At A Glance
17 January 1980 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 17 January 1980 was a Thursday.
- Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
- The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes.
- Top Film of 1980
- The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1980 was The Empire Strikes Back.
- Bestselling Novel of 1980
- “The Covenant” by James A. Michener was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1980.
- Top-Rated TV Show
- “Dallas” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1980–81 season.
- Star sign
- The star sign for 17 January is Capricorn.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 17 January 1980 fell in the Year of the Goat.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for January is Garnet.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 17 January 1980 was New Moon.
On this day: 17 January
- 1981 President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
- 1992 During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
- 1996 The Czech Republic applies for membership in the European Union.
- 1997 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: A Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
- 1998 Clinton–Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website.
Famous people born on January 17
- Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer (born 1962)
- Enzo Fernández, Argentinian footballer (born 2001)
- Muhammad Ali, American boxer and activist (1942–2016)
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jr., American environmental lawyer, writer, and conspiracy theorist (born 1954)
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.
Events of 1980 in the United States
A selection from Wikipedia's '1980 in the United States'. Not a complete list.
- January 27 – Canadian Caper: Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran as they board a flight to Zurich, Switzerland.
- March 22 – The Georgia Guidestones are erected in Elbert County, Georgia.
- 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.
Life in the US in 1980
President
Jimmy Carter
Gas (per gallon)
$1.19
Loaf of Bread
$0.50
Average House
$64,600
Weekly Wage
$267
Or
Browse by Year
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)
About The Day You Were Born
Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.
About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →
