1980

Events

• February 14 - Kenneth Parnell abducts 5-year old Timothy White from his home in Ukiah, California.
• March 1 - Steven Stayner, now 14, takes Timothy White and escapes from captivity, eventually arriving at a police station in Ukiah. Police capture and arrest Kenneth Parnell the following day.
• March 22 - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is founded.
• April 12 - William Tolbert, President of Liberia, is deposed in a military coup lead by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, who subsequently forms a military junta known as the People's Redemption Council to govern the country.
• April 18 - Robert Mugabe is named Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
• May 17 - In Peru, Shining Path start its armed struggle in Ayacucho. Beginning of the internal conflict in Peru.
• May 18 to 27 - The Gwangju Uprising takes place in Gwangju, South Korea, in response to protests against the martial law. An estimated 2000 people are killed.
• June 23 - Italian magistrate Mario Amato is assassinated in Rome by members of Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari.
• July 17 - Luis García Meza seizes control of Bolivia in a violent military coup, known as the Cocaine coup.
• August 2 - The Bologna Massacre: Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari bombs a railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and injuring over 200.
• September 1 - Chun Doo-hwan is elected President of South Korea.
• September 12 - Kenan Evren takes in power in Turkey after a coup. He subsequently establishes a military junta known as the National Security Council.
• September 20 - Saddam Hussein invades Iran in an attempt to annex Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan Province and the east bank of the Shatt al-Arab, beginning the Iran-Iraq War.
• October 3 - The 1980 Paris synagogue bombing takes place. Four people are killed and 46 are injured. The Federation of National and European Action claims responsibility.
• October 6 - Beginning of the Ugandan Bush War.
• October 23 - Siad Barre restores the Supreme Revolutionary Council.
• December 8 - English singer-songwriter and former member of The Beatles John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman.
• December 17 - Milton Obote is restored as President of Uganda.

Births

Villain births

• March 3 - Ashley Auzenne
• June 12 - Omar Maute
• June 26 - Michael Vick
• August 26 - Steven Kazmierczak
• September 19 - Michael McLendon & Nathan Larson
• November 21 - Christopher Cantwell
• Unknown - Tou Thao

Victim births

• March 4 - Nicole Carol Miller
• August 4 - Isaiah Shoels

Deaths

Villain deaths

• April 12 - William Tolbert
• May 4 - Josip Broz Tito
• May 24 - Kim Jae-gyu
• July 27 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
• August 10 - Yahya Khan
• August 14 - Paul Snider
• August 22 - Gabriel González Videla
• September 17 - Anastasio Somoza Deybale
• October 21 - Hans Asperger
• December 3 - Oswald Mosley
• December 24 - Karl Dönitz
• December 26 - Richard Trenton Chase

Victim deaths

• March 24 - Óscar Romero
• June 23 - Mario Amato
• August 14 - Dorothy Stratten
• December 8 - John Lennon