Today in History for Year 1980

Months in Year 1980: January February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 754

Jan 1st - 54th Australian Womens Tennis: Barbara Jordan beats S Walsh (63 63)
Jan 1st - Alabama beats Arkansas in Sugar Bowl for college football championship
Jan 1st - Chrysler UK renamed Talbot
Jan 1st - International Decade of Water & Sanitation begins
Jan 1st - Mob storms Russian embassy in Teheran
Jan 1st - Premier Adbou Diouf becomes president of Senegal
Jan 1st - Sweden changes order of succession to throne
Jan 1st - Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden.
Jan 2nd - 68th Australian Men Tennis: Guillermo Vilas beat John Sadri (76 63 62)
Jan 3rd - Gold hits record $634 an ounce
Jan 6th - "1940's Radio Hour" closes at St James Theater NYC after 105 perfs
Jan 6th - Indira Gandhi's Congress Party wins elections in India
Jan 6th - Phil Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat
Jan 6th - The beginning of the first GPS epoch.
Jan 7th - Minn ends Phila Flyers' NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak ends
Jan 8th - Islander Glenn Resch's 20th shut-out opponent-Canucks 3-0
Jan 8th - NCAA decides to sponsor women's championships in 5 sports
Jan 9th - 63 beheaded in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Jan 10th - Last broadcast of "Rockford Files" on NBC
Jan 10th - Jim Stewart, Bruin's rookie goalie allows 3 goals in his 1st 4 mins & a total of 5 in 1st period; he never again plays in NHL
Jan 11th - Debut of Pretenders
Jan 12th - Mike Bratz (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games
Jan 13th - "King of Schnorrers" closes at Playhouse Theater NYC after 63 perfs
Jan 13th - Head of narcotic brigade arrested for drug smuggling in Belgium
Jan 13th - Togo's constitution becomes effective
Jan 14th - Shakuntala Devi, mentally multiplies 2 13-digit #s in 28 sec
Jan 15th - Pam Gems' "Piaf!," premieres in London
Pop Singer & Beatle Paul McCartney Jan 16th - Paul McCartney jailed in Tokyo for 10 days on marijuana possession
Jan 17th - NASA launches Fltsatcom-3
Jan 18th - Gold reaches $1,000 an oz
Jan 18th - Pink Floyd's "Wall" hits #1
Jan 18th - Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
Jan 20th - President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow
Jan 20th - US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
Jan 20th - US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
Jan 20th - Superbowl MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
Jan 20th - Superbowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams, 31-19 in Pasadena
Jan 21st - Gold hits record $850 an ounce
Jan 21st - Les Henson, Virginia Tech, makes 89' 3" basketball field goal
Jan 22nd - Dissidents Andrei Sacharov & Jelena Bonner banished to Gorki
Jan 22nd - PGA begins a senior golf tour
Jan 22nd - West Indies beat England 2-0 to win 1st World Series Cup
Jan 22nd - Andrei Sakharov is arrested in Moscow.
Jan 25th - Bani Sadr elected president of Iran
Jan 25th - Dutch government demands boycott of Olympics
Jan 25th - Highest speed attained by a warship, 167 kph, USN hovercraft
Jan 25th - Paul McCartney is released from Tokyo jail & deported
Singer/Actor Frank Sinatra Jan 26th - 175,000 pay to hear FRANK SINATRA sing in Rio de Janeiro!
Jan 26th - Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
Jan 26th - Israel & Egypt establish diplomatic relations
Jan 26th - Mary Decker became 1st woman to run a mile in under 4½ minutes
Jan 27th - "Comin' Uptown" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 45 perfs
