Historical Timeline
1980-1989
Decade overview
Corporate milestones
In November 1982, the unemployment rate reaches 10.8%, the highest rate since 1940. More than eleven million people are unemployed.
In 1984, the U.S. government takes steps toward a complete ban on leaded gasoline in order to reduce lead concentrations in the lower atmosphere.
In 1989, 7% of all U.S. workers use a computer at work.
Between 1973 and 1989, the average American's work-week jumps from less than forty-one to nearly forty-seven hours, and the average American's leisure time decreases 37%, from 26.2 hours to 16.6 hours per week.
In 1989, 147 thousand cases of cumulative trauma disorders (including carpal tunnel syndrome) are reported in the United States.
- 1980
- The French government launches Minitel, an experimental computerized telephone inquiry system consisting of terminals placed in homes
- dBase II, a database software package, developed by Wayne Ratchif
- Scripto disposable plastic automatic pencil introduced
- Day Runner, Inc., manufacturer of time management systems, founded
- 1981
- IBM introduces a personal computer based on the Intel 8088 processor and using an operating system (DOS) developed by Microsoft
- First portable computer with video monitor, disk drives, and processor unit mounted in a single box is built by Osborne
- 1983
- Notion of "laptop" computer is introduced with Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80, model 100
- 1984
- CD-ROM, an optical disk that can store up to 270,000 pages of typewritten information, introduced by Philips and Sony
- Macintosh, a microcomputer with icons, a "mouse," and an intuitive user interface, introduced by Apple
- AT&T (founded 1885) monopoly broken by the courts into smaller regional companies
- 1985
- Microsoft develops "Windows" for the IBM PC
- 1986
- Staples, first retail chain store to cater to small to mid-sized businesses, opens first outlet
- 1987
- Telephones become available on Japanese airliners; calls are relayed by satellite
- 1988
- First transatlantic optical fiber cable is laid; it can carry 37,800 voice channels
- Scriptel introduces a method for inputting data into a computer by writing on a screen
1900-1909 || 1910-1919
|| 1920-1929 || 1930-1939
|| 1940-1949
1950-1959 || 1960-1969 ||
1970-1979 || 1980-1989 ||
1990-
This material was generously provided by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
