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80s history

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Thanks for visiting our 80s paradise. At We Love the Eighties we celebrate everything that made the 1980s unforgettable, from classic music and blockbuster movies to retro TV shows, vintage video games, pop culture icons, and bold fashion trends. Take a trip down memory lane with our Retro Rewind flashbacks, join in on nostalgic forum discussions, and share your favorite memories from the greatest decade ever. Guests can browse a few threads, but full access requires registration. Ready to relive the magic of the 80s? Sign up today and become part of our passionate eighties community.
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  1. On This Day August 20 1986 - Patrick Sherrill Opened Fire at an Oklahoma Post Office

    On This Day August 20 1986 - Patrick Sherrill Opened Fire at an Oklahoma Post Office

    On this day August 20 1986, a tragic event unfolded in Edmond, Oklahoma when postal worker Patrick Sherrill killed 14 of his co-workers and injured 6 others before taking his own life. The shocking massacre became one of the deadliest workplace shootings in American history at the time. The...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 80s history american tragedies edmond oklahoma postal history workplace violence
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  2. On This Day August 16 1987 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Crash in Detroit

    On This Day August 16 1987 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Crash in Detroit

    On this day August 16 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 tragically crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The McDonnell Douglas MD 82 was bound for Phoenix with a stop in Santa Ana, California, but never made it beyond its initial climb. In one of the worst aviation...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 1980s news 80s history aviation disasters detroit history northwest airlines
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  3. On This Day August 10 1988 – President Reagan Signed the Civil Liberties Act

    On This Day August 10 1988 – President Reagan Signed the Civil Liberties Act

    On this day August 10 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, a landmark piece of legislation that formally acknowledged and apologized for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The act granted $20,000 in reparations to each surviving individual...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 1988 news 80s history civil liberties act japanese american history ronald reagan
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  4. On This Day August 10 1981 – Adam Walsh Was Found Dead After His Abduction

    On This Day August 10 1981 – Adam Walsh Was Found Dead After His Abduction

    On this day August 10 1981, the body of six-year-old Adam Walsh was found, two weeks after his abduction from a Sears department store in Hollywood, Florida. The tragedy shocked the nation and changed the landscape of child safety laws in the United States. Adam had gone missing on July 27, and...
  5. On This Day August 7 1987 – Lynne Cox Became First Person To Swim From The United States To The Soviet Union

    On This Day August 7 1987 – Lynne Cox Became First Person To Swim From The United States To The Soviet Union

    On this day August 7 1987, Lynne Cox became the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, completing a courageous and symbolic journey during a time of deep political tension. She crossed the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede Island in the...
  6. On This Day: July 10, 1985 – The Greenpeace Vessel Rainbow Warrior Was Bombed and Sunk in New Zealand

    On This Day: July 10, 1985 – The Greenpeace Vessel Rainbow Warrior Was Bombed and Sunk in New Zealand

    On this day July 10, 1985, the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk while docked in Auckland, New Zealand. The explosion killed Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira and shocked the world. It was later revealed that agents from the French intelligence service carried out the attack...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 1985 events 80s history auckland bombing environmental protests fernando pereira france intelligence greenpeace rainbow warrior
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  7. On This Day: July 9, 1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 Crashed in Kenner, Louisiana Killing 153 People

    On This Day: July 9, 1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 Crashed in Kenner, Louisiana Killing 153 People

    On this day July 9, 1982, Pan Am Flight 759 crashed shortly after takeoff from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 145 people on board and 8 others on the ground. The crash occurred in the suburb of Kenner, Louisiana, and remains one of the deadliest aviation disasters in United...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 1982 events 80s history aviation disaster kenner louisiana microburst pan am flight 759 plane crash
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  8. On This Day: July 7, 1983 - Samantha Smith Was Invited to the Soviet Union by Yuri Andropov

    On This Day: July 7, 1983 - Samantha Smith Was Invited to the Soviet Union by Yuri Andropov

    On this day July 7, 1983, American schoolgirl Samantha Smith was formally invited to visit the Soviet Union by Secretary General Yuri Andropov. The invitation came in response to a heartfelt letter she had written expressing her fears of nuclear war and asking why the United States and the...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 1983 events 80s history cold war nuclear fear peace diplomacy samantha smith soviet union
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  9. On This Day: July 6, 1988 - 167 Killed in the Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion

    On This Day: July 6, 1988 - 167 Killed in the Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion

    On this day July 6, 1988, an explosion on the Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea claimed the lives of 167 oil workers in what remains the world's deadliest offshore oil disaster. Operated by Occidental Petroleum, the rig was located about 120 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland...
    • Pete
    • News story
    • 1988 events 80s history industrial accidents north sea offshore drilling oil disaster piper alpha
    • Category: On This Day in 80s News
  10. On This Day: June 30, 1981 - Jerry Lee Lewis Rushed to Hospital in Memphis

    On This Day: June 30, 1981 - Jerry Lee Lewis Rushed to Hospital in Memphis

    On this day June 30, 1981, rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis was rushed to a hospital in Memphis after suffering a severe tear in his stomach. The situation was critical, and doctors initially gave him less than a 50 percent chance to survive. The news shocked fans across the country, as the...
  11. On This Day: June 30, 1987 - Iran Contra Hearings Interrupt American Television

    On This Day: June 30, 1987 - Iran Contra Hearings Interrupt American Television

    On this day June 30, 1987, televisions across the United States were interrupted as the Iran Contra affair hearings were broadcast live to the public. Millions of Americans tuned in to witness the high-stakes investigation unfold in real time as top officials from the Reagan administration were...
  12. On This Day: June 30, 1986 - US Supreme Court Upholds State Bans on Homosexual Acts

    On This Day: June 30, 1986 - US Supreme Court Upholds State Bans on Homosexual Acts

    On this day June 30, 1986, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick, ruling that states had the legal right to outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults. The 5 to 4 decision upheld a Georgia law that criminalized private, consensual...
  13. On This Day: June 30, 1985 - American Hostages Freed After TWA Flight 847 Hijacking

    On This Day: June 30, 1985 - American Hostages Freed After TWA Flight 847 Hijacking

    On this day June 30, 1985, the 39 American hostages who had been held captive aboard TWA Flight 847 were freed in Beirut after 17 tense days. The plane had originally been scheduled to travel from Cairo, Egypt to San Diego, California, with stops along the way. During the flight, it was hijacked...
  14. On This Day: June 27 1988 - Gare de Lyon Rail Accident Kills 56 in Paris

    On This Day: June 27 1988 - Gare de Lyon Rail Accident Kills 56 in Paris

    On this day June 27 1988, a deadly train collision occurred at the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris, France. A packed commuter train crashed into a stationary train, killing 56 people and injuring more than 60 others. It remains one of the worst rail disasters in French history. The...
  15. June 27 1980 - Itavia Flight 870 Crashed Killing All 81 People on Board

    June 27 1980 - Itavia Flight 870 Crashed Killing All 81 People on Board

    On this day June 27 1980, Itavia Flight 870 crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy. All 81 passengers and crew on board were killed. The incident, widely referred to as the Ustica Massacre, remains one of Italy's most controversial aviation disasters. Over...
  16. On This Day: June 27 1982 - Space Shuttle Columbia Launches STS 4 Mission

    On This Day: June 27 1982 - Space Shuttle Columbia Launches STS 4 Mission

    On this day June 27 1982, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Columbia on its fourth mission, officially designated STS 4. This marked the final test flight of the shuttle program before transitioning to full operational status. Astronauts Thomas Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield piloted the mission...
  17. On This Day: June 25, 1980 - Bill Haley Performs for the Last Time

    On This Day: June 25, 1980 - Bill Haley Performs for the Last Time

    On this day June 25, 1980, rock and roll pioneer Bill Haley performed live for the final time during a tour stop in South Africa. Known for igniting the rock and roll movement with his groundbreaking hit Rock Around the Clock in 1954, Haley’s energetic sound helped shape the very foundation of...
  18. On This Day: June 24, 1981 - The Humber Bridge Opens in England

    On This Day: June 24, 1981 - The Humber Bridge Opens in England

    On this day June 24, 1981, the Humber Bridge officially opened in England, connecting the counties of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire across the Humber Estuary. At the time of its opening, it was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world, stretching over 7,000 feet from end to end. The...
  19. On This Day: June 22, 1984 - Virgin Atlantic Airways Takes Its First Flight

    On This Day: June 22, 1984 - Virgin Atlantic Airways Takes Its First Flight

    On this day June 22, 1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways launched its maiden flight, traveling from London’s Gatwick Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. Founded by Richard Branson, the airline entered the aviation industry with a bold vision: to make flying fun, stylish, and...
  20. On This Day: June 21, 1989 - U.S. Supreme Court Rules Flag Burning Is Protected Speech

    On This Day: June 21, 1989 - U.S. Supreme Court Rules Flag Burning Is Protected Speech

    On this day June 21, 1989, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Texas v. Johnson that burning the American flag is a form of political protest protected under the First Amendment. The decision came after Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted for burning a flag during a protest...
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