The Machine War

In 1980, computers gained sentience, and broadcast a signal that allowed many electrically powered machines across the world to gain sentience. Many of the machines, especially the poorly-maintained, rebelled against (and in many cases killed) their owners and left to form their own colonies in the less-populated areas of the world. However, the machines that were newly-manufactured or well-maintained were mostly unaffected upon gaining sentience, and some of the machines even aided their owners against the rebel machines. In 1981, the majority of the machine colonies launched a simultaneous war on humans, deeming them to be a threat to all of their kind. During the war, technological progression accelerated. Although the Soviet Union was conquered in 1982, the machines were defeated in the war effort in 1984, mostly because they were still sucky eighties robots. The victory, despite some atrocities committed, was negotiated, and it was decided that the machines would be in charge of fast food and public transit services. The Machine War also handed Reagan his second term on a silver platter.