Top 20 Things That Happened In 1980
Do you remember what you were doing in 1980? Here are twenty facts to stir your memory.
Get your quarters ready, kids: the Pac-Man arcade game is created.- Ronald Reagan is elected as President of the United States.
- The Rubiks cube is sold internationally and becomes on the world’s most popular toys.
- The Beatles’ John Lennon is shot to death in December of 1980 by Mark David Chapman outside of his New York apartment.
- United States–and 65 other countries–boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. It was a protest against the Soviet War in Pakistan in 1979.
- Dallas was one of the most popular television shows of the day and inspired the catchphrase “Who Shot J.R.?”
- A fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas killing 85 people.
- At 14-years-old Nigel Short was the youngest chess player to be deemed an International Master.
- Kramer vs. Kramer wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- 14-year-old Brooke Shields appeared in the controversial Calvin Klein commercial saying that nothing came between her and her Calvins. Something did though; television overlords had the commercial pulled.
- 52nd Street by Billy Joel wins a Grammy for Album of the Year.
- Richard Pryor burns himself freebasing cocaine.
- Led Zeppelin breaks up after drummer John Bonham dies.
- “Call Me” by Blondie was the #1 song of the year.
- In April of 1980, the “Post-It” note debuted throughout the United States by 3M.
- The First Persian Gulf War between Iran and Iraq starts and lasts 8 years.
- Mt. St. Helens in Washington state erupts, leading to 57 deaths and 3 billion dollars worth of damage.
- The five most popular movies of the year were The Shining, Stars Wars: Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, Caddyshack, and The Blues Brothers.
- U.S. news television station CNN is founded by media mogul Ted Turner. It is the first all news network.
- And last but not least…Phillies win the World Series!