This is a list of important events the occured during 1980. Exact dates are listed when known.

• Who Shot JR? is talked about heavily from the TV show Dallas. On November 21, the conclusion draws more viewers than any other show in TV history up to that point.
• Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR, The US boycotts
• Post-It Notes are introduced by 3-M
• The first all news service started by Turner Cable Network begins
• John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman
• Brook Shields whispers, &quotYou know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." the ad was banned.
• Ronald Reagan is elected, defeating Jimmy Carter, and takes credit for freeing the Iranian hostages in his innaugural speech.
• Poland has massive strikes, eventually the unions become legal, censorship is lessened.
• About 125,000 Cubans leave Cuba for America, most are criminals hand picked by Castro's men, only a few are relatives of those in America.
• RU-486, the abortion pill is released in France.
• The US Supreme Court allows patents on living organisms.
• Mt. Saint Helens erupts, killing 60 people.
• CNN is launched as the first all news network
• ABSCAM, FBI agents pose as rich arabs and bribed politicians with cash for favors.
• Richard Pryor gets badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
• Small pox is considered eradicated by the World Health Orginization.
• Sadam Hussein launches war against Iran for close to a decade over oil rights.
• Japan passes the US as the largest automaker
• Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS to IBM, makes next to nothing on the deal. The pair buys the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template. The money is made later from licensing it to third party clone makers.
• SEPTEMBER 22, 1980 - Procter and Gamble Co. announces a recall of its Rely brand tampons when federal studies conclude their use increases chances of toxic shock syndrome.
• Genetic Engineering of insulin began clinical trials.
• US suspends grain sales to the Soviet Union in respond to their support of the war in Afghanistan.
• President Carter attempted a helicopter rescue of the hostages in Iran, failing miserably.
• US hockey team beat Russia for the gold in the Winter Olympics.