1980 History, Fun Facts and Trivia

Quick Facts from 1980:

• The Miracle On Ice: At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, the US men’s hockey team amazed the world (and themselves) by beating the Soviet Union.
• The Top Song was Lady by Kenny Rogers
• The Movies to Watch include Airplane!, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Flash Gordon, The Elephant Man, The Blues Brothers, The Shining and The Empire Strikes Back
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably John Lennon
• Notable books include: Cosmos by Carl Sagan and The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
• Price of a loaf of bread in 1980: 50 cents
  Price of a gallon of gas in 1980: $1.22
  Etch-A-Sketch: $4.97
  Rubick’s Cube: $9.99
• The Comeback Funny Guy was: Redd Foxx
  The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
  The Funny Duo were: Cheech and Chong
• The Conversation: Who Shot J.R, on CBS-TV’s Dallas?

“The Quotes:”
“Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon? “
-Grey Poupon

“Who Shot JR?”
– Fans of CBS’s Dallas television series

“Here’s Johnny!”
– Jack Nicholson, in The Shining

“You dipstick”
– Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard

Striker: “Surely you can’t be serious?!”
Rumack: “I am serious… and don’t call me Shirley.”
– Robert Hays and Leslie Nielsen, in Airplane!

“No, I am your father” (NOT Luke, I am your father)
-Darth Vader, to a surprised Luke Skywalker

“Do you believe in miracles? YES!”
– Sportscaster Al Michaels, after The Miracle On Ice

“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a miracle…It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!”
– Bill Murray, in ‘Caddyshack’

1980 Deaths:
On May 18, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, killing 57 people.

Mark David Chapman shot and killed former Beatles member John Lennon, outside Lennon’s residence at the Dakota, in NYC.

Ian Curtis, singer-songwriter of acclaimed English post-punk band Joy Division hanged himself in his kitchen. His bandmates later formed the band New Order.

AC/DC frontman Bon Scott died after a night of heavy drinking in London.

Dorothy Stratten, the 1980 Playboy Playmate of the Year, was murdered by estranged husband Paul Leslie Snider, who then committed suicide.

The Pennsylvania Lottery was rigged by six men including the host of the live TV drawing, Nick Perry.

The Killer Clown (John Wayne Gacy Jr.) sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys and young men between 1972 and 1978.

Philadelphia Crime Boss Angelo Bruno was shot and killed while in his car in front of his home at the intersection of 10th Street and Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia.

The Washington Post published Janet Cooke’s story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict, later proven to be fabricated. She won a Pulitzer Prize for the story.

World News:
The Iran-Iraq war began in September when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered his forces to invade Western Iran. Over 1,000,000 people were killed by the time a cease-fire was agreed in 1988.

Robert Mugabe was elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

On January 6, The Global Positioning System time epoch began at 00:00 UTC. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provides geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth.

On May 8, the global eradication of smallpox was certified by the World Health Organization.

Miracle On Ice: The United States Olympic ice hockey team amazed the world at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics on February 22nd when they beat the Soviet national team. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the “Miracle on Ice” the top sports moment of the 20th century.

President Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771, which required 18- to 25-year-old American males to register for a peacetime military draft.

A severe summer heatwave in Southern US Caused over 1,100 deaths.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) superfund law passed by the US Congress.

30% of United States car sales were imported.

Tim Berners-Lee began his work on ENQUIRE, the system that will eventually lead to his creation of the World Wide Web in 1990.

Abscam: FBI personnel target members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation. 7 members of the US House of representatives and 4 Philadelphia area politicians were convicted of bribery.

Pop Culture Facts & History:
A computer modem invented.

The album Back in Black, one of the Top 10 best-selling albums of all-time, was released by the Australian band AC/DC.

Video Games became popular with Pac-Man, Battlezone, Missile Command, Space Panic, Zork I and Olympic Decathlon. Electronic Games hosted the first Arcade Awards, the first video game awards ceremony, with Space Invaders winning the Game of the Year Award.

Erno Rubik patented his “Magic Cube” in Hungary in 1975. Debuting at The British Toy and Hobby Fair in January, by May 1980, it became a worldwide sensation.

There has been some debate about 3M’s Post-it notes. The product was used in a test marketing campaign in 1978 as ‘Post N Peel’, and sold nationally in 1980 as ‘Post-it Notes.’ New products are in ‘test mode’ all the time. Created in 1975 by Spencer Silver and Art Fry, we say they went on sale in 1980.

Whole Foods was founded in Austin, Texas.

CNN began broadcasting from Atlanta, Georgia.

Launched in 1977, The Voyager 1 probe confirmed the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.

The United States lead a boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics to protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 82 countries boycott the Games, athletes from 16 of them participate under a neutral flag.

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals, 4–1, in Game Six of the World Series to win the World Series Championship.

According to the 1980 United States Census, there are 226,545,805 United States residents.

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1980: $222,000

1980 Billboard Number One Songs
December 22, 1979 – January 4, 1980:
Escape (The Pina Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes

January 5 – January 18:
Please Don’t Go – KC and the Sunshine Band

January 19 – February 15:
Rock With You – Michael Jackson

February 16 – February 22:
Do That To Me One More Time – Captain & Tennille

February 23 – March 21:
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen

March 22 – April 18:
Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) – Pink Floyd

April 19 – May 30:
Call Me – Blondie

May 31 – June 27:
Funkytown – Lipps Inc.

June 28 – July 18:
Coming Up (Live At Glasgow) – Paul McCartney & Wings

July 19 – August 1:
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me – Billy Joel

August 2 – August 29:
Magic – Olivia Newton-John

August 30 – September 5:
Sailing – Christopher Cross

September 6 – October 3:
Upside Down – Diana Ross

October 4 – October 24:
Another One Bites the Dust – Queen

October 25 – November 14:
Woman in Love – Barbra Streisand

November 15 – December 26:
Lady – Kenny Rogers

December 27, 1980 – January 30, 1981:
(Just Like) Starting Over – John Lennon