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1980 As the continued miniaturisation continues new technology allows for new consumer products that could never have existed to appear including Domestic Camcorders and Fax Machines , One other notable is the release of the Pac-Man arcade game. Politics enters the Olympic games with the boycott by the US of the Moscow Olympics and War breaks out between Iraq and Iran. This was also a bad year for natural disasters including Mount St. Helens eruption and a major heat wave in the US.

Cost of Living 1980

How Much things cost in 1980
Yearly Inflation Rate USA13.58%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 963
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 21.50%
Average Cost of new house $68,700.00
Average Income per year $19,500.00
Average Monthly Rent $300.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $1.19
Average cost new car $7,200.00
Mens Casual Shirt $14.00

Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling
Average House Price 13,650
Gallon of Petrol 0.79
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 18%
Interest Rates Year End Bank of England 14.00%

What Events Happened in 1980

  • Start of Iran -- Iraq War


  • Zimbabwe formerly Rhodesia gains independence


  • Majority black rule in Zimbabwe


  • Solidarity Trade Union Formed in Poland and shipyard workers go on strike


  • Failed operation by US to free hostages in Iran


  • Yassar Arafat is elected the President of the Palestinian National Council


  • Ronald Reagan Elected President of the USA


  • Terrorists sieze Iran embassy and hostages in London leading to the British SAS storming embassy and releasing hostages


  • Japan becomes the worlds largest auto maker


  • US leads boycott of Moscow Olympics in protest at Soviet invasion of Afghanistan


  • Mariel boat lift mass exodus of political refugees from Cuba to the United States


  • Spain and United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.


  • Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington killing 57


  • Latest Cencus reveals US Population is 226,504,825


  • Severe Summer Heat Wave in Southern US Causes 1,117 deaths in 20 States


  • Iran and Iraq begin a war that lasts 8 years


  • US Passes "Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act" to tax high profits by oil companies


  • The Killer Clown ( John Wayne Gacy Jr ) sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys and young men.


  • Former Beatle John Lennon is shot to death


  • Israel Replaces the Pound with a new currency the Shekel


  • Fire Destroys the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas


  • Rioting Liberty City, Miami leaving 18 dead


  • A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes four counties in western   Wisconsin  


  • Hurricane Allen hits landfall on Haiti and Jamaica


  • Alexander Kielland platform capsized in the North Sea with the loss of 123


  • The Winter Olympic Games are held in Lake Placid, New York, United States


Technology

  • First available Domestic Camcorders available in Japan


  • First Available Fax Machines in Japan


  • 30% of US car sales are imports


  • In Mexico first ever natural birth in captivity of a Giant panda


  • Voyager 1 probe sends the first high resolution images of Saturn back to scientists and confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.


  • Release of Pac-Man arcade game


  • CNN becomes the first 24hrs News Station


  • Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet


Popular Culture 1980

  • Millions of viewers tune into the TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing.
  • John Lennon is shot outside his New York apartment

Popular Films

  • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • Superman II
  • Nine to Five
  • Raging Bull
  • Coal Miner's Daughter

Popular Musicians

  • ABBA
  • AC/DC
  • Adam and the Ants
  • Black Sabbath
  • Blondie with " Call Me "
  • David Bowie
  • The Cars
  • Eric Clapton
  • Alice Cooper
  • Elvis Costello
  • KC and The Sunshine Band
  • Michael Jackson
  • Queen with " Another One Bites the Dust "
  • Pink Floyd
  • Diana Ross " Upside Down "
  • Paul McCartney
  • Olivia Newton-John with " Magic "
  • Electric Light Orchestra
  • David Bowie
  • The Police