Preppies and yuppies, punks and new wavers, surfers and suits—we all found a home in the 1980s.

It was the decade when our world began to shrink, when we set to work tearing down walls and forging connections. It was when we rode the endless wave of technology and bore the brunt of the crashing wipeout on Wall Street. When some made unimagined sums of money only to lose more; while others were left waiting for the trickle that never came down. It was a time of watching explosions in the sky and learning of holes in our ozone. A time when women and minorities reached new political heights.

What a feeling, it was the time of our lives. When we felt the thrill, thanked our lucky stars and knew that sometimes you just wanna have fun.

In a low-slung office building on the banks of the Willamette, a group of architects, engineers, and, yes, planners, found a home too. They continued to work hard and play harder.

Miracles and disasters

• Our Company

  • To Bancroft
    Mackenzie Engineering, Inc., and Mackenzie/Saito & Associates open the decade by moving to the Bancroft Building along the west bank of the Willamette River in the North Macadam area. The move re-consolidates all services under one roof after growth had forced the spread to multiple smaller buildings.
  • Planning ahead
    The company adds land use planning services to its offerings with the hiring of Lansing Stout and Tom Wright. Tom will go on to lead the department and become a principal of the firm.

• Taking Stock

  • Portland population: 368,139
  • Seattle population: 493,846
  • Price of a U.S. postage stamp: 15 cents
  • Average cost of a new house: $68,700
  • Average salary: $15,757
  • Minimum wage: $3.10/hr.

• In the News

  • Olympic Miracle
    The 1980 Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York. In the Games, the United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union on February 22, in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics, dubbed the "Miracle on Ice".
  • Out in the ether
    The Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.
  • Let the boycotts begin
    U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
  • Deadly heat wave
    A brutal heat wave in the midwest United States claims 1,700 lives from June 23 until September 6.

• Local Happenings

  • Ash Sunday
    Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18; the force and destruction of the lateral blast and slope failure are unexpected and unprecedented in the United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
  • Funding the arts
    The City of Portland and Multnomah County pass the 1% for Art/Public Art ordinance.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Office space
    3M begins sales of its latest product, Post-It Notes, invented by Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver, revolutionizing the way people take notes.
  • TCP/IP standard adopted
    The U.S. Department of Defense adopts the TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol) suite as a standard.
  • Enter the ethernet
    Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which is the first implementation outside of Xerox and the first to support 10 Mb/s speeds.
  • Flying solar
    Janice Brown, a 98-lb. former teacher, makes the first long-distance solar-powered flight in the Solar Challenger.

• Pop Culture

  • RIP rockers
    Both Bon Scott of AC/DC and John Bonham of Led Zepplin die of accidental alcohol poisoning.
  • Beware of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde
    Pac-Man is released, and becomes the best-selling arcade game of all time.
  • Nothing but the news
    The Cable News Network (CNN) is officially launched on June 1; it is the first 24-hour news network.
  • Imagine
    John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in New York City on December 8.

One for the girls

• Our Company

  • Civil behavior
    Oregon State graduate and future Vancouver branch manager Dave Larson joins Mackenzie Engineering, Inc., as the company officially adds civil and traffic engineering services.
  • Tightening the belt
    The company feels the effects of the recession with deep personnel cuts between January and June. Firm leaders Tom Mackenzie and Rick Saito each take a 50% pay cut.

• In the News

  • Inauguration Day
    President Reagan assumes office against a backdrop of relief as the Iran Hostage Crisis ends on January 20 with the release of 52 Americans, held hostage in Iran for 444 days.
  • Her Honor
    U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
  • On the Air
    The Supreme Court rules to allow television cameras in the courtroom.
  • Assassination attempts
    On March 30, President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded. Six weeks later Pope John Paul II is shot and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish gunman, as he enters St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to address a general audience.
  • AIDS begins
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems—these are the first recognized cases of AIDS.
  • Her Royal Highness
    Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales on July 29.
  • Scientific stork
    The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

• Local Happenings

  • Big bird
    The Boeing 767 airliner makes its first flight on September 26.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • IBM PC
    IBM introduces the IBM Personal Computer with an Intel 8088 microprocessor and an operating system, MS-DOS, designed by Microsoft. Fully equipped with 64 kilobytes of memory and floppy disk drive, it costs under $3,000.

