Inventions & Breakthroughs of August 1984
Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.
1 
Graphical User Interface Computer (Macintosh)
2 
Inkjet Printer (Consumer)
3 
Medical DNA Fingerprinting
4 
Compact Laptop Computer
5 
Digital Music Synthesizer
6 
Video Cassette Rental System
7 
Speech-to-Text Software
8 
Advanced Prosthetic Limb Control
9 
Optical Fiber Network Expansion
10 
Personal Desktop Publishing
The Sounds of
Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year
HEADLINES ON August 11, 1984
Full News Archive
- Headline: VA Lowers Mortgage Rates for Veterans. Impact: Thanks to this minor rate cut, countless Americans were lured into the housing market, leading to a massive boom. Little did they know, this would eventually culminate in the housing crisis of 2008, where everyone learned the hard way that 'low rates' can also mean 'high stakes'.. Fact: Did you know that in 1981, mortgage rates peaked at a staggering 18.45%? The only thing scarier than those rates was the thought of actually buying a house at that time!.
Wall Street Time Machine
The Right Call: If you'd invested $1,000 in any one of these companies in 1984, here's what the stored 2025 dataset estimates.
Rank #1
WMT
Walmart
Price in 1984
$0.23
2025 dataset value
$490,961
Walmart - If you invested $1,000 in 1984, it would be worth $490,961 today (491.0x return)
Rank #2
JNJ
Johnson & Johnson
Price in 1984
$0.94
2025 dataset value
$222,603
Johnson & Johnson - If you invested $1,000 in 1984, it would be worth $222,603 today (222.6x return)
Rank #3
MCD
McDonald's
Price in 1984
$1.18
2025 dataset value
$271,190
McDonald's - If you invested $1,000 in 1984, it would be worth $271,190 today (271.2x return)
🦸 Top 5 Comics
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
$100,000
Secret Wars #8
$150
The New Teen Titans #1
$200
Saga of the Swamp Thing #25
$60
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1
$300
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Transformers
$1,200.00
Cabbage Patch Kids
$150.00
Voltron
$200.00
Masters of the Universe: He-Man
$150.00
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
$143.75
🎮 Top 5 Video Games
Tetris
$1,000.00
Duck Hunt
$275.00
Marble Madness
$100.00
Boulder Dash
$100.00
Kung-Fu Master
$200.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
Don Mattingly Rookie Card #8
$3,000
Dan Marino Rookie Card #123
$30,000
John Elway Rookie Card #63
$15,250
Darryl Strawberry Rookie Card #182
$200
Hulk Hogan Rookie Card #1
$41,000