1980 in history
Here are some light-hearted facts about 1980, designed to serve as a prep sheet for a radio feature on 1980.
I created this page because when I needed some notes to create a few talking points about 1980 in Ireland I couldn't find any suitable sources, so I thought I'd share what I did find. It applies to 1980 in Britain too.
You can also look at years other than 1980:
1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020
1980
Radio Caroline, the pirate radio station, was forced to cease transmission after MV Mi Amigo, the ship on which it is based, runs aground and sinks off the Thames Estuary.
Hercules - the famous bear which appeared on a number of TV programmes - went missing for a few days after filming a Kleenex advert in Scotland.
There was no music chart between February and October due to a strike involving the Musician's Union.
The sixpence coin was withdrawn from circulation in Britain.
We were still playing Space Invaders: it became the first game to sell a million copies. [NB: this wasn't the release; it was released a while before.]
The Olympic Games were held in Moscow.
After the death of drummer John Bonham, Led Zeppelin announced they would disband.
The Bank of Ireland introduced the "pass machine", which was able to provide basic services - it was Ireland's first ATM.
Margaret Thatcher made her "this lady's not for turning" speech. It was in response to concerns that her policies were responsible for the recession - good for audio
Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the US presidential election.
Angie Bowie divorced David Bowie after 9 years of marriage.
John Lennon was shot dead in New York. Thousands attended a 10-minute vigil in Liverpool.
1980 Launches
The Nintendo "Game & Watch" was launched. It had a screen which could either show you a game, or a clock.
The Rubiks Cube was introduced to the shops. Even under a worst-case scenario, no Rubik's Cube is further than 20 moves from being solved.
Post-It Notes were officially sold for the first time. They were printed on some spare paper which happened to be yellow.
Pac-Man, the best-selling arcade game of all time, was released.
The Ford Escort and Austin Metro were launched.
The Sony Walkman was introduced to the market.
Fax machines were made available on the market.
The first Dublin Marathon took place. 2,100 people took part and the winner was Dick Hooper, with his time of 2:16:14
1980 in Film
The Empire Strikes Back was the biggest film of the year. It gave us one of the most misquoted lines in movie history: "No, I am your father"
Airplane, Stir Crazy and The Shining (first epic horror film) were released.
1980 in TV
Big TV shows of the year (not premiers): M*A*S*H, Dallas, The Jeffersons and The Dukes of Hazzard.
Play Your Cards Right was launched with Bruce Forsyth - good for audio
The first Children in Need telethon was broadcast on BBC1. It raised about £1,300, which equates to about £70,000 in 2020.
Yes Minister, Taxi, Hi-de-Hi (set in Maplins) and Magnum P.I. all aired for the first time.
ITV ran 'An Audienc with Dame Edna Everage', which led to over 30 years of shows with this format.
The Irish children's show 'Anything Goes' made its debut.
It was the "Who shot J.R." episode of Dallas.
Cable News Network (CNN) was the world's first 24-hour news channel.
Johnny Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with the song What's Another Year.
While these facts about 1980 have been checked against third-party sources (and have been used on air before!), they are provided in good faith to inspire your research and no guarantee is made about their accuracy or their uniqueness. You can use the facts however you wish: most people just take a couple of points they remember and talk around then.
1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1985 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020