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May 18, 1980 - The Mt. St. Helens volcano, in Washington State, erupts, killing fifty-seven people and economic devastation to the area with losses near $3 billion. The blast was estimated to have the power five hundred times greater than the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
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April 12, 1981 - The first launch of the Space Shuttle from Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center occurs as Columbia begins its STS-1 mission. The Space Shuttle is the first reusable spacecraft to be flown into orbit, and it returned to earth for a traditional touch down landing two days later.
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September 21, 1981 - Sandra Day O'Connor is approved unanimously, 99-0, by the United States Senate to become the first female Supreme Court associate justice in history.
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November 5, 1982 - The highest unemployment rate since 1940 was recorded at 10.4%. By the end of November, over eleven million people would be unemployed.
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June 18, 1983 - Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman to travel into space.
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La World Expo Video PlaylistMay 12, 1984 - The Louisiana World Exposition of 1984 opens along the Mississippi River waterfront in New Orleans. The event, the last world's fair held in the United States, was plagued with financial trouble, and drew significantly fewer visitors than predicted over the next six months, 7.3 million, although it was regarded as the catalyst in the recovery of the waterfront and warehouse district to public use.
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July 28, 1984 - The opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympic Games is held. The games run by Peter Ueberroth, prove a financial and U.S. success, despite a retaliatory boycott by most allies of the Soviet Union due to the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow games.
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Live Aid DocumentaryJuly 13, 1985 - A famine relief concert organized by British artist Bob Geldof and held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia is seen in one hundred and fifty-two countries. The seventeen hour concert raised $70 million for relief efforts in Ethiopia and other African nations.
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November 19, 1985 - The first meeting in six years between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States occurs when Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan engage in a five hour summit conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
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January 20, 1986 - Martin Luther King Day is officially observed for the first time as a federal holiday in the United States.
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CNN Space Shuttle tragedyJanuary 28, 1986 - The Challenger Space Shuttle explodes after lift off at Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing seven people, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire school teacher.
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I was a teacher inter at Bartow Junior High when the space shuttle exploded. My students and I were watching it outside and on TV when it happened.
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"Baby Jessica," Jessica McClure falls down the well and is later rescued. Wednesday October 14th, 1987 --9:30am cst through Friday October 16th, 1987--8:30pm cst
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October 19, 1987 - The stock market crash known as Black Monday occurred on the New York Stock Exchange, recording a record 22.6% drop in one day. Stock markets around the world would mirror the crash with drops of their own.
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Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland; Lybian terrorists are suspected of planting the bomb
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March 24, 1989 - The Exxon Valdez crashed into Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, causing the largest oil spill in American history, eleven million gallons, which extended forty-five miles.
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August 9, 1989 - The Savings and Loan Bailout was approved by Congress and signed into law by President George Herbert Walker Bush. The total cost of the bill would approach $400 billion over thirty years to close and merge insolvent Savings & Loans.