• Pop Culture

  • Home entertainment
    VCR sales rose 72% in 12 months. By 1989, 60% of Americans w/ TVs will have cable service.
  • By The Buggles
    MTV goes on the air August 1, running around-the-clock music videos, debuting with "Video Killed the Radio Star."
  • "And that’s the way it is..."
    After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
  • Called a strike
    Major League Baseball goes on strike starting June 12, forcing the cancellation of 38 percent of the season’s schedule.

A thrilling year

• Our Company

  • Clackety-clack
    In the early ’80s, all word processing work at Mackenzie Engineering, Inc., and Mackenzie/Saito & Associates is still done on a typewriter.
  • High stakes
    Employees indulge in legendary ping pong matches. Architect Dennis Woods will lose his VW as the result of one particularly grueling loss (and ill-conceived bet).

• In the News

  • Remembering the fallen
    The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is completed. Inscribed with the names of 57,939 Americans killed or missing in Vietnam, the monument was designed by Yale University student Maya Lin.
  • Tennessee's Fair
    A crowd of over 100,000 attend the May 1 opening of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. More than 11 million people attend during its six-month run.
  • Rally for disarmament
    A rally against nuclear weapons draws 750,000 to New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt attend, among others.
  • Pleading the 14th
    The Equal Rights Amendment falls short of the 38 states needed to pass; Phyllis Schlafly and other leaders of the Christian right take credit for its defeat.
  • Dow on the rise
    On November 3, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surges 43.41 points, or 4.25%, to close at 1,065.49, its first record high in more than nine years.
  • "Just Say No"
    First Lady Nancy Reagan launches the “Just Say No” anti-vice campaign.

• Local Happenings

  • Postmodernism at work
    The Portland Building, by Michael Graves, opens. The 15-story municipal office building costs $29 million to complete. The building's distinctive facades prove divisive, engendering much criticism but also earning design awards. Structural and envelope issues quickly appear, forcing a renovation effort a scant eight years later.
  • Raise a glass
    The first pint of Redhook Ale is sold in Seattle in August, kicking off the microbrew beer craze.
  • I-205 Crossing
    The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge opens on December 15, after five years of construction and nearly two decades of planning. Three men were killed during construction of the $175 million connector.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Have a heart
    A permanent artificial heart is implanted in a human for first time into the chest of Dr. Barney B. Clark, 61, at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
  • The “Flavr Savr”
    Washington University in St. Louis develops the first genetically-engineered plant—a tomato—approved for sale.
  • Play it again, Sony
    Sony launches the CDP-101, the first compact disc (CD) player available to the general public.

• In the Industry

  • Autodesk
    John Walker leads a group of 16 to found Autodesk. In November, the company demonstrates its 2D computer aided drawing software for PCs, AutoCAD Release 1. Deliveries to users begin in December.

• Pop Culture

  • "Close to midnight..."
    Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which sells more than 100 million copies over 25 years and remains the biggest-selling album in history.
  • When the laughter stops
    American comedian and actor John Belushi dies of a drug overdose at age 33.
  • Meow
    Cats opens on Broadway. It will go on to become Broadway's longest-running show.
  • Celie's oppression
    The Color Purple by Alice Walker is published. The story of life as black woman living in the deep south in the 1930s will go on to claim the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and National Book Award.
  • The Play
    University of California—Berkeley executes a winning play in a football game against Stanford; after a series of awkward moves, Kevin Moen runs through Stanford band members who had prematurely come onto the field. His touchdown stands and California wins 25–20.
  • Just another brick
    Pink Floyd’s The Wall is made into a live action/animated movie.
  • Together in harmony
    Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder release the number one single "Ebony & Ivory."
  • The Great One
    Wayne Gretzky of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers scores 92 goals in one hockey season, a record that will stand decades later.

