At A Glance

8 January 1980 at a glance

Day of the week
8 January 1980 was a Tuesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Please Don't Go” by KC and the Sunshine Band.
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 8 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 8 January 1980 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 8 January 1980 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 8 January

  • 1973 Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
  • 1973 Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
  • 1975 Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
  • 1981 A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
  • 1982 Breakup of the Bell System: In the United States, AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.

Famous people born on January 8

  • Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (1935–1977)
  • David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (1947–2016)
  • Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (1942–2018)
  • Damiano David, Italian singer-songwriter (born 1999)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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

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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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