May 1, 1982

Gas cost $1.22 a gallon in the spring of 1982, and the Dow Jones stood at 1,047 — the United States and the Soviet Union remained locked in Cold War tension as the Senate debated the terms of the Pentagon's first formal strategy for fighting a prolonged nuclear conflict. On television, "Dallas" was drawing massive audiences while Joan Jett and the Blackhearts held the top spot on the charts with "I Love Rock 'N Roll," a song that had already been sitting at number one for seven weeks. The Los Angeles Lakers claimed the NBA championship that spring by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers, the same season that Space Shuttle Columbia made history by landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico — the only time a Space Shuttle ever touched down at that site — after flooding blocked its primary runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California.