Population: 226,546,000
Unemployed in 1980:
National Debt: 1980 - $914,000,000,000
National Debt: 1986 - $2,000,000,000,000
Average salary: $15,757
Life Expectancy: Male 69.9 Female 77.6
Minimum Wage: $3.10
BMW was $12,000; Mercedes 280 E was $14,800
Attendance: Movies 20 million/week
Challenger Space Shuttle
Many watched in awe as this space mission took off and horror followed as it exploded. Lasting only 1 minute and 13 seconds, this mission only travelled 18 miles. One member of the crew made history by being the first teacher in space.
Question 1: What two members were not government employees and what was their background history? Look under “information on the challenger crew.”
Mount St. Helens
Ash Cloud – 80,000 feet
57 deaths (21 never recovered)
About 12 million fish
This was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in North America.
Question 2: How much of the mountain was removed from the eruption?
Artificial Human Heart
The human heart is the essence of life. The removal of the human heart is one of the most dramatic and drastic surgeries available. Prior research had been done to see if heart transplants would work. Jarvik was the first to “successfully” implant an artificial human heart.
Question 3: What is the difference between the two types of artificial hearts?
Apple Mac
With several years of building computers, Apple finally introduced the Mac. The Mac was the first computer to take 3.5 floppy discs.
Question 4: What how long did the Mac 128K stay on the market?
Question 5: Explore some of the old technology as you find out what year was the iPod born?
Microsoft Windows
"I’m a PC". A long battle between the PC and the Mac is still occurring.
Question 6: Why was Bill Gates threatened with a lawsuit from Apple in 1985?
AIDS Virus Identified
Twenty years after the identification of the deadly AIDS virus, scientists were finally awarded with recognition.
Question 7: In what year, and by who, was the AIDS virus identified?
Prozac
WOW! Americans are drug dependant!
Question 8: What is Prozac prescribed for and in 5 years of the drug discovery, how many American’s had taken the drug?
Camcorder
Once starting at a price of $1500, this machine is an older format of something all digital cameras are capable of doing.
Question 9: What is the difference between a camcorder and a video recorder? What was the first company to create the camcorder?
DNA Fingerprinting
The ability to identify a person based on their DNA once sounded like science fiction. In 1984 this fictional story became a reality.
Question 10: What was the first practical application of this process and what did it do for the person involved?
Facts taken from:
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade80.html
