The 5.8 MwLivermore earthquake shakes the East Bay area of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). This first event in a doublet earthquake is followed two days later by a 5.4 Mw shock. Total financial losses from the events is $11.5 million.
January 28 – The 180' coast guard buoy tender USCGC BLACKTHORN collided with the 600' tanker SS CAPRICORN in the Tampa Bay shipping channel. The coast guard vessel capsized and sank after becoming entangled in CAPRICORN'S anchor chain. 23 of BLACKTHORN'S 50 crew members perished in the accident.
April 7 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
April 15 – A mass exodus of Cubans to the United States known as the Mariel boatlift begins. It ends on October 31 by agreement between the two countries.
April 21 – Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
April 24–25 – Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.
May 7 – Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, is released from prison in Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days (the longest-ever time served by an inmate).
In Florida, the Liberian freighter Summit Venture hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, sending 35 people (most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapses.
In Norco, California, 5 men robbed a bank, leading to a shootout and pursuit that left 2 of the robbers dead, 1 sheriff deputy killed, 33 police vehicles destroyed, and 11 people, consisting of 8 officers, a civilian, and 2 other perpetrators wounded.[5]
May 17 – A Miami, Florida court acquits four white police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive, provoking three days of race riots.
September 18–19 – 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion: Liquid fuel in an LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile explodes at a missile launch facility north of Damascus, Arkansas.
October 14 – The Staggers Rail Act is enacted, deregulating American railroads.
October 15 – James Hoskins murdered his girlfriend earlier that morning and forced his way into WCPO's television studio in Cincinnati, holding nine employees hostage for several hours before releasing them and taking his own life.
October 28 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debate in Cleveland, Ohio. Reagan's genial, witty performance causes him to overtake Carter in the polls.
November 8 – The 7.3 MwEureka earthquake shook the North Coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing six injuries and $2–2.75 million in losses.
November 10 – November 12 – Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn, when it flies within 77,000 miles (124,000 km) of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth.
^Raymond Wiley; KT Prime (10 January 2012). The Georgia Guidestones: America's Most Mysterious Monument. Red Wheel Weiser. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-934708-73-6.
^"He Has a Passion for Silver". TIME Magazine. April 7, 1980. Archived from the original on July 18, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
^Erik Auf der Heide (1989). Disaster Response: Principles of Preparation and Coordination. Mosby. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-8016-0385-3.
^"John Lennon: I was there the day he died". BBC News. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^"TRL > Meet The Cast > Damien". MTV. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
^"Frank Wykoff". US Olympic and Paralympic Museum. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
^50 Years of Army Computing: From ENIAC to MSRC. DIANE Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4289-1659-3.
^Saxon, Wolfgang (January 19, 1980). "Barbara Britton, Film Actress, 59; Was TV Revlon Girl Began in a Western". New York Times. p. 28.
^John Parker (1981). Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman. p. 745. ISBN 9780810302358.
^Robert Santelli (2001). The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Penguin Books. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-14-100145-6.
^Biographical Memoirs: V.56. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. 1987-01-01. doi:10.17226/897. ISBN 978-0-309-03693-1.
^Seiler, Michael (February 14, 1980). "From the Archives: Massive Heart Attack Kills Actor David Janssen, 48". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
^Redman, Nick. "Fielding, Jerry". Jackson, Kenneth T.; Markoe, Karen E.; Markoe, Arnold (1995). Dictionary of American Biography; Supplement 10: 1976–1980. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 238-239. ISBN 0-684-19399-X.
^"Gale Robbins, actress, Singer and Pin-Up Girl". The New York Times. February 22, 1980. pp. D15. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
^Journal of Indian Psychology. Andhra University Press. 1981.
^Poets, Academy of American. "About Robert Hayden | Academy of American Poets". poets.org. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
^"Actor George Tobias Dies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Missouri, St. Louis. Associated Press. February 28, 1980. p. 45. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Passings". The Los Angeles Times. March 10, 1980. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
^Legal Medicine. W.B. Saunders. 1987. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-275-92595-6.
^Fraser, C. Gerald (March 20, 1980). "Jessica Dragonette, Singer, Dies; Popular Early-Radio Performer". The New York Times. p. B 15. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^"Peter Stoner Dies at 92". Newsletter of the American Scientific Affiliation and Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation. 22 (3). June–July 1980.
^Milton H. Erickson; Zeig (1980). Teaching Seminar with Milton H. Erickson, M.D. Psychology Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-87630-247-7.
^"Philip Guston | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
^Jay Parini (2004). The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature: Norman Mailer-Sentimental literature. Oxford University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-19-516726-9.
^Ware, Susan (2004). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-674-01488-6.
^"Barbara O'Neil Dies". September 4, 1980. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2022. LA Times Archive
^Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults. Beacham Pub. 1989. p. 929. ISBN 978-0-933833-11-1.
^Flint, Peter (November 8, 1980). "Steve McQueen, 50, Is Dead of a Heart Attack After Surgery for Cancer; Family Was at Bedside Established His Stardom In 'Bullitt' and 'Papillon' Friend Suggested Acting 'Don't Cap Me Up'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2008.
^Barbanel, Josh (November 19, 1980). "Carmel Myers, Silent Movie Star Who Played Wicked Women, 80". The New York Times. p. A 31. ProQuest 121324722. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via ProQuest.
External linksedit
Media related to 1980 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons