WHAT ALL HAPPENED OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 1980
Find out what all happened October to December 1980

Pope John Paul II shakes hands with the Dalai Lama during a private audience in Vatican City. (9. October 1980)

Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid – The bulk of the Iraqi Navy is destroyed by the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf. (Commemorated in Iran as Navy Day.) (28. November 1980)

Demonstration flight of a secretly modified C-130 for an Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt ends in crash landing at Eglin Air Force Base's Duke Field, Florida leading to cancellation of Operation Credible Sport. (29. October 1980)

Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called "Britain's Roswell". (24. December 1980)

As part of the Holy See – United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican (17. October 1980)

Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole. (20. November 1980)

El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice. (30. October 1980)

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs in the Algerian town of El Asnam. 3,500 die and 300,000 are left homeless. (10. October 1980)

A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 3,000 people. (23. November 1980)

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress. (11. December 1980)

The government of Poland legalizes the Solidarity trade union. (24. October 1980)

Princess Caroline of Monaco divorces Philippe Junot. (9. October 1980)

The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings. (12. November 1980)

Salvadoran Civil War: Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a military death squad. (2. December 1980)

John Lennon is murdered by a deranged fan in front of The Dakota in New York City. (8. December 1980)

Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War (2. October 1980)

English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25. (4. December 1980)

Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague. (25. October 1980)

A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). 87 people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history. (21. November 1980)