1980

history

1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. In the Gregorian calendar, the year 1980 was the 1980th year in the Anno Domini or Common Era, the 80th year of the 20th century, and the 980th year of the 2nd millennium. It was also the first year of the 1980s.

Events of 1980

January

January 1 – Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession make Victoria of Sweden Crown Princess and therefore next in line to the throne, ahead of her younger brother.
January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
January 6 – The president of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, is assassinated by the Mafia.
January 7 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation approving $1.5 billion in loan guarantees to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
January 9 – In Saudi Arabia, 63 Muslim fanatics are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November, 1979.
January 11 – Nigel Short, 14, becomes the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
January 20 – Super Bowl XIV: The Pittsburgh Steelers become the first NFL franchise to win 4 Super Bowls, defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31–19 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
January 21 – The London Gold Fixing hits its highest price ever (adjusted for inflation), at US$850 a troy ounce.
January 21 – The MS Athina B is beached at Brighton, becoming a temporary tourist attraction.
January 21 – At least 200 people were killed when the Corralejas Bullring collapsed at Sincelejo, Colombia.
January 22 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet scientist and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow.
January 24 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad is ordered liquidated due to bankruptcy, and debt owed to creditors.
January 26 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.»Historyorb.com
January 27 – Canadian caper: Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland.
January 31 – The Spanish Embassy in Guatemala is invaded and set on fire, killing 36 people. It is called "Spain's own Tehran", similar to the 1979–80 Iran American U.S. Embassy Hostages of Americans.

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February

February 2 – Abscam: FBI personnel target members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation.
February 2–3 – The New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot takes place; 33 inmates are killed and more than 100 inmates injured.
February 4 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.
February 13 – The XIII Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.
February 15 – In Vanuatu, followers of John Frum's cargo cult on the island of Tanna declare secession as the nation of Tafea.
February 16 – A total solar eclipse seen in North Africa and West Asia.
February 22 – The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics, in the Miracle on Ice.
February 23 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
February 25 – A coup in Suriname ousts the government of Henck Arron; leaders Desi Bouterse and Roy Horb replace it with a National Military Council.
February 27 – M-19 guerrillas begin the Dominican embassy siege in Colombia, holding 60 people hostage, including 14 ambassadors.

March

March 1 – The Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.
March 3 – Pierre Trudeau returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
March 4 – Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
March 8 – The first rock music festival kicks off in the Soviet Union.
March 14 – In Poland, a plane crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.
March 18 – Fifty people are killed at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, when a Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
March 20 – The Mi Amigo, the ship that housed pirate radio station Radio Caroline, sinks (Radio Caroline returns aboard a new ship in 1983).
March 21 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
March 21 – Mafioso Angelo Bruno is assassinated in Philadelphia.
March 22 – The Georgia Guidestones are erected in Elbert County, Georgia.
March 24 – The Australia Olympic Committee announces it will send an Olympic delegation to Moscow, despite objections by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
March 24 – Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador. At his funeral 6 days later, 42 people are killed amid gunfire and bombs.
March 26 – A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reef gold mine in South Africa falls 1.2 miles, killing 23.
March 27 – The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
March 27 – The Silver Thursday market crash occurs.
March 28 – Talpiot Tomb is found in Jerusalem.
March 31 – Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train.

April

April 1 – Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC).
April 1 – The Mariel boatlift from Cuba begins.
April 1 – New York City's Transport Works Union Local 100 goes on strike, which continues for 11 days.
April 2 – The St. Pauls riot breaks out in Bristol.
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 10 – Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.
April 12 – Samuel Kanyon Doe takes over Liberia in a coup d'état, ending over 130 years of democratic presidential succession in that country.
April 12 – Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada.
April 14 – Iron Maiden's debut self titled album Iron Maiden is released.
April 18 – Zimbabwe gains independence from the United Kingdom; Robert Mugabe becomes Prime Minister.
April 21 – Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
April 24 – Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal: the Pennsylvania Lottery is rigged by 6 men including the host of the live TV drawing, Nick Perry.
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.
April 25 – A Dan-Air Boeing 727 crashes in Tenerife, killing all 146 occupants and marking the worst air disaster involving a British-registered aircraft in terms of loss of life.
April 26 – Louise and Charmian Faulkner disappear from outside their flat in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.
April 27 – The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba.
April 30 – Iranian Embassy Siege: Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London, UK. SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5; 1 terrorist survives.
April 30 – Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates, and her daughter Beatrix ascends to the throne.

