Today in 80s history! What happened on July 18th in the 80s? Find out what happened today in 80s Movies, 80s Music, 80s TV Shows, and 80s Sports! Also find out about celebrity birthdays for the legends, icons and characters we grew up with in the 80s!
TODAY'S 80S BIRTHDAYS
Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic) - 76
July 18, 1950
Ricky Skaggs (Country Music Star) - 72
July 18, 1954
Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper on Dallas) - 70
July 18, 1956
Nick Faldo (Three-Time Major Champion) - 69
July 18, 1957
Elizabeth McGovern (Ordinary People, Once Upon a Time in America) - 65
July 18, 1961
REMEMBERING
Nelson Mandela (The Face of the 80s Anti-Apartheid Movement)
July 18, 1918 - December 5, 2013 (Age 95)
Nico (The Velvet Underground)
October 16, 1938 - July 18, 1988 (Age 49)
Rebecca Schaeffer (My Sister Sam)
November 6, 1967 - July 18, 1989 (Age 21)
TODAY IN 80S MUSIC
80s Music Released on July 18th
1987 - Heart Held #1 with "Alone"
Event: Billboard Hot 100 Milestone
Details: Heart's towering power ballad "Alone" spent a second straight week at #1 on the chart dated July 18, 1987. The song from the album Bad Animals stayed on top for three weeks and became the band's biggest hit of the decade.
TODAY IN 80S MOVIES
80s Movies Released On July 18th
Aliens (1986)
Release Date: July 18, 1986
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen
Budget: $18.5 Million
Box Office: $131 Million Worldwide
Note: James Cameron's sequel opened at #1 with $10 million and stayed there for four straight weeks. Sigourney Weaver earned a rare Best Actress Oscar nomination for an action film, and "Game over, man!" entered the vocabulary forever.
Prom Night (1980)
Release Date: July 18, 1980
Director: Paul Lynch
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen
Note: Jamie Lee Curtis cemented her scream queen crown in this disco-era slasher, released the same summer Leslie Nielsen was about to change comedy forever in Airplane!
Vamp (1986)
Release Date: July 18, 1986
Director: Richard Wenk
Starring: Grace Jones, Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler
Note: Grace Jones barely speaks a word as the vampire queen Katrina in this neon-soaked cult favorite.
TODAY IN 80S TV
1987 - Fox Premiered Karen's Song and The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
Event: Series Premieres
Network: Fox
Note: The brand-new fourth network launched two shows the same night: Patty Duke's sitcom Karen's Song and the teen spy comedy Beans Baxter. Neither survived the year, but Fox was just getting warmed up.
TODAY IN 80S SPORTS
1988 - Seve Ballesteros Won His Third Open Championship
Event: The Open Championship, Royal Lytham & St Annes
Team: Seve Ballesteros
Opponent: Nick Price
Result: Ballesteros won at 11 under, by two strokes
Details: In a Monday finish forced by weekend rain, Seve closed with a brilliant 65 to hold off Nick Price and claim his third Claret Jug and fifth and final major title.
1987 - Don Mattingly Tied the MLB Record with a Home Run in His 8th Straight Game
Event: MLB Record
Team: New York Yankees
Opponent: Texas Rangers
Details: One day after breaking the American League record, Donnie Baseball tied Dale Long's major league record by homering in his eighth consecutive game, a solo shot off Jose Guzman. The streak ended the next night in Texas.
