Mental Floss published a list of all the things sharing my birthday … I mean, 30 Things Turning 30 in 2014. It reads much like one of those ‘you know you’re a child of the ’80s when …’ lists, but nonetheless here are a few faves (click the link above for the GIF-laden full list):
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT)
2. Tetris
4. Scarlett Johansson & LeBron James
Happy 30th birthday to the following famous and/or infamous people: Kid Cudi (Jan 30), Olivia Wilde (Mar 10), Sarah Jean Underwood (Mar 26), Mandy Moore (Apr 10), America Ferrera (Apr 18), Mark Zuckerberg (May 14), Aubrey Plaza (Jun 26), Prince Harry (Sep 15), Randall Munroe (Oct 17), Katy Perry (Oct 25), Scarlett Johansson (Nov 22), Trey Songz (Nov 24), and LeBron James (Dec 30). (Whew.)
7. The Mac
11. Legal Taping of TV
14. The Trebek Era of Jeopardy!
“Who is an awesome game show host?” Canadian quizmaster Alex Trebek ushered in a new era of Jeopardy! in 1984. Trebek plans to retire in 2016, thus marking a 32-year run on the show.
19. TED
20. Transformers
21. Movies: The Karate Kid, Footloose, Purple Rain, Revenge of the Nerds, and More
It was a banner year for movies. With box-office hits like Footloose, Splash, Revenge of the Nerds, and Ghostbusters we saw a clear theme of underdog heroes overcoming the odds in often bizarre circumstances.
Other notables from that year: Beverly Hills Cop, Police Academy, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Dune, and Purple Rain. In a feat of rapid movie-making, both Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo were released in the same year. We were also treated to the Coen brothers’ first film, Blood Simple…and Joel Coen married leading lady Frances McDormand in 1984 (they’re still together).
23. Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
29. The “Baby Bell” Telephone System <– my grandpa used to tell me all about this!
30. Ghostbusters