May

May 4 – Yugoslav President Tito dies. The funeral ceremony later becomes the world's biggest diplomatic meeting and media event ever, with more than 140 state delegations in Belgrade from all over the world (only the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005 will have more news coverage and a higher number of delegations).
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).
May 9 – 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.
May 9 – The Norco shootout takes place.
May 9 – James Alexander George Smith "Jags" McCartney the Turks and Caicos Islands’ first Chief Minister, was killed in a plane crash over New Jersey.
May 11 – Mobster Henry Hill is arrested for drug possession.
May 17 – A Miami, Florida court acquits 4 white police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive, provoking 3 days of race riots.
May 17 – Internal conflict in Peru: On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho.
May 18 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage.
May 18 – Ian Curtis, singer/songwriter of acclaimed post punk band Joy Division, found hanged.
May 18–27 – Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.
May 20 – 1980 Quebec referendum: Voters in Quebec reject by a vote of 60% a proposal to seek independence from Canada.
May 21 – is released.
May 22 – Pac-Man (the best-selling arcade game of all time) is released.
May 24 – The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran.
May 24 – The New York Islanders win their first Stanley Cup, from a goal by Bobby Nystrom in overtime of game six of the Stanley Cup playoffs's final round.
May 25 – Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins for a third time in car owner Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effect Chaparral car; the victory is Hall's second as an owner.
May 26 – John Frum supporters in Vanuatu storm government offices on the island of Tanna. Vanuatu government troops land the next day and drive them away.
May 26 – In South Korea, military government forces and pro-democracy protesters clash; 2,000 protesters die.
May 29 – Vernon Jordan is shot and critically injured in an assassination attempt in Fort Wayne, Indiana by Joseph Paul Franklin (the first major news story for CNN).

June

June 1 – The Cable News Network (CNN) is officially launched.
June 3 – A series of deadly tornadoes strikes Grand Island, Nebraska, causing over $300m in damage, killing 5 people and injuring over 250.
June 9 – In Los Angeles, comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
June 10 – Apartheid: The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a statement by their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela.»ANC.org.za
June 10 – A Unabomber bomb injures United Airlines president Percy Wood in Lake Forest, Illinois.
June 20 – Augusta AVA becomes the first federally recognized American Viticultural Area.
June 23 – September 6 – The 1980 United States heat wave claims 1,700 lives.
June 25 – A Muslim Brotherhood assassination attempt against Syrian president Hafez al-Assad fails. Assad retaliates by sending the army against them.
June 26 – A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 belonging to the Italian Airline Itavia crashes into the sea near Palermo after an explosion occurs in the air; 81 people die. A bomb or a missile is suspected to be the cause of the accident but no culprits are ever found.
June 27 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs Proclamation 4771, requiring 18- to 25-year-old males to register for a peacetime military draft, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
June 29 – Vigdis Finnbogadottir is elected president of Iceland.

July

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July 8 – a wave of strikes begins in Lublin, Poland
July 9 – Pope John Paul II visits Brazil; 7 people are crushed to death in a crowd meeting him.
July 15 – A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes 4 counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It causes over $250m in damage, and 1 person is killed.
July 16 – Former California Governor and actor Ronald Reagan is nominated for U.S. President, at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long standing support for the Equal Rights Amendment, dismaying moderate Republicans.
July 19 – Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by 2 gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.
July 19 – August 3 – The 1980 Summer Olympics are held in Moscow, Soviet Union.
July 25 – The album Back in Black is released by the Australian band AC/DC.
July 27 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed shah of Iran, dies in Cairo.
July 30 – Vanuatu gains independence.
July 30 – Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.

August

August 2 – A terrorist bombing at the railway station in Bologna, Italy kills 85 people and wounds more than 200.
August 7–31 – Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdańsk Shipyard.
August 10 – Hurricane Allen (category 3) pounds southeastern Texas.
August 14 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter defeats Senator Edward Kennedy to win renomination, at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.
August 17 – In Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru), reportedly taken by a dingo.
August 19 – In one of aviation's worst disasters, 301 persons are killed when Saudia Flight 163 catches fire in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
August 31 – Victory of the strike in Gdańsk Shipyard, Poland. Gdańsk Agreement is signed, opening a way to start the first in the communist block free organization not controlled by regime "Solidarność" ie. Solidarity.

September

September 2 – Ford Europe launches the Escort MK3, which ditches the traditional rear-wheel drive saloon in favour of a more practical and modern front-wheel drive hatchback.
September 5 – The St. Gotthard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km), stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.
September 12 – Kenan Evren stages a military coup in Turkey. It stops political gang violence, but begins stronger state violence leading to the execution of many young activists.
September 17 – After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
September 17 – Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
September 19 – The Robert Redford-directed film Ordinary People, based on the novel by Judith Guest, premieres. Redford's directorial debut later wins him his first Oscar, and wins three other Academy Awards, and five Golden Globe awards.
September 21 – Bülent Ulusu, ex admiral, forms the new government of Turkey (44th government, composed mostly of technocrats)
September 22 – The command council of Iraq orders its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets," initiating the Iran–Iraq War.
September 22 – Youth riots in the capital of the Soviet Republic of Estonia are quickly forced down.
September 25 – John Bonham of Led Zeppelin dies of alcohol poisoning.
September 26 – The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.
September 29 – The Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict (later proven to be fabricated).
September 30 – Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which is the first implementation outside of Xerox, and the first to support 10 Mbit/s speeds.

