At A Glance

21 August 1980 at a glance

Day of the week
21 August 1980 was a Thursday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John.
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 21 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 21 August 1980 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 21 August 1980 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 21 August

  • 1968 Cold War: Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.
  • 1968 James Anderson Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.
  • 1982 Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization's withdrawal from Lebanon.
  • 1991 Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after its occupation by the Soviet Union since 1940.
  • 1991 Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.

Famous people born on August 21

  • Hayden Panettiere, American actress (1989–2026)
  • Kenny Rogers, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (1938–2020)
  • Robert Lewandowski, Polish footballer (born 1988)
  • Zion Suzuki, Japanese footballer (born 2002)

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.
More events of 1980 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

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

Hayden Panettiere21 August 1989Actress & singerView their day →Alan Ritchson28 November 1982ActorView their day →Anne Hathaway12 November 1982ActressView their day →Dakota Johnson4 October 1989Actress & modelView their day →Macklemore19 June 1983RapperView their day →Andrew Garfield20 August 1983ActorView their day →Julia Stiles28 March 1981ActressView their day →Taylor Swift13 December 1989Singer-songwriterView their day →

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

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