WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO DECEMBER 1980
Find out what all happened April to December 1980

A train crash kills 18 people in County Cork, Ireland. (1. August 1980)

Military coup in Turkey. (12. September 1980)

Vanuatu gains independence. (30. July 1980)

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage. (18. May 1980)

Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man. (22. May 1980)

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

Iraq invades Iran. (22. September 1980)

The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture. (9. April 1980)

Zimbabwe joins the United Nations. (25. August 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)

The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak. Seven tornadoes hit Grand Island, Nebraska, which take five lives, 357 single-family homes, 33 mobile homes, 85 apartments, 49 businesses and cause $300 million in damages all told, according to statistics compiled on the deadly storm by the National Weather Service and the American Red Cross. (3. June 1980)

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

John Lennon is murdered by a deranged fan in front of The Dakota in New York City. (8. December 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)

United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act in an effort to help the U.S. economy rebound. (2. April 1980)

During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre. (7. July 1980)

Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope ends near Thunder Bay, Ontario. (1. September 1980)

The Montevideo Treaty, establishing the Latin American Integration Association, is signed. (12. August 1980)

Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole. (20. November 1980)

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