * -Michael Gottlieb (discovered AIDS)**
 * -Ayatollah Khomeini**
 * -Michael Jackson**
 * -Arnold**
 * -Oprah Winfrey**


 * Timeline Sites of the 80's:**
 * [[image:http://www.only80s.com/timeline3.bmp width="883" height="446" align="middle"]] ||

http://www.inthe80s.com/timeline.shtml http://www.only80s.com/80sLife-Timeline-Events.htm

http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/i_love_the_80s/series.jhtml -**l LOVE THE 80's** http://www.derbyps.org/MUSIC/Facts/1980%20webpage.htm –**THE AWESOME 80's** [|http://www.plymouth.k12.in.us/~bwaymouth/US%20History%20Site/BIGLIST/1980's1.htm] -**SLANG TERMS** http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/13goingon30/site/youmissedout.php -**YOU MISSED OUT ON THE 80'S IF...** http://www.only80s.com/RealPeopleReally80s.html **-PICTURES** http://www.only80s.com/80sWordofMouth.html **-SLANG** http://www.only80s.com/80sCelebrities.htm **-CELEBRITIES** http://www.only80s.com/80sMusicFaves.html **-MUSIC** http://www.only80s.com/80sSilverScreen.html **-MOVIES**
 * Relevent Sites:**