Jan 27th - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 37-27
Jan 28th - 37th Golden Globes: Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field wins
Jan 28th - USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa Florida and capsizes killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
Jan 29th - 6 Iranian held US hostages escape with help of Canadians
Jan 29th - Cleveland Cavaliers beat LA Lakers 154-153 in quadruple OT
Jan 30th - Edward Albee's "Lady from Dubuque," premieres in NYC
Jan 31st - Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41
Feb 1st - Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System
Feb 1st - Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run
Feb 2nd - FBI releases details of Abscam, a sting operation that targeted 31 elected & public officials for bribes for political favors
Actor Dustin Hoffman Feb 3rd - 30th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 144-136 (OT) at Washington
Feb 3rd - Larry Holmes TKOs Lorenzo Holmes in 6 for heavyweight boxing title
Feb 3rd - Mohammed Ali tours Africa as Pres Carter's envoy
Feb 4th - Bani Sadr sworn in as premier of Iran
Feb 4th - Joanne Carner wins LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek
Feb 5th - 32nd NHL All-Star Game: Wales beat Campbell 6-3 at Detroit
Feb 5th - Egyptian parliament votes to end boycott of Israel
Feb 9th - Rick Barry, Houston, is 1st in NBA to score 8, 3-pt goals in a game
Feb 10th - Ianford Wilsons "Talley's Folly," premieres in NYC
Feb 10th - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
Feb 12th - "Canterbury Tales" opens at Rialto Theater NYC for 16 performances
Feb 12th - NY Islanders 2nd scoreless tie, vs Winnipeg Jets
Feb 12th - Richard Hadlee becomes NZ's top wicket-taker with 117
Feb 13th - Apollo Computer Inc incorporated
Feb 13th - NZ beats West Indies by one wicket in cricket at Dunedin
Feb 14th - "West Side Story" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 341 performances
Feb 14th - 13th Winter Olympic games open in Lake Placid, NY
Feb 14th - US launches Solar Maximum Mission Observatory to study solar flares
Feb 15th - Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 500m in 38.03 sec
Feb 15th - Wayne Gretzy assists on NHL-record-tieing 7 goals
Feb 16th - Continuous traffic jam extends 176 km north of Lyons, France
Feb 16th - Eric Heiden skates 5k in 7:02.29 (Olympic Record)
Feb 17th - Buddy Baker wins Daytona 500 (177.6 MPH/285.8 kph)
Feb 17th - Dot Germain wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
Feb 18th - Billy Wyman said he will leave Rolling Stones in 1983 (Sure!)
Feb 18th - Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal Party wins Canada's elections
Feb 19th - Botham a century & 13 wickets in Jubilee Test Cricket at Bombay
Feb 19th - Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 1000m in 1:15.18
Feb 21st - Eric Heiden skates Olympic record 1500m in 1:55.44
Feb 21st - Hanni Wenzel is 1st Liechtensteiner to win Olymp gold (giant slalom)
Feb 22nd - Afghanistan declares martial law
Feb 22nd - USA beats USSR in Olympic hockey 4-3 en route to a gold medal
Feb 23rd - 13th Winter Olympic games close at Lake Placid, NY
Feb 23rd - Eric Heiden wins all 5 speed skating golds at Lake Placid Olympics
Feb 23rd - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
Feb 23rd - Oil tanker explosion off Pilos, Greece, causes 37-mil-gallon spill
Feb 24th - "Canterbury Tales" closes at Rialto Theater NYC after 16 performances
Feb 24th - Joanne Carner Ladies wins LPGA Bent Tree Golf Classic

