1980 in the United States

1980 in the United States
Years 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
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History of the United States (1980–91)

Events from the year 1980 in the United States.

Incumbents

Events

January

January 27: The Canadian Caper rescues six hostages from Iran

• January 1 – The comic strip The Far Side debuts in newspapers.
• January – The United States enters a minor recession spawned by the 1979 oil crisis; The Unemployment Rate rises to 6.3%.
• January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
• January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
• January 7 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation approving $1.5 billion in loan guarantees to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
• January 20 – Super Bowl XIV: The Pittsburgh Steelers become the first NFL franchise to win four Super Bowls, defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31–19 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
• January 24
  • The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad is ordered liquidated due to bankruptcy, and debt owed to creditors.
  • The 5.8 M_w Livermore earthquake shook the East Bay area of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). This first event in a doublet earthquake was followed two days later by a 5.4 M_w shock. Total financial losses from the events was $11.5 million.
• January 27 – Canadian caper: Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland.

February

February 13: The Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid

• February 2–3 – The New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot takes place; 33 inmates are killed and more than 100 inmates injured.
• February 2 – Abscam: FBI personnel target members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation.
• February 13 – The XIII Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.^[1]
• February 22 – The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the medal round of the Winter Olympics, in the Miracle on Ice.

April

April 15: The Mariel boatlift begins

April 24–25: Operation Eagle Claw fails to rescue the hostages in Iran

• April 1 – New York City's Transport Works Union Local 100 goes on strike, which continues for 11 days.
• 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 15 – A mass exodus of Cubans to the United States known as the Mariel boatlift begins. It ends on October 31 by agreement between the two countries.
• April 21 – Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
• 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 24 – Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal: the Pennsylvania Lottery is rigged by six men including the host of the live TV drawing, Nick Perry.

May

May 18: Mount St. Helens erupts

• May 7 – Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, is released from prison in Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days (the longest-ever time served by an inmate).
• May 9
  • James Alexander George Smith "Jags" McCartney the Turks and Caicos Islands’ first Chief Minister, was killed in a plane crash over New Jersey.
  • In Florida, the Liberian freighter 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 collapses.
• May 11 – Mobster Henry Hill is arrested for drug possession.
• May 16 – The Department of Education begins operations.
• May 17 – A Miami, Florida court acquits four white police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive, provoking three days of race riots.
• May 18 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage.
• May 21 – The Empire Strikes Back is released.
• May 22 – Pac-Man, the best-selling arcade game of all time, is released.
• May 24
  • The New York Islanders win their first Stanley Cup, from a goal by Bobby Nystrom in overtime of game six of the Stanley Cup playoffs' final round.
  • The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran.
• May 25 – Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins for a third time in car owner Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effect Chaparral car; the victory is Hall's second as an owner.
• May 29 – Vernon Jordan is shot and critically injured in an assassination attempt in Fort Wayne, Indiana by Joseph Paul Franklin (the first major news story for CNN).

July

July 16: Reagan is nominated as the Republican candidate for President

• July – The Unemployment Rate peaks at 7.8%, the highest in four years.
• July 15 – A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes four counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It causes over US$250 million in damage, and one person is killed.
• July 16 – Former California Governor and actor Ronald Reagan is nominated for U.S. President, at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long standing support for the Equal Rights Amendment, dismaying moderate Republicans.

November

November 4: Reagan defeats Carter in a landslide

• November 4 – United States presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California defeats incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter, exactly one year after the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis.
• November 8 – The 7.3 M_w Eureka earthquake shook the North Coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing six injuries and $2–2.75 million in losses.
• November 10 – November 12 – Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn, when it flies within 77,000 miles of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth.
• November 20 – A Texaco oil rig breaks through to a mine under Lake Peigneur.
• November 21
  • Millions of viewers tune into the U.S. soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J. R. Ewing. The "Who shot J. R.?" event is a national obsession.
  • MGM Grand fire: A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip kills 85 people.

December

December 8: The Dakota, where John Lennon was shot

• December 8
  • John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City.
  • The comic strip Bloom County debuts in newspapers.
• December 11 – CERCLA is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
• 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 26 – Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento," kills himself by overdose on San Quentin prison death row.

Births

• January 5 – Bennie Joppru, American football player
• January 16 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, playwright and composer
• January 17 – Zooey Deschanel, actress and musician
• January 24 – Rocky Boiman, American football player and sportscaster
• January 29 – Jason James Richter, actor
• February 11 – Matthew Lawrence, actor
• February 12 – Christina Ricci, actress
• February 21 – Justin Roiland, actor, animator, writer, producer, and director
• February 25 – Chris & Christy Knowings, twin actors
• March 2 – Edmund McMillen, video game designer
• March 7 – Laura Prepon, actress, director, and author
• March 26 – Son Ho-young, singer in (g.o.d)
• April 20 – Chris Duffy, baseball player
• May 11 – Kulap Vilaysack, actress, comedian, and writer
• June 17 – Venus Williams, tennis player^[2]
• June 23 – Melissa Rauch, actress and comedian
• July 7
  • Michelle Kwan, figure skater^[3]
  • Deidre Downs, model and physician, Miss America 2005
• July 10 - James Rolfe , Youtuber/Critic
• July 21 – Justin Griffith, American football player
• August 16 – Ryan Hanigan, baseball player
• August 26
  • Macaulay Culkin, actor
  • Chris Pine, actor
• September 3 – Caleb Miller, American football player
• September 9 – Michelle Williams, actress
• September 13 – Ben Savage, actor
• November 12 – Trent Acid, wrestler (d. 2010)
• November 15 – Ace Young, singer-songwriter and actor
• November 21 – Tim Lambesis, musician
• November 25 – Nick Swisher, baseball player
• December 21 – Royce Ring, baseball player
• December 30 – Eliza Dushku, actress and model

Deaths

• January 1- Pietro Nenni Italian politician (b. 1891)
• January 1- Frank Clifford Wykoff, sprinter (b. 1909)
• February 1- Jack Bailey TV host (Queen for a Day) (b. 1907)
• February 7- Ernst Kunz Swiss composer (b. 1933)
• February 20- Alice Longworth Roosevelt youngest daughter of Thedore Roosevelt dies at 96
• June 1 – Rube Marquard, baseball player and manager (b. 1886)
• August 14
  • Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model, actress, and murder victim, died in Los Angeles, California (b. 1960)
  • Paul Snider, Canadian murderer, died in Los Angeles, California (b. 1951)
• October 28 – Leon Janney, actor (b. 1917)
• November 7 – Steve McQueen, actor (b. 1930)
• November 29 – Dorothy Day, journalist and social activist (b. 1897)
• December 8 – John Lennon, British musician, singer, songwriter, and murder victim, died in New York City (b. 1940)
• December 26 – Richard Chase, serial killer (b. 1950)

See also

• 1980 in American television
• List of American films of 1980
• Timeline of United States history (1970–1989)

References

External links

• Media related to 1980 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons