Home
The decade of British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, yuppies, chunky mobile phones and BMX bikes.
Events
1982 - Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands and Britain went to war.
30 July 1981 - Prince Charles married Lady Diana
23 July 1986 - Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson
Homes and household goods
Fan heater, kettle, hair dryer, toaster, microwave, phone
Ball point pen, kitchen roll, aluminium roll, washing up liquid, household cleaner, electric plug, disposable nappies
Transport
Front seat belts made compulsory in 1983.
Sinclair C5, a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair was launched in the UK on 10 January 1985.
Computers
Home computers such as Amstrad and Commodore were tested and among the best buys of 1981 was the ZX81
1985
Windows program invented by Microsoft
1989
World Wide Web first proposed by Tim Berners-lee
Population
1981
Population of Britain = (just over) 56 million
Communications
1982
Over 50% of households now had a telephone.
1988
Digital mobile phones invented (they were expensive and large).
Television
Channel 4 began transmission in November 1982.
TV-am began in February 1983.
Space
1981
The reusable craft Columbia started to fly missions.
1986
The space shuttle Challenger exploded on take-off in 1986 killing all seven crew members.
Fashion
80s fashion
80s Music
The 1980s saw the rise of hip hop and rap music, with American influences powerful once again in the form of such groups as Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It also saw the rise and fall of the 'New Romantics', typified by groups like Adam and the Ants, who dressed as pirates and highway men and wore huge amounts of makeup.
1980 Blondie
1981 Adam and the Ants
1982 Culture Club
1983 Michael Jackson
1984 Band Aid
1985 Paul Hardcastle
1986 Berlin
1987 Rick Astley
1988 Bros
1989 Kylie and Jason
80s Toys
1980 Rubik's cube
1981 Spit the Dog
1982 BMX bikes
1983 My Little Pony
1984 Cabbage-patch Kids
1985 Transformers
1986 Casio keyboard
1987 Sylvanian families
1988 Give Us a Break
1989 Dancing Flowers
Health
Synthetic skin invented by G. Gregory Gallico, III.
Date
Invention
Inventor
1981 Compact disc Philips
1982 Camcorder Sony
1985 Windows program Microsoft.
1987 The first 3-D video game
1987 Disposable contact lenses
1989 World Wide Web Tim Berners-lee
Events
1982 - Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands and Britain went to war.
30 July 1981 - Prince Charles married Lady Diana
23 July 1986 - Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson
Homes and household goods
Fan heater, kettle, hair dryer, toaster, microwave, phone
Ball point pen, kitchen roll, aluminium roll, washing up liquid, household cleaner, electric plug, disposable nappies
Transport
Front seat belts made compulsory in 1983.
Sinclair C5, a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair was launched in the UK on 10 January 1985.
Computers
Home computers such as Amstrad and Commodore were tested and among the best buys of 1981 was the ZX81
1985
Windows program invented by Microsoft
1989
World Wide Web first proposed by Tim Berners-lee
Population
1981
Population of Britain = (just over) 56 million
Communications
1982
Over 50% of households now had a telephone.
1988
Digital mobile phones invented (they were expensive and large).
Television
Channel 4 began transmission in November 1982.
TV-am began in February 1983.
Space
1981
The reusable craft Columbia started to fly missions.
1986
The space shuttle Challenger exploded on take-off in 1986 killing all seven crew members.
Fashion
80s fashion
80s Music
The 1980s saw the rise of hip hop and rap music, with American influences powerful once again in the form of such groups as Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It also saw the rise and fall of the 'New Romantics', typified by groups like Adam and the Ants, who dressed as pirates and highway men and wore huge amounts of makeup.
1980 Blondie
1981 Adam and the Ants
1982 Culture Club
1983 Michael Jackson
1984 Band Aid
1985 Paul Hardcastle
1986 Berlin
1987 Rick Astley
1988 Bros
1989 Kylie and Jason
80s Toys
1980 Rubik's cube
1981 Spit the Dog
1982 BMX bikes
1983 My Little Pony
1984 Cabbage-patch Kids
1985 Transformers
1986 Casio keyboard
1987 Sylvanian families
1988 Give Us a Break
1989 Dancing Flowers
Health
Synthetic skin invented by G. Gregory Gallico, III.
Date
Invention
Inventor
1981 Compact disc Philips
1982 Camcorder Sony
1985 Windows program Microsoft.
1987 The first 3-D video game
1987 Disposable contact lenses
1989 World Wide Web Tim Berners-lee
one white, one black, two male one female