1983

Fun Filled Facts!

• Cabbage Patch kids released. 

 

• Ronald Regan introduces American public to "Star Wars." 

 

• AIDS is seen as a "gay only" disease. Most threatening STD is herpes. 

 

• Karen Carpenter dies of anorexia at the age of 32. 

 

• Final episode of M*A*S*H airs, advertising cost more than that of advertising for Super Bowl. 

 

• Sally Ride becomes first woman in space. 

 

• Compact discs first hit the market. 

 

• Australia wins American Cup for first time in 132 years. 

 

• Fake Hitler diaries surface. 

 

• According to People Magazine...Most Intriguing People of 1983: Debra Winger, Mr. T, Joan Rivers, Matthew Broderick, Michael Jackson, and Jennifer Beals. 

 

• U.S. Embassy is bombed in Beirut, killing 40 people. 

 

• Camcorders introduced. 

 

• Dennis Wilson of Beach Boys dies of drowning accident Dec 28th, 1983. 

 

• Soviets shoot down South Korean airliner with 269 people on board claiming it was a U.S. spy plane. 

 

• Dr. Martin Luther King Day is created as a national holiday. 

 

• Paul Simon marries Carrie Fisher. 

 

• Wacky Wallwalker, a little rubber octopus like creature with sticky tentacles that walks down walls, is invented and sells millions. 

 

• Friendship pins, Jelly shoes, Ray-Ban Wayfarers and parachute pants are some of the many fashion statements of the year. 

 

• The very first Hooters restaurant opens in Atlanta, GA. 

• Ocean Spray introduces the very first "juice box" to America.