American Decades

Important Events in Lifestyles and Social Trends, 1980–1989

A survey finds that although smoking has dropped among men, women, and teenage boys during the last ten years, smoking among teenage girls has increased by more than 50 percent.
Rum outsells vodka in the United States and outsells whiskey for the first time since the nineteenth century.
Opposition to President Jimmy Carter grows as inflation continues to rise. Ronald Reagan wins the presidential and vice-presidential election on November 4 after basing his campaign on supply-side economics and a promise to reduce the size of government.
On January 4, Bert Parks is relieved of his duties as master of ceremonies for the Miss America pageant after twenty-five years.
On February 4, a Census Bureau study estimates that there are between 3.5 million and 4 million illegal aliens living in the United States.
On March 1, more than a thousand people attend a national Conference on a...

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