Get ready for some serious feelings of nostalgia with these iconic 1980s photos.
18 Photos That Will Transport You Back To the 1980s
Updated on Jul. 06, 2025
Cabbage Patch Kids
A staggering 65 million Cabbage Patch Kids were sold in the 1980s, so if you grew up during that decade, chances are your home had one too.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was called the King of Pop for a reason. If you really want to get transported back to the ’80s, recreate the iconic moonwalk or groove to one of the best Halloween songs ever: “Thriller.”
The Breakfast Club
This John Hughes drama about class tensions at a large Midwestern high school showcased hugely successful young actors like Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson. Have you seen this iconic film that’s considered one of the best of the 1980s?
Rubik’s Cube
The Rubik’s Cube first hit the market in 1974, but it reached mainstream popularity in the 1980s. Speed cubers can finish a Rubik’s Cube in just over three seconds, but the record gets broken pretty frequently.
New Kids on the Block
This OG ’80s boy band cleared the path for megabands like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. Donnie Wahlberg, Blue Bloods star and brother of Mark, got his start in this hugely popular music group.
Full House
This totally awesome ’80s sitcom is still popular today. So popular, in fact, that they made a sequel to the series, Fuller House, which ran for five seasons.
Pac-Man
This arcade classic came out in 1980 and proceeded to dominate the video game landscape. Spawning several sequels, including Ms. Pac-Man, it became one of the most popular games of the decade.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 1981. He served for two terms, and many 1980s photos of the president also featured his wife, Nancy, by his side.
John Lennon
The Beatles frenzy that started in the 1960s came to a sad end in 1980, when John Lennon was assassinated by Mark David Chapman, who had become obsessed with the Beatles frontman.
The royal wedding
In the most hyped royal wedding ever, Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981. Any compilation of 1980s photos is incomplete without a shot of this iconic event, watched by 750 million people around the world.
MTV
MTV first launched in 1981 by playing, appropriately, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. If you still watch it today, you know that music videos are few and far between.
EPCOT
Walt Disney World opened EPCOT Center in 1982, and over the years they’ve changed the branding a few times—from EPCOT to Epcot Center and back again. Forgot what the acronym stands for? It’s the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. How very ‘80s!
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen released his bestselling album Born in the U.S.A. in 1984. The album was a huge commercial success, and the title song’s video launched the career of Courtney Cox, later of Friends.
Back to the Future
People lined up to see Marty McFly and Doc Brown, played by ’80s sitcom legends Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, on the big screen in 1985.
Oprah
Oprah Winfrey shot to stardom after her popular Chicago morning show went national. The Oprah Winfrey Show first aired across the country in 1986.
Halley’s Comet
Halley’s Comet is visible from Earth approximately every 76 years, and the last time it passed overhead was in February 1986. That sighting was the first flyby from the famous comet since 1910, and the next one is due around 2061.
Dirty Dancing
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” This line, spoken by the late Patrick Swayze, first became famous in 1987 when the cult film came out. Go ahead, try the iconic dance move where Swayze’s Johnny lifts Baby over his head in the big finale.
Berlin Wall
As the decade came to a close, we saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War with it. The concrete-and-razor-wire division between East and West Germany had been in place since the end of World War II, and it came crumbling down in 1989.
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Sources:
- EBSCO: “Cabbage Patch Kids”
- The Official Rubik’s: “History”
- Britannica: “Halley’s Comet”
- Britannica: “Ronald Reagan”
- Guinness World Records: “Fastest time to solve a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube”
- WDW News Today: “Walt Disney World Officially Confirms Epcot Name Change to EPCOT as Part of Park’s Transformation”
