1982 Trivia, History and Fun Facts |
Quick Facts from 1982:Table of Contents |
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Top Ten Baby Names of 1982:Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Melissa, Michael, Chris, Topher, Matthew, Jason, David |
The Sex Symbols, Hotties, and Fashion Icons:Loni Anderson, Carol Alt, Barbara Bach, Catherine Bach, Kim Basinger, Phoebe Cates, Joan Collins, Lydia Cornell, Sybil Danning, Linda Evans, Morgan Fairchild, Farrah Fawcett, Jane Fonda, Daryl Hannah, Debbie Harry, Marilu Henner, Goldie Hawn, Lauren Hutton, Grace Jones, Nastassja Kinski, Jessica Lange, Heather Locklear, Olivia Newton-John, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Victoria Principal, Tanya Roberts, Betsy Russell, Brooke Shields, Suzanne Somers, Heather Thomas, Mary Woronov, Sean Young |
Sex Symbols, Hollywood Hunks, and Leading Men:Michael Jackson, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Christopher Reeve, Burt Reynolds |
“The Quotes”“E.T. phone home” “They’re Here” “RAID kills bugs dead” “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” |
Time Magazine’s Machine of the Year:The Computer |
Miss America:Elizabeth Ward (Russellville, AR) |
Miss USA:Terri Utley (Arkansas) |
The Scandals and Tragedies:Seven people died from swallowing poisoned Tylenol. This event is why food packages are now so securely wrapped. |
Airplane Celebrity Death:Randy Rhodes |
Movie Star Death:John Belushi (heroin & cocaine overdose) |
The Place To Be:The San Fernando Valley, Home of the Valley Girls – from the neighborhoods of San Fernando Valley- they made valspeak the colloquial language of the day – Films like Valley Girl, and Frank (and Moon Unit) Zappa’s hit Valley Girl. |
Valley Girl Terminology: |
Like – Used as an interjection: “That was, like, the worst thing ever!” or to indicate speech: “And she was like ‘Get out of my way!'” As if – lit. “yeah, right” or “as if” except it does not use a subject; expresses disbelief. Bitchin’ – slang for excellent; first-rate. Though a derivative of “bitch”, bitchin’ is sometimes not considered profane. Grody – Gross Whatever! – short for “whatever you say”; sarcastic interjection often emphasizing the final syllable. Fer shur – “For sure”, often used in agreement. Totally -“I agree” or “completely.” Oh my God (later OMG!) – can be used in many ways; it expresses shock. Tre – A synonym for “very” (derived from French “très”) So… – Very; used frequently and said with strong emphasis. Seriously – Frequent interjection of approval. Gnarly – an expression of seriousness. It can be a word for very intense or very pleasing Are you serious? – an expression of surprise. Anyways… – Substitute for the grammatically correct “Anyway…” |
Pop Culture Facts & History:Surround Sound was introduced for home use by Dolby. 1982 – Electronic Arts (EA) was founded. (Paul) Newman’s Own opened for business, profiting from year one and donating all profits to charity. The lowest PGA score of 63 was played by Ray Floyd. GM introduced the General Motors’ Saturn car company. 1982 was the year Kenneth Cole launched his shoe company. Michael Jackson’s Thriller album was released on November 30th. Depending on who you talk to, up to 110,000,000 copies were sold. Two of them were mine. Adobe was founded in California by Chuck Geschke and John Warnock in 1982. Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 1982: $324,000 |
1982 Nobel Prize Winners:Physics – Kenneth G. Wilson |
The Habits:Listening to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, playing video games Ms. Pacman and Q*bert, Break dancing, Moon Walking, watching the film E.T., watching, and sometimes exercising with Jane Fonda’ Workout videotape, wearing Deely Bobbers, playing with Strawberry Shortcake dolls. |
1st Appearances & 1982’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents:Strawberry Shortcake, Smurfs, My Little Pony, BMX Bikes, Trivial Pursuit, Sequence |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1982:2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke |
Broadway Show:Torch Song Trilogy (Play) Opened on June 10, 1982, and closed on May 19, 1985 |
Best Film Oscar Winner:Chariots of Fire (presented in 1982) |
The Bomb (Movie):Inchon, starring Laurence Olivier |
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo)1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial |
1982 Most Popular TV Shows:1. 60 Minutes (CBS) |
1982 Billboard Number One Songs:November 21, 1981 – January 29, 1982: January 30 – February 5: February 6 – March 19: March 20 – May 7: May 8 – May 14: May 15 – July 2: July 3 – July 23: July 24 – September 3: September 4 – September 17: September 18 – October 1: October 2 – October 29: October 30 – November 5: November 6 – November 26: November 27 – December 10: December 11- December 17: December 18, 1982 – January 14, 1983: |
Sports:World Series Champions: St. Louis Cardinals |
More 1982 Facts and History Resources:Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com) |