October

October 1 – Associated Newspapers announces that The Evening News will close and merge with the Evening Standard.
October 5 – British Leyland launches its new Metro, a three-door entry-level hatchback which is designed as the eventual replacement for the Mini. It gives BL a long-awaited modern competitor for the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette.
October 10 – El Asnam, Algeria is destroyed by an earthquake, which claims more than 2,600 lives. After the quake, El Asnam is rebuilt and changes its name to the city of Chlef.
October 14 – The Staggers Rail Act is enacted, deregulating American railroads.
October 15 – James Callaghan announces his resignation as Leader of the British Labour Party.
October 15 – James Hoskins forces his way into WCPO's television studio in Cincinnati, holding 9 employees hostage for several hours before releasing them and taking his own life.
October 18 – The Fraser Government is re-elected for a third consecutive term in Australia with a reduced majority.
October 21 – World Series: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals 4–2 in game 6.
October 22 – The Thomson Corporation says that The Times and all associated supplements will close in March 1981 if no buyer can be found.
October 25 – Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague.
October 27 – Six Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners in Maze prison refuse food and demand status as political prisoners; the hunger strike lasts until December.
October 30 – 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.
October 31 – The Polish government recognizes Solidarity.
October 31 – Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the shah of Iran, proclaims himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.

November

November – Duration of the CESDAP plan extended indefinitely.
November 4 – United States presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California defeats incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter, exactly 1 year after the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis.
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 of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth.
November 20 – The Gang of Four trial begins in China.
November 20 – A Texaco oil rig breaks through to a mine under Lake Peigneur.
November 21 – A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip kills 85 people.
November 21 – A then-record number of viewers (for an enterntainment program) tune into the U.S. TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing. The "Who shot J.R.?" event is a international obsession.
November 23 – Italy Earthquake of 1980: a magnitude 7 earthquake in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people and leaves 300,000 homeless.

December

December 2 – American missionary Jean Donovan and three Roman Catholic nuns are murdered by a military death squad in El Salvador while volunteering to do charity work during the country's civil war.
December 8 – John Lennon, an English musician and peace activist, is assassinated by Mark David Chapman in New York City.
December 11 – CERCLA is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
December 15 – The Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (Academy of the Asturian Language) is created.
December 16 – During a summit on the island of Bali, OPEC decides to raise the price of petroleum by 10%.

Undated

Lawrence Klein is awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Hassan Fathy and Plenty International / Stephen Gaskin are awarded the Right Livelihood Award.

Ongoing

Computer Age, and Cold War.

World population

{|class="wikitable" !colspan="7"|World population |- ! !1980 !colspan="2"|1975 !colspan="2"|1985 |- ! World |align="right"|4,434,682,000 |align="right"|4,068,109,000 |align="right"| |align="right"|4,830,979,000 |align="right"| 396,297,000 |- ! Africa |align="right"|469,618,000 |align="right"|408,160,000 |align="right"| 61,458,000 |align="right"|541,814,000 |align="right"| 72,196,000 |- ! Asia |align="right"|2,632,335,000 |align="right"|2,397,512,000 |align="right"| 234,823,000 |align="right"|2,887,552,000 |align="right"| 255,217,000 |- ! Europe |align="right"|692,431,000 |align="right"|675,542,000 |align="right"| 16,889,000 |align="right"|706,009,000 |align="right"| 13,578,000 |- | {| style="background: #EEEEEE;" |style="border: 0px;"| !style="border: 0px;"|Latin-America & Caribbean |} |align="right"|361,401,000 |align="right"|321,906,000 |align="right"| 39,495,000 |align="right"|401,469,000 |align="right"| 40,068,000 |- | {| style="background: #EEEEEE;" |style="border: 0px;"| !style="border: 0px;"|North America |} |align="right"|256,068,000 |align="right"|243,425,000 |align="right"| 12,643,000 |align="right"|269,456,000 |align="right"| 13,388,000 |- ! Oceania |align="right"|22,828,000 |align="right"|21,564,000 |align="right"| 1,264,000 |align="right"|24,678,000 |align="right"| 1,850,000 |}

