At A Glance

19 August 1980 at a glance

Day of the week
19 August 1980 was a Tuesday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Ashes to Ashes” by David Bowie.
Top Film of 1980
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1980 was The Empire Strikes Back.
Star sign
The star sign for 19 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 19 August 1980 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 19 August 1980 was First Quarter.

On this day: 19 August

  • 1981 Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
  • 1981 Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.
  • 1989 Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.
  • 1989 Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.

Famous people born on 19 August

  • Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States (born 1946)
  • Kirk Cousins, American football player (born 1988)
  • Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (1969–2023)
  • Kyra Sedgwick, American actress and producer (born 1965)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1980 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1980 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 2 January – Workers at British Steel Corporation go on a nationwide strike over pay called by the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation, which has some 90,000 members among British Steel's 150,000 workforce, in a bid to get a 20% rise.
  • 25 February – The first episode of the popular political sitcom Yes Minister is broadcast on BBC2 television.
  • 31 March – National Heritage Act sets up the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Life in 1980

Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

45p

Loaf of Bread

33p

Average House

£23,596

Weekly Wage

£120.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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