1980
1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. In the Gregorian calendar, the year 1980 was the 1980th year in the Anno Domini or Common Era, the 80th year of the 20th century, and the 980th year of the 2nd millennium. It was also the first year of the 1980s.
Events
January
- January 1 – Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession make Princess Victoria of Sweden Crown Princess and therefore next in line to the throne, ahead of her younger brother.
- January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
- January 6
- January 7 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation approving $1.5 billion in loan guarantees to bail out the 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, becomes the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
- January 20 – Cuba recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
- January 21
- January 22 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet scientist and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow.
- January 24 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad is ordered liquidated due to bankruptcy, and debt owed to creditors.
- January 26 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.[1]
- January 27 – Canadian caper: Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland.
- January 31 – The Spanish Embassy in Guatemala is invaded and set on fire, killing 36 people. It is called "Spain's own Tehran", similar to the 1979–80 Iran American U.S. Embassy Hostages of Americans.
February
March
April
- April 1
- April 2 – The St Pauls riot breaks out in Bristol.
- April 7 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
- April 10 – Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.
- April 12
- April 14 – Iron Maiden's debut self titled album Iron Maiden is released.
- April 15 – Libya and Syria recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
- April 18 – Zimbabwe gains independence from the United Kingdom; Robert Mugabe becomes Prime Minister.
- April 21 – Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
- April 24 – Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal: the Pennsylvania Lottery is rigged by 6 men including the host of the live TV drawing, Nick Perry.
- April 24–April 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 are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.
- April 25 – Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes in Tenerife, killing all 146 occupants and marking the worst air disaster involving a British-registered aircraft in terms of loss of life.
- April 26 – Louise and Charmian Faulkner disappear from outside their flat in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.
- April 27 – The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba.
- April 28 – Swaziland recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
- April 30
May
June
July
- July 4 – Chad and Mali recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
- July 8 – A wave of strikes begins in Lublin, Poland
- July 9
- July 15 – A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes 4 counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It causes over $250m in damage, and 1 person is killed.
- July 16 – Former California Governor and actor Ronald Reagan is nominated for U.S. President, at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long standing support for the Equal Rights Amendment, dismaying moderate Republicans.
- July 19 – Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by 2 gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.
- July 19–August 3 – The 1980 Summer Olympics are held in Moscow, Soviet Union.
- July 25 – The album Back in Black is released by the Australian band AC/DC.
- July 27 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed Shah of Iran, dies in Cairo.
- July 30
August
September
- September 1 – Terry Fox is forced to end his Marathon of Hope run outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, after finding that the cancer has spread to his lungs.
- September 2 – Ford Europe launches the Escort MK3, a new front-wheel drive hatchback.
- September 5 – The St. Gotthard 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 – Kenan Evren stages a military coup in Turkey. It stops political gang violence, but begins stronger state violence leading to the execution of many young activists.
- September 17
- September 21 – Bülent Ulusu, ex admiral, forms the new government of Turkey (44th government, composed mostly of technocrats)
- September 22
- September 26 – The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.
- September 29 – The Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict (later proven to be fabricated).
- September 30 – Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which is the first implementation outside of Xerox, and the first to support 10 Mbit/s speeds.
October
November
December
Date unknown
World population
| World population |
|
1980 |
1975 |
1985 |
| World |
4,434,682,000 |
4,068,109,000 |
366,573,000 |
4,830,979,000 |
396,297,000 |
| Africa |
469,618,000 |
408,160,000 |
61,458,000 |
541,814,000 |
72,196,000 |
| Asia |
2,632,335,000 |
2,397,512,000 |
234,823,000 |
2,887,552,000 |
255,217,000 |
| Europe |
692,431,000 |
675,542,000 |
16,889,000 |
706,009,000 |
13,578,000 |
|
|
361,401,000 |
321,906,000 |
39,495,000 |
401,469,000 |
40,068,000 |
|
|
256,068,000 |
243,425,000 |
12,643,000 |
269,456,000 |
13,388,000 |
| Oceania |
22,828,000 |
21,564,000 |
1,264,000 |
24,678,000 |
1,850,000 |
Births
January
- January 1
- January 8
- January 9 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
- January 10 – Sarah Shahi, American actress of Iranian and Spanish descent
- January 11 – Lovieanne Jung, American softball player
- January 12 – Ameriie, American singer
- January 13 – LaKisha Jones, American singer
- January 14
- January 16
- January 17
- January 18 – Julius Peppers, American football player
- January 19
- January 21 – Kevin McKenna, Canadian footballer
- January 22 – Jake Grove, American football player
- January 24 – Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Dutch actress
- January 25
- January 27 – Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
- January 28 – Nick Carter, American pop singer (Backstreet Boys)
- January 29 – Yael Bar-Zohar, Israeli actress and model
- January 30 – Wilmer Valderrama, Venezuelan/Colombian-American comedian
February
- February 2
- February 5
- February 6
- February 8 – Yang Wei, Chinese gymnast
- February 10
- February 11 – Matthew Lawrence, American actor (Boy Meets World)
- February 12
- February 14 – Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress
- February 15 – Conor Oberst, American singer/songwriter
- February 16 – Ashley Lelie, American football player
- February 17 – Jason Ritter, American actor
- February 18 – Regina Spektor, Russian-born American singer-songwriter
- February 19
- February 20
- February 21
- February 24 – Emma Johnson, Australian swimmer
- February 26 – Júlio César da Silva e Souza, Brazilian footballer
- February 27 – Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
- February 28
- February 29 – Simon Gagné, Canadian hockey player
March
April
- April 1
- April 4 – Björn Wirdheim, Swedish race car driver
- April 8 – Ben Freeman, British actor
- April 9
- April 10
- April 11 – Mark Teixeira, American baseball player
- April 12 – Brian McFadden, Irish rock singer (Westlife)
- April 15 – Natalie Casey, English actress
- April 16 – Paul London, American professional wrestler
- April 17
- April 20 – Jasmin Wagner, German singer
- April 21
- April 22 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
- April 24
- April 25 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
- April 26
- April 27 – Zayed Khan, Indian actor
- April 28 – Josh Howard, American Basketball player
- April 30 – Luis Scola, Argentine basketball player
May
- May 2
- May 3 – Marcel Vigneron, American chef
- May 5 – Maia Hirasawa, Swedish pop singer
- May 6
- May 7 – Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
- May 8 – Benny Yau, Canadian entertainer
- May 9
- May 10 – Pete Gray, Australian environmental activist (d. 2011)
- May 15 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
- May 19 – Dean Heffernan, Australian footballer
- May 22 – Lucy Gordon, British actress (d. 2009)
- May 24 – Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress
- May 29 – Michael Stasko, Canadian actor
- May 30 – Steven Gerrard, English footballer
June
July
- July 1 – Patrick Aufiero, American ice hockey player
- July 3 – Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
- July 5 – Eva Green, French actress and model
- July 6 – Pau Gasol, Spanish basketball player
- July 7 – Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
- July 8
- July 9 – Kathia Rodriguez, Puerto Rican actress
- July 10
- July 15
- July 16
- July 18 – Kristen Bell, American actress
- July 19 – Mark Webber, American actor
- July 20 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian supermodel
- July 22
- July 23 – Michelle Williams, American singer, actress, (Destiny's Child)
- July 25 – Rebeka Dremelj, Slovenian singer
- July 27 – Nick Nemeth, American professional wrestler
- July 29 – Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
- July 30 – Diam's, French rapper
August
- August 2 – Dingdong Dantes, Filipino Actor
- August 3 – Dominic Moore, Canadian ice hockey player
- August 5 – Wayne Bridge, English footballer
- August 9
- August 10 – Pua Magasiva, Samoan actor
- August 11 – Monika Pyrek, Polish pole vaulter
- August 12 – Maggie Lawson, American actress
- August 14 – Roy Williams, American football player
- August 16 – Julien Absalon, French mountain biker
- August 17 – Lene Marlin, Norwegian singer and musician
- August 18 – Damion Stewart, Jamaican footballer
- August 21 – Jon Lajoie, Canadian comedian
- August 23 – Rex Grossman, American football player
- August 24 – Rachael Carpani, Australian actress
- August 26
- August 27 – Derrick Strait, American football player
- August 28 – Debra Lafave, American teacher
- August 29
September
- September 2 – Dany Sabourin, French Canadian ice hockey goaltender
- September 3 – Jennie Finch, American softball player
- September 6
- September 7
- September 9 – Michelle Williams, American actress
- September 11 – Mike Comrie, Canadian ice hockey player
- September 12
- September 13
- September 15 – Jolin Tsai, Taiwanese singer
- September 19 - Tegan and Sara Quin, Canadian singer/songwriters
- September 21
- September 24 – Victoria Pendleton, English cyclist
- September 25 – T.I. (Clifford Harris), American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author
- September 29
- September 30
October
November
- November 4 – Sabrina Colie, Jamaican actress
- November 5 – Christoph Metzelder, German footballer
- November 7 – Gervasio Deferr, Spanish gymnast
- November 10 – Calvin Chen, Taiwanese pop singer
- November 11 – Willie Parker, American football player
- November 12 – Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
- November 13 – Monique Coleman, American actress
- November 16 – Kayte Christensen, American basketball player
- November 17 – Isaac Hanson, American musician
