Explore 1450 historical events from 1980–1989.
John Rayner Heppenstall was a British novelist, poet, diarist, and a BBC radio producer.
Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (born 1911)
George Albert "Georgie" Jessel was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and film producer. He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level…
George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (born 1898)
David Lewis was a Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1936 to 1950 and one of …
David Lewis, Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1909)
Herbert Müller Rebmann was a racing driver from Switzerland. He was born in Reinach and was nicknamed Stumpen-Herbie. Among other successes, he won the Targa Florio twice, in 1966 …
Herbert Müller, Swiss race car driver (born 1940)
Ruby Violet Payne-Scott was an Australian pioneer in radiophysics and radio astronomy.
Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (born 1912)
Fredric John Warburg was a British publisher, who in 1935 founded the company Secker & Warburg. He is best known for his association with the author George Orwell. During a career …
Fredric Warburg, English author and publisher (born 1898)
Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records. Williams wro…
Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (born 1910)
Stefan Wyszyński was a Polish Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Warsaw and Archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He previously served as Bishop of Lublin from 1…
Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (born 1901)
Nina Negri was an Argentine-French surrealist painter and engraver who was a part of the art studio Atelier 17.
Nina Negri, Argentine-French painter and engraver (born 1901)
Donald Allan Ashby was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was a centre for six seasons in the National Hockey League from 1975–76 until 1980–81.
Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1955)
Ziaur Rahman was a Bangladeshi military leader and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures …
Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (born 1936)
Carl Vinson was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for over 50 years and was influential in the 20th century expansion of the U.S. Navy. He was …
Carl Vinson, American lawyer and politician (born 1883)
Carleton Stevens Coon was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is best known for his scientific racist theories concerning the parallel ev…
Carleton S
Leslie Cecil Lloyd Averill was a New Zealand soldier who served during the First World War on the Western Front. After the war, he became a doctor and established a private practic…
Leslie Averill, New Zealand doctor and soldier (born 1897)
A five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland culminated in a hunger strike in 1981. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976 wh…
After a 66-day hunger strike, Irish republican Bobby Sands died of starvation in HM Prison Maze
Barbara Mary Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, was a British economist and writer interested in the problems of developing countries. She urged Western governments to share thei…
Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (born 1914)
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and o…
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats (performers pictured), opened at the New London Theatre
The Sinhalese people, also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group i…
An organized mob of police and government-sponsored Sinhalese paramilitary forces began three days of attacks that led t
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana t…
The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President
Elmore City is a town in Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. This town is 58 miles south of Oklahoma City. The population was 738 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 697 at…
The town of Elmore City, Oklahoma holds its first dance in the town's history
Operation Eagle Claw was a failed United States Department of Defense attempt to rescue 53 embassy staff held captive by Revolutionary Iran on 24 April 1980. It was ordered by U.S.…
Eight U
Dan-Air Flight 1008 was a fatal accident involving a Boeing 727-46 jet aircraft operated by Dan Air Services Limited on an chartered international passenger service from Manchester…
One hundred forty-six people are killed when Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes near Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, Canary Isl
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