1980

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Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar).

Events of 1980

  
January
 
 January 1 - Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession make Victoria of Sweden Crown Princess over her younger brother.
 January 4 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
 January 6 - GPS time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. The president of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, is assassinated by the Mafia.
 January 7 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

 January 9 - In Saudi Arabia, 63 Muslim fanatics are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November, 1979.
 January 11 - Nigel Short, 14, is the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
 January 20 - The Pittsburgh Steelers become the first NFL franchise to win 4 Super Bowls, defeating the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV 31-19 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. 
 January 21 - The London Gold Fixing hits its highest price ever (adjusted for inflation), at US$850 a troy ounce. The MS Athina B is beached at Brighton, becoming a temporary tourist attraction.
 January 22 - Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet scientist and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow.
January 24- The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad was ordered to be liquidated due to bankruptcy, and debt owed to creditors, operate last train March 31 of this year.
 January 26 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
 January 27 - Six United States diplomats, posing as Canadians, manage to escape from Tehran, Iran as they board a flight to Zürich, Switzerland, thus ending the Canadian caper operation.
 January 31 - The Spanish Embassy in Guatemala is taken down and set on fire, killing 36 people.

February
 
 February 2 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel are targeting members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation.
 February 2-February 3 - The infamous New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot takes place: 33 inmates are killed and more than 100 inmates injured.
 February 4 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.
 February 13 - The XIII Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, New York.
 February 15 - In Vanuatu, followers of John Frum's cargo cult on the island of Tanna declare secession as the nation of Tafea.
 February 22 - The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the Winter Olympics, in the Miracle on Ice.
 February 23 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
 February 25 - A coup in Suriname ousts the government of Henck Arron. Leaders Desi Bouterse and Rou Horb replace it with a National Military Council.
 February 27 - M-19 guerrillas begin the Dominican embassy siege in Colombia, holding 60 people hostage, including 14 ambassadors.
March
 March 1 - The Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.
 March 3 - Pierre Trudeau returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
 March 4 - Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
 March 8 - The first festival of rock music kicks off in the Soviet Union
 March 14 - In Poland, a plane crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.
 March 18 - Fifty people are killed at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, when a Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
 March 20 - The pirate radio station Radio Caroline sinks.
 March 21 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
 March 21 - Mafioso Angelo Bruno is assassinated in Atlantic City.
 March 24 - The Australia Olympic Committee announces it will send an Olympic delegation to Moscow, despite objections by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
 March 24 - Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador. At his funeral 6 days later, 42 people are killed amid gunfire and bombs.
 March 26 - A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reef gold mine in South Africa falls 1.2 miles, killing 23.
 March 27 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
 March 27 - The Silver Thursday market crash occurs.
 March 28 - Talpiot Tomb is found in Jerusalem.
 March 31 - Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operate final train.
April
 April 1 - The Mariel boatlift from Cuba begins.
 April 1 - New York City's Transport Works Union Local 100 goes on strike, which continues for 11 days.
 April 2 - The St. Pauls riot breaks out in Bristol.
 April 7 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
 April 10 - Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.
 April 12 - Samuel Kanyon Doe takes over Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending over 130 years of democratic presidential succession in that country.
 April 18 - Zimbabwe gains independence from the United Kingdom; Robert Mugabe becomes Prime Minister.
 April 19 - Johnny Logan wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song, What's Another Year.
 April 21 - Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
 April 24 - Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal: the Pennsylvania Lottery is rigged by 6 men including the host of the live TV drawing, Nick Perry.
 April 24-April 25 - Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.
 April 25 - crash of a Dan-Air Boeing 727 in Tenerife killing all 146 occupants and marking the worst air disaster involving a British-registered aircraft in terms of loss of life.
 April 26 - Louise and Charmian Faulkner disappear from outside their flat in St Kilda, Australia
 April 27 - The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba.
 April 30 - Iranian Embassy Siege: Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London, UK. SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5; 1 terrorist survives.
 April 30 - Luis Muñoz Marín, the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at the age of 82.
 April 30 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates, and her daughter Beatrix ascends to the throne.
May
 
 May 4 - Yugoslav President Tito dies. The funeral ceremony later becomes the world's biggest diplomatic meeting and media event ever, with more than 140 state delegations in Belgrade from all over the world (only the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005 will have more news coverage and a higher number of delegations).
 May 7 - Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, is released from prison in Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days (the longest-ever time served by an inmate).
 May 9 - In Florida, a Liberian freighter named the Summit Venture hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, sending 35 people (most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapses.
 May 9 - The Norco shootout takes place.
 May 11 - Mobster Henry Hill busted on drug possession.
 May 17 - A Miami, Florida court acquits 4 White police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance executive, provoking 3 days of race riots.
 May 17 - 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.
 May 18 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage.
 May 18-May 27 - Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.
 May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released
 May 20 - 1980 Quebec referendum: Voters in Quebec reject by a vote of 60% a proposal to seek independence from Canada.
 May 24 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran.
 May 25 - Indianapolis 500: Johnny Rutherford wins for a third time in car owner Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effect Chaparral car; the victory is Hall's second as an owner.
 May 26 - John Frum supporters in Vanuatu storm government offices on the island of Tanna. Vanuatu government troops land the next day and drive them away.
 May 26 - In South Korea, military government forces and pro-democracy protesters clash; 2,000 protesters die.
June
 June 1 - In Los Angeles, comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
 June 3 - A series of deadly tornadoes strikes Grand Island, Nebraska, causing over $300m in damage, killing 5 people and injuring over 250.
 June 3 - U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy wins several primaries, including California, on 'Super Tuesday', but not enough to overtake President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic Party nomination.
 June 10 - Apartheid: The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a statement by their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela, which says in part: 'UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!' 
 June 10 - A Unabomber bomb injures United Airlines president Percy Wood in Lake Forest, Illinois.
 June 19 - Iraqi security forces shoot dead 3 gunmen who attacked the British Embassy in Baghdad. The unknown attackers are killed in the embassy gardens by Iraqi security men, sent at the urgent request of the British ambassador, Alex Stirling.
 June 20 - Augusta AVA became the first federally recognized American Viticultural Area.
 June 22 - West Germany beats Belgium 2-1 to win the Euro 80.
 June 23 - Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, dies in an air crash.
 June 23-September 6 - 1980 United States heat wave
 June 25 - A Muslim Brotherhood assassination attempt against Syrian president Hafez al-Assad fails. Assad retaliates by sending the army against them.
 June 26 - A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 belonging to the Italian Airline Itavia crashes into the sea near Palermo after an explosion occurs in the air; 81 people die. A bomb or a missile is suspected to be the cause of the accident but no culprits are ever found.
 June 27 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs a bill requiring 19- and 20-year-old males to register for a peacetime military draft, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
 June 29 - Vigdis Finnbogadottir is elected president of Iceland.
July
 
 July 9 - Pope John Paul II visits Brazil; 7 people are crushed to death in a crowd meeting him.
 July 10 - Alexandra Palace in London destroyed by fire.
 July 15 - A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes 4 counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It causes over $250m in damage, and one person is killed.
 July 16 - Former California Governor and actor Ronald Reagan is nominated for U.S. President, at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long standing support for the Equal Rights Amendment, dismaying moderate Republicans.
 July 19 - Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by 2 gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.
 July 19-August 3 - The 1980 Summer Olympics are held in Moscow, Soviet Union.
 July 27 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed shah of Iran, dies in Cairo.
 July 30 - Vanuatu gains independence.
 July 31st  Great indian singer Mohammed Rafi dies
August
 August 2 - A terrorist bombing at the railway station in Bologna, Italy kills 85 people and wounds more than 200.
 August 7-August 14 - Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdańsk shipyard.
 August 10- Hurricane Allen Pounds Southeastern Texas as A category 3 hurricane.
 August 14 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter defeats Senator Edward Kennedy to win renomination, at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.
 August 17 - In Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru), reportedly taken by a dingo.
September
 