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 788

Jan 1st - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
Jan 2nd - Stephanie Stiegler, Santa Monica California, pairs skater (& Zimmerman)
Jan 2nd - Mac Danzig, American Mixed martial arts combatant
Jan 3rd - Angela Ruggiero, ice hockey defenseman (USA, Oly-98)
Jan 3rd - Rob Arnold, American guitarist (Chimaira)
Jan 3rd - Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model
Jan 3rd - David Tyree, American football player
Jan 4th - Yaroslav Popovych, Ukrainian cyclist
Jan 4th - Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
Jan 4th - Greg Cipes, American actor
Jan 4th - Erin Cahill, American actress
Jan 5th - Garette Patrick Ratliff, actor (Return to Blue Lagoon)
Jan 5th - Bennie Joppru, National Football League tight end
Jan 6th - Steed Malbranque, French footballer
Jan 6th - Hiromi Oshima, Japanese adult model
Jan 8th - Rachel Nichols, American actress
Jan 9th - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
Jan 10th - Matt Roney, American baseball player
Jan 10th - Sarah Shahi, American actress and model
Jan 11th - Lovieanne Jung, American softball player
Jan 11th - Mike Williams, American football player
Jan 11th - Deanna Wright, American actress
Jan 12th - Bobby Crosby, American baseball player
Jan 13th - Krzysztof Czerwinski, Polish conductor and organist
Jan 13th - Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
Jan 13th - Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
Jan 13th - Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player
Jan 14th - Sosuke Sumitani, Japanese announcer
Jan 14th - Clive Clarke, Irish footballer
Jan 14th - Cory Gibbs, American soccer player
Jan 14th - Ossama Haidar, a Lebanese soccer player
Jan 14th - Byron Leftwich, American football player
Jan 14th - Hiroshi Tamaki, Japanese actor and model
Jan 15th - Matt Holliday, American baseball player
Jan 16th - Seydou Keita, Malian footballer
Jan 16th - Lin Manuel Miranda, American actor, composer, lyricist (In The Heights)
Jan 16th - Albert Pujols, Dominican-born baseball player
Jan 16th - Michelle Wild, Hungarian model
Jan 17th - Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian ballroom dancer
Jan 17th - Gareth McLearnon, Northern Irish flautist
Jan 17th - Zooey Deschanel, American actress
Jan 17th - Kimberly Spicer, American model
Jan 18th - Robert Green, English footballer
Jan 18th - Julius Peppers, American football player
Jan 18th - Jason Segel, American actor
Jan 18th - Estelle Swaray, English singer
Jan 19th - Jenson Button, English Formula One driver
Jan 19th - Kotoko, Japanese Singer
Jan 20th - Philippe Cousteau Jr., Freanch oceanographer; grandson of Jacques Cousteau
Jan 20th - Brigitte Olivier, Belgian judoka
Jan 20th - Matthew Tuck, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine)
Jan 21st - Aubrie Rippner, LA California, tennis star (1995 USTA National Girls 18)
Jan 21st - Dave Kitson, English footballer
Jan 21st - Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
Jan 22nd - Subhash Ram Prajapati, Nepalese Writer
Jan 22nd - Jake Grove, American football player
Jan 22nd - Christopher Masterson, American actor
Jan 22nd - Ben Moody, American guitarist (Evanescence)
Jan 22nd - Jonathan Woodgate, English footballer
Jan 23rd - Theresa Kulikowski, Tacoma Wash, gymnast (World-bronze-95, Oly-96)
Jan 24th - Rocky Boiman, American football player
Jan 24th - Nicole Marie Lenz, American actress
Jan 25th - Amanda Michelle Burns, Miss West Virginia Teen USA (1997)
Jan 25th - Xavi, Catalan Spanish footballer
Jan 25th - Efstathios Tavlaridis, Greek footballer
Jan 25th - Michelle McCool, American professional wrestler
Jan 27th - Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
Jan 27th - Chanda Gunn, ice hockey player
Jan 28th - Nick Carter, singer (Backstreet Boys)
Jan 28th - Jesse James Hollywood, American drug dealer and fugitive
Jan 29th - Jason James Richter, Medford OR, actor (Free Willy)
Jan 29th - Yael Bar-Zohar, Israeli actress and model
Jan 29th - Ivan Klasnić, Croatian football player
Jan 30th - Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer
Jan 30th - Leilani Dowding, British glamour model
Jan 30th - Wilmer Valderrama, American actor
Jan 30th - Pavel Ponomaryov, Russian-Estonian actor
Jan 31st - James Adomian, American actor
Jan 31st - Ryan Kienle, American musician
Jan 31st - Tiffany Limos, American actress
Feb 1st - Courtney Hamilton, Miss Arizona Teen USA (1996)
Feb 1st - Moisés Muñoz, Mexican footballer
Feb 1st - Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2005)
Feb 1st - Héctor Luna, Dominican Republic baseball player
Feb 2nd - Teddy Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
Feb 2nd - Gucci Mane, African-American rapper
Feb 2nd - Oleguer Presas, Spanish football player
Feb 3rd - Sarah Lewitinn, American writer
Feb 4th - Kelly Marie Sodan, Miss Kentucky Teen USA (1996)
Feb 5th - Jo Swinson, British politician
Feb 5th - Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer
Feb 5th - Prince Peter, American-born Yugoslav royalty
Feb 6th - Mamiko Noto, Japanese seiyu
Feb 6th - Kim Poirier, Canadian actress
Feb 6th - Luke Ravenstahl, American politician
Feb 8th - Ralf Little, English actor/comedian
Feb 8th - Cameron Muncey, Australian guitarist (Jet)
Feb 8th - Stephen Wright, English footballer
Feb 9th - Angelos Charisteas, Greek footballer
Feb 9th - Shelly Martinez, American wrestler