Births

January

January 1 – Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
January 1 – Mark Nichols, Canadian curler
January 4 – Erin Cahill, American actress
January 8 – Adam Goodes, Australian rules footballer
January 8 – Rachel Nichols, American actress
January 9 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
January 10 – Janelle Pierzina, American reality star
January 11 – Lovieanne Jung, American softball player
January 13 – LaKisha Jones, American singer
January 14 – Ossama Haidar, Lebanese footballer
January 14 – Hiroshi Tamaki, Japanese actor, model, and singer
January 14 – Cory Gibbs, American footballer
January 14 – Sosuke Sumitani, Japanese announcer
January 16 – Albert Pujols, Dominican Major League Baseball player
January 16 – Michelle Wild, Hungarian actress
January 17 – Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian dance champion, choreographer, and instructor
January 17 – Zooey Deschanel, American actress
January 18 – Julius Peppers, American football player
January 18 – Jason Segel, American actor
January 20 – Jenson Button, British racecar driver
January 21 – Kevin McKenna, Canadian footballer
January 21 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
January 22 – Christopher Masterson, American actor
January 22 – Jake Grove, American football player
January 24 – Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Dutch actress
January 25 – Christian Olsson, Swedish athlete
January 25 – Xavi, Spanish footballer
January 25 – Michelle McCool-Alexander, American professional wrestler
January 27 – Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
January 28 – Nick Carter, American pop singer (Backstreet Boys)
January 29 – Yael Bar-Zohar, Israeli actress and model
January 30 – Wilmer Valderrama, Venezuelan/Colombian-American comedian
January 30 – James Adomian, American actor and comedian

February

February 5 – Jo Swinson, British MP
February 5 – Robin Vik, Czech tennis player
February 6 – Mamiko Noto, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
February 6 – Kim Poirier, Canadian actress
February 6 – Luke Ravenstahl, American mayor of Pittsburgh
February 7 – Dionne Quan, Chinese-American voice actress
February 8 – Yang Wei, Chinese gymnast
February 10 – César Izturis, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
February 10 – Steve Tully, English footballer
February 11 – Matthew Lawrence, American actor (Boy Meets World)
February 12 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
February 12 – Christina Ricci, American actress
February 14 – Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress
February 15 – Conor Oberst, American singer/songwriter
February 16 – Ashley Lelie, American football player
February 17 – Jason Ritter, American actor
February 18 – Regina Spektor, Russian-born American singer-songwriter
February 19 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
February 19 – Ma Lin, Chinese table-tennis player
February 20 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
February 20 – Artur Boruc, Polish football (soccer) goalkeeper
February 21 – Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player
February 24 – Emma Johnson, Australian swimmer
February 26 – Alex Fong Lik-Sun, Hong Kong singer and actor
February 26 – Júlio César da Silva e Souza, Brazilian footballer
February 27 – Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
February 28 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
February 28 – Piotr Giza, Polish footballer
February 29 – Simon Gagné, Canadian hockey player

March

March 2 – Karl Dominik, China-based foreign actor
March 2 – Chris Barker, English footballer
March 2 – Lance Cade, American professional wrestler
March 2 – Vince Walker, American rock singer (Suburban Legends)
March 4 – Jung Da Bin, Korean actress (d. 2007)
March 4 – Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
March 4 – Jack Hannahan, American baseball infielder
March 7 – Laura Prepon, American actress
March 13 – Flavia Cacace,professional dancer
March 14 – Aaron Brown, English footballer
March 16 – Todd Heap, American football player
March 18 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
March 19 – Agnes Pihlava, Finnish pop singer
March 19 – Johan Olsson, Swedish cross country skier
March 20 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
March 21 – Deryck Whibley, Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician (Sum 41)
March 21 – Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer
March 21 – Marit Bjørgen, Norwegian cross-country skier
March 30 – Yalin, Turkish pop music singer and songwriter
March 31 – Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese Major League Baseball player

April

April 1 – Bijou Phillips, American actress and socialite
April 1 – Randy Orton, American professional wrestler
April 1 – Yūko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
April 4 – Björn Wirdheim, Swedish race car driver
April 8 – Ben Freeman, British actor
April 10 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player
April 10 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
April 10 – Bryce Soderberg, Canadian musician (Lifehouse)
April 12 – Brian McFadden, Irish rock singer (Westlife)
April 14 – Win Butler, American/Canadian musician
April 16 – Paul London, American professional wrestler
April 17 – Brenda Villa, American water polo player
April 17 – Lee Hyun-il, South Korean badminton player
April 20 – Jasmin Wagner, German singer
April 21 – Tony Romo, American football player
April 21 – Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player
April 21 – Jamie Lomas, British actor
April 22 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
April 24 – Austin Nichols, American actor
April 24 – Reagan Gomez-Preston, American actress
April 24 – Karen Asrian, Armenian chess Grandmaster (d. 2008)
April 25 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
April 26 – Jordana Brewster, American actress
April 26 – Stana Katic, American film actress
April 26 – Marlon King, Jamaican footballer
April 26 – Channing Tatum, American actor and model
April 27 – Zayed Khan, Indian actor
April 29 – Kian Egan, Irish rock singer (Westlife)

