"Everything was bigger in the 1980s."
It's a saying for a reason, as Cold War tensions combined with modernizing technologies and the Reagan administration to catapult the United States and the world into a period of deregulation, innovation, and consumption.
Also known as the "decade of greed," this "decade of decadence" felt great at the time, but for better or for worse, its lasting impacts are still felt today.
Here are 20 pics that represent the spirit of the 1980s.
1
Signing the INF Treaty
Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev, 1987.
2
The Brandenburg Gate
The falling of the Berlin Wall, November, 1989.
3
NASA Space Shuttle Columbia
Riding on a special 747 carrier aircraft for the flight from Palmdale, California, to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on March 1, 2001.
4
Dune Buggy Event
The Southwest, 1980s.
5
Live Aid
The world comes together in 1985.
6
K-Mart Parking Lot
Belleville, Illinois, 1980.
7
Chernobyl
The explosion in April of 1986.
8
Italian Automotive Designer Nuccio Bertone
With the Lamborghini Countach and Miura.
9
Denver Mile High Stadium
A postcard from the 1980s.
10
Space Shuttle Challenger
The deadly explosion on January 28th, 1986.
11
Hulk Hogan
At the El Paso Civic Center for a video-taping of a WWF "Superstars of Wrestling" event.
12
Invasion of Grenada
October, 1983.
13
Amtrak Ad
Crossing the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1980s.
14
Bureau of Land Management Officer
At Red Rock Recreation Lands, 1980s.
15
Yscloskey
Louisiana Road signs, 1980s.
16
Shopping at Safeway
Maryland in 1989.
17
Golden Age of Arcades
Playing brand new iconic games.
18
The Seattle Center, Kingdome
With Mt. Rainier looking on in the 1980s.
19
An Iranian Soldier
Wearing a gas mask and M1 helmet during the Iran-Iraq War.
20
Bruce McCandless II
During an untethered “extravehicular activity” in 1984.
