1980s — in history
entries
By year
Highlights
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1980
Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
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1980
Gordie Howe of the then Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
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1980
United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
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1980
The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
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1980
Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in front of The Dakota in New York City.
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1980
Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.
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1980
Silver Thursday: A steep fall in silver prices, resulting from the Hunt Brothers attempting to corner the market in silver, leads to panic on commodity and futures exchanges.
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1980
Peter Sellers, English actor and comedian (b. 1925)
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1980
Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870, also known in Italy as the Ustica disaster, mysteriously explodes in mid-air while en route from Bologna, to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board.
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1980
U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
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1980
Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.
Michael Myers (politician) · Expulsion from the United States Congress · American Civil War
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1980
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague.
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction · The Hague
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1980
Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole.
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1980
After John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, in the United States, the FBI inadvertently detonates the bomb during its disarming.
Harvey's Resort Hotel bombing · Harvey's Resort Hotel · Stateline, Nevada
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1980
Bob Marley plays what would be his last concert in Pittsburgh.
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1980
Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'état, ending over 130 years of minority Americo-Liberian rule over the country.
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1980
Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
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1980
Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation · United States Congress · Abscam
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1980
In Poland, LOT Flight 7 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.
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1980
Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
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1980
The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
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1980
The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
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1980
The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $872 million in 2016) worth of damage.
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1980
George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
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1980
El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
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1980
General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
Chun Doo-hwan · Coup d'état of May Seventeenth · Martial law
- 1980
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1980
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad · Liquidation · Bankruptcy
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1980
On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
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1980
Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and activist (b. 1942)
- 1980
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1980
At the Oktoberfest terror attack in Munich 13 people die and 211 are injured.
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1980
Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th President of The United States, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
Ronald Reagan · President of The United States · Jimmy Carter
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1980
Salvadoran Civil War: Four American missionaries are raped and murdered by a death squad.
Salvadoran Civil War · 1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador
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1980
Erich Hückel, German physicist and chemist (b. 1895)
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1980
First winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
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1980
Yigal Allon, Israeli general and politician, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1918)
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1980
Vanuatu gains independence.
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1980
A massive bomb planted by extortionist John Birges explodes at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada after a failed disarming attempt by the FBI. Although the hotel is damaged, no one is injured.
Harvey's Resort Hotel bombing · Harvey's Resort Hotel · Stateline, Nevada
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1980
Iraq invades Iran.
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1980
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
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1980
Gil Elvgren, American painter and illustrator (b. 1914)
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1980
Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law
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1980
A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
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1980
The 7.1 Mw El Asnam earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme); at least 2,633 people were killed and 8,369 were injured.
1980 El Asnam earthquake · Algeria · Mercalli intensity scale
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1980
The government of Poland legalizes the Solidarity trade union.
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1980
Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author (b. 1914)
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1980
Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4-3.
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1980
The United States Olympic hockey team completes its Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal.
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1980
US President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Jimmy Carter · 1980 Summer Olympics boycott · 1980 Summer Olympics
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1980
The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
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1980
The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20-10 at Lang Park.
1980 State of Origin game · Queensland Rugby League team · New South Wales Rugby League team
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1980
The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the event at Olympic level.
Quietly Confident Quartet · Australia at the 1980 Summer Olympics · Swimming at the 1980 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay
- 1980
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1980
The 6.9 Mw Irpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 2,483-4,900, and injuring 7,700-8,934.
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1980
Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".
Rendlesham Forest incident · RAF Woodbridge · Rendlesham Forest
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1980
Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.
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1980
Charles Deutsch, French engineer and businessman, co-founded DB (b. 1911)
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1980
Dobriša Cesarić, Croatian poet and translator (b. 1902)
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1980
Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
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1980
Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
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1980
The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.
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1980
Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976-1980).
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1980
Phạm Tuân becomes the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian in space when he flies aboard the Soyuz 37 mission as an Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut.
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1980
Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people.
Saudia Flight 163 · Lockheed L-1011 TriStar · King Khalid International Airport
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1980
Alexei Kosygin, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
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1980
USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
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1980
Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
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1980
Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician and academic (b. 1895)
- 1980
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1980
Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution.
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1980
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.
El Salvador · Honduras · 1969
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1980
A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-seven people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
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1980
Mother Teresa is honored with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna
- 1980
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1980
Jimmy Durante, American entertainer (b. 1893)
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1980
Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and author (b. 1900)
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1980
Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
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1980
An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
Fujita scale · 1980 Kalamazoo tornado · Kalamazoo County, Michigan
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1980
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
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1980
During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre.
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1980
Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian author and educator (b. 1899)
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1980
Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
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1980
A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
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1980
Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (b. 1904)
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1980
The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London.
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1980
Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer (b. 1891)
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1980
Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
Mount St. Helens · 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens · Washington (state)
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1980
Margaret Craven, American journalist and author (b. 1901)
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1980
Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1938)