1. Gerald Ford
   Ronald Reagan
2. Barack Obama

In November 1980, former Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan was elected as president. He won a second term and served until 1989.

1. Lifetime
   MTV
2. Hallmark Channel

In 1981, MTV started its run. The first music video it ever played? "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.

1. vote
   fly a jet
2. go into space

In 1983, NASA’s Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, and the third in history, behind two Russian women (1963 and 1982).

1. PlayStation
   Walkman
2. Atari

Sony launched the Walkman cassette player in 1980. Suddenly, music was more mobile than it had ever been before.

1. robots disguised as Republicans
   '80s economic policies
2. Cold War weapons

Right after taking office, President Reagan began a series of new economic changes that became known as "Reaganomics." For instance, he lowered taxes in hopes of sparking more growth.

1. blue whales
   wreckage of the Titanic
2. Antarctica

In 1985, after decades of fruitless searches, the doomed ocean liner Titanic was finally found at the bottom of the North Atlantic. Many of its artifacts have been harvested for museum exhibits but the ship itself remains in its watery resting place.

1. McNugget
   Big Mac
2. Whopper

In 1983, McDonald’s launched Chicken McNuggets, which almost certainly contains chicken of some sort.

1. “Star Wars"
   “The Empire Strikes Back"
2. "Return of the Jedi"

On the heels of the original "Star Wars," 1980’s "The Empire Strikes Back" took the galaxy by storm, adding immensely to the "Star Wars" craze.

1. China
   South Korea
2. Guatemala

In 1989, young people in China marched for democracy, resulting in a confrontation at Tianenmen Square. Troops ultimately fired on protesters, massacring an unknown number of unarmed people.

1. Steven Tyler
   Michael Jackson
2. Ringo Starr

In 1982, Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" sparked a musical uprising unlike anything since the Beatles. It is still the best-selling album in world history, with upward of 60 million copies sold.

1. Panama
   USSR
2. North Korea

In 1983, as part of the Cold War, Reagan called the USSR the "evil empire." As you can imagine, the Soviets were none too happy about this characterization.

1. “Sixteen Candles"
   “Home Alone"
2. "Pretty in Pink"

In 1984, Hughes found his fame increasing exponentially thanks to his film "Sixteen Candles," starring Molly Ringwald.

1. massacre
   earthquake
2. nuclear accident

In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine malfunctioned, spewing radiation all over the area. The town of Pripyat is still abandoned due to radioactivity.

1. He ended the war.
   He escalated the war.
2. He avoided the topic at all costs.

During his time in office, Reagan drastically escalated the War on Drugs. His policies still reverberate in communites all over North America.

1. Spanish flu
   AIDS
2. smallpox

In the 1980s, HIV and AIDS became recognized as a terrible health threat all around the globe. More than 40 million people have died from AIDS since doctors first noted it as an epidemic.

1. Lotus Notes
   Maze War
2. Microsoft Word

In 1983, Microsoft Word was released for the first time. And to this day, no one understand how to control bullets and indents.

1. arm wrestling competition
   tear down a wall
2. game of Scrabble

Reagan continued ramping up his rhetoric during the Cold War. In 1987, he told Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" He was referring to, of course, the Berlin Wall.

1. Diet Coke
   New Coke
2. Cherry Coke

With Pepsi grabbing huge shares of the soda market, Coca-Cola revamped its formula with New Coke, one of the most lambasted product moves in history. Coke Classic was back in the blink of a eye.

1. Sony PlayStation
   Nintendo Entertainment System
2. Atari 5200

The Nintendo Entertainment System hit the market in 1983. It helped to spread the joys of Super Mario Brothers across the planet for an entire generation.

1. Chile
   Britain
2. Mexico

Argentina saw the Falklands (which lie just off of the country’s coast) as its territory, which is why it tried to seize the islands from Britain. The British immediately retaliated and repelled the Argentinians in a 10-week war.

1. “Rad"
   “The Empire Strikes Back"
2. “Beverly Hills Cop"

No other film could match the power of Luke Skywalker’s light saber. "The Empire Strikes Back" was 1980’s number one film. To date, it has earned around $540 million.

1. Brazil
   Haiti
2. Ethiopia

Poor political leadership in Ethiopia sparked a major famine. Hundreds of thousands of people died, particularly in the hard-struck northern areas of the country. Heart-wrenching TV commercials cried out for donations from the Western world.

1. Furby
   Cabbage Patch Kids
2. Bop It

In the early ‘80s, plush toys called Cabbage Patch Kids sent Americans into a consumeristic feeding frenzy. All across the land, people came to blows trying to grab scarce dolls.

1. true
2. false

The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 ... but the Cold War was still on. It finally ended with the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

1. the Holocaust
   chemical warfare
2. nuclear bombs

The brutal Iran-Iraq War lasted for eight years, and during that time, Iraqi forces reportedly killed many Iranian troops (as well as Iraqi civilians) with chemical weapons.

1. pink slime
   global warming
2. Agent Orange

Even back in the ‘80s, the scientific community realized that global warming was going to be a problem. It’s an environmental issue that now makes daily headlines around the world.

1. true
2. false

The legendary Atari console was not an ‘80s product. It was actually introduced in 1977.

1. Cuba
   USSR
2. U.S.

From ‘79 to ‘89, the USSR sought to subdue the Afghans in a futile war. Ultimately, the Soviets pulled out without having really accomplished much.

1. airline
   nuclear
2. solar power

Air traffic controllers walked out on the job in 1981, snarling airline traffic all over the place. President Reagan responded by firing all of them and then banning them from federal work for life, although many workers worked around the ban with appeals.

1. BBS
   VHS
2. CD

In the ‘80s, consumer camcorders were a brand-new technology, one with competing formats called Betamax and VHS. VHS ultimately won out before the end of the decade.