Putting it together

• Our Company

  • Future leaders
    Future principal Bob Thompson joins the firm in February. In August, Arizona State graduate and future Group Mackenzie president Jeff Reaves joins the company. Entering as a job captain, Jeff becomes instrumental in the inevitable transition to computer drafting. Bob remains an advocate for the benefits of drafting by hand.
  • It burns
    The blueline machine and its attached ammonia tank leave drafters with peeling hands and paper cuts that burn. It also enables pin bar drafting, where the base is burned onto mylar which is then fixed in place on pins with subsequent sheets overlaid to create separate layers. Desired sheets are then sealed together on the vacuum press to create a single drawing. Planner Tom Wright converts a drafting table into a light table to aid in the effort. He, unfortunately, forgets to install a switch. After a couple of close calls, Gene Mildren remedies the oversight.

• In the News

  • An American hero
    Sally K. Ride, 32, becomes the first U.S. woman astronaut in space as a crew member aboard space shuttle Challenger.
  • Unemployment woes
    The nationwide unemployment hits a high of 9.6%; it is 12.3% in Oregon.
  • Island eruption
    Kilauea begins slowly erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii on January 3, and is still flowing as of 2010.
  • Strategic Defense Initiative
    U.S. President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. The media dub this plan "Star Wars."
  • The Global Positioning System
    GPS is made available for civilian use for the first time.
  • MLK Day
    Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is signed into federal law in the United States to honor the late American civil rights leader.
  • Transplant revolution
    The immunosuppressant cyclosporine is approved by the FDA, leading to a revolution in the field of organ transplantation.
  • DARE
    The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program is launched in the U.S., beginning with California.

• Local Happenings

  • Portland’s “living room”
    Pioneer Courthouse Square is completed in downtown Portland. Designed by a group of local architects and engineers, the brick plaza occupies a full city block. Opening festivities draw more than 10,000 people.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • An Internet is born
    ARPANET and all networks attached to it officially adopt the TCP/IP networking protocol. From now on, all networks that use TCP/IP are collectively known as the Internet. The number of Internet sites and users grows exponentially.
  • As easy as...
    Lotus 1-2-3 is released for IBM-PC compatible computers in January.
  • X-tended Technology
    IBM releases the IBM PC XT on March 8. Intended for improved business use, the system features minor improvements to the company's first computer.

• In the Industry

  • Meier's high art
    The High Museum of Art, designed by Richard Meier, opens in Atlanta, Georgia

• Pop Culture

  • "Can't Smile Without You"
    Singer Karen Carpenter dies of complications from anorexia nervosa at age 32.
  • Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
    More than 105 million viewers tune in to the final episode of M*A*S*H.
  • She’s a maniac
    Jennifer Beals dances into fantasies with the theatrical release of Flashdance.
  • There she is
    Vanessa Lynn Williams becomes the first African-American to be crowned Miss America, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
  • Kids rejoice
    McDonald's introduces the McNugget.

Orwell proven wrong

• Our Company

  • Office life
    In the early- to mid-1980s, MEI/MSA employees sit on stools; the lucky few claim ones with a backrest. The men still wear suits to work, tucking in ties or flipping them over a shoulder and donning sleeve guards as they hunch over drafting tables. The tools of the trade are triangles, parallel rulers, compasses, circle templates, scales, and erasing shields. The sound of electric erasers and the smell of burning mylar fill the air.
  • Word crunching
    The company purchases a Pitney Bowes Word Processing Machine.

• In the News

  • Band Aid
    BBC News TV reports that a famine is plaguing Ethiopia, where thousands of people have already died of starvation and as many as 10,000,000 more lives are at risk. Band Aid records the charity single “Do They Know It's Christmas?” to raise money to help feed hungry Ethiopians.
  • Political games
    The 1984 Summer Olympics open on July 28 in Los Angeles. The Soviet Union boycotts the games.
  • Mondale’s running mate
    Geraldine Ferraro of New York becomes the first woman selected as a major-party Vice Presidential candidate.
  • Peaceful protests
    Desmond Tutu, a black Anglican Bishop, wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his "role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa.”

• Local Happenings

  • Feelin' lucky?
    Oregon voters ratify the state lottery.
  • Disaster in Longview
    A Mobil oil tanker spills 200,000 gallons of crude oil into the Columbia River near Longview, Washington.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Not your father's 45
    Philips and Sony combine efforts to introduce the CD-ROM, originally patented in 1970 by James T. Russell. The CD can store more than 300,000 pages worth of information—more than the capacity of 450 floppy disks.

