| |
|
1980 |
| January 4th |
 |
United
States President Jimmy Carter, supported by the European Commission,
declared a grain embargo against the Soviet Union, in response
to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. |
|
| January 9th |
|
In
Saudi Arabia, 63 Muslim fanatics were beheaded for their part
in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November 1979. |
|
| January 22nd |
|
In
Russia, scientist and human right activist Andrei Sakharov was
arrested in Moscow. |
|
| January 26th |
|
In
the Middle-East, Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations. |
|
| February
4th |
|
In
Tehran, Iran, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini named Abolhassan
Banisadr the President of Iran. |
|
| February
23rd |
|
In
Tehran, Iran, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stated that Iran's
parliament would decide the fate of the American embassy hostages. |
|
| March
1st |
|
NASA's
Voyager 1 probe confirmed the existence of Janus, a moon of
Saturn. |
|
| March 3rd |
|
In
Canada, Pierre Trudeau returned to office as Prime Minister
of Canada. |
|
| March 4th |
|
In
Zimbabwe, Africa, black majority rule was established in Zimbabwe,
formally known as Rhodesia. Robert Mugabe was elected as the
Prime Minister. |
|
| March
18th |
|
In
Russia, 50 people were killed at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome when
a Vostok-2M rocket exploded on the launch pad during a fueling
operation. |
|
| March 20th |
|
In
Britain, the famous pirate radio station Radio Caroline sank. |
|
| March 21st |
|
In
the United States, President Jimmy Carter announced that the
United States would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow,
in another response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in
1979. |
|
| March 24th |
|
Australia
Olympic Committee announced it would send an Olympic delegation
to Moscow, despite objections by the Prime Minister Malcolm
Fraser. |
|
| March 27th |
|
In
the North Sea, the Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland
collapsed and killed 123 of its crew of 212. |
|
| March 31st |
|
In
the United States, the legendary American athlete Jesse Owens
died. Owens was the hero of the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Nazi
Germany, watched by Adolf Hitler. |
|
| April 7th |
|
The
United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran and imposed
economic sanctions in response for the taking of the American
embassy hostages on November 4th 1979. |
|
| April 10th |
|
In
Europe, United Kingdom and Spain agreed to reopen the border
between Gibraltar and Spain, which had been closed in 1969. |
|
| April 18th |
|
In
Africa, Zimbabwe gained its independence from the Britain. Robert
Mugabe took his post as the Prime Minister. |
|
| April 21st |
|
In
the United States, Rosie Ruiz won the Boston Marathon, but was
later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award. |
|
April
24th - 25th |
|
In
Iran, Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission to rescue the
American embassy hostages, was aborted after mechanical problems
grounded the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops
were killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation. |
|
| April 30th |
|
In
Britain, the Iranian embassy siege began. Six Iranian born terrorists
took over Iranian embassy in Knightsbridge, London. The terrorists
seizied the building and hostages. |
|
| May 4th |
|
In
Yugoslavia, President Tito died. Tito was a partisan leader
during World War II in the fight against the Nazis. He became
President of Yugoslavia at its conception in 1948. |
|
| May 5th |
|
In
London the Iranian embassy siege ended. British special forces,
the SAS, stormed and retook the Iranian embassy in Knightsbridge
in front of the world's media. Five of the Iranian born terrorists
were killed and one terrorist survived. |
|
| May 7th |
|
In
the United States, Paul Geidel, who was convicted of second-degree
murder in 1911, was released from prison in Beacon, New York.
