NHS FLASHBACK… 1984
Were you at Northland in 1984 school year? Forty years ago, the US population was 235,824,902 people and the average life expectancy was 74.7 years. The median household income was $22,415 and the average new home coat in the Midwest was $85,400. Gasoline was $1.21 a gallon to get to the local grocery store to buy a gallon of milk ($.26) along with a dozen eggs ($1.01).
At the Academy awards, the “Oscar” winner for Best Actor was F. Murray Abraham and Sally Field (Places in the Heart) was Best Actress. Best Director was Milos Forman and Saul Zaentz won for Best Picture ~ Do you remember the movie that the Best Actor, Director, and Best Picture was awarded? The tagline was “The man… The madness… The murder… The motion picture…” and it nearly brought powdered wigs back into fashion. The three top money-making movies were “Beverly Hills Cops”, Ghostbusters” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
The top-rated television show was “Dynasty”, with “Dallas” coming in second. The Emmy Award for best drama went to “Cagney and Lacey”, and the best comedy award winner was “The Cosby Show.”
At the Grammy Awards, Album of the Year was “Can’t Slow Me Down” by Lionel Ritchie. “What’s Love Got to Do With It” was Record of the Year as well as Song of the Year. Do you remember who sang this song? The Billboard Top song was “Owner of a Lonely Heart” by Yes. Some of the Top Albums were “Seven and the Ragged Tiger” by Duran Duran, “Purple Rain” by Prince and the Revolution, and “1984” by Van Halen.
In the world of sports, the 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia with the Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, California. In major league sports, The San Francisco Forty-Niners won Super Bowl XIX, the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup over 4-time defending champions NY Islanders, The Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship, and the Detroit Tigers won the World Series. To see what else was going on in the world during 1984, click the link below.
At a local level, Northland saw the end of an era, as Coach Frank Howe retired after an 18 year career as Northland’s head football coach. Coach Howe ran up an impressive record at Northland of 116-51-3 including 9 City League North titles and 5 City League Championship titles, including his final year.
Other notable sports action include the Girl’s Volleyball team going undefeated and winning the City League title, as well as the start of a new team sport at Northland, soccer. In true NHS tradition, the fledgling soccer team also won the City League title. Rounding out City League Champions were the Girl’s Softball team and the Girl’s Basketball team.
Timothy Miller and Karla Henderson were crowned Homecoming King and Queen,
The Drama department put on 2 plays “The Gazebo” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” and then teamed up with the Instrumental Music department to put on the musical “Oklahoma.” 
And of course those random memories of life at NHS
