Major Events
- Apr 20 Climax of the Berber Spring in Algeria sees hundreds of Berber political activists arrested
- May 5 Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends as the SAS and police storm the building
- May 8 World Health Organization announces smallpox has been eradicated
- May 18 Eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state triggers the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and causing over $1 billion in damage
- Aug 14 17,000 workers go on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, marking the beginning of the Solidarity movement
- Sep 22 Iraq invades Iran in an attempt to control the Shatt al-Arab waterway
- Sep 30 Ethernet specifications published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation [1]
- Nov 9 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declares holy war against Iran
- Nov 13 US spacecraft Voyager 1 sends back 1st close-up pictures of Saturn during its fly-by
- More 1980 Events
1980 in Film & TV
- May 23 Horror film "The Shining" released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on book by Stephen King
- Jun 1 1st transmission of CNN, the Cable News Network
- Sep 7 32nd Emmy Awards: "Taxi"; "Lou Grant"; Ed Asner & Barbara Bel Geddes win. Notable for going ahead despite 51 of the 52 nominated performers boycotting the event due to a strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild.
1980 in Music
- Jan 7 Real Records releases "Pretenders", the debut album of The Pretenders, in UK
- Jan 18 Pink Floyd's double album "The Wall" hits #1
- Jul 18 Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" album tops US charts, featuring "It's Still Rock 'n' Roll to Me"
1980 in Sport
- Jan 20 President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow
- Feb 29 Future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Gordie Howe scores in the 3rd period to become first NHL player to score 800 career goals as Hartford Whalers beat St. Louis Blues, 3-0 at Springfield Civic Center
- Mar 23 Australian cricketer Allan Border becomes the first and only batsman to reach 150 in each innings of a test, in the 3rd test vs Pakistan in Lahore
- Apr 12 US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow Olympic games
- Jun 15 US Open Men's Golf, Baltusrol GC: Jack Nicklaus sets new tournament scoring record 272 (-8) to win his 4th Open title, 2 strokes ahead of Isao Aoki of Japan
- Oct 21 Phillies win their 1st World Championship in their 98-year history
Did You Know?
Rishi Sunak
Jacinda Ardern
Rebel Wilson
Gisele Bündchen
Macaulay Culkin
Kim Kardashian
Christina Aguilera
Jake Gyllenhaal
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Zooey Deschanel
Gucci Mane
Jessica Simpson
Nick Cannon
Xavi
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Ronaldinho
Abby Wambach
Venus Williams
Martina HingisMore People Born in 1980
Fun Fact About 1980
Nicaragua celebrates the end of their National Literary Crusade - a massive effort over five months that reduced illiteracy from 50% to 12%
Joy Adamson
Josip Broz Tito
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Willie Sutton
Colonel Sanders
Karl Dönitz
Jimmy Durante
Alfred Hitchcock
Peter Sellers
Strother Martin
Steve McQueen
Mae West
Jane Froman
John Bonham
John Lennon
Jesse Owens
Rube Marquard
Elston HowardMore 1980 Deaths
Articles About 1980
Famous Weddings in 1980
- Jan 14 Actor Samuel L. Jackson (31) weds sports channel producer LaTanya Richardson (30)
- Feb 20 American "LA Law" and "The Partridge Family" actress Susan Dey (27) weds American television producer Bernard Sofronski
- Mar 29 77th Prime Minister of UK Tony Blair (26) weds barrister and lecturer Cherie Booth
Famous Divorces in 1980
- Feb 8 Model Angie Bowie (30) divorces British singer David Bowie (33) after just under 10 years of marriage
- Jul 31 Karolyn Englehardt divorces baseball manager Pete Rose (39) after 16 years of marriage
- Sep 5 Lawyer Kathleen St. Johns divorces best-selling author Michael Crichton (37) after nearly 2 years of marriage
More 1980 Weddings
Billy Joel
Robert De Niro
Sissy Spacek
Deng Xiaoping
Jimmy Carter
Leonid Brezhnev
Margaret Thatcher