Information for the Year 1980

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  • Six US embassy aides escape from Iran with Canadian help (Jan. 29).
  • US breaks diplomatic ties with Iran (April 7).
  • Eight US servicemen are killed and five are injured as helicopter and cargo plane collide in abortive desert raid to rescue American hostages in Teheran (April 25).
  • Anastasio Somoza Debayle, ousted Nicaraguan ruler, and two aides are assassinated in Paraguayan capital of Asunción (Sept. 17).
  • Iraqi troops hold 90 square miles of Iran after invasion; 8-year Iran-Iraq War begins (Sept. 19).
  • Population:  4.453 billion
  • Nobel Peace Prize:  Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Argentina)
  • F.B.I.'s undercover operation "Abscam" (for Arab scam) implicates public officials (Feb. 2).
  • Ronald Reagan elected president in Republican sweep (Nov. 4).
  • President:  James Earl Carter, Jr.
  • Vice President:  Walter F. Mondale
  • Population:  227,224,681
  • Life expectancy:  73.7 years
  • US GDP (1998 dollars):  $2,784.20 billion
  • Federal spending:  $590.95 billion
  • Federal debt:  $909.1 billion
  • Median Household Income(current dollars):$17,710
  • Consumer Price Index:   82.4
  • Unemployment:  7.1%
  • Cost of a first-class stamp:  $0.15
  • Super Bowl  Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams( SCORE 31-19)
  • World Series of Baseball  Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals
  • National Basketball Association Championship  LA Lakers defeated Philadelphia 76ers.
  • National Hockey League Stanley Cup  New York Islanders defeated Philadelphia Flyers.
  • Women Wimbledon Tennis  Evonne Cawley defeated Chrissy Evert Lloyd (6-1 7-6)
  • Men Wimbledon Tennis  Bjorn Borg defeated J. McEnroe (1-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 8-6)
  • Kentucky Derby Horse Race Champion   Genuine Risk
  • National College Athletic Association Basketball Championship  Louisville defeated UCLA (SCORE 59-54)
  • National College Athletic Association Football Champions  Georgia (RECORD 12-0-0)
  • 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Russia (USSR)
  • 1980 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, New York (US)
  • John Lennon of the Beatles dies in New York City.
  • Ted Turner launches CNN, the first all-news network.
  • Mark Morris establishes the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York and is widely received as the most promising modern-dance choreographer of his generation.
  • Academy Award, Best Picture:  Kramer vs. Kramer
  • Grammy Award - Record of the Year  What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers
  • Emmy Award - Best Television Comedy  Taxi - ABC
  • Miss America:  Cheryl Prewitt (Mississippi)
  • Janice Brown, a 98-lb. former teacher, makes the first long-distance solar-powered flight in the Solar Challenger.
  • Voyager I reaches Saturn, returning data on its 14 moons as well as its more than 1,000 rings (November).
  • Philadelphia's Wistar Institute develops a new, less painful rabies vaccine.

 

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