At A Glance

24 January 1980 at a glance

Day of the week
24 January 1980 was a Thursday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Rock with You” by Michael Jackson.
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 24 January is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 24 January 1980 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 24 January 1980 was First Quarter.

On this day: 24 January

  • 1972 Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
  • 1978 Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
  • 1986 The Voyager 2 space probe makes its closest approach to Uranus.
  • 1987 About 20,000 protestors march in a civil rights demonstration in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States.
  • 1990 Japan launches Hiten, the country's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.

Famous people born on January 24

  • Sharon Tate, American model and actress (1943–1969)
  • Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer (born 1979)
  • Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)
  • John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (1949–1982)

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 →