John Lennon is
assassinated by Mark David Chapman.
RU-486 the abortion
pill is released in France.
CNN is launched
for the first time.
Richard Pryor
gets badly burned trying to free-base cocaine.
Saddam Hussein
launches war against Iran for close to a decade over oil rights.
Brooke Shields
whispers "You know what comes between me and my Calvin's? Nothing." The
ad was banned.
Black & Hispanic
Barbie are introduced.
Led Zeppelin's
drummer, John Bonham, dies of asphyxiation after drinking binge.
Bob Dylan becomes
a born again Christian.
Kurtis Blow is
the first hip-hop artist to appear on national television. He performs
"The Break" on Soul Train in October.
Ordinary People
wins Oscar for Best Movie.
Empire Strikes
Back grosses 290 million at the box office. Security around this movie
was so tight that George Lucas had the character of Darth Vader give fake
ending to movie - "Obi Wan Kenobi is your father", and later dubbed it
to be "I am your father".
"Rappers Delight"
by Sugarhill Gang was first rap act to have huge International hit.
The hit film Urban
Cowboy revives country music sales with the new "Nashville Sound"
of pop country tunes.
Dallas
is the # 1 show.
TV Show That's
Incredible popularizes the phrase "Don't Try This At Home".
US Hockey team
beats Russia for the gold in Winter Olympics.
Bill Gates licenses
MS-DOS, makes next to nothing on the deal.