 September 2 - Ford Europe launches the Escort MK3, which ditches the traditional rear-wheel drive saloon in favour of a more practical and modern front-wheel drive hatchback.
 September 5 - The St. Gothard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km) stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.
 September 12 - Kenan Evren stages a military coup in Turkey. It stops political gang violence, but begins stronger state violence leading to the execution of many young activists.
 September 17 - After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
 September 17 - Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
 September 19 - The Robert Redford-directed film Ordinary People, based on the novel by Judith Guest, premieres.  Redford's directorial debut later wins him his first Oscar, and wins three other Academy Awards, and five Golden Globe awards.
 September 22 - The command council of Iraq orders its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets," initiating the Iran-Iraq War.
 September 22 - Youth riots in the capital of the Soviet Republic of Estonia are quickly forced down.
 September 23- Bob Marley plays his final live performance at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, PA.
 September 25 - John Bonham, the legendary drummer of Led Zeppelin, dies at the home of fellow Zeppelin member Jimmy Page.  It is reported he was heavily intoxicated on the prior evening and asphyxiated on vomit during the night.  Ironically he was 32 years old, the same age as The Who drummer Keith Moon who died similarly in 1978.
 September 26 - The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.
 September 29 - The Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict (later proven to be fabricated).
 September 30 - Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which is the first implementation outside of Xerox, and the first to support 10 Mbit/s speeds.
October
 
 October 1 - Associated Newspapers announced that The Evening News would close and merge with the Evening Standard.
 October 3 - The film The Elephant Man , starring Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt, and directed by David Lynch, opens in New York City. It is nominated for many Academy Awards, but does not win any.
 October 8 - British Leyland launches its new Metro, a three-door entry-level hatchback which is designed as the eventual replacement for the Mini. It uses an entirely new compact bodyshell which maximes on interior space and contributes to high levels of economy from the 1.0 and 1.3 petrol engines, and gives BL a long-awaited modern competitor for the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette.
 October 10 - Margaret Thatcher tells the Conservative Party conference "U-turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."
 October 10 - El Asnam in Algeria is destroyed by an earthquake which claimed more than 2,600 lives. After the quake, El Asnam is rebuilt and changes its name to the city of Chlef.
 October 14 - The Staggers Rail Act is enacted, deregulating American railroads.
 October 15 - James Callaghan announces his resignation as Leader of the British Labour Party.
 October 15 - Terrorist James Hoskins forced his way into WCPO's television studio in Cincinnati, holding nine employees hostage for several hours before releasing them and taking his own life.
 October 18 - The Fraser Government is re-elected for a third consecutive term in Australia with a reduced majority.
 October 21 - The Philadelphia Phillies win their first World Series beating the Kansas City Royals 4-2 in game six. This remains the Phillies's only World Series championship in their 124 year existence.
 October 22 - The Thomson organisation said that The Times and all associated supplements would close in March 1981 if no buyer could be found.
 October 25 - Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague.
 October 27 - Six Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners in Maze prison refuse food and demand status as political prisoners; the hunger strike lasts until December.
 October 28 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debate in Cleveland, Ohio. Reagan's genial, witty performance causes him to overtake Carter in the polls.
 October 30 - 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.
 October 31 - The Polish government recognizes Solidarity.
 October 31 - Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the shah of Iran, proclaims himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.
November
 
 November 4 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California defeats incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide victory, exactly 1 year after the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis.
 November 10 - November 12 - Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn, when it flies within 77,000 miles of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth.
 November 14 - Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, starring Robert De Niro, premieres. The film will win De Niro a Best Actor Academy Award.
 November 20 - The Gang of Four trial begins in China.
 November 21 - A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada kills 85 people.
 November 21 - Millions of viewers tune into the U.S. TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing. The "Who shot J.R.?" event is a national obsession.
 November 23 - Italy Earthquake of 1980: a magnitude 7 earthquake in southern Italy kills approximately 3,000 people and leaves 300,000 homeless.
December
 
 December 4 - Francisco Sá Carneiro, Portuguese Prime Minister  dies in a plane crash in Camarate in the outskirts of Lisbon.
 December 8 - Former Beatle John Lennon dies in hospital after being shot outside his New York City apartment by Mark David Chapman, a deranged fan who had received his signature earlier in the day.
 December 11 - CERCLA is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
 December 15 - The Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (Academy of the Asturian Language) is created.
 December 16 - During a summit on the island of Bali, OPEC decides to raise the price of petroleum by 10%.
 December 26 - Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento," kills himself by overdose on San Quentin prison death row.
 December 28 - A made-for-television film of Michael Cristofer's Tony and Pulitzer-winning play about terminal illness, The Shadow Box, is telecast by ABC. The production is nominated for several Emmy Awards, stars Joanne Woodward and Christopher Plummer among others, and is directed by Paul Newman.
Undated
 Lawrence Klein is awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
 Hassan Fathy and Plenty International / Stephen Gaskin are awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
 Victoria, Australia, decriminalizes homosexual acts between consenting adults.
 Urdu typewriter keyboard layout based on Naskh script, standardised in Pakistan.
 Teen Line, a teen-to-teen help hotline, is founded in Los Angeles, California.
Ongoing
 Computer Age, and Cold War.
World population

