Flashback to 1982 - A Timeline of Life in America

[Music] in the year 1982 america would begin to see new changes to the culture sports and entertainment landscape television benefited big from this year with many long-running shows getting their start including a new late night talk show hosted by david letterman this was also the year of big blockbusters in both film and music with an out of this world spielberg hit and the king of pop releasing the biggest album of all time [Music] the year began with a new television show on january 7th nbc began airing fame which was based on the movie released in 1980 the show starred debbie allen an ensemble cast that followed the lives of students and faculty at a new york city high school for the performing arts [Music] on january 13th an air florida flight took off in a snowstorm from washington dc and crashed into the 14th street bridge and fell into the potomac river killing all but six on board the crash occurred just two miles from the white house and was caused because of ice buildup on the wings [Music] on february 1st late night with david letterman debuted on nbc the show replaced a tom snyder show called tomorrow and it immediately brought in higher ratings the very first guest on letterman's show was actor bill murray [Music] march 1st brought us a new price for an issue of the new york times now you would need an extra nickel if you wanted to buy the paper which raised its price from a quarter to 30 cents [Music] on march 26th the groundbreaking for the vietnam veterans memorial in washington dc occurred the memorial would be dedicated and officially opened on veterans day later in the year [Music] on april 6th a spring blizzard dumped one to two feet of snow on the northeastern part of the united states the storm set cold and snow records and closed schools snarled traffic and canceled several major league baseball games on april 19th nasa announced that sally ride would be the first american woman astronaut on the crew of the next space shuttle mission she would launch into space in june of the following year [Music] may 2nd brought us a new television channel this one dedicated to only the weather the weather channel signed on from its atlanta studio with meteorologists bruce edwards and andre bernier on may 12th branf airlines ceased all operations ending 54 years of air service the very next day brainerd filed for bankruptcy and urged thousands of passengers still holding brain f reservations to make other arrangements [Music] on june 11th the out of this world movie e.t the extraterrestrial was released the touching story of a visitor from outer space and the young boy trying to help him get home was directed by steven spielberg and was a huge blockbuster that surpassed star wars for the highest grossing film of all time [Music] on july 2nd larry walters also known as lawn chair larry flew 16 000 feet above long beach california in a lawn chair attached to weather balloons he had strapped on a parachute packed sandwiches a bottle of soda a camera a cb radio and a pellet gun he intended to fly into the mojave desert but instead drifted into controlled airspace over the los angeles international airport he used the pellet gun to shoot out balloons to help him descend into long beach once on the ground he was arrested and became a minor celebrity for the stunt on september 22nd the sitcom family ties starring michael j fox premiered on nbc the show followed liberal ex-hippies stephen and elise keaton their conservative son alex and their daughters mallory and jennifer [Music] on september 29th the comedy series cheers also premiered on nbc ted danson and shelly long starred in the show about a bar in boston and it would go on to become one of the most watched shows in american television history [Music] also beginning on september 29th and lasting through october 1st what became known as the chicago tylenol murders occurred seven people in the chicago area died after ingesting capsules laced with potassium cyanide which had been tampered with at various stores the case did not turn up any viable suspects and no one has ever been arrested for the crimes on october 19th john delorean the founder of the delorean motor company was arrested for selling cocaine to undercover fbi agents he would later be found not guilty due to police entrapment and later on october 30th the production of the delorean ceased because the company was deeply in debt [Music] on november 20th drew barrymore at the age of 7 stayed up late and hosted saturday night live becoming the youngest host ever on november 30th michael jackson released thriller on epic records which became the biggest selling album of all time the album made jackson the biggest pop star in the world and would spend 37 weeks at number one on december 8th a man named norman mayer held the washington monument hostage while wearing a black motorcycle helmet and a blue snow suit he was demanding an end to nuclear weapons and for 10 hours held police at bay with threats of explosives the standoff would come to an end after sharpshooters fired and killed mayer who subsequently did not have any explosives [Music] to close out the year on december 26th time magazine announced their man of the year but it was more of a machine the personal computer became the first non-human recipient of the award which appeared on the cover of their magazine on january 3rd [Music] you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 169,944

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, timeline, 1982, fame, family ties, nbc, cheers, e.t., drew barrymore, david letterman, delorean, michael jackson, thriller, tylenol murders, lawnchair larry, sally ride

Id: Um4_JHOlJcM

Length: 8min 3sec (483 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 07 2021