Events from the year 1980 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal –

George Younger George Kenneth Hotson Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Baron Younger of Prestwick, (22 September 1931 – 26 January 2003), was a British Conservative Party politician and banker. Early life and career Younger's forebear, George Younger ...

Law officers

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

–

Lord Mackay of Clashfern James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, (born 2 July 1927) is a British advocate. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He is a former active member of the House of Lo ...

Solicitor General for Scotland , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png , incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , department = Crown Office and ...

–

Nicholas Fairbairn Sir Nicholas Hardwick Fairbairn, (24 December 1933 – 19 February 1995) was a Scottish politician. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kinross and Western Perthshire from October 1974 to 1983, and then for Perth and Kinros ...

Judiciary

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...

and

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

– Lord Emslie *

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

– Lord Wheatley *

Chairman of the Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies, and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Scott ...

– Lord Elliott

Events

16 April Events Pre-1600 * 1457 BC – Battle of Megido - the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. * 69 – Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide. * 73 – Masada ...

–

Glasgow Subway The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the fourth-oldest underground rail transit system in Europe after the London Underground, Liverpool's Mersey Railway and the Budapes ...

reopened to passengers after a 3-year modernisation project. *

1 May Events Pre-1600 * 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. * 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. *1169 – N ...

– Scottish District local elections result in big gains for the Labour Party. *

7 May Events Pre-1600 * 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch. * 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...

–

Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

secures the

Scottish Football League Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

championship. *

26 June Events Pre-1600 * 4 – Augustus adopts Tiberius. * 221 – Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar. * 363 – Roman emperor Julian is killed during the retreat f ...

– The Glasgow Central by-election is held, with Labour retaining the seat despite a 14% swing to the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

. *

1 August Events Pre-1600 * 30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. *AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under ...

– The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 receives Royal Assent. *

28 August Events Pre-1600 * 475 – The Roman Empire, Roman general Orestes (father of Romulus Augustulus), Orestes forces western Roman Emperors, Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna. * 489 – Theodoric the Great, Theod ...

– First clinically useful image of a patient's internal tissues using

magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...

(MRI) is obtained using a full-body scanner built by a team led by

John Mallard John Rowland Mallard OBE FRSE FREng (14 January 1927 – 25 February 2021) was an English physicist and professor of Medical Physics at the University of Aberdeen from 1965 until his retirement in 1992. He was known for setting up and leading ...

at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

. * 4–5 September –

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

becomes the first serving

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

to visit

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

. *

13 September Events Pre-1600 *585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia. *509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hill ...

–

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, a bear which had gone missing on the island of

Benbecula Benbecula (; gd, Beinn nam Fadhla or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a ...

while filming a

Kleenex Kleenex is a brand name for a variety of paper-based products such as facial tissue, bathroom tissue, paper towels, tampons, and diapers. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue in the United States and Canada, the nam ...

advertisement, is found. *

6 October Events Pre-1600 *105 BC – Cimbrian War: Defeat at the Battle of Arausio accelerates the Marian reforms of the Roman army of the mid-Republic. *69 BC – Third Mithridatic War: The military of the Roman Republic subdue Armenia. *AD ...

–

West Highland Way The West Highland Way ( gd, Slighe na Gàidhealtachd an Iar) is a linear long-distance route in Scotland. It is long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking in the r ...

opened as the first of the official

Long Distance Routes Scotland's Great Trails are long-distance "people-powered" trails in Scotland, analogous to the National Trails of England and Wales or the GR footpath, Grande Randonnée paths of France. The designated routes are primarily intended for walkers, bu ...

for walkers in Scotland. * 9 October – Gloagtrotter of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, trading as GT Coaches, begins operation of an express coach service from

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

to London as ''The Stage Coach'', origin of the

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

. * October –

Albion Motors Albion Motors was a Scottish automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer. Founded in 1899, Albion Motors was purchased by Leyland Motors in 1951. Vehicles continued to be manufactured under the Albion brand until 1972, after which they cont ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

works closes and manufacture of complete vehicles (on Viking VK bus chassis) is moved to Leyland in England. *

13 November Events Pre-1600 *1002 – English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes (ancient people), Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre. *1093 – Battle of Alnwick (1093), Battle of Alnwick: in an English ...

–

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1980 c.62). It decriminalized private homosexual acts between two consenting adults in Scotland when it came into effect on 1 February 1981. "Subjec ...

which would decriminalise private homosexual acts between two consenting persons aged over 21 in Scotland passes at Westminster. It would take effect on 1 February 1981.

Births

5 January Events Pre-1600 *1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France. 1601–1900 *1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French arm ...

–

Greg McHugh Greg McHugh (born 5 January 1980) is a Scottish actor. He is the creator, writer and star of the BBC1 comedy series '' Gary: Tank Commander''. He also played Howard in the Channel 4 comedy '' Fresh Meat''. Early life and education Greg McHugh ...

, television actor and writer *

5 February Events Pre-1600 * 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. * 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...

–

Jo Swinson Joanne Kate Swinson (born 5 February 1980) is a former British Liberal Democrat politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 22 July to 13 December 2019. She was the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position, as well a ...

