75:20

1980............Operation Abscam, a two-year sting operation in which FBI agents posing as Arab businessmen offered bribes in exchange for political favors, results in the indictment of one senator, seven congressman, and 22 other government officials............The U.S. hockey team upsets the U.S.S.R. at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y., on the way to a gold medal.............A rescue mission for U.S. hostages in Iran is called off when two aircraft involved in the operation collide, killing eight crewmen............The Moscow Olympics are boycotted by the U.S. and dozens of other nations to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan............Toxic shock syndrome, a sometimes fatal bacterial infection linked to women's use of super-absorbent tampons, leads to the recall of Rely brand tampons by Procter and Gamble............Teenage model Brooke Shields appears in a Calvin Klein jeans commercial declaring, "You know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." The spot is deemed too suggestive for TV............Ronald Reagan is elected president............The "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of "Dallas" draws a viewing audience of 83 million............Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in front of his Manhattan apartment by Mark David Chapman, a mentally ill fan............Genetically engineered insulin is successfully tested in humans with diabetes............New in print in 1980: "The Official Preppie Handbook" edited by Lisa Birnbach; James Michener's "The Covenant"; Jean M. Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear"; Joyce Carol Oates's "Bellefleur"............New on TV in 1980: Cable News Network; "ABC News Nightline"; "Magnum, P.I."' "Too Close for Comfort"; "Bosom Buddies"............New products in 1980: 3M's Post-it Notes; cordless telephone; Rollerblades............The 1980 Academy Awards: best picture — "Ordinary People"; best actor — Robert De Niro for "Raging Bull"; best actress — Sissy Spacek for "Coal Miner's Daughter"....................................1981............The Iranian hostage crisis ends after 444 days with the release of 52 Americans held in Tehran............President Reagan is shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr. Press Secretary James Brady and two escorts are also hit............Jean Harris, headmistress of the Madeira School in Virginia, is convicted of killing Scarsdale Diet doctor Herman Tarnower............The first space shuttle, the Columbia, blasts off from Cape Canaveral on its maiden voyage............Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded by Turkish racial Mehmet Ali Agca as he greets worshipers in Saint Peter's Square in Rome............AIDS is officially recognized by the U.S. government when the Centers for Disease Control publishes a report on the disease............Twenty serial murders of black children and adults in Atlanta are solved when Wayne B. Williams is arrested and charged............Sandra Day O'Conner is named by President Reagan to be the first female Supreme Court Justice............Lady Diana Spencer weds Prince Charles............Striking air-traffic controllers are fired en masse by President Reagan after defying a return-to-work order............Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated by a rebel soldier in Cairo............New in print in 1981: John Updike's "Rabbit is Rich"; Leonard Michael's "The Men's Club"; John Irving's "The Hotel New Hampshire"............New on TV in 1981: MTV, "Dynasty"; "Hill Street Blues"; "The Fall Guy"............New products in 1981: IBM personal computer; Nutrasweet sugar substitute; Microsoft's MS-DOS; Chipwich; Pac-Man............The 1981 Academy Awards: best picture — "Chariots of Fire"; best actor — Henry Fonda for "On Golden Pond"; best actress — Katherine Hepburn for "On Golden Pond"....................................1982............Air Florida flight 90 crashes into the Potomac River after taking off from Washington National Airport in a snowstorm, killing 77 people............Cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules kill seven people in the Chicago area, triggering a massive recall of the drug and nationwide concerns about product tampering............The first permanent artificial heart is given to Utah dentist Barney Clark, who survives for 112 days after the operation............Disney's EPCOT Center opens in Orlando Florida............America's first test-tube baby is born to Judy and Roger Carr, stimulating a debate about the ethical issues of in vitro fertilization............New in print in 1982: Bruce Fierstein's "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche"; Alice Walker's "The Color Purple"; John Jakes's "North and South"; Paul Theroux's "The Mosquito Coast"............New on TV in 1982: "Family Ties"; "Cheers"; "St. Elsewhere"; "Late Night with David Letterman"; "Cagney and Lacey"; "TJ Hooker"; "Remington Steele"; "Newhart"............New Products in 1982: Diet Coke; "USA Today"; Sony Watchman............The 1982 Academy Awards: best picture — "Gandhi"; best actor — Ben Kingsley for "Gandhi"; best actress — Meryl Streep for "Sophie's Choice"....................................1983............Singer Karen Carpenter