World population


1980
1975
1985

   World
4,434,682,000
4,068,109,000

4,830,979,000
 396,297,000

   Africa
469,618,000
408,160,000
 61,458,000
541,814,000
 72,196,000

    Asia
2,632,335,000
2,397,512,000
 234,823,000
2,887,552,000
 255,217,000

 Europe
692,431,000
675,542,000
 16,889,000
706,009,000
 13,578,000




Latin-America & Caribbean

361,401,000
321,906,000
 39,495,000
401,469,000
 40,068,000




North America

256,068,000
243,425,000
 12,643,000
269,456,000
 13,388,000

 Oceania
22,828,000
21,564,000
 1,264,000
24,678,000
 1,850,000

Births
January-February
 
 January 1 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
 January 1 - Mark Nichols, Canadian curler
 January 2 - Rebekah Teasdale, British model and journalist
 January 4 - Erin Cahill, American actress
 January 7 - Gabriela Bazan, Peruvian activist
 January 7 - Margarita Breitkreiz, German actress
 January 8 - Rachel Nichols, American actress
 January 9 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
 January 10 - Janelle Pierzina, American reality star
 January 12 - Amerie, American singer
 January 14 - Cory Gibbs, American soccer player
 January 14 - Sosuke Sumitani, Japanese announcer
 January 16 - Albert Pujols, Dominican Major League Baseball player
 January 16 - Michelle Wild, Hungarian actress
 January 17 - Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian dance champion, choreographer, and instructor
 January 17 - Zooey Deschanel, American actress
 January 18 - Julius Peppers, American football player
 January 18 - Jason Segel, American actor
 January 20 - Jenson Button, British racecar driver
 January 21 - Kevin McKenna, Canadian footballer
 January 21 - Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
 January 22 - Christopher Masterson, American actor
 January 22 - Jake Grove, American football player
 January 24 - Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Dutch actress
 January 25 - Christian Olsson, Swedish athlete
 January 25 - Alicia Keys, American musician
 January 25 - Xavi, Spanish soccer player
 January 25 - Michelle McCool-Alexander, American professional wrestler
 January 27 - Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
 January 28 - Nick Carter, American singer, member of Backstreet Boys
 January 30 - Wilmer Valderrama, Venezuelan/Colombian-American comedian
 February 5 - Jo Swinson, British MP
 February 5 - Robin Vik, Czech tennis player
 February 6 - Mamiko Noto, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
 February 7 - Dionne Quan, Chinese-American voice actress
 February 10 - César Izturis, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
 February 10 - Steve Tully, English footballer
 February 11 - Matthew Lawrence, American actor
 February 12 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
 February 12 - Christina Ricci, American actress
 February 14 - Michelle Ye, Hong Kong actress
 February 15 - Conor Oberst, American singer/songwriter
 February 16 - Ashley Lelie, American football player
 February 17 - Jason Ritter, American actor
 February 18 - Regina Spektor, Russian-born American singer-songwriter
 February 19 - Ma Lin, Chinese table-tennis player
 February 20 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
 February 20 - Artur Boruc, Polish football (soccer) goalkeeper
 February 21 - Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player
 February 24 - Emma Johnson, Australian swimmer
 February 27 - Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former U.S. president Bill Clinton and U.S. senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
 February 28 - Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player
 February 28 - Piotr Giza, Polish footballer
 February 29 - Simon Gagne, Canadian hockey player
March-April
 
