The Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) pioneered utility-scale solar power generation in 1982. ARCO opened a 1.1 megawatt operation in Hesperia, California, the first industrial solar power plant in the country. The company later opened a larger, 5.2 MW solar power plant in Carrizo Plain, California. The plant in Carrizo Plain operated from 1983 to 1994 and had one of the largest photovoltaic arrays in the world.
The islands achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1981, becoming the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. However, it remains part of the Commonwealth of Nations, and remains a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Antigua and Barbuda.
Between 1975 and 1981, Belizean leaders stated their case for self-determination at a meeting of the heads of Commonwealth of Nations governments, the conference of ministers of the Nonaligned Movement, and at meetings of the United Nations (UN).
MS-DOS was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s and the early 1990s.
The massive reserve, covering more than 5 million acres of rainforest, is a central piece of Brazil’s Amazon conservation efforts and has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers’ rights and social change in Poland.
Vigdís ran for president to prove that women were able to lead political campaigns, and she did not expect to win. Despite this, Vigdís won the election on 29 June 1980. The vote was split between four candidates, and she prevailed with 33.6% of the vote. Having served as president of Iceland for 16 years, she is the longest-serving elected female head of state in history.
The WHO launched an intensified plan to eradicate smallpox in 1967. Widespread immunization and surveillance were conducted around the world for several years. The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977.
