Events

January

January 4 Events Pre-1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. * 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. 1601–1900 *1649 – Engli ...

– U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. *

January 6 Events Pre-1600 *1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...

–

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. *

January 9 Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. *1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the J ...

– In Saudi Arabia, 63 Islamist insurgents are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. *

January 14 Events Pre-1600 *1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence. *1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary. 1601–1900 *1639 – The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, Fundamenta ...

– Congress (I) party leader,

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

returns to power as the Prime Minister of India. *

January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 &ndas ...

– At least 200 people are killed when the Corralejas Bullring collapses at Sincelejo, Colombia. * January 21 – The London Gold Fixing hits its highest price ever of $843 per troy ounce ($2,249.50 in 2020 when adjusted for inflation). *

January 22 Events Pre-1600 * 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. * 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...

– Andrei Sakharov, Soviet scientist and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow. * January 26 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations. *

January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...

– Canadian Caper: Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran, as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland, on

Swissair Swissair AG/ S.A. (German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne) was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002. It was formed from a merger between Bal ...

. * January 31 – Burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala: The Spanish Embassy in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

is invaded and set on fire, killing 36 people. In the United States, it is dubbed "Spain's own Tehran".

February

February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...

– Abscam: FBI personnel target members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation. *

– 3 – The New Mexico State Penitentiary riot takes place; 33 inmates are killed and more than 100 inmates injured. *

February 4 Events Pre–1600 * 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...

– Abolhassan Banisadr is sworn in as the first President of Iran after winning the January 25 presidential election. *

February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. *1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th. *1462 – The ...

– The

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

open in Lake Placid, New York. *

February 15 Events Pre-1600 * 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus * 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia. * 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...

– In Vanuatu, followers of John Frum's cargo cult on the island of Tanna declare secession as the nation of Tafea. * February 16 – A total solar eclipse is seen in North Africa and West Asia. It was the 50th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 130. * February 22 – The US upset the USSR in the Olympics, a hockey game known as the

Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tourna ...

. They then proceeded to defeat Finland to secure the first and only

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

since 1960. *

February 23 Events Pre-1600 * 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution. * 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...

– Ayatollah

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages. *

February 25 Events Pre-1600 * 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor. * 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II. ...

– A coup in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

ousts the government of Henck Arron; leaders Dési Bouterse and Roy Horb replace it with a National Military Council. *

February 27 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantinople ...

–

M-19 M19, M.19, or M-19 most commonly refers to: * May 19th Communist Organization (M19), an American far-left female-led terrorist group active during the 1970s–1980s * 19th of April Movement (M-19), a former Colombian guerrilla movement and politica ...

guerrillas begin the Dominican embassy siege in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, holding 60 people hostage, including 14

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

March

* March 1 ** Steven Stayner returned home after being kidnapped for seven years, and brought a 5 year old, Timothy White (abduction victim), who had been kidnapped after Steven, to a police station to save him. ** The

Commonwealth Trade Union Council The Commonwealth Trade Union Group (abbreviated CTUG) is a London-based international alliance of trade union in the Commonwealth countries. It was previously known as the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (abbreviated CTUC). As of 2007, the combined ...

is established. ** The '' Voyager 1'' probe confirms the existence of

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

, a moon of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

. * March 3 –

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada. * March 4 – Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. * March 8 – The Soviet Union's first

rock music festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...

starts. *

March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...

– LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, Poland, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others. * March 18 – Fifty people are killed at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, when a Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation. * March 19– 20 – The , the ship housing pirate radio station Radio Caroline, sinks off the English coast (the station returns aboard a new ship in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

). *

March 21 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...

– U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in Moscow because of the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. * March 26 – A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reefs gold mine in South Africa falls , killing 23 workers. * March 27 – The Norwegian oil platform ''

Alexander L. Kielland Alexander Lange Kielland (; 18 February 1849 – 6 April 1906) was a Norwegian realistic writer of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called "The Four Greats" of Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson a ...

'' collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212. * March 28 – The Talpiot Tomb is discovered by construction workers in Jerusalem.

April

* April 1 – The Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) is formed in Lusaka, Zambia. * 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 – In

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal, the governments of Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and Spain (closed since

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

) in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. * April 12 **

1980 Liberian coup d'état The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the comman ...

: Samuel K. Doe overthrows the government of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

in a violent '' coup d'état'', executing President William Tolbert and ending over 130 years of

democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

presidential succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope, a plan to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research, setting off from St. John's, Newfoundland and running westward. * April 14 – Iron Maiden's debut self-titled album '' Iron Maiden'' is released in the U.K. * April 18 – Zimbabwe gains de jure independence from the United Kingdom with Robert Mugabe as its first Prime Minister. * 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 are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation. * April 25 – Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes in Tenerife, killing all 146 occupants; at the time it was 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 St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local governmen ...

