1980s

The decade of British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, yuppies, chunky mobile phones and BMX bikes.

Events

1982 - Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands and Britain went to war.

30 July 1981 - Prince Charles married Lady Diana

23 July 1986 - Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson

Homes and household goods

Fan heater, kettle, hair dryer, toaster, microwave, phone

Ball point pen, kitchen roll, aluminium roll, washing up liquid, household cleaner, electric plug, light bulb, disposable nappies

Transport

Front seat belts made compulsory in 1983.

Sinclair C5, a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair was launched in the UK on 10 January 1985.

Computers

Home computers such as Amstrad and Commodore were tested and among the best buys of 1981 was the ZX81

1985
Windows program invented by Microsoft

1989
World Wide Web first proposed by Tim Berners-lee

Population

1981
Population of Britain = (just over) 56 million

Communications

1982
Over 50% of households now had a telephone.

1988
Digital mobile phones invented (they were expensive and large).

Television

Channel 4 began transmission in November 1982.

TV-am began in February 1983.

Space

1981
The reusable craft Columbia started to fly missions.

1986
The space shuttle Challenger exploded on take-off in 1986 killing all seven crew members.

Fashion

80s fashion

80s Music

The 1980s saw the rise of hip hop and rap music, with American influences powerful once again in the form of such groups as Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It also saw the rise and fall of the 'New Romantics', typified by groups like Adam and the Ants, who dressed as pirates and highway men and wore huge amounts of makeup.

1980 Blondie
1981 Adam and the Ants
1982 Culture Club
1983 Michael Jackson
1984 Band Aid
1985 Paul Hardcastle
1986 Berlin
1987 Rick Astley
1988 Bros
1989 Kylie and Jason

80s Toys

1980 Rubik's cube
1981 Spit the Dog
1982 BMX bikes
1983 My Little Pony
1984 Cabbage-patch Kids
1985 Transformers
1986 Casio keyboard
1987 Sylvanian families
1988 Give Us a Break
1989 Dancing Flowers

Health

Synthetic skin invented by G. Gregory Gallico, III.

Inventions since the 1930s | Timeline from the end of the war

Population from 1991 | Money | Websites

Life in the 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s