14 Things That Happened 30 Years Ago You’ve Forgotten All About

By Tiffany White Updated: August 19, 2016

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television

Think you’re a connoisseur of all things ’80s? Well you’ll be surprised how much you don’t remember — like when the Super Bowl Halftime Show was shot entirely in 3D or that time everyone wore knitted everything.

Want to learn more? Click through the gallery to see some surprising things from 30 years ago you had no idea you forgot about.

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Bananarama

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Bananarama were the original Spice Girls. Before "Wannabe" there was "Cruel Summer." Their music was just as catchy, and their singing voices were just as amateurish.
Telemaster Flash

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For "small" cameras, nothing was cooler than the Telemaster Flash. These cameras were popular through the '80s for their compact size.
Whitney Houston Model

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Before pop stardom, Whitney Houston was a teen model. She appeared frequently in the pages of Seventeen magazine.
The Brady Bunch Spinoff

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The Brady Bunch had a spinoff show. Back in 1981, seven years after the original Brady Bunch went off the air, the show got a spinoff called The Brady Brides, which followed the lives of Jane and Marsha Brady. The success of the spinoff resulted in another spinoff in the '90s called The Bradys.
80s Knitwear

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Everyone was nuts about knitwear. Knit sweaters, knit coats, knit pants — literally everything.
Sarah Jessica Parker

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Before Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker was just an '80s actress with a lot of hair While Sarah appeared in a ton of shows in the '80s, this picture is from when she starred in the mid-'80s miniseries, A Year in the Life.
Barbie and the Rockers/Jem and the Holograms

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Barbie blatantly copied Jem by releasing their own line of "rocker" dolls. Mattel's "Barbie and the Rockers" was a line of funkier-looking Barbies released in the mid-'80s to compete with the rising popularity of Hasbro's "Jem and the Holograms." Mattel won; Hasbro lost.
1989 Super Bowl Halftime Show

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The 1989 Super Bowl Halftime Show was shot entirely in 3D. Not only that, but the iconic (and probably weirdest) halftime show also featured the "world's largest card trick" and an Elvis impersonator named Elvis Presto. (And yes, we know this isn't quite 30 years ago, but it's close!)
Michael Jackson Caption EO

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Michael Jackson starred in a 3D science fiction film that played exclusively at theme parks. Caption EO was an intergalactic extravaganza that was produced by George Lucas, directed by Francis Coppola, and featured Anjelica Huston. The film returned to Disney Parks in 2010 in a tribute to Michael's death.
Seiko Wristwatch TV

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All the hippest, richest nerds owned a Seiko Wristwatch TV. Although the display was small and grainy, it was released a full 32 years before the Apple iWatch!
David Letterman 1986

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David Letterman once taped a whole show where the camera rotated 360 degrees. On December 9, 1986, Letterman opened his show by introducing "the 360° image rotation television program," an experiment where the show's picture rotated 15 degrees every 15 minutes.
Battle of the Network Stars

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Network stars competed in an annual Olympics of their own. Battle of the Network Stars was a show that had stars from NBC, ABC, and CBS compete in sporting events. The show aired from 1976 to 1988.
Ghostbusters animated series

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The animated spinoff of Ghostbusters premiered. The series ran from 1986 to 1991.
Elton John pink hair

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Elton John's hair used to look like this. Although, let's be honest, this is pretty hard to forget.