They're the first deaths associated with product tampering. They won't be the last. And tamper-proof packaging becomes the order of the era. Cabbage Patch Kids invade America in 1983 and parents battle over the short supply in toy stores. The first cellular telephone networks are launched.
Camcorders change the face of home movies.
More medals are handed out to U.S. troops than in all the Vietnam war. Karen Carpenter dies of anorexia nervosa. Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. Vanessa Williams becomes the first African American named Miss America, but she'll be forced to resign the next year when old nude photos are published. Compact discs begin showing up in record stores.