1980
Solidarity strike at Gdansk
An electrician named Lech Walesa climbed over the fence of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk and joined a strike.
Iran-Iraq War begins
Saddam Hussein, calculating that revolutionary Iran was weak, sent his armies across the border into oil-rich Khuzestan.
Mount St. Helens erupts
After weeks of small quakes, the north face of a Washington State volcano gave way in the biggest landslide in recorded history and the mountain exploded…
Gwangju uprising
Students in the South Korean city of Gwangju rose against the military government of Chun Doo-hwan, who had seized power a few months earlier.
John Lennon shot
Outside the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West, a twenty-five-year-old fan who had stalked him for days shot John Lennon four times in the back…
Four American nuns killed in El Salvador
Four American Catholic missionaries were pulled over on a rural road, raped, and murdered by members of El Salvador's national guard, which was trained…
Rubik's Cube and Pac-Man launch
A small colored plastic puzzle invented by a Hungarian architecture professor and a yellow round-mouthed video game creature from a Namco studio in Japan…
Want 1980 in context? Print the whole 20th century as a one-sheet timeline chart.
Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1980?
Saeculum lists 7 events from 1980. The most significant is Solidarity strike at Gdansk: An electrician named Lech Walesa climbed over the fence of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk and joined a strike.
What era was 1980 part of?
1980 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1980?
The events from 1980 span Europe, Middle East, North America and East Asia.