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U.S. STATISTICS

  • President: Ronald W. Reagan

  • Vice President: George Bush

  • Population: 235,824,902 

  • Life expectancy: 74.7 years

    The following is in 1998 dollars:
     

  • US GDP (1998 dollars): $3,902.40 billion

  • Federal spending: $851.85 billion

  • Federal debt $1564.7 billion

  • Interest Rates Year End ~ Federal Reserve - 10.75%

  • Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average - 1211 

  • Yearly Inflation Rate - 4.3 % 

  • Consumer Price Index: $103.9

  • Unemployment: 7.5%

  • Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.20

  • Median Household Income: $22,415

  • Average Cost of new house - $86,730 

  • Median Price of Existing Home - $72,400

  • Average Monthly Rent  - $350.00 

 

COST OF LIVING

  • Movie Ticket - $2.50 

  • 1 gallon of gas - $1.10 

  • Dodge RAM 50 Truck - $8,995.00  

  • Chrysler New Yorker - $13,045

  • Chevrolet Corvette- $23,392

  • Apples/lb - 43 cents  

  • Bacon/lb -  $1.69 

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IMPORTANT EVENTS​​

  • Jan 24 Apple Computer Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer
     

  • Feb 29 Pierre Trudeau announces he is stepping down after 15 years as Canadian Prime Minister
     

  • Apr 23 AIDS-virus identified as HTLV-III (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
     

  • Jun 5 Indira Gandhi orders an attack on Sikh's holiest site, the Golden Temple
     

  • Dec 3 Bhopal disaster: Union Carbide pesticide plant leak 45 tons of methyl isocyanate and other toxic compounds in Bhopal, India, kills
    2,259 (official figure) - other estimates as high as 16,000 (including later deaths) and over half a million injured
     

  • Dec 19 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997

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MUSIC

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FILM & TV

  • Jan 4 "Night Court" starring Harry Anderson premieres on NBC TV
     

  • Jan 17 Supreme Court rules (5-4) that private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
     

  • Jun 8 "Ghostbusters", American supernatural comedy film, directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murrary and Dan Aykroyd is released

    ​TOP 20 MOVIES​

    • Ghostbusters

    • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

    • The Karate Kid

    • The Terminator

    • Sixteen Candles

    • This is Spinal Tap

    • Gremlins

    • Beverly Hills Cop

    • Revenge of the Nerds

    • The Natural

    • Red Dawn

    • Amadeus

    • Police Academy

    • Splash

    • The NeverEnding Story

    • The Killing Fields

    • Footloose

    • Nightmare of Elm Street

    • Conan the Destroyer

    • Children of the Corn

 

ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS

Pulitzer Prizes

  • Fiction: Ironweed, William Kennedy

  • Music: Canti del Sole, Bernard Rands 

  • Drama: Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet 
     

  • Academy Award, Best Picture: Terms of Endearment, James L. Brooks, producer (Paramount) 

  • Nobel Prize for Literature: Jaroslav Seifert (Czechoslovakia)

  • Record of the Year: "Beat It," Michael Jackson

  • Album of the Year: Thriller, Michael Jackson (Epic/CBS)

  • Song of the Year: "Every Breath You Take," Sting, songwriter

  • Miss America: Vanessa Williams (NY) / Suzette Charles (NJ)

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SPORTS

  • Super Bowl - LA Raiders d. Washington

  • World Series - Detroit d. San Diego 

  • NBA Championship - Boston d. LA Lakers

  • Stanley Cup - Edmonton d. NY Islanders

  • Wimbledon - Women: Martina Navratilova d. C. Evert Lloyd (7-6 6-2) 
    ​Men: John McEnroe d. J. Connors (6-1 6-1 6-2)

  • Kentucky Derby Champion - Swale

  • NCAA Basketball Championship - Georgetown d. Houston

  • NCAA Football Champions - BYU (13-0-0)
     

  • Feb 14 Britain's Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean famously dominate the ice dancing at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics; perform to Ravel’s Bolero in free dance routine; record 9-of-9 perfect scores for artistic impression
     

  • Mar 21 NFL owners passed the infamous anti-celebrating rule
     

  • Apr 5 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain's all-time career scoring record of 31,419 points (31,421)
     

  • May 8 The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Los Angeles Summer Olympics in retaliation for the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics

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FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN IN 1984

1984 FLASHBACK

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