• In the Industry

  • AutoCAD v.2
    Autodesk issues its fifth release, version 2, of AutoCAD. The revamped program features text improvements, DXFIN and DXFOUT commands, new Inquire commands, Object Snap, named views, Isometric capabilities and new Attribute features.

• Pop Culture

  • An American family
    The Cosby Show debuts on NBC, and is known as one of the quintessential sit-coms of the decade.
  • Broken crown
    Vanessa Williams becomes the first Miss America to resign when she surrenders her crown after nude photos of her appear in Penthouse magazine.
  • "Lucky Star"
    Madonna debuts the song “Holiday” (and her career) on American Bandstand.
  • 1984 won’t be like 1984
    Apple introduces the user-friendly Macintosh personal computer with the famous “1984” commercial; it depicts an Orwellian dystopia being smashed to bits by a woman with a sledgehammer.

Realization dawning

• Our Company

  • First computers
    The company's first computers are put to use in accounting and as one shared machine. Used primarily for spreadsheets, each machine takes up nearly an entire desk.
  • Running for fun?
    Company runners start getting serious (and competitive). Sparked by a bet with Tom Mackenzie, the runners hire a professional coach. A race victory forces Tom to pay up. The prize? Installation of a shower at the office. The company team sets a course record the following year.

• In the News

  • Reagan and Gorbachev meet
    Gorbachev is elected in the USSR. Reagan and Gorbachev meet in a summit; they agree to step up arms control talks and renew cultural contacts.
  • AIDS hits home
    The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then to screen all blood donations in the United States.
  • Blame Styrofoam?
    British scientists report the opening of an enormous hole in the earth's ozone layer over Antarctica.
  • Valentine’s Day gift
    CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon on February 14.
  • End world hunger
    Dozens of top-name musicians and bands perform at the Live Aid concerts in Philadelphia and London. The shows benefit African famine victims.

• Local Happenings

  • To the MAX
    Portland’s first light rail opens. Completed at a cost of $214 million, the 15-mile line connects Gresham with Portland's city center. Eighty-three percent of funding for the project comes from the Federal Transit Administration, 12% from state funds, and 5% from local dollars.
  • Arrival of the 34-foot Woman
    Raymond Kaskey’s sculpture Portlandia reaches Portland on October 6. The hammered copper statue graces the main entrance to the Portland Building.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Bill Gates means business
    Microsoft releases Windows 1.0, operating system software that features a Macintosh-like graphical user interface (GUI) with drop-down menus, windows, and mouse support.
  • From x to y
    Casio debuts its first graphing calculator.
  • Point-and-shoot
    Minolta presents the world's first autofocus single-lens reflex camera.

• In the Industry

  • Scraping the Seattle sky
    Seattle gains a new tallest building with the completion of the Bank of America Tower, later to be renamed the Columbia Center.
  • MicroStation
    Keith Bentley founds Bentley Systems, Inc. The company develops MicroStation, a PC-based alternative to AutoCAD.

• Pop Culture

  • The DeLorean lives
    Michael J. Fox travels Back to the Future.
  • Old Glory Days
    Bruce Springsteen releases Born in the U.S.A.
  • A Hollywood giant passes
    Film icon Rock Hudson dies from AIDS at age 59.
  • Can't beat a classic
    Coca-Cola attempts to change its 99-year-old formula in an effort to attract younger drinkers. "New" Coke is poorly received, and the company soon reintroduces the original "Classic" beverage.

In the stars

• Our Company

  • Auto-trol
    Prompted by government clients, MEI/MSA takes the plunge into computer-aided drafting with the purchase of two Auto-trol stations. The need to capitalize on the significant cost investment—nearly $300,000—drives the decision to operate the stations in round-the-clock shifts. Drafting staff are sent to Denver for special training. Completed drawings are put to paper with a pen plotter that literally draws the lines, pulling from a carousel of different pens for each line weight. Individual sheets must be handfed, and print jobs must be closely monitored lest any pens run out of ink--which forces a restart of the entire process. Plotting of a single set of drawings can take up to a week.

