80 Facts about the '80s - mental_floss on YouTube - List Show (247)

80 facts about the '80s will take you through the pop culture, scientific, and sociopolitical minefield of the 1980s. You'll learn facts about the eighties that will have you kicking your hackysack into Haley's comet (is that a good thing?) Remember: The List Show is a weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John takes a fond look back at the '80s as he discusses 80 facts about the eighties.

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[DecreeB]

4:34 "Image licensing is hard" XD I found that much more hilarious than I should have!!

[quintessences]

Here's hoping to 2000 facts about the 2000s

[realspacemodels]

As for number 43: Neil Armstrong was the commander of Apollo 11. MTV used a photo of the 2nd man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin and John Young from Apollo 16 famously the "saluting astronaut". They eventually used video or still photos from all the moon landings. 

[ontario]

"We'll do it in one take, then I'll drive you home..." That's literally the blind leading the blind!

[Evolutionmine]

I think we all are wondering this...

When did reality become TV?

Whatever happened to sitcoms, game shows, on the radio?

[charlietuba]

What's disturbing about waterbeds? I'll have been sleeping on one since 1984 and my wife since we got married in 1991. My wife said that I have spoiled her and she has trouble sleeping on a regular mattress. What was nice was when we switched from a free-flow to a waveless mattress. Now the mattress doesn't slosh around when someone gets in or out of the bed.

[GeldarionTFS]

He could have also mentioned that M&Ms turned down the spot in ET, because they were afraid an alien movie might make their product look gross. Reese's Pieces won that round!

[Naiadryade]

I recently went through a drawer of old pens. I threw out almost all of them--only a few were still good, including all of the 15-year-old Jelly Rollers. Been using them. The colors are even still swirled. I'm surprised at what great quality they actually are!

[ljmastertroll]

Now that you are done with the 80s can we go Back to the Future?

[dadoctah]

The theme from the Clapper commercial may have been used earlier in a Sine-Off nasal spray commercial, but it's a lot older than that.  As the "Duckworth Chant" or "Sound Off!", the US Army has been using it to call cadence since 1944.  Vaughn Monroe recorded a commercial version of the chant in 1951.

[Dmal]

Ones you missed:
1.Michael Jackson insisted on manhole scenes in both Beat It & Thriller.
2. Michael Jackson Thriller album set a record for sales and the video was the longest music video at that time.
3. Jamz Shorts were made popular.
4. The movie Risky Business made the Rayban Wayfarer sunglasses popular.
5.Rick Springfield's character on General Hospital was Noah Drake.
6. The wedding between Luke and Laura on General Hospital set a record of some sort.
7. Star Wars character Lando Calrissian was made because people complained there were no black people in the movie.
8. Coca Cola suffered a tremendous backlash and thousands of letters complaining about New Coke. This is why you see the words Classic Coke on cans.
9. Some of the rumors about Micahel Jackson were started by Michael Jackson
10. The Berlin wall was torn down due to miscommunication.
11. The Pet Rock was invented as a gag but sold a million units. This may be the 70s.
12. The Nickelodeon green slime started on a show called You can't do that on television..
13. The Show Dukes of Hazzard destroyed over 450 Dodge Chargers and are this is why that particular nale and model is hard to find.
14. Happy Days ( I know it started in the 70s but it ran into the 80s) star Henry Winkler never smoked a pack of cigarettes, but kept a pack rolled under his sleeve to seem macho.
15. The term jump the shark was from the show Happy Days when Fonzi jumped a shark and then he ratings plummeted.,

[matthewdavidson]

Anyone laugh when Steve wonder said to ray Charles that he would drive him home two blind guys in car bad Idea

[notbobby]

8:11 This was because of the still recent video game crash of 1984, when the US video game console market fell to shambles because of a large amount of extremely similar consoles that all played the same terrible games. Toy stores didn't want to sell another game console, particularly one that came from Japan.

Nintendo also included ROB in the first line of US NESes, to sell it as a toy, not a game console. ROB was a "robot" who could play games with a player, but it only worked on two games (and it didn't work particularly well for either of them).

[theWildman]

Dr. Ruth was actually a spotter in an Israeli sniper unit - not a sniper herself, but she did retire (at like age 19), due to taking shrapnel from an explosive device. So all in all, pretty badass for a little old lady that asked you way too many questions about your sex life.

[mystfaex]

Everybody else was here 4yrs ago.

YT: ok, NOW you can this one!
ME: Lol!, Better LATE than NEVER! Right? 😃

[Roxor]

I have vague memories of seeing Haley's Comet over a tree top as a kid.

[King_of_Stinky]

Jazzercise!
I <3 Mental Floss, keep up the fantastic work everyone.

[derektigner]

By far the best list show in quite sometime

[louisejohnson]

I enjoy these so much! That Stevie Wonder/Ray Charles joke was a great chuckle at the end. Well told sir.

[gingram]

I started this video thinking "80 facts? Why do we need 80 facts?" but now it's over and I want more facts. Hahaha