 March 2 - Lance Cade, American professional wrestler
 March 2 - Vince Walker, singer (Suburban Legends)
 March 4 - Jung Da Bin, Korean actress (d. 2007)
 March 4 - Omar Bravo, Mexican football player
 March 4 - Jack Hannahan, American baseball infielder
 March 7 - Laura Prepon, American actress
 March 7 - Anthony Ocana, Dominican composer & guitarist
 March 14 - Aaron Brown, English footballer
 March 16 - Todd Heap, American football player
 March 18 - Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
 March 21 - Deryck Whibley, Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician
 March 21 - Ronaldinho, Brazilian football player
 March 21 - Marit Bjørgen, Norwegian cross-country skier
 March 30 - Yalin, Turkish pop music singer and songwriter
 March 31 - Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese Major League Baseball player
 April 1 - Randy Orton, American professional wrestler
 April 1 - Yūko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
 April 4 - Björn Wirdheim, Swedish race car driver
 April 8 - Ben Freeman, British actor
 April 10 - Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player
 April 10 - Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
 April 10 - Bryce Soderberg, Canadian musician Lifehouse
 April 12 - Brian McFadden, Irish singer
 April 14 - Win Butler, American/Canadian musician
 April 17 - Brenda Villa, American water polo player
 April 20 - Jasmin Wagner, German singer
 April 21 - Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player
 April 22 - Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
 April 24 - Austin Nichols, American actor
 April 25 - Daniel McPherson, Australian actor and TV personality
 April 26 - Channing Tatum, American actor and model
 April 26 - Paul London, American professional wrestler
 April 26 - Jordana Brewster, American actress
 April 26 - Stana Katic, American film actress
 April 27 - Zayed Khan, Indian actor
 April 29 - Kian Egan, Westlife
May-June


 May 3 - Marcel Vigneron, American chef (Top Chef)
 May 6 - Taebin, Korean hip-hop artist (1TYM)
 May 6 - Kate Lawler, English reality TV show star
 May 6 - Kelly van der Veer, Dutch reality TV star
 May 7 - Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
 May 8 - Benny Yau, Canadian entertainer
 May 9 - Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
 May 15 - Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox pitcher
 May 15 - Rocky Marquette, American actor
 May 24 - Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress
 May 28 - Mark Feehily, Westlife
 May 29 - Michael Stasko, Canadian actor
 May 30 - Steven Gerrard, English footballer
 June 1 - Oliver James, British actor
 June 2 - Lindsey Yamasaki, Japanese American professional basketball player
 June 5 - Mike Fisher, Canadian hockey player
 June 10 - Francelino Matuzalem, Brazilian football player
 June 13 - Sarah Connor, German singer
 June 16 - Brad Gushue, Canadian curler
 June 16 - Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
 June 17 - Kimeru, Japanese singer
 June 17 - Venus Williams, American tennis player
 June 19 - Jason White, American football player
 June 20 - Damián A. Fernández Beanato, Newsweek and ANSA journalist.
 June 22 - Ilya Bryzgalov, Russian ice hockey player
 June 23 - Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indian cricketer
 June 25 - Nozomi Takeuchi, Japanese actress
 June 26 - Michael Vick, American football player
 June 26 - Jason Schwartzman, American actor
 June 29 - Melissa Peachey, British TV Presenter
 June 29 - Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano
 June 29 - Martin Truex Jr, American race car driver
July-August
 July 1 - Patrick Aufiero, American ice hockey player
 July 3 - Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
 July 4 - Max Elliott Slade, American actor
 July 5 - Eva Green, French actress and composer
 July 6 - Pau Gasol, Spanish basketball player
 July 7 - Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
 July 8 - Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
 July 9 - Kathia Rodriguez, Puerto Rican actress
 July 10 - Adam Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
 July 10 - Jesse Jane, American porn actress
 July 10 - Jessica Simpson, American singer
 July 15 - Jasper Pääkkönen, Finnish actor and film producer
 July 15 - JW-Jones, Canadian blues artist
 July 18 - Kristen Bell, American actress
 July 20 - Mike Kennerty, American guitarist (The All-American Rejects)
 July 20 - Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian supermodel
 July 22 - Kate Ryan, Belgian singer
 July 27 - Julia Haworth, British actress
 July 29 - Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
 July 30 - Diam's, French rapper
 August 3 - Dominic Moore, Canadian ice hockey player
 August 5 - Wayne Bridge, English footballer
 August 10 - Pua Magasiva, Samao actor
 August 14 - Roy Williams, American football player
 August 12 - Maggie Lawson, American actress
 August 12 - Matt Thiessen, Canadian singer/guitarist
 August 16 - Vanessa Carlton, American singer
 August 19 - Darius Danesh, Scottish singer-songwriter & actor
 August 26 
Macaulay Culkin, American actor
Chris Pine, American actor
 August 27 - Derrick Strait, American football player
 August 28 - Debra Lafave, American teacher
 August 29 - Nicholas Tse, Hong Kong singer
September-October
 September 2 - Dany Sabourin, French Canadian ice hockey goaltender
 September 3 - Jennie Finch, American softball player
 September 6 - Joseph Yobo, Nigerian footballer
 September 6 - Samuel Peter, Nigerian boxer & heavyweight champion
 September 6 - Kerry Katona, English TV presenter and former pop star with Atomic Kitten
 September 7 - Gabriel Milito, Argentine soccer player who plays for F.C Barcelona
 September 7 - Mark Prior, baseball player
 September 10 - Mikey Way, American bassist (My Chemical Romance)
 September 11 - Mike Comrie, Canadian ice hockey player
 September 12 - Sean Burroughs, baseball player
 September 12 - Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
 September 13 - Ben Savage, American actor
 September 13 - Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japanese baseball player
 September 19 - Tegan Quin, Canadian singer/songwriter
 September 19 - Sara Quin, Canadian singer/songwriter
 September 21 - Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
 September 21 - Autumn Reeser, American actress
 September 25 - T.I., American rapper
 September 27 - Lil Wayne, American rapper
 September 29 - Zachary Levi, American actor
 September 30 - Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player
 October 4 - Kristina Lenko, Canadian champion ice skater
 October 4 - Tomas Rosicky, Czech footballer
 October 4 - Me'Lisa Barber, American athlete
 October 5 - James Toseland, English motorcycle racer
 October 13 - Ashanti, American musician
 October 14 - Terrence McGee, American football player
 October 16 - Sue Bird, American basketball player
 October 16 - Timana Tahu, Australian Rugby League player
 October 17 - Ekaterina Gamova, Russian volleyball player
 October 18 - Reetinder Sodhi, Indian cricket player
 October 24 - Monica Arnold, American musician
 October 28 - Alan Smith, English footballer
 October 28 - Christy Hemme, American professional wrestler
 October 28 - Kanzi the Bonobo
 October 31 - Samaire Armstrong, American actress
November-December
 
