A space shuttle carrying a schoolteacher explodes. AIDS becomes a feared household word. And the Berlin Wall collapses along with communism. Learn more about these and other events that shaped the 1980s. The decade 1990-1999 Bombings terrorize the heartland and the heart of New York.
Sex almost brings down a president.
And the promise of a new millennium brings fear and hope in the final decade of the 20th century. Each site in this column tackles the challenge differently.