WHAT ALL HAPPENED MARCH TO AUGUST 1980
Find out what all happened March to August 1980

Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister. (4. March 1980)

Terry Fox begins his "Marathon of Hope" at St. John's, Newfoundland. (12. April 1980)

The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture. (9. April 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)

Dallas aired its "A House Divided" episode which led to 8 months of international intrigue regarding Who shot J.R.? (21. March 1980)

US President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan. (21. March 1980)

The Central Hotel Fire occurs in Bundoran, Ireland. (8. August 1980)

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

The Radio Caroline ship, Mi Amigo founders in a gale off the English coast. (20. March 1980)

Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans. (23. March 1980)

A massive storm tears through western Wisconsin, causing US$160 million in damage. (15. July 1980)

Vanuatu gains independence. (30. July 1980)

Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar burns after making an emergency landing at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 301 people. (19. August 1980)

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state. (1. August 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)

Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law (30. July 1980)

The United States severs relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. (7. April 1980)

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

A bomb explodes at the railway station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and wounding more than 200. (2. August 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)