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Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 5 of 5

Feb 20th - Actress Susan Dey (LA Law) weds producer Bernard Sofronski
May 22nd - Marlo Thomas & Phil Donahue marry
Oct 4th - "The Princess Bride" actor Chris Sarandon (38) weds model Lisa Cooper
Nov 24th - Ronald Reagan Jr marries Doria Palmieri
Nov 27th - British playwright (Nobel prize for literature 2005) Harold Pinter (50) marries 2nd wife British writer and historian Antonia Frazer (48)

Famous Divorces

Divorces 1 - 1 of 1

Oct 9th - Princess Caroline of Monaco divorces Philippe Junot

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 315

Jan 1st - Frank Clifford Wykoff, sprinter (Olympic-gold-28, 32, 36), dies at 70
Jan 1st - Pietro Nenni, Italian politician (Socialists), dies at 88
Jan 2nd - Larry Williams, rocker, dies at 44
Jan 3rd - Amos Milburn, rocker, dies at 52
Jan 3rd - Axel Springer Jr, German photographer, commits suicide at 38
Jan 3rd - Ivan Triesault, actor (Von Ryan's Express, Desert Fox), dies at 81
Jan 3rd - Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (b. 1892)
Jan 3rd - Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist and author (Born Free), killed by her servant at 69
Jan 7th - Carl White, rocker, dies
Jan 7th - Sarah Selby, actress (Tower of London), dies at 74
Jan 8th - Oscar Ewing, US government official (Everybody's Business), dies at 90
Jan 8th - John Mauchly, American physicist (b. 1907)
Jan 10th - George Meany, labor leader, dies at 86
Jan 10th - Bo Rein, American college football coach (b. 1945)
Jan 11th - Barbara Pym, English novelist (b. 1913)
Jan 12th - Hans Ebeling, cricketer (Vict stalwart, bowled for Aust 1934), dies
Jan 13th - Andre Kostelanetz, Russian conductor, dies at 78
Jan 14th - Robert Ardrey, American author (b. 1908)
Jan 16th - Anna van Wageningen-Salomons, Dut author (Unspoilt Dream), dies at 94
Jan 17th - Barbara Britton, actress (Pamela-Mr & Mrs North), dies at 59
Jan 18th - Cecil Beaton, British photographer, dies at 76
Jan 19th - Richard Franko Goldman, composer, dies at 69
Jan 19th - William O Douglas, member US Supreme court (1939-75), dies at 81
Jan 22nd - Iris Meredith, actress (Lawless Land, Gambling Terror), dies at 64
Jan 25th - David Newell, actor (Dangerous Curves, White Heat), dies at 75
Jan 25th - Queenie Watts, English actress (b. 1926)
Jan 29th - Antonio Molina, composer, dies at 85
Jan 29th - Jimmy Durante, comedian (Palooka, Jimmy Durante Show), dies at 86
Jan 30th - Lil Dagover, actress (Destiny, Spiders), dies at 82
Jan 30th - Professor Longhair, king of New Orleans music, dies at 61
Jan 31st - J P Duminy, cricket (30 runs at 5 & 1 wkt at 39 in 3 Test S Af), dies
Feb 1st - Jack Bailey, TV host (Queen for a Day), dies at 72
Feb 1st - Romolo Valli, actor (Boom, La Viaccia), dies at 54
Feb 1st - Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (b. 1930)
Feb 2nd - William H Stein, US biochemist (Nobel 1972), dies at 68
Feb 7th - Ernst Kunz, composer, dies at 88
Feb 7th - Katherine Emery, actress (Maze, Isle of the Dead), dies at 73
Feb 7th - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)
Feb 8th - Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer (b. 1936)
Feb 9th - Antoine Pompe, Belgian architect, dies at 106
Feb 9th - Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and novelist (b. 1900)
Feb 12th - Floyd Taliaferro Alderson, actor (Crossing Trails), dies
Feb 12th - Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
Feb 13th - David Janssen, [Meyer], actor (Fugitive, Harry O), dies at 49
Feb 14th - Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
Feb 16th - Erich Hückel, German physicist (b. 1895)
Feb 17th - Graham Sutherland, painter, dies
Feb 17th - Jerry Fielding, composer (Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes), dies at 57
Feb 18th - Gale Robbins, actress (Fuller Brush Girl, Mr Hex), dies at 58
Feb 19th - Bon Scott, Aust rock vocalist (AC/DC-Whole Lotta Rosie), dies at 33
Feb 20th - Alice Longworth Roosevelt, youngest daughter of Theodore, dies at 96
Feb 21st - Chester H Lauck, actor (2 Weeks to Live, Goin' to Town), dies at 78
Feb 22nd - Alfred Andersch, German writer (Red Head), dies at 66
Feb 22nd - Oskar Kokoschka, Austria/British painter/graphic artist, dies at 93
Feb 22nd - Richard Kallman, actor (Verboten, Hell Canyon Outlaws), dies at 46
Feb 23rd - Robert Vandekerckhove, Belgian politician, dies at 62
Feb 27th - George Tobias, actor (Abner Kravitz-Bewitched), dies at 78
Feb 28th - Ian Alexander Ross Peebles, cricketer (45 wkts for England), dies
Feb 29th - Yigol Alton, Israeli Foreign Minister, dies at 61
Feb 29th - Gil Elvgren, American artist (b. 1914)
Mar 1st - John Jacob Niles, composer, dies at 87
Mar 1st - Dixie Dean, English footballer (b. 1907)
Mar 1st - Wilhelmina, high-fashion model and owner of model agency (b. 1940)
Mar 5th - Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (Tonto-Lone Ranger), dies at 60
Mar 5th - Winifred Wagner-William, German World Festival organizer, dies at 82
Mar 9th - Olga Chekova, actress (Moulin Rouge, Pawns of Possession), dies at 82
Mar 10th - Herman Tarnower, doctor (Scarsdale Diet), killed by Jean Harris
Mar 12th - Arthur Charles Dobson, British racing driver (b. 1914)
Mar 13th - Tauno Kullerve Pylkkanen, composer, dies at 61
Mar 14th - Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician (b. 1902)
Mar 16th - Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
Mar 17th - Rudolf G Escher, Dutch composer (Vrai Visage de la Paix), dies at 68
Mar 18th - Erich Fromm, German/US psychoanalyst, dies at 79
Mar 18th - Herman Griffith, cricketer (13 Tests for WI, 44 wickets), dies
Mar 21st - Gideon Fagan, composer, dies at 75
Mar 21st - Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (b. 1888)
Mar 23rd - Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist (b. 1928)
Mar 24th - Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, murdered during mass
Mar 25th - Roland Barthes, French literary critic and writer (b. 1915)
Mar 25th - Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist (b. 1901)
Mar 25th - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (b. 1913)
Mar 25th - James Wright, American poet (b. 1927)
Mar 26th - Jon-Jon Poulos, rocker (Buckinghams), dies from drugs at 32
Mar 28th - Dick Haymes, actor (Real Life, Betrayal), dies
Mar 28th - Jesse Owens, (Oly-gold-36), dies at the age of 66
Mar 29th - ... Mantovani, orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 74
Mar 31st - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
Apr 2nd - Dick Howorth, cricketer (Engld slow lefty all-rounder late 40's), dies
Apr 3rd - Luella Gear, actress (Joe & Mabel), dies at 82
Apr 4th - Red Sovine, American country music singer (b. 1917)
Apr 9th - Kathleen Burke, dies
Apr 10th - Kay Medford, actress (Dean Martin Show, To Rome With Love), dies at 65
Apr 11th - Charlotte Henry, dies
Apr 11th - Florence Lake, dies
Apr 12th - Stanley De Silva, cricketer (motor bike Sri Lanka '79 World Cup), dies
Apr 12th - William R Tolbert Jr, Liberian President & 27 others killed in coup
Apr 12th - Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards and snooker player (b. 1895)
Apr 13th - Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1956)
Apr 14th - Tom Fadden, actor (Duffeild-Broken Arrow, Cimarron City), dies at 84
Writer Jean-Paul Sartre (Apr 15th) Apr 15th - Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist philosopher and writer (Nobel 1964), dies in Paris at 74