WORLD HISTORY · 1980 日本語
Events of 1980Showa 55 (Japan) · Year of the Monkey
What happened in 1980?
In 1980, Japan decided not to take part in the Moscow Olympics, and Prime Minister Ohira Masayoshi died suddenly during an election campaign. Around the world, the WHO declared smallpox eradicated, and the Gwangju Uprising took place in South Korea.
- Government tells Olympic committee Japan will skip MoscowEurope
- WHO declares smallpox eradicatedWorld
- Gwangju Uprising in South KoreaAsia
- Prime Minister Ohira dies during double electionAsia
- Suzuki Zenko cabinet formedAsia
- Moscow Olympics open without Japan, U.S., ChinaAsia
- Strike breaks out at Gdansk shipyardEurope
- Japan becomes world's top car producerAsia
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
1980 at a glance
| Japanese era | Showa 55 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Monkey |
| Age of people born in 1980 | Turn 46 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 1979 (Showa 54) ／ 1981 (Showa 56) |
| Events | 109 |
| AP World History | Unit 8 (Cold War and Decolonization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 1980
Our birthday pages list 887 people born in 1980. Here are some of them.
- Jake GyllenhaalBorn December 19 · turns 46 this year · American actor known for intense, committed performances in films such as Donni…
- Albert PujolsBorn January 16 · turns 46 this year · Dominican-born MLB slugger who won two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinal…
- Lin-Manuel MirandaBorn January 16 · turns 46 this year · American composer, lyricist, and performer who created the Broadway musicals In…
- Venus WilliamsBorn June 17 · turns 46 this year · American tennis star who has won five Wimbledon singles titles and four Olympic…
- Maaya SakamotoBorn March 31 · turns 46 this year
- Satoshi OhnoBorn November 26 · turns 46 this year
- Daisuke MatsuzakaBorn September 13 · turns 46 this year
- Ryan GoslingBorn November 12 · turns 46 this year
- Pete HegsethBorn June 6 · turns 46 this year
- Macaulay CulkinBorn August 26 · turns 46 this year
- RonaldinhoBorn March 21 · turns 46 this year
- Tetsuji TamayamaBorn April 7 · turns 46 this year
Show 28 more
- Yasuhito EndōBorn January 28 · turns 46 this year
- Brett GoldsteinBorn July 17 · turns 46 this year
- Minka KellyBorn June 24 · turns 46 this year
- Enzo MarescaBorn February 10 · turns 46 this year
- Kristen BellBorn July 18 · turns 46 this year
- Sarah ShahiBorn January 10 · turns 46 this year
- Elin NordegrenBorn January 1 · turns 46 this year
- David GyasiBorn January 2 · turns 46 this year
- Kemi BadenochBorn January 2 · turns 46 this year
- Angela RuggieroBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- Bryan ClayBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- David TyreeBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- Eli CraneBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- Kurt VileBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- Mary WinebergBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- Telly LeungBorn January 3 · turns 46 this year
- D'Arcy CardenBorn January 4 · turns 46 this year
- Justin OntongBorn January 4 · turns 46 this year
- Miguel MonteiroBorn January 4 · turns 46 this year
- Brad MeyersBorn January 5 · turns 46 this year
- Luke BaileyBorn January 5 · turns 46 this year
- Reece SimmondsBorn January 7 · turns 46 this year
- Sam RileyBorn January 8 · turns 46 this year
- Francisco PavónBorn January 9 · turns 46 this year
- Luke PattenBorn January 9 · turns 46 this year
- Sergio GarcíaBorn January 9 · turns 46 this year
- Shaun HillBorn January 9 · turns 46 this year
- Édgar ÁlvarezBorn January 9 · turns 46 this year
Events of 1980 (timeline · 109)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
The New England Journal of Medicine publishes the letter Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics, which is later misused to downplay the general risk of addiction to opioids.
Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.
Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.
USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers makes NHL history as he scores his 800th goal.
Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, Poland, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.
A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
Cold War: American President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet–Afghan War.
Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
US Congress restores a federal trust relationship with the 501 members of the Shivwits, Kanosh, Koosharem, and the Indian Peaks and Cedar City bands of the Paiute people of Utah.
The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture.
Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed.
Canadian runner and athlete Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope Run in St. John's, NF
The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.
Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
One hundred forty-six people are killed when Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes near Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana.
Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.
In Norco, California, United States, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
In Florida, United States, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 430-meter (1,400 ft) section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 46 metres (150 ft) into the water and die.
An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
Salvadoran Civil War: The Sumpul River massacre occurs in Chalatenango, El Salvador.
Rioting breaks out in downtown Miami, following the acquittal of four white police officers in the killing of Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance salesman.
General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
Rioting spreads to Miami's mostly African-American neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City following the previous day's courthouse protests.
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, with 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
The Shining, the psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, is premiered on 10 screens in New York City and Los Angeles on the Memorial Day weekend.
The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, United States, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $1172 million in 2025) worth of damage.
The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela.
The 'Ustica massacre': Itavia Flight 870 crashes in the sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board.
Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980).
During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre.
The inaugural 1980 State of Origin game is won by Queensland who defeat New South Wales 20–10 at Lang Park.
Aeroflot Flight 4225 crashes near Almaty International Airport in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (present day Kazakhstan), killing all 166 people on board.
Phạm Tuân becomes the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian in space when he flies aboard the Soyuz 37 mission as an Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut.
The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the swimming event at Olympic level.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state.
A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200.
Otłoczyn railway accident: In Poland's worst post-war railway accident, 67 people lose their lives and a further 62 are injured.
Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people.
The last performance of the Jahrhundertring at the Bayreuth Festival receives ovations of 45 minutes.
After John Birges plants a bomb at Harvey's Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, in the United States, the FBI inadvertently detonates the bomb during its disarming.
South Korean presidential election: After successfully staging the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, General Chun Doo-hwan, running unopposed, has the National Conference for Unification elect him President of the Fourth Republic of Korea.
The Gotthard Road Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) stretching from Göschenen to Airolo.
A new constitution of Chile is established under the influence of then Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, which is subject to controversy in Chile today.
Florida Commuter Airlines Flight 65 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off West End, Bahamas, killing 34 people.
The 43rd government of Turkey is overthrown in a coup d'état led by General Kenan Evren.
After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
A fuel leak from a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile at a USAF base near Damascus, Arkansas, results in an explosion in a missile silo, killing one person and injuring 21 others.
A terrorist bombing at the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, kills 13 people and injures 213 others.
Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.
Pope John Paul II greets the Dalai Lama during a private audience in Vatican City.
The 7.1 Mw El Asnam earthquake shakes northern Algeria, killing 2,633 and injuring 8,369.
The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party ended, having anointed North Korean President Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il as his successor.
As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican.
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude.
The Chun Doo-hwan government forcibly arrests and investigates monks and personnel of the Jogye Order.
Demonstration flight of a secretly modified C-130 for an Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt ends in a crash landing at Eglin Air Force Base's Duke Field, Florida, leading to the cancellation of Operation Credible Sport.
El Salvador and Honduras agree to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.
A Latin Carga Convair CV-880 crashes at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela, killing four.
Ronald Reagan is elected as the 40th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings.
Lake Peigneur in Louisiana drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole.
A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-five people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
The 6.9 Mw Irpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 2,483–4,900, and injuring 7,700–8,934.
Sangoulé Lamizana, president of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Colonel Saye Zerbo.
Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid: The bulk of the Iraqi Navy is destroyed by the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf. (Commemorated in Iran as Navy Day.)
Salvadoran Civil War: Four American missionaries are raped and murdered by a death squad.
John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell".
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 1980 in the Japanese calendar?
1980 was Showa 55 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1980?
1980 is the Year of the Monkey.
How old is someone born in 1980?
They turn 46 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 1980?
In 1980, Japan decided not to take part in the Moscow Olympics, and Prime Minister Ohira Masayoshi died suddenly during an election campaign. Around the world, the WHO declared smallpox eradicated, and the Gwangju Uprising took place in South Korea.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.