BIGpedia - 1980 - Encyclopedia and Dictionary Online

1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday.

Years: 1977 1978 1979 - 1980 - 1981 1982 1983
Decades: 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Events

January-February

January 1-April 1 - National steel strike in the United Kingdom
January 1 - Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother
January 4 - American president Jimmy Carter proclaims, with support of the European Commission, a grain embargo against the USSR.
January 5 - Hewlett-Packard announces release of its first personal computer
January 7 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
January 9 - In Saudi Arabia, 63 Muslim fanatics are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November 1979
January 11 - Nigel Short, 14 years old, is the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
January 22 - Andrei Sakharov is arrested in Moscow
January 26 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations
january 27 - Merchant banker Frank Nugan found dead in his car at Bowenfels near Lithgow NSW (Aus)
February 2 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in a sting operation.
February 4 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran
February 23 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament would decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.

March

March 1 - Voyager 1 probe confirms that Janus (moon of Saturn) exists
March 1 - Patti Smith marries former MC5 member Fred Sonic Smith
March 3 - Pierre Trudeau returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
March 4 - Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
March 10 - Jean Harris shoots doctor Herman Tarnower , the inventor of the Scarsdale diet
March 14 - In Poland, a plane crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others
March 18 - In Russia, a Vostok rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation killing 50
March 20 - The pirate radio station Radio Caroline sinks
March 21 - President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow
March 24 Australia announces it will send a Olympic delegation to Moscow dispite objections by P.M Malcom Fraser
March 24 - Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador
March 26 - A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reef gold mine in South Africa falls 1.2 miles down - 23 dead
March 27 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.

April

April 1 - The Mariel Boatlift begins.
April 7 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on Sunday, November 4, 1979
April 10 - Spain and United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969
April 18 - Zimbabwe's formal independence from United Kingdom. Robert Mugabe takes his post as a Prime Minister
April 21 - Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award
April 24-25 - Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops were killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation
April 30 – Iranian Embassy Siege – 6 Iranian-born terrorists take over Iranian embassy in London, UK. SAS attacks May 5 – one terrorist survives
April 30 - Luis Muñoz Marín, first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at the age of 82.
April 30 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates, and her daughter Beatrix ascends to the throne.

May-June

May 7 - Paul Geidel , convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, is released from prison in Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days - the longest-ever time served by an inmate
May 9 - In Florida, a Liberian freighter named the Summit Venture hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay sending 35 people (most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapsed
May 18 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington killing 57 and causing US$ 3 billion in damage
May 20 - Referendum in Quebec where the population rejects by a vote of 60% the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
May 24 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. embassy hostages in Tehran.
June 1 - The Cable News Network, or CNN, is launched in the United States.
June 1 - Comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
June 3 - A series of deadly tornadoes strikes Grand Island, Nebraska, causing over $300m in damage, killing five people and injuring over 250.
June 10 - Apartheid: The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a statement by their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela which says in part 'UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!'[1]
June 23 - Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, dies in an air crash
June 25 – Muslim Brotherhood assassination attempt against Syrian president Hafez al-Assad fails. Assad retaliates by sending the army against them
June 26 - The fascist NAR group places a bomb on a plane that crashes into the sea near Naples - 81 people dead
June 29 - Vigdis Finnbogadottir becomes the president of Iceland

July-August

July 15 - A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes four counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It caused over $250m in damage, and one person was killed.
July 19 - Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by two gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.
July 19 — August 3 - Summer Olympic Games in Moscow USSR
July 30 - Vanuatu gains independence
August 2 - Armed Revolutionary Nuclei fascists group plants a bomb in a waiting room at Bologna railway station in Northern Italy - 84 dead
August 14 - Lech Walesa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdansk (German:Danzig) shipyard
[August 17]-baby azaria chamberlin dissapers from acampsite at Ayers Rock (Ulru), Reportedley taken by a dingo (aus)
August 25 - Microsoft announces their version of UNIX, Xenix

September-October

September 5 - The St. Gothard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km) stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.
September 12 - Military coup in Turkey lead by Kenan Evren. It stopped political violence among gangs, but was the beginning of stronger state violence which lead to the execution of many young activists.
September 17 - After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
September 17 - Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Paraguay
September 22 - The command council of Iraq ordered its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets," initiating the Iran-Iraq War.
September 26 - The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.
September 29 - Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict (later proven to be fabricated)
[October 18]- Fraser Government re-elected for a third consecutive term (aus)
October 27 - Six IRA prisoners in Maze prison refuse food and demand status as political prisoners - hunger strike lasts until December
October 30 - El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.

November

November 4 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.
November 12 - Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn when it flies within 77,000 miles of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth
November 20 - The trial of the Gang of Four begins in China.
November 21 - A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada kills 87 people.
November 23 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people.

December

December 8 - John Lennon is shot outside his New York apartment, by Mark Chapman.
December 16 - During a summit on the island of Bali, the OPEC decides to raise the price of petroleum by 10%.

Unknown dates

NEC creates the first successful digital signal processor, the NEC µPD7710 .
SCART plug is made mandatory on all televisions sold in France.
The Staggers Rail Act is passed deregulating American railroads.
Lawrence Klein is awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Hassan Fathy and Plenty International / Stephen Gaskin are awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
Victoria decriminilizes homosexual acts between consenting adults.

Year in topic

1980 in film
- Wednesday, May 21, 1980 - The Empire Strikes Back
- Friday, November 14, 1980 - Raging Bull starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, directed by Martin Scorsese
- Caddyshack
- Coal Miner's Daughter
- Ordinary People
- The Blues Brothers
- The Elephant Man
- The Gods Must Be Crazy
1980 in literature
- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
- The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
1980 in music
- Monday, December 8, 1980 - Former Beatle John Lennon is shot and killed in front of his residence in New York City
1980 in sports
- July 19 - Leonid Brezhnev opens the Olympic Games in Moscow.
1980 in television
- Thursday, February 14, 1980 - Walter Cronkite announces his retirement from CBS Evening News.
- Friday, October 24, 1980 - Australia's multicultural television network SBS begins transmission in Sydney and Melbourne
- Tuesday, December 30, 1980 - After 25 years, the longest-running prime-time TV series The Wonderful World of Disney is cancelled by NBC.
- CNN is launched as the first 24 hour a day news network.

Births

January-June

January 1 - Rebekah Teasdale, British model and journalist
January 1 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
January 2 - Michelle Clack , British model
January 9 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
January 11 - Mike Williams, American football player
January 14 - Cory Gibbs, American soccer player
January 16 - Albert Pujols, baseball player
January 20 - Jasmin Wagner, German pop singer
January 22 - Christopher Masterson, actor (Malcolm in the Middle)
January 25 - Christian Olsson, Swedish triple jumper
February 10 - César Iztúris, baseball player
February 11 - Natasha Bobo, actress
February 11 - Matthew Lawrence, actor
February 12 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
February 12 - Christina Ricci, actress
February 16 - Ashley Lelie, American football player
February 20 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French international rugby player
February 27 - Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton
March 16 - Todd Heap, American football player
March 18 - Alexei Yagudin, figure skater
March 21 - Ronaldinho, Brazilian soccer player
April 17 - Brenda Villa, water polo player
April 21 - Vincent Lecavalier, NHL hockey player
May 8 - Nilay Koyunoglu , artist
May 9 - Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
June 1 - Oliver James , British actor
June 13 - Sarah Connor, German pop singer
June 16 - Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
June 17 - Venus Williams, tennis player
June 22 - Jade Marcela , erotic actress
June 23 - Ramnaresh Sarwan, cricketer
June 26 - Jason Schwartzman, actor
June 26 - Michael Vick, football quarterback

July-December

July 6 - Pau Gasol, Catalan NBA star
July 7 - Michelle Kwan, figure skater
July 8 - Robbie Keane, Irish international footballer
July 10 - Adam Petty, NASCAR driver (d. 2000)
July 10 - Jessica Simpson, singer
July 22 - Kate Ryan, Belgian singer
August 11 - Lee Suggs, American football player
August 26 - Macaulay Culkin, actor
August 28 - Debra Lafave, teacher
September 7 - Mark Prior, baseball pitcher
September 12 - Yao Ming, Chinese NBA star
September 12 - Sean Burroughs, Major League Baseball player
September 21 - Kareena Kapoor, Bollywood actress
September 30 - Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player
October 13 - Ashanti, US pop music artist
October 14 - Terrence McGee, American football player
October 16 - Sue Bird, WNBA basketball star
November 12 - Ryan Gosling, actor
November 17 - Isaac Hanson, musician
November 21 - Hank Blalock, baseball player
December 10 - Alexa Rae, erotic actress
December 18 - Christina Aguilera, pop singer
December 19 - Jake Gyllenhaal, actor (The Day After Tomorrow)
December 19 - Marla Sokoloff, actress (Full House, The Practice)
December 30 - Eliza Dushku, actress

Deaths

1980

Events

January-February

March

April

May-June

July-August

September-October

November

December

Unknown dates

Year in topic

Births

January-June

July-December

Deaths

January-May

June-November

December

Unknown dates

Nobel Prizes