• In the News

  • With a nation watching
    On January 28, the space shuttle Challenger explodes 74 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard—including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
  • Nuclear meltdown
    The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs in Ukraine during unauthorized experiments when four pressurized-water reactors overheat, releasing their water coolant as steam.
  • Shooting Star
    Halley's comet makes its 75-year visit; it is the first observed in detail by spacecraft, providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation.
  • Hands Across America
    At least 5,000,000 people form a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, California, to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness.
  • Iran–Contra affair
    The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret, in order to secure the release of 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

• Local Happenings

  • Protecting the Gorge
    On November 17, President Reagan signs the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, designating more than 292,000 acres in Oregon and Washington as federally regulated land.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Franken-virus
    The first genetically-engineered vaccine, for hepatitis B, gains FDA approval.
  • Beware of Brain
    The first PC virus, “Brain”, starts to spread in January.

• Pop Culture

  • Harpo Productions debuts
    The Oprah Winfrey Show hits national television.
  • Meet Mario
    The Nintendo Entertainment System and accompanying video games are introduced in the US.
  • Three up, three down
    Roger Clemens sets the record for the most strikeouts in a 9-inning MLB game, striking out 20 batters.

What goes up

• Our Company

  • Sending...
    The company purchases its first fax machine, sparing Tom Wright drives out to the BetaWest facility to send electronic transmissions. Excitement is palpable as employees gather around to watch the initial messages roll off.
  • Accepting CAD
    Usage of computer drafting increases. Many projects are developed using a hybrid system with the base developed on the Auto-trol machine and subsequent layers completed by hand.
  • Snow bound
    Employees begin making annual treks to the Snowshoe Club Mountain atop Mount Hood.

• In the News

  • The magic pill
    The anti-depressant Prozac is released for use in the US by Eli Lilly & Company.
  • A glimmer of hope
    AZT earns FDA approval for use in the treatment of AIDS.
  • We’re in the money
    The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closes above the 2,500 mark for the first time on July 17, at 2,510.04.
  • Fall from grace
    In Charlotte, North Carolina, televangelist Jim Bakker, head of PTL Ministries, resigns after an illicit sexual encounter and years of accounting fraud are brought to light.
  • “Tear down this wall”
    During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
  • Population boom
    The world population reaches five billion people with a child born in Zagreb, Croatia, according to the United Nations.
  • Baby Jessica
    America watches anxiously on television for three days in October as a young child, Jessica McClure, falls down an eight inch well in Midland, Texas, and is later rescued.
  • Black Monday
    On October 19, stock market averages unexpectedly fall sharply on Wall Street and around the world.

• Local Happenings

  • Point of entry
    Work completes on the gate marking the entry to Portland's Chinatown on the north side of Burnside Street.
  • Another plan for Portland
    Portland's new Central City Plan calls for preservation of view corridors; light rail service connecting retail and downtown office core to outer areas east and west; and redevelopment of the Convention Center, Rose Quarter, Lloyd Center, and Bright Lights District along Broadway.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Better the second time?
    Microsoft introduces Windows 2.0.

• In the Industry

  • AutoCAD grows up
    AutoCAD Release 9, issued in September, features a user interface with a menu bar and pull-down menus, icon menus, and dialog boxes.

• Pop Culture

  • Yuppie revolution
    thirtysomething debuts on ABC and departs from typical dramas, featuring analytical, self-absorbed baby-boomer characters.
  • A little respect
    Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 3.
  • "D’Oh!"
    The Simpsons cartoon first appears on The Tracy Ullman Show in April, and will still be running more than two decades later.

Transitions

• Our Company

  • A new focus
    By the late 1980s the company's focus had begun to shift to projects that were more architecture-led and interior design-intensive; this was largely driven by the transition of the presidency from founder Tom Mackenzie to architect Rick Saito.
  • All life's a picnic
    In the mid- to late-1980s, the company begins hosting formal company picnics complete with skits.

