WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO OCTOBER 1980
Find out what all happened January to October 1980

Vanuatu gains independence. (30. July 1980)

Azaria Chamberlain disappears, at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, probably taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicized trial in Australian history. (17. August 1980)

Voters approve a new Constitution of Chile, later amended after the departure of president Pinochet. (11. September 1980)

Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden. (1. January 1980)

Pope John Paul II shakes hands with the Dalai Lama during a private audience in Vatican City. (9. October 1980)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages. (23. February 1980)

Formation of the Irish Army Ranger Wing. (10. March 1980)

Demonstration flight of a secretly modified C-130 for an Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt ends in crash landing at Eglin Air Force Base's Duke Field, Florida leading to cancellation of Operation Credible Sport. (29. October 1980)

In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada. (20. May 1980)

Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting. (1. June 1980)

As part of the Holy See – United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican (17. October 1980)

A massive storm tears through western Wisconsin, causing US$160 million in damage. (15. July 1980)

The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup which is initiated by the bombing of the police station from an army ship off the coast of the nation's capital, Paramaribo (25. February 1980)

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state. (1. August 1980)

Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3. (22. February 1980)

Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria as hundreds of Berber political activists are arrested. (20. April 1980)

After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established. (17. September 1980)

General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations. (17. May 1980)

Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution. (29. July 1980)

An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area. (13. May 1980)