WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO NOVEMBER 1980
Find out what all happened May to November 1980

The St. Gotthard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.224 km) stretching from Göschenen to Airolo. (5. September 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 Norco, California, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase. (9. May 1980)

Alexandra Palace burns down for a second time. (10. July 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)

"O Canada" officially becomes the national anthem of Canada. (1. July 1980)

Zimbabwe joins the United Nations. (25. August 1980)

A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). 87 people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history. (21. November 1980)

The eradication of smallpox is endorsed by the World Health Organization. (8. May 1980)

The United Nations Security Council votes 14-0 that member states should not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (20. July 1980)

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

On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru. (17. May 1980)

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs in the Algerian town of El Asnam. 3,500 die and 300,000 are left homeless. (10. October 1980)

Major General Chun Doo-hwan becomes President of South Korea, following the resignation of Choi Kyu-hah. (1. September 1980)

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

Italian Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 mysteriously explodes in mid air while in route from Bologna to Palermo, killing all 81 on board. Also known in Italy as the Ustica disaster (27. June 1980)

Princess Caroline of Monaco divorces Philippe Junot. (9. October 1980)

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

El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice. (30. October 1980)

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