• In the News

  • Mapping us
    The Human Genome Project is created and funded, with a goal to locate all genes contained in human DNA.
  • NAFTA
    US and Canada reach a free trade agreement.
  • Feeling the heat
    NASA scientist James Hansen warns congress of the dangers of the global warming and the greenhouse effect.
  • The “Morning After”
    France and China permit the use of the birth-control drug RU486 (Mifepristone) amid much controversy.
  • "The Beat Goes On"
    Former pop singer Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.
  • No Smoking
    A report by U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
  • A really long layover
    Mehran Karimi Nasseri, "The terminal man", is stuck in the De Gaulle Airport in Paris, where he will continue to reside until August 1, 2006.
  • You don't know Jack
    In Omaha, Nebraska, in the only vice presidential debate of the 1988 U.S. presidential election, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, insists he has as much experience in government as John F. Kennedy did when he sought the presidency in 1960. His Democratic opponent, Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, replies, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. I served with Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

• Local Happenings

  • Going underground
    The Metro bus tunnel is completed under downtown Seattle and opens in April.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • Crossing the pond
    The first transatlantic fiber-optic cable is installed, using glass fibers so transparent that repeaters (to regenerate and recondition the signal) are needed only about 40 miles apart. The shark-proof TAT-8 is dedicated by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.

• In the Industry

  • 3D advances
    The release of Pro/Engineer, developed by Dr. Samuel P. Geisberg, introduces the concept of parametric modeling.

• Pop Culture

  • The time of her life
    Patrick Swayze proves nobody puts Baby in the corner with the theatrical release of Dirty Dancing.
  • Tuning in
    Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households have at least one television set.
  • Keep on turning
    Compact Discs out-sell vinyl records for the first time.
  • Superstations
    Ted Turner starts Turner Network Television (TNT) and buys MGM's film library.
  • Changing of the guard
    Steffi Graf defeats Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon, ending Navratilova’s record six-year winning streak.

Beginnings and endings

• Our Company

  • Wonder twins
    Future leaders of the firm Rich Mitchell and Susan Higbee join the company within a week of one another.

• In the News

  • Asylum
    Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him to death (Feb. 14).
  • Man vs. tank
    Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing's Tiananmen Square in a rally for democracy, starting on April 19. As a million people demonstrate for democracy, chaos spreads across the nation. Thousands are killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators.
  • "Right Here, Right Now"
    After 28 years, the Berlin Wall opens East Germany to the west on November 11, marking the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
  • Invasion of Panama
    US troops invade Panama, seeking capture of General Manuel Noriega.
  • Disaster in Prince William Sound
    Ruptured tanker Exxon Valdez sends 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24.
  • The end of the Affair
    A US jury convicts Lt. Col. Oliver North in the Iran-Contra Affair on May 4.
  • Powell's prerogative
    Army Gen. Colin R. Powell becomes the first African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  • Loma Prieta Quake
    An earthquake hits the San Francisco Bay area on October 17, measuring 7.1 in magnitude. Sixty-seven people die and over 3,000 are injured. Over 100,000 buildings are damaged or destroyed.
  • The death of freon
    Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
  • Crack in the Iron Curtain
    Hungary dismantles 150 miles (240 km) of barbed wire fencing along the border with Austria.

• Local Happenings

  • Tall, grande, or venti
    Portland gets its first Starbucks location.
  • Centennial celebration
    Washingtonians celebrate 100 years of statehood.

• Technological Breakthroughs

  • www.CERN.com
    Englishman Tim Berners-Lee, while working at CERN, develops the first World Wide Web server and browser.
  • Archie the archive
    Peter Deutsch of McGill University develops Archie, an archive of FTP sites, in an effort to index the Internet. Another indexing system, WAIS (Wide Area Information Server), is developed by Brewster Kahle of Thinking Machines Corp.

• In the Industry

  • Better roads
    The introduction of the open-graded friction course, which allows asphalt to drain water more efficiently thus reducing hydroplaning and skidding, and Superpave, or Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement, which can be tailored to the climate and traffic of each job, are among refinements that improve the country’s 4 million miles of roads and highways, 96% of which are covered in asphalt. By the end of the century, 500 million tons of asphalt will be laid every year.

• Pop Culture

  • We Love Lucy
    Beloved comedienne Lucille Ball dies at age 87.
  • Gaming on the move
    Nintendo releases the Game Boy portable video game system in North America.
  • The show about nothing
    The television show Seinfeld premieres in July.
  • Don’t bet on it
    Record-setting baseball player Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport, following allegations of illegal gambling; he is denied induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.