1980
Post It Notes are introduced by 3-M.
John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman.
RU-486 the abortion pill is released in France.
CNN is launched for the first time.
Richard Pryor gets badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
Saddam Hussein launches war against Iran for close to a decade over oil rights.
Brook Shields whispers "You know what comes between me and my Calvin's?
Nothing." The ad was banned.
Black & Hispanic Barbie are introduced.
Led Zeppelins drummer, John Bonham, dies of asphyxiation after drinking binge.
Bob Dylan becomes a born again Christian.
Kurtis Blow is the first hip-hop artist to appear on national television.
He performs "The Break" on Soul Train in October.
Ordinary People wins Oscar for Best Movie.
Empire Strikes Back grosses 290 million at the box office. Security around
this movie was so tight that George Lucas had the character of Darth Vader
give fake ending to movie - "Obi Wan Kenobi is your father", and
later dubbed it to be "I am your father".
"Rappers Delight" by Sugarhill Gang was first rap act to have huge
International hit.
The hit film Urban Cowboy revives country music sales with the new "Nashville
Sound" of pop country tunes.
Dallas is the # 1 show.
TV Show That's Incredible popularizes the phrase "Don't Try This At Home".
US Hockey team beats Russia for the gold in Winter Olympics.
Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS, makes next to nothing on the deal.
7-Eleven introduces the "Big Gulp".
Major Events of 1980
Strikes accross Poland
Gang of four goes on trial
Libyan troops intervene in Chad Civil War
Iran-Iraq War breaks out
Leftists seize embassy in Colombia
Sports
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers Series: 4-2
NCAA Football: Georgia Record: 12-0-0
Heisman Trophy: George Rogers, south carolina, RB points: 1,128
Stanley Cup: New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers Series: 4-2
Super Bowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. LA Rams Score: 31-19
US Open Golf: Jack Nicklaus Score: 272 Course: Baltusrol GC Location: Springfield,
NJ
World Series: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Kansas City Royals Series: 4-2
1980 Olympic Games
Popular Music
1."Please Don't Go" ... KC & the Sunshine Band
2."Rock With You" ... Michael Jackson
3."Do That to Me One More Time" ... The Captain and Tennille
4."Crazy Little Thing Called Love" ... Queen
5."Another Brick in the Wall" ... Pink Floyd
6."Call Me" ... Blondie
7."Funkytown" ... Lipps, Inc.
8."Coming Up" ... Paul McCartney
9."It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" ... Billy Joel
10."Magic" ... Christopher Cross
Popular Movies
1. Airplane
2. All That Jazz
3. The Black Stallion
4. The Blue Lagoon
5. The Blues Brothers
6. Brubaker
7. Caddyshack
8. Chapter Two
9. Cheech and Chong's Next Movie
10. Coal Miner's Daughter
Most Popular Books
Fiction
1. "The Covenant" by James Michener
2. "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum
3. "Rage of Angels" by Sidney Sheldon
4. "Princess Daisy" by Judith Krantz
5. "Firestarter" by Stephen King
Nonfiction
1. "Crisis Investing" by Douglas Casey
2. "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan;
3. "Free to Choose" by Milton & Rose Friedman
4. "Anatomy of an Illness" by Norman Cousins
5. "Thy Neighbor's Wife" by Gay Talesee Pritiken Program for Diet
and Exercise by Nathan Pritiken
Most Popular Television Shows
1. Dallas (CBS)
2. The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS)
3. 60 Minutes (CBS)
4. M*A*S*H (CBS)
5. The Love Boat (ABC)
6. The Jeffersons (CBS)
7. Alice (CBS)
8. House Calls (CBS)
9. Three's Company (ABC)
10. Little House on the Prairie (NBC)
Academy Awards
Best Picture: "Ordinary People"
Best Director: Robert Redford ... "Ordinary People"
Best Actor: Robert DeNiro ... "Raging Bull"
Best Actress: Sissy Spacek ... "Coal Miner's Daughter"
Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: "Sailing" ... Christopher Cross
Best Song; "Sailing" ... Christopher Cross
Best Album: Christopher Cross ... "Christopher Cross"
Male Vocalist: Kenny Loggins ... "This Is It"
Female Vocalist: Bette Midler ... "The Rose"
Nobel Prizes
Chemistry
The prize was divided, one half being awarded to: BERG, PAUL, U.S.A., Stanford
University, Stanford, CA, b. 1926: "for his fundamental studies of the
biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA";
and the other half jointly to: GILBERT, WALTER, U.S.A., Biological Laboratories,
Cambridge, MA, b. 1932; and SANGER, FREDERICK, U.S.A., Great Britain, MRC
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, b. 1918: "for their contributions
concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids"
Literature
MILOSZ, CZESLAW, U.S.A., and Poland, b. 1911 (in Seteiniai, Lithuania): "who
with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed condition in a
world of severe conflicts"
Peace
ESQUIVEL, ADOLFO PEREZ, Argentina, b. 1931: architect, sculptor and human
rights leader.
Physiology or Medicine
The prize was awarded jointly to: BENACERRAF, BARUJ, U.S.A., Harvard Medical
School, Boston, MA, b. 1920 (Caracas, Venezuela); DAUSSET, JEAN, France, Universite
de Paris, Laboratoire Immuno-Hematologi, Paris, b. 1916; and SNELL, GEORGE
D., U.S.A., Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, b. 1903, d. 1996; "for
their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell
surface that regulate immunological reactions"
Physics
The prize was divided equally between: CRONIN, JAMES, W., U.S.A., University
of Chicago, Chicago, IL, b. 1931; and FITCH, VAL L., U.S.A., Princeton University,
Princeton, NJ, b. 1923: "for the discovery of violations of fundamental
symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons"
Pulitzer Prizes
Drama: Lanford Wilson ... "Talley's Folly"
Fiction: Norman Mailer ... "The Executioner's Song"
History: Leon F. Litwack ... "Been in the Storm So Long"
International Reporting: Joel Brinkley ... "Louisville Courier-Journal"
National Reporting: Bette Swenson Orsini & Charles Stafford ... "St.
Petersburg (FL) Times"
Public Service: "Gannett News Service"