May

May 2 – Tim Borowski, German footballer
May 2 – Zat Knight, English footballer
May 3 – Marcel Vigneron, American chef
May 4 – Alex Reyes, Software Engineer
May 5 – Maia Hirasawa, Swedish pop singer
May 6 – Taebin, Korean hip-hop artist (1TYM)
May 6 – Kate Lawler, English reality TV show star
May 6 – Kelly van der Veer, Dutch reality TV star
May 7 – Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
May 8 – Benny Yau, Canadian entertainer
May 9 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
May 9 – Norihiro Nishi, Japanese footballer
May 15 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player
May 15 – Rocky Marquette, American actor
May 16 – Melanie Lofton, American journalist
May 19 – Dean Heffernan, Australian footballer
May 19 – Drew Fuller, American actor
May 21 – Morgan Benoit, American actor and Martial Artist
May 22 – Lucy Gordon, British actress (d. 2009)
May 24 – Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress
May 26 – Jennifer Biddall, British actress
May 28 – Mark Feehily, Irish singer (Westlife)
May 29 – Michael Stasko, Canadian actor
May 30 – Steven Gerrard, English footballer

June

June 1 – Oliver James, British actor
June 2 – Lindsey Yamasaki, Japanese-American basketball player
June 2 – Orish Grinstead, American R&B singer (d. 2008)
June 5 – Mike Fisher, Canadian hockey player
June 5 – Yasser Latif Hamdani, Pakistani constitutional lawyer and historian
June 10 – Francelino Matuzalem, Brazilian footballer
June 10 – Wang Yuegu, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
June 13 – Sarah Connor, German singer
June 16 – Brad Gushue, Canadian curler
June 16 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
June 17 – Kimeru, Japanese singer
June 17 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
June 17 – Jeph Jacques, American webcomic writer
June 18 – Kevin Bishop, British comedian and actor
June 19 – Jason White, American football player
June 22 – Ilya Bryzgalov, Russian ice hockey player
June 23 – Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indian cricketer
June 23 – Manus Boonjumnong, Thai boxer
June 24 – Liane Balaban, Canadian actress
June 25 – Nozomi Takeuchi, Japanese actress
June 26 – Michael Vick, American football player
June 26 – Jason Schwartzman, American actor
June 29 – Melissa Peachey, British TV presenter
June 29 – Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano
June 29 – Martin Truex Jr, American race car driver

July

July 1 – Patrick Aufiero, American ice hockey player
July 3 – Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
July 4 – Max Elliott Slade, American actor
July 5 – Eva Green, French actress and composer
July 6 – Pau Gasol, Spanish basketball player
July 7 – Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
July 8 – Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
July 8 – Yang Tae-Young, South Korean gymnast
July 9 – Kathia Rodriguez, Puerto Rican actress
July 10 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
July 10 – Jessica Simpson, American singer
July 15 – Jasper Pääkkönen, Finnish actor and film producer
July 15 – Reggie Abercrombie, American baseball player
July 15 – JW-Jones, Canadian blues artist
July 16 – Adam Scott, Australian golfer
July 16 – Jesse Jane, American porn actress
July 18 – Kristen Bell, American actress
July 20 – Mike Kennerty, American rock guitarist (The All-American Rejects)
July 20 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian supermodel
July 22 – Kate Ryan, Belgian singer
July 23 – Michelle Williams, American singer, actress, (Destiny's Child)
July 27 – Julia Haworth, British actress
July 28 – Stephen Christian, American Christian rock singer (Anberlin)
July 29 – Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
July 30 – Diam's, French rapper

August

August 3 – Dominic Moore, Canadian ice hockey player
August 5 – Wayne Bridge, English footballer
August 5 – Sophie Winkleman, British actress
August 9 – Charlie David, Canadian actor
August 9 – Dominic Tabuna, Nauruan politician
August 10 – Pua Magasiva, Samoan actor
August 10 – Roxanne McKee, British actress
August 11 – Monika Pyrek, Polish pole vaulter
August 12 – Maggie Lawson, American actress
August 12 – Matt Thiessen, Canadian singer/guitarist
August 14 – Roy Williams, American football player
August 16 – Vanessa Carlton, American singer
August 16 – Julien Absalon, French mountain biker
August 18 – Damion Stewart, Jamaican footballer
August 19 – Houcine Camara, French singer
August 19 – Darius Danesh, Scottish singer-songwriter & actor
August 23 – Rex Grossman, American football player
August 26 – Macaulay Culkin, American actor
August 26 – Chris Pine, American actor
August 27 – Derrick Strait, American football player
August 28 – Debra Lafave, American teacher
August 29 – Nicholas Tse, Hong Kong singer

September

September 2 – Dany Sabourin, French Canadian ice hockey goaltender
September 3 – Jennie Finch, American softball player
September 6 – Joseph Yobo, Nigerian footballer
September 6 – Samuel Peter, Nigerian boxer & heavyweight champion
September 6 – Kerry Katona, English TV presenter and former pop star (Atomic Kitten)
September 7 – Gabriel Milito, Argentine footballer
September 7 – Mark Prior, American baseball player
September 9 – Michelle Williams, American actress
September 10 – Mikey Way, American rock bassist (My Chemical Romance)
September 11 – Mike Comrie, Canadian ice hockey player
September 12 – Sean Burroughs, American baseball player
September 12 – Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
September 13 – Ben Savage, American actor (Boy Meets World)
September 13 – Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japanese baseball player
September 15 – Jolin Tsai, Taiwanese singer
September 19 – Tegan Quin, Canadian singer/songwriter
September 19 – Sara Quin, Canadian singer/songwriter
September 21 – Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
September 21 – Autumn Reeser, American actress
September 24 – Victoria Pendleton, English cyclist
September 25 – T.I., American rapper
September 29 – Patrick Agyemang, Ghanaian footballer
September 29 – Zachary Levi, American actor
September 29 – Dallas Green (musician), Canadian singer/songwriter
September 30 – Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player
September 30 – Guillermo Rigondeaux, Cuban boxer

October

October 4 – Kristina Lenko, Canadian champion ice skater
October 4 – Tomáš Rosický, Czech footballer
October 4 – Me'Lisa Barber, American athlete
October 5 – James Toseland, English motorcycle racer
October 8 – Nick Cannon, American actor and rapper
October 10 – Sherine, Egyptian singer
October 12 – Ledley King, English footballer
October 13 – Ashanti, American musician
October 14 – Terrence McGee, American football player
October 16 – Sue Bird, American basketball player
October 16 – Timana Tahu, Australian Rugby League player
October 17 – Ekaterina Gamova, Russian volleyball player
October 18 – Reetinder Sodhi, Indian cricket player
October 24 – Monica Arnold, American musician
October 24 – Casey Wilson, American actress and comedienne
October 28 – Alan Smith, English footballer
October 28 – Christy Hemme, American professional wrestler
October 31 – Samaire Armstrong, American actress

November

November 3 – Dan Marsala, American musician
November 4 – Sabrina Colie, Jamaican actress
November 5 – Christoph Metzelder, German footballer
November 7 – Gervasio Deferr, Spanish gymnast
November 10 – Calvin Chen, Taiwanese pop singer
November 11 – Willie Parker, American football player
November 12 – Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
November 13 – Monique Coleman, American actress
November 15 – Ace Young, American singer and reality show finalist
November 16 – Kayte Christensen, American basketball player
November 17 – Isaac Hanson, American musician
November 19 – Adele Silva, British actress
November 21 – Hank Blalock, American baseball player
November 21 – Hiroyuki Tomita, Japanese gymnast
November 25 – John-Michael Liles, American hockey player
November 25 – Nick Swisher, American baseball player
November 26 – Satoshi Ohno, Japanese singer
November 26 – Jason Anthony Griffith, American video game voice actor
November 28 – Lisa Middelhauve, German singer (Xandria)

December

December 3 – Anna Chlumsky, American actress
December 3 – Nadine Jansen, German pornographic model
December 3 – Jim Sorgi, American football player
December 5 – Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-born French trumpeter
December 6 – Steve Lovell, English footballer
December 6 – Kei Yasuda, Japanese singer
December 7 – John Terry, English footballer
December 9 – Simon Helberg, American actor and comedian
December 9 – Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian professional cyclist
December 10 – Marina Orlova, internet celebrity
December 10 – Sarah Chang, American violinist
December 13 – Satoshi Tsumabuki, Japanese actor
December 13 – Bosco Wong, Hong Kong actor
December 18 – Christina Aguilera, American singer
December 19 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
December 19 – Marla Sokoloff, American actress
December 20 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
December 20 – Fitz Hall, English footballer
December 22 – Chris Carmack, American actor
December 24 – Tomas Kalnoky, American musician (Streetlight Manifesto)
December 25 – Laura Sadler, British TV actress (d. 2003)
December 27 – Bernard Berrian, American football player
December 30 – Eliza Dushku, American actress
December 31 – Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player

Deaths

January

January 1 – Adolph Deutsch, American composer (b. 1897)
January 3 – Joy Adamson, Austrian-born conservationist and author (b. 1910)
January 7 – Simone Mathieu, French tennis champion (b. 1908)
January 8 – John Mauchly, American physicist and inventor (b. 1907)
January 10 – George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894)
January 11 – Barbara Pym, English novelist (b. 1913)
January 13 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1901)
January 17 – Barbara Britton, American actress (b. 1919)
January 18 – Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer (b. 1904)
January 19 – William O. Douglas, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1898)
January 21 – Georges Painvin, French cryptographer (b. 1886)
January 24 – Lil Dagover, German actress (b. 1887)
January 28 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (b. 1926)
January 29 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1893)
January 30 – Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)

February

February 2 – Hanna Rovina, Russian-born Israeli actress (b. 1889)
February 2 – William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
February 6 – Albert Kotin, American abstract expressionist painter (b. 1907)
February 9 – Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and novelist (b. 1900)
February 12 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
February 13 – David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
February 14 – Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
February 17 – Jerry Fielding, American conductor and music director (b. 1922)
February 17 – Graham Sutherland, English artist (b. 1903)
February 18 – Gale Robbins, American singer and actress (b. 1921)
February 19 – Bon Scott, Scottish-born rock singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
February 20 – Joseph Banks Rhine, American parapsychologist (b. 1895)
February 20 – Alice Longworth, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, wife of Nicholas Longworth (b. 1884)
February 22 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter and poet (b. 1886)
February 24 – Clement Martyn Doke, South African linguist
February 27 – George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)

March

March 1 – Dixie Dean, English football player (b. 1907)
March 1 – Wilhelmina, Dutch-born American high-fashion model and owner of model agency (b. 1940)
March 1 – Daniil Khrabrovitsky, Soviet film director (b. 1923)
March 5 – Jay Silverheels, Native American actor (b. 1912)
March 5 – Winifred Wagner, German daughter-in-law of Richard Wagner, close friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1897)
March 10 – Herman Tarnower, American doctor and murder victim (b. 1910)
March 11 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (b. 1892)
March 14 – Anna Jantar, Polish singer (b. 1950)
March 14 – Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice president
March 16 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
March 18 – Jessica Dragonette, American singer (b. 1900)
March 18 – Erich Fromm, German-born psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
March 18 – Louise Lovely, Australian actress (b. 1895)
March 21 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (b. 1888)
March 24 – Oscar Romero, El Salvador Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1917)
March 24 – Pierre Etchebaster, French real tennis player (b. 1893)
March 25 – Roland Barthes, French literary critic and writer (b. 1915)
March 25 – Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (b. 1913)
March 25 – James Wright, American poet (b. 1927)
March 28 – Dick Haymes, Argentine actor and singer (b. 1916)
March 29 – Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1905)
March 31 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
March 31 – Jesse Owens, African-American athlete (b. 1913)

April

April 4 – Red Sovine, American country & folk singer & songwriter (b. 1917)
April 6 – John Collier, English writer (b. 1901)
April 10 – Kay Medford, American actress (b. 1914)
April 11 – Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Turkish writer (b. 1935)
April 12 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker and billiards player (b. 1895)
April 15 – Raymond Bailey, American actor (b. 1904)
April 15 – Marshall Reed, American film and television actor (b. 1917)
April 15 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
April 20 – Katherine K. Davis, American composer (b. 1892)
April 21 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (b. 1928)
April 22 – Jane Froman, American singer and actress (b. 1907)
April 24 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
April 26 – Cicely Courtneidge, British actress (b. 1893)
April 27 – John Culshaw, British recording producer and musicologist (b. 1924)
April 29 – Alfred Hitchcock, British suspense film director (b. 1899)
April 30 – Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician (b. 1898)

May

May 2 – George Pal, Hungarian-born animator and producer (b. 1904)
May 4 – Kay Hammond, English actress (b. 1909)
May 4 – Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
May 5 – Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist and co-creator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (b. 1897)
May 8 – Geoffrey Baker, English field marshal (b. 1912)
May 12 – Lillian Roth, American actress (b. 1910)
May 14 – Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (b. 1912)
May 16 – Marin Preda, Romanian writer (b. 1922)
May 18 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (b. 1949)
May 18 – Ian Curtis, British musician and singer (Joy Division) (b. 1956)
May 21 – Ida Kaminska, Polish actress (b. 1899)
May 28 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (b. 1895)

June

June 1 – Rube Marquard, American baseball player (b. 1886)
June 7 – Henry Miller, American writer (b. 1891)
June 7 – Elizabeth Craig, British writer (b. 1883)
June 7 – Philip Guston, American painter (b. 1912)
June 12 – Masayoshi Ohira, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1910)
June 12 – Billy Butlin, South African–born Canadian founder of Butlins Holiday Camps (b. 1899)
June 12 – Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
June 13 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (b. 1942)
June 20 – Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet (b. 1892)
June 21 – Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter (b. 1923)
June 23 – Clyfford Still, American painter (b. 1904)
June 23 – John Laurie, British actor (b. 1897)
June 23 – Sanjay Gandhi, Indian son of Indira Gandhi (air crash) (b. 1946)
June 24 – Boris Kaufman, Russian cinematographer (b. 1897)
June 27 – Carey McWilliams, American author, editor, and lawyer (b. 1905)
June 28 – José Iturbi, Spanish conductor and musician (b. 1895)

July

July – Robert Brackman, American painter (b. 1898)
July 1 – C.P. Snow, British physicist and novelist (b. 1905)
July 4 – Gregory Bateson, British anthropologist, anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist (b. 1904)
July 6 – Gail Patrick, American actress (b. 1911)
July 7 – Reginald Gardiner, English actor (b. 1903)
July 7 – Dore Schary, American film writer, director, and producer (b. 1905)
July 9 – Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian writer, poet and diplomat (b. 1913)
July 15 – Ben Selvin, American orchestra leader & recording artist (b. 1898)
July 17 – Don "Red" Barry, American actor (b. 1912)
July 17 – Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
July 23 – Keith Godchaux, American musician of the band The Grateful Dead (b. 1948)
July 24 – Uttam Kumar (Arun Kumar Chatterjee), Bengali actor (b. 1926)
July 24 – Peter Sellers, English comedian and actor (b. 1925)
July 25 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, poet, actor (b. 1938)
July 26 – Allen Hoskins, American actor (b. 1920)
July 26 – Kenneth Tynan, English theatre critic (b. 1927)
July 27 – Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (b. 1919)
July 31 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
July 31 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian singer (b. 1924)
July 31 – Bobby Van, American actor (b. 1928)

August

August 1 – Patrick Depailler, French racing driver (b. 1944)
August 2 – Donald Ogden Stewart, American writer (b. 1894)
August 7 – Jackie Cochran, American pilot (b. 1906)
August 9 – Elliott Nugent, American actor (b. 1896)
August 10 – Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
August 14 – Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model (murdered) (b. 1960)
August 19 – Otto Frank, German father of Jewish diarist Anne Frank (b. 1889)
August 20 – Joe Dassin, French singer (b. 1938)
August 24 – Yootha Joyce, British actress (b. 1927)
August 25 – Gower Champion, American theatre director, choreographer, and dancer (b. 1919)
August 26 – Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908)
August 26 – Miliza Korjus, Estonian-Polish opera singer (b. 1909)

September

September 3 – Barbara O'Neil, American actress (b. 1909)
September 3 – Dirch Passer, Danish actor (b. 1926)
September 3 – Duncan Renaldo, American actor (b. 1904)
September 8 – Willard Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
September 12 – Lillian Randolph, American actress (b. 1898)
September 15 – Bill Evans, American jazz pianist (b. 1929)
September 16 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (b. 1896)
September 17 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, former President of Nicaragua (b. 1925)
September 18 – Katherine Anne Porter, American author (b. 1890)
September 19 – Sol Lesser, American film producer (b. 1890)
September 25 – John Bonham, British rock drummer (Led Zeppelin) (b. 1948)
September 25 – Lewis Milestone, American film director (b. 1895)
September 25 – Marie Under, Estonian poet (b. 1883)

October

October 6 – Hattie Jacques, British actress (b. 1922)
October 7 – Sydney Gordon Russell, English designer and craftsman (b. 1892)
October 10 – Billie Thomas, American actor (Buckwheat, Our Gang (b. 1931)
October 20 – Lady Isobel Barnett, British television personality (b. 1918)
October 21 – Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician after whom Asperger syndrome was named (b. 1906)
October 25 – Sahir Ludhianvi, Urdu/Hindustani poet and Hindi film lyricist (b. March 8, 1921)
October 25 – Virgil Fox, American organist (b. 1912)
October 25 – Victor Galindez, Argentine boxer (race car accident) (b. 1948)
October 27 – Steve Peregrin Took, British rock musician (T. Rex) (b. 1949)
October 27 – John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)

November

November 4 – Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (b. 1904)
November 7 – Steve McQueen, American actor (b. 1930)
November 9 – Gloria Guinness, Mexican-born American ashion icon (b. 1912)
November 9 – Carmel Myers, American actress (b. 1899)
November 9 – Victor Sen Yung, American actor (b. 1915)
November 16 – Boris Aronson, Russian set designer (b. 1898)
November 18 – Conn Smythe, Canadian NHL coach (b. 1895)
November 20 – John McEwen, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1900)
November 22 – Norah McGuinness, Northern Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1901)
November 22 – Mae West, American actress (b. 1893)
November 24 – George Raft, American actor (b. 1895)
November 26 – Rachel Roberts, British actress (b. 1927)
November 27 – F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect (b. 1882)
November 29 – Dorothy Day, American social progressive (b. 1897)

December

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December 2 – Romain Gary, Lithuanian-born writer (b. 1914)
December 3 – Sir Oswald Mosley, British fascist leader (b. 1896)
December 4 – Francisco Sá Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1934)
December 4 – Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish-born runner (b. 1911)
December 7 – Darby Crash, American rock songwriter, singer (The Germs) (b. 1958)
December 8 – John Lennon, British singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Beatles) (b. 1940)
December 16 – Colonel Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
December 16 – Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
December 18 – Alexey Kosygin, Russian politician, Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
December 21 – Marc Connelly, American playwright (b. 1890)
December 23 – Frank Norman, English novelist, playwright and autobiographer (b. 1930)
December 24 – Karl Dönitz, German admiral and briefly President of Germany (b. 1891)
December 24 – Siggie Nordstrom, American model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer (The Nordstrom Sisters) (b. 1893)
December 25 – Victoria Drummond, first woman marine engineer in Britain (b. 1894)
December 26 – Richard Chase, American serial killer (b. 1950)
December 28 – Sam Levene, American actor (b. 1905)
December 29 – Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
December 31 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author and professor (b. 1911)
December 31 – Raoul Walsh, American film director (b. 1887)

Ship events

Prizes and awards

Nobel Prizes

Physics – James Watson Cronin, Val Logsdon Fitch
Chemistry – Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert, Frederick Sanger
Medicine – Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset, George D. Snell
Literature – Czesław Miłosz
Peace – Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
Economics – Lawrence Klein