- November 18
- November 21
- November 25
- November 26 – Satoshi Ohno, Japanese singer
- November 28 – Lisa Middelhauve, German singer (Xandria)
December
Deaths
January
- January 1 – Adolph Deutsch, American composer (b. 1897)
- January 3 – Joy Adamson, Austrian-born conservationist and author (b. 1910)
- January 7 – Simone Mathieu, French tennis champion (b. 1908)
- January 8 – John Mauchly, American physicist and inventor (b. 1907)
- January 10 – George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894)
- January 11 – Barbara Pym, English novelist (b. 1913)
- January 13 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1901)
- January 17 – Barbara Britton, American actress (b. 1919)
- January 18 – Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer (b. 1904)
- January 19 – William O. Douglas, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1898)'
- January 21 – Georges Painvin, French cryptographer (b. 1886)
- January 24 – Lil Dagover, German actress (b. 1887)
- January 28 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (b. 1926)
- January 29 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1893)
- January 30 – Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
February
- February 2
- February 6 – Albert Kotin, American abstract expressionist painter (b. 1907)
- February 9 – Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and novelist (b. 1900)
- February 12 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
- February 13 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
- February 14 – Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
- February 17
- February 18 – Gale Robbins, American singer and actress (b. 1921)
- February 19 – Bon Scott, Scottish-born rock singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
- February 20
- February 22 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter and poet (b. 1886)
- February 24 – Clement Martyn Doke, South African linguist (b. 1893)
- February 27 – George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
March
April
- April 4 – Red Sovine, American country & folk singer & songwriter (b. 1917)
- April 6 – John Collier, English writer (b. 1901)
- April 10 – Kay Medford, American actress (b. 1914)
- April 11 – Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Turkish writer (b. 1935)
- April 12 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker and billiards player (b. 1895)
- April 15
- April 19 – Tony Beckley, English character actor (b. 1927)
- April 20 – Katherine Kennicott Davis, American composer (b. 1892)
- April 21 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (b. 1928)
- April 22 – Jane Froman, American singer and actress (b. 1907)
- April 24 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
- April 26 – Cicely Courtneidge, British actress (b. 1893)
- April 27 – John Culshaw, British recording producer and musicologist (b. 1924)
- April 29 – Alfred Hitchcock, British suspense film director (b. 1899)
- April 30 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician (b. 1898)
May
June
July
- July – Robert Brackman, American painter (b. 1898)
- July 1 – C. P. Snow, British physicist and novelist (b. 1905)
- July 4 – Gregory Bateson, British anthropologist, anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist (b. 1904)
- July 6 – Gail Patrick, American actress (b. 1911)
- July 7
- July 9 – Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian writer, poet and diplomat (b. 1913)
- July 15 – Ben Selvin, American orchestra leader & recording artist (b. 1898)
- July 17
- July 23 – Keith Godchaux, American musician of the band The Grateful Dead (b. 1948)
- July 24
- July 25 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, poet, actor (b. 1938)
- July 26
- July 27 – Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (b. 1919)
- July 31
August
- August 1 – Patrick Depailler, French racing driver (b. 1944)
- August 2 – Donald Ogden Stewart, American writer (b. 1894)
- August 7 – Jackie Cochran, American pilot (b. 1906)
- August 9 – Elliott Nugent, American actor (b. 1896)
- August 10 – Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
- August 14 – Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model (murdered) (b. 1960)
- August 19 – Otto Frank, German father of Jewish diarist Anne Frank (b. 1889)
- August 20 – Joe Dassin, French singer (b. 1938)
- August 22 – Norman Shelley, British actor (b. 1903)
- August 24 – Yootha Joyce, British actress (b. 1927)
- August 25 – Gower Champion, American theatre director, choreographer, and dancer (b. 1919)
- August 26
September
October
November
December
- December 2 – Romain Gary, Lithuanian-born writer (b. 1914)
- December 3 – Sir Oswald Mosley, British fascist leader (b. 1896)
- December 4
- December 7 – Darby Crash, American rock songwriter, singer (The Germs) (b. 1958)
- December 8 – John Lennon, British singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Beatles) (assassinated; b. 1940)
- December 16
- December 18 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian politician, Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
- December 21 – Marc Connelly, American playwright (b. 1890)
- December 23 – Frank Norman, English novelist, playwright and autobiographer (b. 1930)
- December 24
- December 25 – Victoria Drummond, first woman marine engineer in Britain (b. 1894)
- December 26 – Richard Chase, American serial killer (b. 1950)
- December 28 – Sam Levene, American actor (b. 1905)
- December 29 – Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
- December 31
Nobel Prizes
Templeton Prize
References