Major News Stories of the 1980’s!

By: Karen, Rob, Ksawery, Albert

DNA Is First Used To Convict Criminals In The U.S. (1987)

DNA analyses on saliva, skin tissue, blood, hair, and semen can now be reliably used to link criminals to crimes. In one of the first uses of DNA in a criminal case in the United States, in November 1987, Tommy Lee was convicted of rape because of his blood sample and semen trace in a victim. Also, DNA was used to see if previous convicted criminals were actually guilty or innocent.

The Beginning of the AIDS Epidemic (1981)

The history of HIV and AIDS in the USA began in 1981, when the United States of America became the first country to officially recognize a strange new illness among a small number of gay men. The cancer, Kaposi’s Sarcoma, normally only affected elderly men of Mediterranean or Jewish heritage and young adult African men. However, the men were young and had previously been in relatively good health. The only other characteristic that connected them was that they were all homosexual.

Berlin Wall Crumbles Signaling An End to the Cold War

After decades of long oppression of East Germany and the rest of the world, the Berlin War collapsed, signalizing an end to the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since the 1920’s, the Soviet Union has been trying to influence communism throughout the world. Its empire has finally crumbled, ensuring safety for the rest of the world. Capitalism and democracy will prevail.

ReaganomicsReagan (1981-1989) implemented the theory of supply-side economics into his economic program. He advocated reducing tax rates so people could keep more of what they earned. This encouraged people to work harder and as a result, the economy was booming. Americans, including former lower-income peoples, began to earn more money. The flourishing economy of the 80s developed a sense of materialism in the United States.