Explore 5094 historical events from 1980–1989.
Beatrix is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is inaugurated as Queen of the Netherlands following the abdication of Juliana
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy on Prince's Gate in South Kensington, London.
The Iranian Embassy siege begins in London
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy on Prince's Gate in South Kensington, London.
Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege
The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The refe…
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, with 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independe
Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN) is an American multinational news media company and the flagship namesake property of CNN Worldwide, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Foun…
Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is head…
The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox
Florida is a state in the Southeastern and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia to the north, t…
In Florida, United States, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay,
Norco is a city in northwestern Riverside County, California, United States. Located roughly 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean, Norco is known as "Horsetown, USA" and …
In Norco, California, United States, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out
The Fujita scale, or Fujita–Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The of…
An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan
"O Canada" is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony…
"O Canada" officially becomes the national anthem of Canada.
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one milli…
During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre.
Phạm Tuân is a retired Vietnamese Air Force fighter pilot and cosmonaut. He became the first Vietnamese cosmonaut, and the first person of Asian origin to be in space when he was l…
Phạm Tuân becomes the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian in space when he flies aboard the Soyuz 37 mission…
The national flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a tricolour of equal horizontal bands of green, white, and red, featuring the Islamic emblem in red centred on the white band, …
Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution.
The Salvadoran Civil War was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador, backed by the United States, and the Farabundo Martí Nati…
Salvadoran Civil War: the Sumpul River massacre occurs in Chalatenango, El Salvador
Chun Doo-hwan was a South Korean army general who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. A member of the Democratic Justice Party, he ruled the country as …
General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress stud
Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial…
On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town
The 1980 Miami riots were race riots that occurred in Miami, Florida, United States, starting in earnest on May 18, 1980, following an all-White male jury acquitting five white Dad…
Rioting breaks out in downtown Miami, following the acquittal of four white police officers in the killing of Arthur McD
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It lies 52 miles (83 km) northeast of Port…
Mount St
Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu, is an archipelagic country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 km (…
Vanuatu gains independence.
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel.
Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.
The Buttevant Rail Disaster was a train crash that occurred on 1 August 1980 at Buttevant Railway Station, County Cork, in Ireland, 220 kilometres (137 mi) from Dublin on the main …
A train crash kills 18 people and injures over 170 more in County Cork, Ireland.
The Gwangju Uprising, also known in South Korea as May 18 Democratization Movement, was a series of student-led demonstrations that took place in Gwangju, South Korea, in May 1980,…
Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms
The 1980 Miami riots were race riots that occurred in Miami, Florida, United States, starting in earnest on May 18, 1980, following an all-White male jury acquitting five white Dad…
Rioting spreads to Miami's mostly African-American neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City following the previous day
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. It is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel and st…
The Shining, the psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, is premiered on 10 screens in New York City and