The Apple MacIntosh personal computer was introduced with an ad that paid homage to Orwell.
Fashions included leggings, jean jackets, parachute pants, giant shoulder pads, short skirts fluffy hair, and Madonna’s head-to-toe lace look.
The “Where’s the Beef?” catchphrase was introduced in a Wendy’s commercial by a character played by character actress Clara Peller who was 81 at the time.
“I’ll be back” became Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase from a line in “The Terminator.”
The Los Angeles Olympics were held, and McDonald’s offered free food tied to the number of U.S. team medals. When the Soviet Union boycotted the games, the Big Mac makers found themselves forking over more burgers than they anticipated.
America was reading “The Hunt for Red October,” “Bright Lights, Big City,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” and “Iaccoca,” the autobiography of the chairman of Chrysler Motors, Lee Iaccoca.
Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America, lost her crown because of some “artsy” nude photos taken years before that were published in Penthouse magazine. (She later received an apology from the pageant, and became a pretty big star, too.)
Baby on Board signs were first marketed in the U.S.
More than 20 million Trivial Pursuit games were sold.
The top television shows were “Dynasty,” “Dallas,” “The Cosby Show,” “60 Minutes,” and “Family Ties.”
The top-ten-grossing films were: “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Ghostbusters,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Gremlins,” “The Karate Kid,” “Police Academy,” “Footloose,” “Romancing The Stone,” “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,” and “Splash.”
“Terms of Endearment” won the Best Film Oscar in ceremonies in April of 1984. “Amadeus,” released in September, would go on to win the next year.
Rolling Stone has dubbed 1984 as “Pop’s Great Year.” No. 1 hits included: “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “Karma Chameleon,” “Jump,” “Time After Time,” “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” “When Doves Cry,” and “Like a Virgin.”
Springsteen’s album “Born in the USA” was released along with the single of the same name, and President Reagan cited it as a song of hope, although Springsteen described it as being about a man facing a spiritual crisis.
