WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO OCTOBER 1980
Find out what all happened May to October 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)

Azaria Chamberlain disappears, at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, probably taken by a dingo, leading to what was then the most publicized trial in Australian history. (17. August 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)

A train crash kills 18 people in County Cork, Ireland. (1. August 1980)

Vanuatu gains independence. (30. July 1980)

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

The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the event at Olympic level. (24. July 1980)

Institution of sharia in Iran. (7. July 1980)

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

During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during what will be known as the Safra massacre. (7. July 1980)

After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established. (17. September 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)

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

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

Military coup in Turkey. (12. September 1980)

Flood in Ibadan after 12 hours of heavy downpour killed over 300 people and properties worth million destroyed. (31. August 1980)

Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation. (30. September 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)

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)

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