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Born in 1984? Here's the world you arrived into

In 1984, "When Doves Cry" topped the charts, Ghostbusters packed theaters, a stamp cost 20¢, the average home went for about $79,900.

What things cost in 1984

A $1.21 gallon of gas in 1984 has the buying power of roughly $3.65 in 2024 dollars. A 20¢ stamp is around 60¢ today, and a $3.36 movie ticket is about $10.

The biggest moments of 1984

• Apple introduced the Macintosh computer with a legendary Super Bowl commercial.
• Gymnast Mary Lou Retton scored perfect 10s and won all-around gold at the Los Angeles Olympics.
• Wendy's "Where's the beef?" commercial became the catchphrase everyone was repeating.

• Astronaut Bruce McCandless flew untethered from the shuttle Challenger in February 1984, the first free-flying spacewalk — and an unforgettable photo.
• The Cosby Show premiered in September 1984 and rocketed to the top of the ratings.
• Miami Vice debuted that fall, and suddenly pastel T-shirts under linen blazers were everywhere.

Toys, TV & trends of 1984

• Transformers action figures — "robots in disguise" — hit toy shelves and became an instant sensation.
• The Cabbage Patch Kids craze raged on, with parents lining up for the chubby-cheeked dolls.
• Trivial Pursuit was the hottest board game in America, selling around 20 million copies in a single year.

• In June 1984, a Soviet computer scientist named Alexey Pajitnov created a little puzzle game called Tetris.
• Breakdancing went fully mainstream — flattened cardboard boxes appeared on sidewalks, and parachute pants swished through school hallways.
• Gremlins' three rules — especially "never feed them after midnight" — became instant playground lore, and cuddly Gizmo toys flew off shelves.

The music scene

Prince's "When Doves Cry" — the year's biggest single — famously has no bass line at all, and it powered the Purple Rain film and soundtrack juggernaut. Tina Turner completed one of pop's greatest comebacks at age 44, winning the Record of the Year Grammy, while Michael Jackson's Thriller collected a record eight Grammys in a single night. And at the very first MTV Video Music Awards that September, a newcomer named Madonna stole the show singing "Like a Virgin."

At the movies

Amadeus won eight Oscars including Best Picture, but 1984's real Hollywood legacy was a new rating: after parents balked at intense scenes in Temple of Doom and Gremlins, the PG-13 rating was created that summer. Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters theme — "Who ya gonna call?" — spent three weeks at #1, proof that a movie song could be as big as the movie.

Cartoons kids loved

• The Transformers
• Muppet Babies
• Voltron: Defender of the Universe

A 1984 loosening of children's TV rules opened the floodgates for cartoons built around toy lines, and studios adapted Japanese robot anime — the source of both Transformers and Voltron — for American kids. Muppet Babies took the opposite route: it grew out of a single dream sequence in that year's film The Muppets Take Manhattan and went on to win four straight Emmys.

The world in 1984

• World population: about 4.8 billion
• U.S. President: Ronald Reagan
• Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics, where Carl Lewis won four gold medals in track and field.

• South African Bishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign against apartheid.
• Britain and China signed the Joint Declaration in December 1984, setting Hong Kong's return to China for 1997.
• British scientist Alec Jeffreys discovered DNA fingerprinting in September 1984, revolutionizing crime-solving and family science.

1984 birthday questions

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