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Ninth of 12 posts with an illustrated decade-by-decade timeline for the years 1900 to 2021. For more on the timeline and a link to the book on Amazon, see here. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/cBo50RLqjDI.

1980-1989

This post is a teaser, not the full text for 1980-1989.

Among the events of this decade:

• 1979-1989 USSR war in Afghanistan against mujahedeen (militant Islamists). Continuing the policy of proxy wars against the USSR, the US sends aid to mujahedeen beg. 1979.
• 1980s Moral Majority, est. 1979 by Rev. Jerry Falwell, promotes conservative Christian Right views, arguing that politics and religion/morality should not be separated. The group favors family values, defense, and Israel; it opposes the Equal Rights Amendment, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, abortion, pornography, gay rights and more. Politically powerful in 1980s (they help get Reagan elected), the Moral Majority declines in late 1980s when the moral crisis of the 1960s-1970s is perceived to have passed.
• 1980 inflation peaks at 14.76%.
• 1983 Reagan drops détente in favor of more aggressive stance, incl. Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”).
• From mid-1980s, cocaine and crack become popular. Drug cartels grow. Reagan accelerates the War on Drugs with the slogan, “Just Say No.”
• 1987 stock market crash: Dow Jones loses 22%.
• 1987 Environmental activists argue that the journey of the Mobro 4000 garbage barge is a sign of a solid-waste disposal crisis. Recycling becomes mandatory in many localities by the 1990s.

• 1989, Apr.-June: At Tiananmen Square, a million students protest the corruption of Chinese Communist Party leadership. Protest is suppressed by army tanks. Death estimates range from several hundred to several thousand.
• 1989: Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe after Gorbachev announces that the Soviets will no longer support dictators with military force. Oct.: Peaceful end of Communist power in Hungary. Nov.: Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Nov.: gates in Berlin Wall opened (Wall demolished 1990). Dec.: overthrow of Ceausescu in Romania.
• Science, technology, & health: 1981 MS-DOS released by Microsoft. 1981 AIDS epidemic recognized. 1982 First artificial heart implanted. Internet is global by 1989, when World Wide Web concept is formalized.

• Books: Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1987: satirical novel about ambition, racism, class, politics, and greed in 1980s NYC; the main character is a bond trader. Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses, 1988: based in part on life of Mohammad; results in a fatwa against Rushdie and bombings of bookstores. Lee Iacocca & William Novak, Iacocca: An Autobiography, 1984: author’s career with Ford and Chrysler. Robert E. Kowalski, The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure, 1987. Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, 1989.
• Visual arts: Di Modica, Charging Bull, 1989: created after the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of the “strength, power, and hope of the American people for the future” (according to a flyer distributed by the artist). Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1982: list of  names inscribed on black granite slabs that are sunk below ground level; enormously controversial, and the inspiration for dozens of non-figurative memorials since then. Jeff Koons, Rabbit, 1986, and other shiny metal balloon animals.

• Movies: top-grossing movies include Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982. Top Gun, 1986. Die Hard, 1988. Six James Bond movies. New: Japanese anime.
• TV: MTV, Dallas, Dynasty, Cheers.
• Music: best-selling album artists include Michael Jackson, Madonna, Phil Collins, Queen, Prince, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, George Michael, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Rolling Stones. Popular styles: Contemporary R&B, punk rock, heavy metal, grunge, New Wave, goth, rap metal, glam metal, house / techno dance, New Age, and hip hop.

• Musicals: Andrew Lloyd Weber, Cats, 1981, and Phantom of the Opera, 1986. Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George, 1984, and Into the Woods, 1987. La Cage aux Folles, 1986. Les Miserables, 1987.

Feedback I’d appreciate from you on the PDF of 1980-1989

• Have I listed all the most significant events for this decade? Space is limited and there’s room for disagreement, but do tell me if you think anything important is missing. In case you want to add events important to you, I’ve allowed some blank space on every set of facing pages.
• I have not read all the books I mention nor listened to all the musical styles. Are any of the facts or descriptions wrong? Corrections welcome.
• I’d like to include major events in areas such as education, psychology, Supreme Court decisions, and sports. If you can boil down those or similar fields to a half-dozen significant events from 1900 to 2021, send them to me and I’ll try to work them in.
• Of course, point out typos, bad grammar, messy syntax, and so on.

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