1970-1989 Vietnam, Falklands, Berlin Wall, Tiananmen, AIDS, PCs, VCRs
It was the reign of Elizabeth II and the longest period of relative world peace and safety in this 20 years period was from 1972 to 1982 - the end of the Vietnam War to the start of the Falklands War and the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon - 10 years.
1970 was the year after Woodstock and the Moon Landing of 1969, but the Vietnam War was really hotting up.
Bloody Sunday occurred in Northern Ireland in 1972. when British troops killed 13 Catholics and the sectarian violence continued for years afterwards.
Then there was the military coup in Chile by General Pinochet in 1973; the resignation of President Nixon in 1974; the deposing of the Shah of Iran by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 (who was later responsible for the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, the author of the Satanic Verses); and the Lech Walesa shipyard strike in Poland in 1980.
Elvis Presley also died in 1980.
Apart from coups in other parts of the world, there was general peace from 1972 until the Falklands War and the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. And then came the Tiananmen square massacre of students and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The greatest human scare was the advent of a new disease -- AIDS -- in the 1980s. Those grim reaper ads really spooked everyone who saw them.
On a bright note, this period saw the advent of mass production color TV in the 1970s; personal computers and VCRs in the 1980s; and the glam rock era of the 1970s, the Abba phenomenon, and the disco craze of the 1980s.
Also, it was a time when women's liberation was having a real effect on the everyday lives of girls who grew up with a greater sense of confidence and far more opportunities than their mother's generation. Many girls went straight from school to university; were given a car when they turned 17; and avoided the fate of becoming a housewife.
Social life for teenagers was dominated by going out to rock concerts. Most had personal computers for essays and spreadsheets, and a VCR for recording TV shows.
1970 was the year after Woodstock and the Moon Landing of 1969, but the Vietnam War was really hotting up.
Bloody Sunday occurred in Northern Ireland in 1972. when British troops killed 13 Catholics and the sectarian violence continued for years afterwards.
Then there was the military coup in Chile by General Pinochet in 1973; the resignation of President Nixon in 1974; the deposing of the Shah of Iran by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 (who was later responsible for the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, the author of the Satanic Verses); and the Lech Walesa shipyard strike in Poland in 1980.
Elvis Presley also died in 1980.
Apart from coups in other parts of the world, there was general peace from 1972 until the Falklands War and the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. And then came the Tiananmen square massacre of students and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The greatest human scare was the advent of a new disease -- AIDS -- in the 1980s. Those grim reaper ads really spooked everyone who saw them.
On a bright note, this period saw the advent of mass production color TV in the 1970s; personal computers and VCRs in the 1980s; and the glam rock era of the 1970s, the Abba phenomenon, and the disco craze of the 1980s.
Also, it was a time when women's liberation was having a real effect on the everyday lives of girls who grew up with a greater sense of confidence and far more opportunities than their mother's generation. Many girls went straight from school to university; were given a car when they turned 17; and avoided the fate of becoming a housewife.
Social life for teenagers was dominated by going out to rock concerts. Most had personal computers for essays and spreadsheets, and a VCR for recording TV shows.
Labels: 1970, aids, bloody sunday, chile, computers, elvis presley, falklands war, israeli invasion, lech walesa, moon landng, nixon, pinochet, shah of iran, vcr, vietnam war, woodstock
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