Today in 80s History: July 17th in the 80s

1982 - "Don't You Want Me" Spent a Final Week at #1

Event: Billboard Hot 100 Milestone

Details: The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" held the top spot on the chart dated July 17, 1982, its third and final week at #1. The song helped kick open the door for the synth-pop invasion that defined the rest of the decade. It was knocked off the next week by Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger."

Arthur (1981)

Release Date: July 17, 1981
Director: Steve Gordon
Starring: Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli and John Gielgud
Budget: $7 Million
Box Office: $95.5 Million
Note: The fourth highest-grossing film of 1981. John Gielgud won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross won Best Original Song and hit #1.

Endless Love (1981)

Release Date: July 17, 1981
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt and Shirley Knight
Box Office: $31 Million
Note: The film debut of Tom Cruise, with early appearances by James Spader and Jami Gertz. The title song by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie spent nine weeks at #1 on the Hot 100.

RoboCop (1987)

Release Date: July 17, 1987
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox and Kurtwood Smith
Budget: $13 Million
Box Office: $53.4 Million
Note: Part man, part machine, all cop. Opened at #1 with $8 million and launched one of the great sci-fi franchises of the decade.

Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

Release Date: July 17, 1987
Director: Joseph Sargent
Starring: Lorraine Gary, Lance Guest, Mario Van Peebles and Michael Caine
Note: This time it's personal. The fourth and final Jaws film opened third that weekend, behind RoboCop and a 50th anniversary re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Michael Caine missed collecting his Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters because he was filming this one. He said the movie was terrible, but the house it paid for was terrific.

1988 - The First Shark Week Premiered

Event: Premiere

Network: Discovery Channel
First Episode: "Caged in Fear," July 17, 1988
Note: What started as a week of shark conservation programming became the longest-running cable TV event in history. It's still circling every summer. The very first program was "Caged in Fear," a documentary about abalone divers testing a motorized shark cage.

1989 - Star Trek: The Next Generation Aired Its Season 2 Finale

Event: Season Finale

Network: Syndication
Episode: "Shades of Gray," July 17, 1989
Note: TNG closed its second season with the episode fans love to rank last, a clip show built around Riker fighting for his life. The show bounced back in a big way with season 3.

1984 - CBS Aired W*A*L*T*E*R, the Lost M*A*S*H Spin-off

Event: Unsold Pilot Broadcast

Network: CBS
Note: Gary Burghoff returned as Radar, now a police officer in St. Louis, in a pilot for a third M*A*S*H spin-off. CBS aired it once on July 17, 1984 and never picked it up, making it a holy grail for M*A*S*H collectors.

1983 - Tom Watson Won His Fifth Open Championship

Event: The Open Championship, Royal Birkdale

Team: Tom Watson
Opponent: Hale Irwin and Andy Bean
Result: Watson won at 9 under par (275), one stroke ahead
Details: Watson claimed the Claret Jug for the fifth time in eight years. It was his eighth and final major championship. Irwin famously whiffed a two-inch tap-in during the third round, a stroke that ended up being the difference.

1987 - Don Mattingly Homered in a Record 7th Straight Game

Event: MLB Record

Team: New York Yankees
Opponent: Texas Rangers
Details: Donnie Baseball broke the American League record by homering in his seventh consecutive game. He tied Dale Long's major league record of eight straight the next night before the streak ended on July 19. Ken Griffey Jr. later

1984 - The Drinking Age Became 21

Details: President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, requiring states to raise their minimum purchase age to 21 or lose 10% of their federal highway funding. Every state eventually complied.

1989 - The B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Made Its Maiden Flight

Details: The top-secret flying wing took off from Palmdale, California and landed at Edwards Air Force Base 1 hour and 52 minutes later, giving the public its first real look at the most futuristic aircraft of the decade.

1989 - Splash Mountain Opened at Disneyland

Details: The famous log flume drop opened to the public, celebrated with the TV special Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain. Fitting date, too: Disneyland itself opened on July 17, 1955.