On August 13, 1982, a movie opened in theaters that would become the definitive time capsule of teenage life in Reagan’s America. It wasn’t a blockbuster. It wasn’t a franchise. It was a coming-of-age film shot on a $5 million budget at a California shopping mall — and it launched more careers, spawned more imitators,…
On July 9, 1982, Michael Fagan climbed into Buckingham Palace and walked into Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom. Here’s the full story of the break-in that shocked Britain.
On July 2, 1982, a 33-year-old truck driver named Larry Walters — soon nicknamed Lawn Chair Larry — tied 42 helium weather balloons to an aluminum patio chair and floated 16,000 feet over Los Angeles. He carried a pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches and a six-pack, drifted into the flight path of Long Beach…
On June 25, 1982, two science-fiction movies opened on the same day and both bombed: Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and John Carpenter’s The Thing. Critics shrugged, audiences stayed away, and Steven Spielberg’s E.T. buried them at the box office. Four decades later, both are considered among the greatest sci-fi films ever made — proof that…
On June 24, 1982, British Airways Flight 9 — a Boeing 747 named City of Edinburgh — flew into an invisible cloud of volcanic ash from Indonesia’s Mount Galunggung at 37,000 feet. All four engines flamed out, turning the 250-ton jumbo jet into the world’s largest glider for 16 minutes. Captain Eric Moody and his…
On June 11, 1982, a wrinkly little alien with a glowing fingertip and a heart-light walked into 1,103 American theaters and walked back out with $11,835,389 in three days — and Hollywood was never the same. The E.T. 1982 release wasn’t supposed to be a phenomenon. Steven Spielberg’s small, personal film about a lonely boy…
Forty-four years ago today, a column of Argentine amphibious vehicles rolled into the streets of Stanley — a quiet, wind-battered capital that most of the world had never heard of. By nightfall on April 2, 1982, the Falkland Islands were under Argentine military occupation, and the clock was ticking on one of the most unlikely,…
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is the 1982 Steven Spielberg masterpiece that redefined what a summer blockbuster could be — equal parts adventure, heartbreak, and pure childhood wonder. It made $359 million domestically in its original run and held the record as the highest-grossing film of all time for eleven years. If you grew up in the…
On March 14, 1982, four teenagers took the stage at Radio City in Anaheim, California for Metallica’s very first live show. With broken guitar strings, a setlist packed with NWOBHM covers, and about 200 friends in the audience, nobody knew they were witnessing the birth of the biggest metal band in history.
