Cost of Living in 1984...

Yearly Inflation Rate USA  4.3 % 
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average  1211
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve  10.75%
Average Cost of New House  $86,730.00
Average Income per Year  $21,600.00
Average Monthly Rent  $350.00
Movie Ticket  $2.50
1 gallon of gas  $1.10
Dodge RAM 50 Truck  $8,995.00  

In 1984...

• The Senate voted down voluntary silent prayer in public schools, McDonald's served its 50 billionth hamburger
• The Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles
• Michael Jackson's hair catches on fire filming a Pepsi commercial, Apple Macintosh is introduced, the Soviets boycott Los Angeles Olympics.
• Indian Prime minister Indria Ghandi assassinated
• Novel "Of Mice and Men" is removed from Tennessee public schools in an attempt to remove all "filthy books" from public school curricula and libraries
• Geraldine Ferraro is first women to run for Vice President, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous premieres
• Widespread Famine in Ethiopia after political conflict with charities believing as many as 10 million people are facing starvation 
• Marvin Gaye is shot and killed during an argument with his father, Jeopardy! returns to television with a new host (Alex Trebek).
• Aids Virus identified by French Immunologist 
• The cost of a McDonald's Fish Fillet Sandwich was 90 cents and a VCR would set you back about $450.00
• Astronauts make first untethered space walk, AT&T is broken up, "Where's the Beef" Wendy's Ad campaign begins airing.  
• Sony and Philips introduced the first commercial CD Players 
• Van Halen's "1984" is released, Vanessa Williams is first Miss America to resign (due to nude photos in Penthouse magazine), "Ghostbusters" begins its theatrical run.  
• The first megabit chip is produced at Bell Labs, Stonewashed jeans are introduced, there are only about 1,000 hosts on the Internet.  
• Sony made the first 3 1/2" computer disk 
• The Space Shuttle Discovery had its maiden voyage
• Genetic fingerprinting or DNA profiling was developed and is now in wide by Forensic scientists when obtaining evidence in a crime
• The U.S, Supreme Court rules 5-4 that it is legal to record television broadcasts with a videocassette recorder.  

TOP 50 you listened to on Pac-93, Chez-106 and WIGS...

Popular Culture

• The MTV Video Music Awards Started
• 36 of Britain and Ireland's top pop musicians gathered in a Notting Hill studio to form Band Aid and recorded the song "Do They Know It's Christmas" in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia
• Michael Jackson wins unprecedented acclaim for his Album Thriller and sales over 37 million copies

Popular Films

• Ghostbusters
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Gremlins
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Terms of Endearment
• The Karate Kid
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Police Academy
• Romancing the Stone
• Splash
• The Terminator
• Amadeus
• The Killing Fields
• A Passage To India

Popular TV Shows

• Magnum, P.I.
• Dynasty
• Entertainment Tonight
• Falcon Crest
• Hill Street Blues
• Cagney and Lacey
• Cheers
• Fame
• Knight Rider
• The A-Team
• Jeopardy!