, Australia. *

April 27 Events Pre-1600 * 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''. * 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...

– The Dominican embassy siege in

ends with all remaining hostages released after the guerrillas are allowed to escape to Cuba. * April 30 ** Iranian Embassy siege: Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London, England.

SAS SAS or Sas may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers * ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series * Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...

retakes the Embassy on May 5; one terrorist survives. ** Queen

Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

abdicates and her daughter Beatrix accedes to the throne.

May

* May 1 – "About that Urban Renaissance...", an article by journalist Dan Rottenberg in '' Chicago'', contains the first recorded use of the word " yuppie". * May 2 – Referendum on system of government held in Nepal. * May 4 – Yugoslav President

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

dies. The largest state funeral in history is organized, with state delegations from 128 different countries out of 154 UN members at the time. * May 7 –

Paul Geidel Paul Geidel Jr. (April 21, 1894 – May 1, 1987) was the longest-serving prison inmate in the United States whose sentence ended with his parole, a fact that earned him a place in Guinness World Records. After being convicted of second-degre ...

, convicted of second-degree murder in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, is released from prison in

Beacon, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as we ...

, after 68 years and 245 days (the longest-ever time served by an inmate). *

May 8 Events Pre-1600 * 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin. * 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...

– Global eradication of smallpox certified by the World Health Organization. * May 9 ** In Florida, United States, the Liberian freighter ''

Summit Venture The MV ''Summit Venture'' was a bulk carrier that is best known for colliding into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in 1980. It was built in 1976 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. of Nagasaki, Japan. She was long, had a breadth of , deadweight of 33,912 tons, ...

'' hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay. A section of the bridge collapses and 35 people (most of them on a bus) are killed. ** James Alexander George Smith "Jags" McCartney the Turks and Caicos Islands' first chief minister, is killed in a plane crash over New Jersey. * May 14 – The

Sumpul River massacre The Sumpul River massacre ( es, masacre del Sumpul) took place in Chalatenango, El Salvador on May 13, 1980 during the Salvadoran Civil War. Salvadoran Armed Forces and pro-government paramilitaries launched an offensive to disrupt the activiti ...

occurs in

Chalatenango, El Salvador Chalatenango is a municipality located in the Department of Chalatenango, in the north of El Salvador. The municipality Chalatenango is a department, a municipality, and a city (the capital of the Department of Chalatenango), located in the N ...

. * May 17 – Internal conflict in Peru: On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of

Chuschi Chuschi is a town in the Chuschi District of the Cangallo Province of the Ayacucho Region of Peru. On May 17, 1980, Shining Path guerrillas began their war against the Peruvian state by burning ballot boxes in Chuschi. On March 14, 1991, governm ...

, Ayacucho. * May 18 – The

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens On March 27, 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major explosive eru ...

volcano in Washington (state) kills 57 and causes US$3 billion in damage. * May 18– 27 – Gwangju Uprising: Students in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, South Korea, begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms. * May 20 –

1980 Quebec referendum The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government, whi ...

: Voters in Quebec reject, by a vote of 60%, a proposal to seek independence from Canada. * May 22 – Namco's ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

'', the highest-earning

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

of all time, is released in Japan. *

May 24 Events Pre-1600 * 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom. * 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. * 1276 – Magnus La ...

– The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran. * May 26 ** John Frum supporters in Vanuatu storm government offices on the island of Tanna. Vanuatu government troops land the next day and drive them away. * May 28 – A fiery bus crash near the small village of

Webb, Saskatchewan Webb ( 2021 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Webb No. 138 and Census Division No. 8. History Webb incorporated as a village on June 18, 1910. Demographics In the 2021 Ce ...

, Canada, claims 22 lives.

June

* June 1 – The first 24-hour news channel, Cable News Network (CNN), is launched. * June 3 –

1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak, also known as The Night of the Twisters, was a tornado outbreak that produced a series of destructive tornadoes that affected the city of Grand Island, Nebraska, on Tuesday, June 3, 1980. Seven tornadoes to ...

: A series of deadly tornadoes strikes

Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 census. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island metropolitan area, which consists of Hall, Merrick, ...

, 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 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

. *

June 23 Events Pre-1600 * 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu. * 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships. * 1280 – The Spanish Re ...

