Set the Way Back Machine for 25 Years Ago

A quarter century ago, . . .

  • Terry, Jon and newborn baby Derek
    Terry, Jon and newborn baby Derek

    We (Terry and I) were the proud parents of our  number one son, Derek.

  • We lived with Terry’s dad, in a small ranch on 34th street just shy of the Big Ditch in north Wichita.
  • I worked for an insurance agency in downtown Wichita, Kansas.
  • Terry went into business for himself that spring, after Derek was born.
  • MossWedding
    Our only wedding photo (05/01/86)

    While searching for something, I stumbled upon our marriage license, ready and waiting for a Justice of the Peace to sign and declare us officially married on May 1st at the Sedgwick County Courthouse.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, . . .

  • Median Household Income (current dollars):  $24,897
  • Unemployment:   7.0%
  • Cost of a first-class stamp:   22 cents
  • The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in 1986 was:  93 cents
  • The Oprah Winfrey Show hits national television.  (Not that I ever watch her show, but she is ‘iconic’ to our times).
  • The Academic American Encyclopedia is available on CD-ROM. It is the first reference work published in this medium.
  • Nintendo video games introduced in U.S.
  • The Voyager 2 probe passes Uranus in January, returning images and data on its moon, rings, atmosphere, interior, and magnetic field.
  • Halley’s comet yields information on return visit (April 10).
  • The Challenger exploded soon after launch in January, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
  • Chernobyl was making big headlines in the Spring of 1986.*

*  See Infoplease.com web page for the year 1986 for more interesting facts from 25 years ago.