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1981
Lena Horne, The Lady and Her Music made its debut on Broadway. Ms Horne would take her one- woman show on tour throughout the United States and England over the next 3 years.
Cocaine (coke, C, snow, blow, toot, nose candy, and white girl), a derivative of Eryhtroxylon coca is fast becoming the drug of the hip and middle class. Even though the drug is habit forming and very expensive, the number of users are growing daily.
The Walkman or portable stereo cassette is introduced to and embraced by American music lovers of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Shoppers, joggers, commuters, and fans attending sports events are listening to the Isley Brothers, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Grover Washington Jr., or whoever they like as they go about their daily business.
1982
There is 339,239 black-owned business in the US as compared to 187,600 in 1972, more than an 80% increase. Total receipts exceed $12.4 billion.
Computers are becoming more personal day by day. In Dec, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, IBM, and other computer manufactures show off their wares to Las Vegas Convention Center attendees comprised of some 50,000 buyers and other interested parties. Experts predict that personal computers (PC’s) will be as common a household staple as the television.
In Nov, approximately 15000 Vietnam Veterans came from across the country to attend the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Maya Ying Lin, a Yale architecture student, entered her design, and was selected to complete the project. The monument is made of polished black stone with two angled walls measured 10 feet high at their connecting point. Each wall slopes downward as they extend 250 feet from the pentacle connection point. The design has its critics, but most approve of the quiet way it displays carved names of the dead, which are arranged by date of death from 1959 to 1975.
1983
Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford became the first African American in space. The United States Government adopts Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday as a federal holiday.
Steven Spielberg’s movie "E.T. captured the imagination of young and old Americans as evidenced by the movies success at the box office. The Star Wars sequel, Return Of The Jedi also managed to ring the cash registers to the tune of approximately $300 million the first six months of opening.
1984
Olympian Carl Lewis equaled the feat of Jesse Owens by winning four gold medals at the Olympic games held in Los Angeles. He won the 100-meter dash, long jump, and the 200-meter dash. The fourth gold came when he and three teammates won the 400-meter relay.
Reverend Jesse Jackson became the first black man to campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination and received over 3 million votes. He received 75 percent of the black vote but did not earn near enough delegates to gain the nomination.
1985
Dr. Edith Irby Jones
(first black student admitted to the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in 1948) became the first woman president of the National Medical Association.Howard Cosell loved by many, and disliked by just as many for what was considered an abrasive style of reporting. He often "told it like it was" and not as one wanted it to be. His knowledge of the English language was showcased on Monday Night Football. Howard came to prominence upon supporting (a very unpopular stand) Muhammad Ali’s refusal to enter the Armed Service after being drafted during the Vietnam War. Ali’s position was that he would not fight or kill the Viet Cong because of his Moslem faith.
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