MultiEducator · The 20th Century Almanac
HistoryCentral Est. 1996
8020th C.
1980
The 20th Century Almanac · The Eighties

1980

Major Events · Sports · Music · Screen · Prizes

Solidarity strikes erupted in Poland's Gdansk shipyards, Iraq invaded Iran to ignite a brutal eight-year war, and Yugoslavia's Tito died. Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, John Lennon was murdered in New York, and Ordinary People won Best Picture.

A Year in Review
Best Picture
Ordinary People
Nobel · Literature
Milosz
World Series
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Kansas City Ro
No. 1 Song
Please Don't Go
Top TV
Academy · Actor
Robert DeNiro

Major Events of 1980

5 events
Strikes accross PolandGang of four goes on trialLibyan troops intervene in Chad Civil WarIran-Iraq War breaks outLeftists seize embassy in Colombia

Sports Highlights

Champions of 1980

Champions

NBALos Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers Series: 4-2
NCAA FootballGeorgia Record: 12-0-0
Heisman TrophyGeorge Rogers, south carolina, RB points: 1,128
Stanley CupNew York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers Series: 4-2 Super Bowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. LA Rams Score: 31-19 US Open Golf: Jack Nicklaus Score: 272 Course: Baltusrol GC Location: Springfield, NJ
World SeriesPhiladelphia Phillies vs. Kansas City Royals Series: 4-2 1980 Olympic Games

Top Music of 1980

The year on the charts

Top Songs

  1. Please Don't Go KC & the Sunshine Band
  2. Rock With You Michael Jackson
  3. Do That to Me One More Time The Captain and Tennille
  4. Crazy Little Thing Called Love Queen
  5. Another Brick in the Wall Pink Floyd
  6. Call Me Blondie
  7. Funkytown Lipps, Inc
  8. Coming Up Paul McCartney
  9. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me Billy Joel
  10. Magic Christopher Cross

Grammy Awards

Record of the Year
"Sailing" ... Christopher Cross Best Song; "Sailing" ... Christopher Cross Best Album: Christopher Cross ... "Christopher Cross" Male Vocalist: Kenny Loggins ... "This Is It" Female Vocalist: Bette Midler ... "The Rose"

Screen & Television

At the box office & on the air

Top Movies

  1. Airplane
  2. All That Jazz
  3. The Black Stallion
  4. The Blue Lagoon
  5. The Blues Brothers
  6. Brubaker
  7. Caddyshack
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Cheech and Chong's Next Movie
  10. Coal Miner's Daughter Most Popular Books Fiction

Academy Awards

Honoring 1980
Best Picture
Ordinary People
Best Director
Robert Redford
Ordinary People
Best Actor
Robert DeNiro
Raging Bull
Best Actress
Sissy Spacek
Coal Miner's Daughter

Nobel & Pulitzer Prizes

The year in letters & science

Nobel Prizes

Chemistry
The prize was divided, one half being awarded to: BERG, PAUL, U.S.A., Stanford University, Stanford, CA, b. 1926: "for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA"; and the other h
Literature
MILOSZ, CZESLAW, U.S.A., and Poland, b. 1911 (in Seteiniai, Lithuania): "who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts"
Peace
ESQUIVEL, ADOLFO PEREZ, Argentina, b. 1931: architect, sculptor and human rights leader
Physiology or Medicine
The prize was awarded jointly to: BENACERRAF, BARUJ, U.S.A., Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, b. 1920 (Caracas, Venezuela); DAUSSET, JEAN, France, Universite de Paris, Laboratoire Immuno-Hematologi, Paris, b. 1916; and SNELL, GEORGE D.,
Physics
The prize was divided equally between: CRONIN, JAMES, W., U.S.A., University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, b. 1931; and FITCH, VAL L., U.S.A., Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, b. 1923: "for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry

Pulitzer Prizes

Drama
Lanford Wilson ... "Talley's Folly"
Fiction
Norman Mailer ... "The Executioner's Song"
History
Leon F. Litwack ... "Been in the Storm So Long" International Reporting: Joel Brinkley ... "Louisville Courier-Journal" National Reporting: Bette Swenson Orsini & Charles Stafford ... "St. Petersburg (FL) Times"
Public Service
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