– September 6 – The

1980 United States heat wave The 1980 United States heat wave was a period of intense heat and drought that wreaked havoc on much of the Midwestern United States and Southern Plains throughout the summer of 1980. It was among the most destructive, and most lethal natural disast ...

claims 1,700 lives. *

** Sanjay Gandhi, the politically influential son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is killed in a plane crash. **

Tim Berners-Lee Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profess ...

begins work on ENQUIRE, the system that will eventually lead to the creation of the World Wide Web in autumn 1990. * June 25 – A

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

assassination attempt against

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n president

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...

fails. Assad retaliates by sending the army against them. * June 27 ** Itavia Flight 870 crashes into the sea near Ustica island, Italy, killing all 81 people on board. The cause of the accident remains unclear. ** U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs Proclamation 4771, requiring 18- to 25-year-old males to register for a peacetime military draft, in response to the

. * June 29 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland, making her the first woman democratically elected as head of state.

July

July 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch. * 1283 – Roger of Lauria, commanding the Aragonese ...

– A wave of strikes begins in

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

, Poland. *

July 9 Events Pre-1600 *118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome. * 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodos ...

– Pope John Paul II visits Brazil; seven people are crushed to death in a crowd waiting to see him at afternoon Mass at the stadium in

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

. * July 16 – Former California Governor and actor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

is nominated for U.S. president, at the

1980 Republican National Convention The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, from July 14 to July 17, 1980. The Republican National Convention nominated retired Hollywood actor and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California for pre ...

in Detroit. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long-standing support for the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

, dismaying moderate Republicans. * July 19 – Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by two gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey. * July 19– August 3 – The

are held in Moscow, Soviet Union. As 82 countries boycott the Games, athletes from 16 of them participate under a neutral flag. * July 30 ** Vanuatu gains independence. ** Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.

August

* August 1 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir becomes the 4th President of Iceland, the world's first democratically directly elected female president. *

August 2 Events Pre-1600 *338 BC – A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. *216 BC – The Carthaginian arm ...

– Strage di Bologna: A terrorist bombing at the Bologna Centrale railway station in Italy kills 85 people and wounds more than 200. * August 3 – The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow officially ends. * August 4 – Hurricane Allen (category 5) pounds

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, where it kills more than 200 people. * August 7– 31 – Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdańsk Shipyard in the Polish People's Republic. * August 17 – In Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock ( Uluru), reportedly taken by a

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

. * August 19 – In one of aviation's worst disasters, 301 people are killed when Saudia Flight 163 catches fire in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. * August 31 – Victory of the strike in Gdańsk Shipyard, Poland. The Gdańsk Agreement is signed, opening a way to start the first free (i.e. not state-controlled) trade union in the

communist bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

, "

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

" (''Solidarność'').

September

* September 1 – Terry Fox is forced to end his Marathon of Hope run outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, after finding out that the cancer has spread to his lungs. * September 2 – Ford Europe launches the Escort MK3, a new front-wheel-drive hatchback. * September 3 – Zimbabwe breaks diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa, even though it maintains a commercial mission in Johannesburg. * September 5 – The Gotthard Road Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel, at , stretching from Göschenen to

Airolo Airolo (''Airöö'' in Lombard, in rm, italic=yes, ) is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Airolo is located in Leventina valley and the Lepontine Alps, on the southern flank of th ...

beneath the Gotthard Pass. * September 12 –

Kenan Evren Ahmet Kenan Evren (; 17 July 1917 – 9 May 2015) was a Turkish politician and military officer, who served as the seventh President of Turkey from 1980 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup. On 18 June 2014, a Turkish ...

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 Events Pre-1600 * 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia". * 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine Empi ...

– After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union

is established. * September 21 –

Bülent Ulusu Bülent is a Turkish masculine given name and a family name meaning "tall" and "high", from Persian ''boland'' ( fa, بلند) which means ''tall'' or ''high''. The equivalent form in Azeri is Bülənd. It may refer to: Bülend *Bulend Biščevi ...

, ex admiral, forms the new government of Turkey (44th government, composed mostly of technocrats). * September 22 – The command council of Iraq orders its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets", initiating the Iran–Iraq War. * September 26 ** Oktoberfest bombing: 13 people are killed and 211 injured in a right-wing terror attack in Munich (West Germany). ** The Mariel boatlift in Cuba officially ends. * September 30 – Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the

DIX DIX or Dix may refer to: Computing * Danish Internet Exchange Point, in Copenhagen * Data Integrity Extensions, data corruption error-handling field in data storage technology * Device Independent X, part of the 2D graphics device driver in ...

standard for Ethernet, which is the first implementation outside of Xerox and the first to support 10 Mbit/s speeds.

October

* October 5 ** The Elisabeth

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

is demolished at Bilston Steelworks, marking the end of iron and steel production in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

region of the U.K. ** British Leyland launches its new Metro, a three-door entry-level hatchback which is designed as the eventual replacement for the Mini. It gives BL a long-awaited modern competitor for the likes of the

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

and Vauxhall Chevette. * October 10 – The 7.1 El Asnam earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''), killing 2,633–5,000 and injuring 8,369–9,000. * October 14 ** The

Staggers Rail Act The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 is a United States federal law that deregulated the American railroad industry to a significant extent, and it replaced the regulatory structure that had existed since the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. Backgroun ...

is enacted, deregulating American railroads. ** The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party ends, having anointed North Korean President

Kim Il Sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

's son Kim Jong Il as his successor. *

October 15 Events Pre-1600 *1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later. * 1211 ...