dies of a heart attack at age 32, calling attention to the serious consquences of eating disorders............The Strategic Defense Initiative, a plan for space-based antiballistic missile system popularly known as Star Wars is proposed by President Reagan............Astronaut Sally Ride becomes America's first woman in space when she and four crewmates lift off aboard the space shuttle Challenger............More than 200 U.S. Marines are killed as a truck bomb explodes outside their headquarters in Beirut, effectively ending the American attempt to keep peace between warring Muslims and Christians in Lebanon............Vanessa Williams becomes the first African American to win the Miss America competition. Williams gives up her crown 10 months later when "Penthouse" magazine announces it will publish nude photographs of her............The United States invades Grenada, a small Caribbean nation, after its prime minister is ousted during a bloody Marxist coup............Lech Walesa, founder of Solidarity, the Polish trade union, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to gain the right for workers to organize freely............First Lady Nancy Reagan launches an anti-drug campaign featuring the slogan, "Just Say No"............New in print in 1983: William Kennedy's "Ironweed"; Shirley MacLaine's "Out on a Limb"; Daniel Boorstin's "The Discoverers"............New on TV in 1983: "The A-Team"; "Hardcastle and McCormick"; "Scarecrow and Mrs. King"; "Night Court"; "Hotel"............New Products in 1983: Trivial Pursuit board game, compact disc; Lotus 1-2-3 computer software; cellular phone network; computer mouse; contraceptive sponge............The 1983 Academy Awards: best picture — "Terms of Endearment"; best actor — Robert Duvall for "Tender Mercies"; best actress — Shirley MacLaine for "Terms of Endearment"....................................1984............Representative Geraldine Ferraro of Queens, New York, becomes the first woman to run for vice president when Walter Mondale chooses her as his Democratic running mate............"Where's the beef?" demands 83-year-old Clara Peller in popular TV commercials for Wendy's hamburger restaurant chain............A baboon heart is transplanted into the body of 15-day-old "Baby Fae" sparking controversy among animal-rights activists, religious leaders and medical scientists. She dies less than three weeks later............President Reagan wins reelection............Bhopal, India, experiences the world's worst industrial disaster as toxic fumes leak from a Union Carbide plant, killing more than 2,000 people ............Genetic "fingerprinting," the identification of an individuals unique DNA sequences, is developed by scientist Alec Jeffreys............New in print in 1984: Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City"; Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"; Mark H. McCormack's "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School"............New on TV in 1984: "The Bill Cosby Show"; "Miami Vice"; "Murder, She Wrote"; "Highway to Heaven"............New products in 1984: desktop laser printer; Chrysler minivan; Apple Macintosh computer; CD-ROM............The 1984 Academy Awards: best picture — "Amadeus"; best actor — F. Murray Abraham for "Amadeus"; best actress — Sally Field for "Places in the Heart"....................................1985............"We Are the World" becomes an instant hit single after 45 rock, pop, and country music stars get together to cut the record as a fund-raiser for famine victims in Africa............Mikhail Gorbachev, new Soviet leader, promises a policy of glasnost (openess) and an improvement plan called perestroika (restructuring).............Coca-Cola introduces New Coke, its first change in taste in 99 years. Just 10 weeks later, the company brings back the old version under the name Coca-Cola Classic in response to an avalanche of complaints from Coke lovers who prefer the original taste............Shiite Muslim terrorists skyjack a TWA jetliner, killing one American and holding 40 others hostage in Beirut. After 17 days, the hostages are freed in exchange for the release of Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons............The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by a joint French-U.S. research team about 560 miles off the coast of Newfoundland............Pete Rose makes his 4,192nd hit, breaking Ty Cobb's 57-year-old record for the most hits in a career............Limited economic sanctions against South Africa are announced by President Reagan in response to that country's policy of apartheid............Country singer Willie Nelson organizes the first Farm Aid concert to benefit farmers at the risk of foreclosure............A hole in the ozone layer is discovered in the atmosphere over Antarctica. The significance of the find would be a point of impassioned debate............Actor Rock Hudson, one of the first public figures to acknowledge his battle with AIDS, dies at age 59............New in print in 1985: Anne Tyler's "The Accidental Tourist"; Oliver Sacks's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"; Garrison Keillor's "Lake Woebegon Days"............New on TV in 1985: "Moonlighting"; "Spenser: For Hire"; "The Equalizer"; "Dynasty II: The Colby's"; "The Golden Girls"; "Growing Pains"............New Products in 1985: Microsoft Windows software; Pagemaker software; Nintendo Entertainment System; Ford Taurus............The 1985 Academy Awards: best picture — "Out of Africa"; best actor — William Hurt for "Kiss of the Spider Woman"; best actress — Geraldine Page for "The Trip to Bountiful"....................................1986............Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is celebrated as a national holiday for the first time............The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, kill all seven on board............The world's worst nuclear accident occurs at a power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, U.S.S.R., killling at least 30 people and spreading radiation across northern Europe............The "Hands Across America" campaign froms a human chain that reaches from Long Beach, California to New York City and raises $100 million for the poor and homeless............Affirmative action hiring quotas for minorities and women are upheld by the Supreme Court............The Iran-Contra affair, the worst political scandal since Watergate, explodes when the Reagan administration admits that the anti-Communist Nicaraguan forces called Contras were illegally given funds derived from an arms-for-hostages deal with Iran............Microsoft, the computer software firm cofounded by Bill Gates, goes public, making him an instant $311 millionaire............Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson of Great Britain are married as are Tatum O'Neal and John McEnroe, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg............New in Print in 1986: Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale"; Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising"; Robert Fulghum's "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"............New on TV in 1986: "L.A. Law"; "Matlock"; "Alf"; "Perfect Strangers"; "Our World"; "Crime Story"; "The Oprah Winfrey Show"............New products in 1986: microwave pizza, nicotine chewing gum; Honda Acura; Polaroid Spectra; digital audiotape............The 1986 Academy Awards: best picture — "Platoon"; best actor — Paul Newman for "The Color of Money"; best actress — Marlee Matlin for "Children of a Lesser God"....................................1987............Tammy Faye Bakker wipes a tear from her eye as she speaks out in support of her husband, former PTL televangelist Rev. Jim Bakker, following revelations that he committed adultery and stole money from his ministry............The surrogate mother of "Baby M," Mary Beth Whitehead, who contracted to be artificially inseminated by William Stern and then give the child to him and his wife, changes her mind and sues for custody of the child. A court awards full custody to the Sterns............Colorado senator Gary Hart, a married man and 1988 Democratic presidential hopeful, is photographed rendezvousing with model Donna Rice. Hart withdraws from the race.............Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North appears before a House panel investigating the Iran-Contra affair and asserts that his covert actions were fully justified for national security reasons and were authorized by his peers.............Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's former deputy, hangs himself at age 93 in West Berlin's Spandau Prison after 46 years in custody............"Baby Jessica" McClure, an 18-month-old who fell down an abandoned well in Midland, Texas, is recused while millions watch on TV............On "Black Monday," October 19, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, the largest decline since 1914............The INF Treaty (on intermediate-range nuclear forches) is signed. This agreement between the Soviet Union and the U.S. eliminates all ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of up to 3,400 miles............The California Raisins, products of an animation process called claymation, sing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in a TV commercial and become an instant hit............New in Print in 1987: Toni Morrison's "Beloved"; Scott Turow's "Presumed Innocent"; Randy Shilts's "And the Band Played On"; Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities"............New on TV in 1987: "thirtysomething"; "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"; "Married...With Children"; "A Different World"; "Beauty and the Beast"; "Jake and the Fatman"............New products in 1987: disposable camera; Prozac; soybean milk; Macintosh II and SE computers............The 1987 Academy Awards: best picture — "The Last Emperor"; best actor — Michael Douglas for "Wall Street"; best actress — Cher for "Moonstruck"....................................1988............Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, a CBS commentator, is fired after he tells a television reporter that "the black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred that way."............The U.S. cruiser Vincennes mistakes an Iranian civilian airliner for a warplane and shoots it down, killing all 290 passengers............Used needles and vials of blood, some of which test positive for AIDS, wash up along Long Islands southern shore............The savings and loan crisis comes into focus as experts estimate that it will cost as much as $200 billion to bail out hundreds of federally insured financial institutions that have overextended themselves............U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi wins five gold medals and teammate Janet Evans wins three at the Summer Olympics in Seoul............The Reverend Jesse Jackson makes a strong bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, transforming the position of black Americans in national politics............Junk-bond broker Michael Milken is cited for two counts of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission............The space shuttle Discovery launches successfully, putting the nation back into space for the first time since the 1986 Challenger explosion............George Bush and Dan Quayle are elected president and vice president............Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard. Investigators confirm that the explosion was caused by a terrorist bomb............New in print in 1988: Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera"; Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time"; Anne Tyler's "Breathing Lessons"............New on TV in 1988: "Murphy Brown"; "Roseanne"; "The Wonder Years"; "Dear John..."; "Midnight Caller"; "Wiseguy"; "In the Heat of the Night"............New products: Disposable contact lenses; Rogaine hair restorative; Doppler radar............The 1988 Academy Awards: best picture — "Rain Man"; best actor — Dustin Hoffman for "Rain Man"; best actress — Jodie Foster for "The Accused"....................................1989............George Bush is inaugurated as the 41st president of the United States............Author Salmon Rushdie is placed under a threat of death by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini for allegedly insulting Islam in his new novel "The Satanic Verses"............The tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, dumping 11 million gallons of crude oil into the water............The U.S. invades Panama after Manuel Noriega usurps the presidency. Noriega eventually surrenders and is later convicted in a Florida court of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering.............In Beijing's Tiananmen Square, a young political protester becomes a world-renowned icon of physical and moral courage as he faces down a column of tanks. The army subsequently fires into a crowd of students demonstrating for reform; estimates of the number killed range from several hundred to several thousand............A Robert Mapplethorpe photography exhibit, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, draws harsh criticism from members of Congress for its homoerotic and sadomasochistic content. The show, scheduled for Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art, is canceled.............General Colin Powell becomes the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff............Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher in major-league history to strike out 5,000 batters............Pete Rose is banned from baseball and ruled ineligible for the Hall of Fame for betting on major-league games............Billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley is convicted of income-tax evasion, including illegal deductions for girdles, and sentenced to four years in jail plus a fine of $7.1 million............Hurricane Hugo pummels the Carolinas, killing more than 70, leaving thousands homeless, and causing approximately $4 billion in damage............The "World Series" earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, strikes northern California, causing widespread destruction in the San Francisco Bay area, including the collapse of the upper deck of a freeway bridge in Oakland, which kills more than 40 people in their cars............L. Douglas Wilder becomes the nation's first elected black governor of Virginia — once the heart of the Confederacy............The Berlin wall falls, and hundreds of thousands of East Germans stream into democratic West Berlin as the 40-year-old East German government collapes............The U.S. soccer team beats Trinidad and Tobago 1-0, winning a berth in the final round of the World Cup for the first time since 1950............New in print in 1989: John le Carré's "The Russia House"; Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club"; John Grisham's "A Time to Kill"............New on TV in 1989: "The Arsenio Hall Show"; "Life Goes On"; "Coach"; "Anything but Love"............Mazda Miata; computer screensaver "Flying Toasters"............The 1989 Academy Awards: best picture — "Driving Miss Daisy"; best actor — Daniel Day Lewis for "My Left Foot"; best actress — Jessica Tandy for "Driving Miss Daisy"............

Join us for an anniversary celebration of 75 years of theatre and 20 years of Dance in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Check out the full Calendar of Anniversary Events.

Find out what you never knew about the Department since the move to Rarig Center by reading our History.

And then reconnect with old friends on the 75:20 Blog.

For those whose experiences spanned the decades, visit the 1970s section or visit the 1990s section to set the mood for remembering your years in Theatre and Dance.