:o  :o

1986 for tchernobyl and 1989 for the Fall of the Berlin Wall IMO.

I would say 1983.

IMO 1989. In addition to the end of the Berlin Wall, China had Tiennamen Square leading toward the development that persists today and though not fully appreciated until the mid-90s, the World Wide Web was introduced. The three events shaped the transition toward the cultures that exist today. But there were even other notable touchstones in a pop cultural sense, such as Pete Rose banned for betting in baseball, the Batman movie was big at the time, along with other secondary stories such as the Exxon Vaduz oil spill, the San Francisco earthquake during the Bay Area world series, and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy. 

The "weakest" years in terms of defining importance are probably 1982, 1985, and 1988. 1982 is probably best remembered for the movie ET and the peak of the video arcade craze, 1985 for either Back to the Future or Super Mario Bros, 1988 probably for Who Framed Roger Rabbit or the Seoul Olympics, but not so much as a real historical feel. Each of the other years had some historic moment: 1980 had the start of Iran-Iraq and John Lennon's assassination, 1981 had Reagan and his assassination attempt, 1983 had "Star Wars", 1984 had Apple's Macintosh, 1986 had Challenger and Cherynobol, 1987 had the Wall Street crash and the Iran-Contra affair, and of course the 1989 events as above. Those are just typical "early", "mid", and "late" 80s years that are portrayed in the media. In fact this article states that "1982 has not been a year that school children of future generations will have to memorize".
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19830103&id=hp4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UGgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3772,1739836

I would say 1983.


This thread is not about pop culture  ;D

I can barely name one important event from 1983 except for some music hits.

I would say 1983.


Well, the early 80s recession was over by 1983.  8)

IMO 1989. In addition to the end of the Berlin Wall, China had Tiennamen Square leading toward the development that persists today and though not fully appreciated until the mid-90s, the World Wide Web was introduced. The three events shaped the transition toward the cultures that exist today. But there were even other notable touchstones in a pop cultural sense, such as Pete Rose banned for betting in baseball, the Batman movie was big at the time, along with other secondary stories such as the Exxon Vaduz oil spill, the San Francisco earthquake during the Bay Area world series, and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy. 

The "weakest" years in terms of defining importance are probably 1982, 1985, and 1988. 1982 is probably best remembered for the movie ET and the peak of the video arcade craze, 1985 for either Back to the Future or Super Mario Bros, 1988 probably for Who Framed Roger Rabbit or the Seoul Olympics, but not so much as a real historical feel. Each of the other years had some historic moment: 1980 had the start of Iran-Iraq and John Lennon's assassination, 1981 had Reagan and his assassination attempt, 1982 had  1983 had "Star Wars", 1984 had Apple's Macintosh, 1986 had Challenger and Cherynobol, 1987 had the Wall Street crash and the Iran-Contra affair, and of course the 1989 events as above. Those are just typical "early", "mid", and "late" 80s years that are portrayed in the media. In fact this article states that "1982 has not been a year that school children of future generations will have to memorize".
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19830103&id=hp4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UGgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3772,1739836


Great analysis!  :)

1986 for tchernobyl and 1989 for the Fall of the Berlin Wall IMO.


I think 1986 was pretty historical, like you said, Chernobyl, and I think the Space challenger disaster also happened that year.

I think 1986 was pretty historical, like you said, Chernobyl, and I think the Space challenger disaster also happened that year.


For us Germans, 1989 with the Fall of the Berlin Wall was obviously the most important event in the 80s. Even though, the 90s started only 7 weeks later. I can't think of anything else which had more impact.
Chernobyl also influenced Germany since the radioactive cloud actually reached our country and rain forced people to throw away agricultural food and children couldn't play in their sand boxes anymore. I was born 5 weeks later.

Reply #8 on: Today at 11:11:11 AM

Wow, I didn't do this on purpose  ;D

This thread is not about pop culture  ;D

I can barely name one important event from 1983 except for some music hits.


I understand, I'm just saying the early 80's was a historic time.

I will also say 1987 cause that's when the stock market crashed.

Wow, I didn't do this on purpose  ;D


:o

1989, by quite a ways actually.  The fall of communism (even if the USSR itself didn't fall for another couple years) is kind of a big deal.

1981

Reagan gets sworn into office
There is an assassination attempt
Iranian hostage crisis is resolved
AIDS epidemic appears in the US
MTV premiers and plays its first music videos
Disco has its last hurrah and dies this year
New wave becomes popular in America

1981

Reagan gets sworn into office
There is an assassination attempt
Iranian hostage crisis is resolved
AIDS epidemic appears in the US
MTV premiers and plays its first music videos
Disco has its last hurrah and dies this year
New wave becomes popular in America


America at least, was in a recession in 1981, in a way that's historical!

This thread is not about pop culture  ;D

I can barely name one important event from 1983 except for some music hits.


