1980s including Popular Culture, Prices, Events, Technology and Inventions

Money and Inflation 1980's

To provide an estimate of inflation we have given a guide to the value of $100 US Dollars for the first year in the decade to the equivalent in todays money
If you have $100 Converted from 1980 to 2005 it would be equivalent to $243.45 today

In 1980 a new house cost $68,714.00 and by 1989 was $120,00.00 Check Examples of Some of the Houses and Prices For Sale In The 80s House Prices

In 1980 the average income per year was $19,170.00 and by 1989 was $27,210.00

In 1980 a gallon of gas was $1.19 and by 1989 was 97 cents

In 1980 the average cost of new car was $7,210.00 and by 1989 was $15,400.00

A few more prices from the 80's and how much things cost
Camero Coupe $7,571 From Car Prices in the 80's

Pontiac Grand AM $9,965

Nike Air Force Basketball Shoes $54.90

Tailored Style Silk Blouse $15.99 From Prices for clothes and fashions in the 80's

Amiga 500 with Color Monitor $849 From Electrical and Electronic Prices in the 80's

Hands Free Operating Car Phone History of Mobile Phones $788

Leg O Lamb $2.19 per pound

Milk 85 cents 1/2 gallon From Price of Food 80's

Bunk Beds with Matress $148

Chrome Sling Chair $76.00 From Furniture Prices 80's

Cheer Laundry Detergent $1.59 From Prices for other stuff

Events 1980's

During the 80's we also saw the collapse of the traditional communism and the end of the cold war .The fragmentation of communism included the collapse of the Berlin wall and the breakup up of what was the USSR towards the end of the 80's. and leading to German reunification.

The 80's also signaled a period of the rise of conservatism as the in political and cultural life, caused by Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Regan in the USA .

Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland islands in 1982 but is subsequently defeated by the United Kingdom.

China continued it's growth and liberalisation but suffered unrest towards the end of the 80's after student's protested in Tiananmen Square and the authorities used force to quell the protests

Famine in Ethiopia was shown to the world on our television screens in 1984 - 1985 and the pain and suffering caused the western world to find new ways to help including the Live Aid concert and many of the most popular stars contributed their time and performed for free in cities throughout the world , This has to be one of the most successful campaigns ever to create awareness and raise much needed funds by those who have the power to draw TV History of TV audiences around the globe.

Many South American Countries return to democracy after a period of dictatorships

The mixing of politics and sport in both 1980 and 1984 Olympics Boycotts by the worlds major powers

More About Panam Flight 103

Technology 1980's

The 80's signaled the start of the computer age, following on from the creation of Microsoft and Apple towards the end of the 70's , the technology and the speed of innovation both in Hardware and Software together with the cheapness provided a speed of growth and take up . The birth of the IBM PC signaled the start of Personal Computers first in the Offices and then into peoples homes becoming an integral part of our lives. following on from Micrsofts MSDOS on PC's to the first versions of Windows a GUI Graphical User Interface

As well as the Hardware and Software changes a new technology was evolving starting as Bulletin boards later to become what we now know as the Internet invented by English physicist Tim Berners and the beginnings of the World Wide Web

This was also the Decade that the Post-It was introduced which came from a glue invented in 1968 accidently while trying to discover a stronger glue at 3M by Spencer Silver

The 80's also signaled the age of the video game in arcades, Games Machines and PC's the most popular games being Space Invaders and Pac Man

Another technology that was also just starting was that of cellular mobile phones , in the beginning the phones were big and heavy and hit and miss for signal strength , but as with the Internet would change our lives .

After many years of ignoring the impact on our environment ,the world also took more notice of the impact that we were having on our planet and more research was done on the effects on global warming through population growth, land clearing of rain forests for agriculture and logging, increased use of fossil fuels for power generation together with our love affair with the car for transport .