–

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

announces his resignation as leader of the British Labour Party. * October 18 –

1980 Australian federal election The 1980 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–NCP coalition government, led by Prim ...

: Malcolm Fraser's Liberal/ National Country

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

government is re-elected with a substantially reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Bill Hayden. The Government also loses control of the Senate, with the Australian Democrats winning the balance of power. * October 20 ** Greece rejoins the NATO military structure. ** In continuous production since 1962, the last MG MGB roadster rolls off the assembly line at the Abingdon-on-Thames (England) factory, ending production for the MG Cars marque. * October 21 – In Major League Baseball, The

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

of the National League defeat the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

of the American League, 4–1, in Game Six of the World Series to win the championship. * October 25 – Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague. * October 27 – Six Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners in Maze prison in Northern Ireland refuse food and demand status as political prisoners; the hunger strike lasts until December. * October 30 –

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in

's Football War before the International Court of Justice. * October 31 ** The Polish government recognizes

. **

Reza Pahlavi Reza Pahlavi may refer to: * Reza Shah (1878–1944), Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran from 1925 until 1941 * Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980), Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, son of Reza Shah * Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pah ...

, eldest son of

the Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

of Iran, proclaims himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.

November

* November 4 –

1980 United States presidential election The 1980 United States presidential election was the 49th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 1980. Republican nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory. ...

: Republican challenger and former Governor

of California defeats incumbent

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

President Jimmy Carter and is elected the 40th President of the United States. November 7-Legendary actor

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

dies at the age of 50 of a cardiac arrest after surgery to remove tumours in his neck after previously been diagnosed with lung cancer. * November 10– 12 – Voyager program: The NASA space probe ''

Voyager I ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin ''Voyager 2'', ''Voyag ...

'' makes its closest approach to

, when it flies within of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high-resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth. * November 20 – The

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

trial begins in China. * November 21 ** A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip kills 85 people. ** A record number of viewers on this date (for an entertainment program) tune into the U.S. television show '' Dallas'' to learn who shot lead character J. R. Ewing. The " Who shot J.R.?" event is an international obsession. * November 23 – The 6.9 Irpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Officially, there were 2,483 people killed and 8,934 injured, though the deaths may have been as high as 4,900.

December

* December 2 – A missionary ( Jean Donovan) and three Roman Catholic nuns ( Maura Clarke, Ita Ford,

Dorothy Kazel Dorothy Kazel (June 30, 1939 – December 2, 1980), was an American Ursuline religious sister and missionary to El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries – Maryknoll Sister ...

), all Americans, are murdered by a military

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

while doing charity work during that country's civil war. * December 8 – Murder of John Lennon: Mark David Chapman is arrested following the murder of English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, outside his New York City apartment building,

The Dakota The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a Housing cooperative, cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street (Manhattan), 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was construc ...

. * December 14 – Four people are murdered and four others are injured by two armed robbers at Bob's Big Boy on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, in what is one of the city's most brutal crimes ever. * December 15 – The Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (Academy of the Asturian language) is created. * December 16 – During a summit on the island of

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...

decides to raise the price of petroleum by 10%.

World population

Births and deaths

Nobel Prizes

* Physics –

James Watson Cronin James Watson Cronin (September 29, 1931 – August 25, 2016) was an American particle physicist. Cronin was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He and co-researcher Val Logsdon Fitch were awa ...

Val Logsdon Fitch Val Logsdon Fitch (March 10, 1923 – February 5, 2015) was an American nuclear physicist who, with co-researcher James Cronin, was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics for a 1964 experiment using the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron at Brook ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

– Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert,

Frederick Sanger Frederick Sanger (; 13 August 1918 – 19 November 2013) was an English biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice. He won the 1958 Chemistry Prize for determining the amino acid sequence of insulin and numerous other p ...

* Medicine –

Baruj Benacerraf Baruj Benacerraf (; October 29, 1920 – August 2, 2011) was a Venezuelan-American immunologist, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the "discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell s ...

, Jean Dausset,

George D. Snell George Davis Snell NAS (December 19, 1903 – June 6, 1996) was an American mouse geneticist and basic transplant immunologist. Work George Snell shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Baruj Benacerraf and Jean Dausset f ...

* Literature – Czesław Miłosz * Peace –

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (born 26 November 1931) is an Argentine activist, community organizer, painter, writer and sculptor. He was the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship (1 ...

* Economics – Lawrence Klein

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 Leap years in the Gregorian calendar