1983 was definitely the height of the Cold War tensions, I would say.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007

This incident, plus Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech and then all the hype about nuclear war later in the year with "The Day After" and "Threads".

For us Germans, 1989 with the Fall of the Berlin Wall was obviously the most important event in the 80s. Even though, the 90s started only 7 weeks later. I can't think of anything else which had more impact.
Chernobyl also influenced Germany since the radioactive cloud actually reached our country and rain forced people to throw away agricultural food and children couldn't play in their sand boxes anymore. I was born 5 weeks later.


Chernobyl was scary. Then came Fukushima in the early 10s!

I will also say 1987 cause that's when the stock market crashed.


I almost forgot about that!

1989, by quite a ways actually.  The fall of communism (even if the USSR itself didn't fall for another couple years) is kind of a big deal.


I agree.

1983 was definitely the height of the Cold War tensions, I would say.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007

This incident, plus Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech and then all the hype about nuclear war later in the year with "The Day After" and "Threads".


One of the most tense times since the early 60s.  :)

Chernobyl was scary. Then came Fukushima in the early 10s!


Yes, exactly 25 years later.

Disco has its last hurrah and dies this year

I thought it died in 1980?

Definitely 1989 though I feel like the recent events in Ukraine sort of mute that year's legacy a little bit.

In their own way, each year of the 1980s were historical in their own right.

In their own way, each year of the 1980s were historical in their own right.


Exactly!

Well for me the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 was a significant and most historical moment.  It was just 3 months -2 days after I had turned 13 and I was watching a lot TV at the time.  And I was watching every news agency in Canada and the US reporting on how the wall fell.  There were people of my generation and the older generation reporting on how historical it was that the wall fell.  Tom Brokaw was reporting on how he had a chunk of the Berlin wall in his hand.

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A lot of people don't know this but technically the Berlin Wall was still operational until June 13, 1990. But it of course no longer served the ugly symbolic purpose it once did after 11/9/89.

A lot of people don't know this but technically the Berlin Wall was still operational until June 13, 1990. But it of course no longer served the ugly symbolic purpose it once did after 11/9/89.


Exactly. Plus: The German Democratic Republic was technicallly still existing as a sovereign country until October 3rd, 1990. The only difference was that all people could legally leave the country, but people still needed to show their passports. I think West Germans still received passport stamps for most of 1990 when they wanted to enter the GDR.

Exactly. Plus: The German Democratic Republic was technicallly still existing as a sovereign country until October 3rd, 1990. The only difference was that all people could legally leave the country, but people still needed to show their passports. I think West Germans still received passport stamps for most of 1990 when they wanted to enter the GDR.


And Bonn was still the capital until 1991 and even after that for a long time most of the German government was still essentially ran from there, apparently.

And Bonn was still the capital until 1991 and even after that for a long time most of the German government was still essentially ran from there, apparently.


Berlin became the capital exactly on October 3rd, 1990. But it's true that the German government still ran from Bonn until 1999, when the "New Reichstag" was completed. That's why I thought that we had two capitals as a kid (in the first half of the 90s) - but I was actually wrong. I have also heard more often the name "Bonn" on the news instead of "Berlin", so Berlin was actually not as relevant in the 90s than it is today.

Bonn was never a real capital by the way between 1949 and 1990. It was only a "de facto" capital.

IMO 1989. In addition to the end of the Berlin Wall, China had Tiennamen Square leading toward the development that persists today and though not fully appreciated until the mid-90s, the World Wide Web was introduced. The three events shaped the transition toward the cultures that exist today. But there were even other notable touchstones in a pop cultural sense, such as Pete Rose banned for betting in baseball, the Batman movie was big at the time, along with other secondary stories such as the Exxon Vaduz oil spill, the San Francisco earthquake during the Bay Area world series, and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy. 

The "weakest" years in terms of defining importance are probably 1982, 1985, and 1988. 1982 is probably best remembered for the movie ET and the peak of the video arcade craze, 1985 for either Back to the Future or Super Mario Bros, 1988 probably for Who Framed Roger Rabbit or the Seoul Olympics, but not so much as a real historical feel. Each of the other years had some historic moment: 1980 had the start of Iran-Iraq and John Lennon's assassination, 1981 had Reagan and his assassination attempt, 1983 had "Star Wars", 1984 had Apple's Macintosh, 1986 had Challenger and Cherynobol, 1987 had the Wall Street crash and the Iran-Contra affair, and of course the 1989 events as above. Those are just typical "early", "mid", and "late" 80s years that are portrayed in the media. In fact this article states that "1982 has not been a year that school children of future generations will have to memorize".
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19830103&id=hp4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UGgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3772,1739836


1985: We Are the World. Live Aid. The Breakfast Club.  Rambo 2. The Goonies. Rocky IV.

1984 was the year quintessential 80's movies really took off.