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

of the

Liberal Democrats (UK) The Liberal Democrats (commonly referred to as the Lib Dems) are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political ...

2 April Events Pre-1600 *1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...

– Adam Fleming, television journalist *

12 May Events Pre-1600 * 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism. * 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang ...

–

Andrew Abercromby Dr. Andrew Frank Jorgensen Abercromby (born 12 May 1980) is a scientist and biomedical engineer who designs and tests spacesuit systems and exercise countermeasures for future exploration of the Solar System. He is employed by NASA as Lead of ...

, biomedical engineer *

6 July Events Pre-1600 *371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta's reputation of military invincibility. * 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt). ...

–

Kenny Deuchar Kenneth Robert John Deuchar (born 6 July 1980) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also a practising medical doctor. In his professional footballing career he played for Falkirk (two spells), East Fi ...

, footballer *

27 August Events Pre-1600 * 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days. * 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England. *1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the Ka ...

– Caroline Brown, lawn bowler *

15 September Events Pre-1600 * 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes. *1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...

– Chris Clark, footballer *

19 August Events Pre-1600 *295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War. * 43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...

–

Darius Campbell Danesh Darius Campbell Danesh (19 August 1980 – 11 August 2022) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Darius Danesh when he appeared in the first series of ''Popstars (UK TV series), Popstars'' in ...

, singer-songwriter and actor (died

2022 in the United States The following is a list of events from the year 2022 in the United States. Politically, the United States continued to be dominated by a culture war, with the issue of abortion gaining special attention amidst the Supreme Court's decision to o ...

) *

12 October Events Pre-1600 *539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire. (Julian calendar) * 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by an alliance und ...

–

Lesley Paterson Lesley Paterson (born 12 October 1980) is a Scottish triathlete and triathlon coach who is the 2011, 2012 and 2018 XTERRA Triathlon World Champion as well as the 2012 and 2018 ITU Cross Triathlon World Champion. In addition to her triathlon car ...

, triathlete, screenwriter and producer *

26 October Events Pre-1600 *1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. * 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally beg ...

–

Khalid Abdalla Khalid Abdalla ( ar, خالد عبدالله; ; born 26 October 1980) is a Scottish actor and activist of Egyptian descent. He came to international prominence after starring in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning film '' United ...

, actor *

20 November Events Pre-1600 * 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor. * 762 – During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Uyghur Khaganate, Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels. *1194 – Palermo is conq ...

– Malachy Tallack, journalist and folk rock musician * 13 December –

Gary Innes Gary Innes (born 13 December 1980) is a Scottish musician, shinty player, composer and a broadcaster from Spean Bridge, Lochaber, Scotland. He was a founder member of Scottish folk-rock band Mànran. Music Innes has had a professional c ...

, piano-accordionist, shinty player and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

broadcaster * Kerry Hudson, writer

Deaths

19 February Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pa ...

–

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, ...

, Australian rock singer (born

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

) *

29 February February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mo ...

– Margaret Morris, choreographer (born 1891 in London) * May –

Isla Cameron Isla Cameron (5 March 1927 – 3 April 1980) was a Scottish-born, English-raised actress and singer. AllMusic noted that "Cameron was one of a quartet of key figures in England's postwar folk song revival – and to give a measure of her importa ...

, actress and singer (born

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

) *

23 June 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

–

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (196 ...

, actor (born

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

) * 6 December – Margot Bennett, crime novelist (born

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

) * 13 December –

R. D. Low Robert Duncan Low (25 August 1895, Dundee – 13 December 1980) was a Scottish comics writer and editor. Employed by D. C. Thomson & Co., he was responsible for their line of comics, and, as a writer, co-created ''Oor Wullie'' and ''The Broo ...

, comics writer and editor (born

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

) * Hector MacAndrew, fiddler (born

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

)

The arts

–

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

begins to air the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Take the High Road ''Take the High Road'' (renamed ''High Road'' from 1994 to 2003) was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, which started in February 1980 as an ITV network daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in the ficti ...

''. * Spring –

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...

release ''Falling and Laughing'', the first release on the

Postcard Records Postcard Records is a British, Glasgow-based, independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for releases by Orange Juice and Josef K. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown mot ...

label. * June –

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

's ''

The Yellow Cake Revue ''The Yellow Cake Revue'' is a musical composition for piano and voice. Peter Maxwell Davies composed the piece in 1980. He first performed it at the Stromness Hotel, in Stromness, Orkney, as part of the 1980 St Magnus Festival—a summer arts ...

'' (including the piano interlude "Farewell to Stromness") is premiered at the

Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...

Hotel as part of the

St Magnus Festival The St Magnus International Festival is an annual, week-long arts festival which takes place at midsummer on the islands of Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland. History and management The festival was founded in 1977 by a group inc ...

. * Alexander Moffat paints
Poets' Pub
'. *

Buxton Orr Buxton Orr (18 April 1924 – 27 December 1997) was a Glasgow-born Anglo-Scottish composer and teacher. Life Originally trained as a doctor, Orr gave up medicine and switched to music in 1952, studying composition at the Guildhall School of Mu ...

composes ''A Caledonian Suite''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 In Scotland Years of the 20th century in Scotland 1980s in Scotland