WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO JUNE 1980
Find out what all happened May to June 1980

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage. (18. May 1980)

Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting. (1. June 1980)

In Norco, California, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase. (9. May 1980)

In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada. (20. May 1980)

Gwangju Massacre: students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for 'democratic reforms'. (18. May 1980)

The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela. (10. June 1980)

The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak. Seven tornadoes hit Grand Island, Nebraska, which take five lives, 357 single-family homes, 33 mobile homes, 85 apartments, 49 businesses and cause $300 million in damages all told, according to statistics compiled on the deadly storm by the National Weather Service and the American Red Cross. (3. June 1980)

Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man. (22. May 1980)

Italian Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 mysteriously explodes in mid air while in route from Bologna to Palermo, killing all 81 on board. Also known in Italy as the Ustica disaster (27. June 1980)

In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. 35 people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die. (9. May 1980)

Operation Nimrod: The British Special Air Service storms the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege. (5. May 1980)

The eradication of smallpox is endorsed by the World Health Organization. (8. May 1980)

An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area. (13. May 1980)

The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more. (27. May 1980)

General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations. (17. May 1980)

On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru. (17. May 1980)