Geidel served 68 years and 245 days in prison, which was to
date the record of prison time served by an inmate. |
|
| May 9th |
|
In
Florida, a Liberian freighter named the Summit Venture hits
the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay sending 35 people
(most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot
section of the bridge collapsed. |
|
| May 18th |
|
In
the United States, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington. The
eruption killed 57 people and causws nearly US$3 billion in
damage. |
|
| May 24th |
|
The
International Court of Justice called for the release of the
American embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran. The hostages had
been held since November 4th 1979. |
|
| May 26th |
|
In
South Korea, military government forces and pro-democracy protesters
clashed. 2000 demonstrators were killed. |
|
| June 10th |
|
In
the United States, a 'Unabomber' bomb injured Percy Wood. Wood
was the President of the United Airlines in Lake Forest, Illinois. |
|
| June 19th |
|
In
Iraq, Iraqi security forces shoot dead three gunmen who attacked
the British embassy in Baghdad. The unknown attackers were killed
in the embassy gardens by Iraqi security men, sent at the urgent
request of the British ambassador, Alex Stirling. |
|
| June 23rd |
|
Sanjay
Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, died in an air crash. |
|
| June 25th |
|
Muslim
Brotherhood assassination attempt against Syrian President Hafez
al-Assad failed. Assad retaliated and sent the army against
them. |
|
| July 9th |
|
In
Brazil, South America, on a visit by Pope John Paul II, 7 people
were crushed to death in the crowd that greeted him. |
|
| July 19th |
|
In
Turkey, the former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim was assassinated
by two gunmen in Istanbul. |
|
| July 19th |
|
In
the Soviet Union, the Summer Olympic Games began in Moscow.
Many western countries boycotted the event as a political statement
in response to Soviet aggression and the invasion of Afghanistan
in 1979. The games ended on August 3rd. |
|
| July 24th |
|
The
English actor and comedian Peter Sellers died. Famous for many
film roles, including the 'Cold War' spoof 'Dr. Strangelove',
when Sellers played three different characters. |
|
| August 2nd |
|
In
Italy, a terrorist bomb was exploded at a railway station in
Bologna, which killed 85 and wounded over 200 people. |
|
| August 14th |
|
In
Poland, Lech Walesa, an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in
Gdañsk, led the first strike that challenged the Polish
communist government. |
|
| August 17th |
|
In
Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from a campsite
at Ayers Rock (Uluru). The baby was thought to have been taken
by a dingo. |
|
| September
17th |
|
In
Poland, Solidarity (Solidarnosc) trade union was founded in
Poland after weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdañsk.
The electrician, Lech Walesa, became the leader of the Solidarity
(Solidarnosc) trade union. Strikers opposed the Soviet backed
Polish communist government. |
|
| September
22nd |
|
In
the Middle-East, the Iran-Iraq war erupted. The command council
of Iraq ordered its army to attack Iranian military targets.
|
|
| October 27th |
|
In
Northern Ireland, 6 IRA prisoners, including Bobby Sands, in
the Maze prison demanded political prisoner status. The prisoners
started a hunger strike to force the change of status. |
|
| October 30th |
|
In
Central America, El Salvador and Honduras signed a peace treaty
to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's 'Football War'
before the International Court of Justice. |
|
| October 31st |
|
The
communist Polish government recognised Solidarity (Solidarnosc)
as a trade union. Lech Walesa, an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard
in Gdañsk was the trade union's leader. |
|
| October 31st |
|
Mohammad
Reza Shah, eldest son of the late shah of Iran, proclaimed himself
the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne. |
|
| November
4th |
|
In
the U.S. Presidential election, the Republican challenger, former
Governor of California and ex-Hollywood film star Ronald Reagan,
defeated Democrat President Jimmy Carter by a wide margin exactly
one year after the start of the Iran hostage crisis. Reagan
was elected President by the largest margin since the election
of 1932. |
|
| November
12th |
|
NASA's
space probe Voyager I made its closest approach to Saturn when
it flew within 77,000 miles of the planet's cloud-tops and sent
the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists
on Earth. |
|
| November
20th |
|
In
the People's Republic of China, the trial of the Gang of Four
began. |
|
| November
21st |
|
In
the United States, a serious fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and
Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada killed 87 people. |
|
| December
8th |
|
In
the United States, musician, composer and ex-Beatle John Lennon
was shot outside the Daykota building, his New York apartment,
by crazed fan Mark Chapman. |
|
| December
16th |
|
During
a summit on the island of Bali, the OPEC decided to raise the
price of petroleum by 10%. |
|
| |
|
World
Health Organisation announced the eradication of smallpox disease. |
|
| |
|
CNN
(Cable News Network) was founded. The 24 hour news channel,
based in Atlanta, Georgia, was the creation of Ted Turner. |
|
| |
|
The
Stealth Bomber was announced in the United States. |
|
| |
|
The
computer revolution began. |
|
| |
|
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