 November 3 - Dan Marsala, American musician
 November 4 - Sabrina Colie, Jamaican actress
 November 5 - Christoph Metzelder, German football player
 November 11 - Willie Parker, American football player
 November 12 - Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
 November 13 - Monique Coleman, American actress
 November 15 - Ace Young, American singer and reality show finalist
 November 16 - Kayte Christensen, American basketball player
 November 17 - Isaac Hanson, American musician
 November 19 - Adele Silva, British actress
 November 21 - Hank Blalock, American baseball player
 November 25 - Nick Swisher, American baseball player
 November 28 - Lisa Middelhauve, German singer (Xandria)
 December 3 - Anna Chlumsky, American actress
 December 3 - Nadine Jansen, German pornographic model
 December 3 - Jim Sorgi, American football player
 December 5 - Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-born French trumpeter
 December 6 - Steve Lovell, English football player
 December 6 - Kei Yasuda, Japanese singer
 December 7 - John Terry, English football player
 December 9 - Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian professional cyclist
 December 10 - Sarah Chang, American violinist
 December 13 - Bosco Wong, Hong Kong actor
 December 18 - Christina Aguilera, American singer
 December 19 - Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
 December 19 - Marla Sokoloff, American actress
 December 20 - Ashley Cole, English football player
 December 24 - Tomas Kalnoky, American musician (Streetlight Manifesto)
 December 25 - Laura Sadler, British TV actress (d. 2003)
 December 30 - Eliza Dushku, American actress
 December 31 - Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player
Deaths
January - March
 
 January 3 - Joy Adamson, Austrian-born conservationist and author (murdered) (b. 1910)
 January 8 - John Mauchly, American physicist and inventor (b. 1907)
 January 10 - George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894)
 January 18 - Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer (b. 1904)
 January 21 - Georges Painvin, French cryptographer (b. 1886)
 January 25 - Roland Barthes, French literary critic, and philosopher (b. 1915)
 January 28 - Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (b. 1926)
 January 29 - Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1893)
 January 30 - Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
 February 2 - William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
 February 6 - Albert Kotin American abstract expressionist painter (b. 1907)
 February 12 - Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
 February 13 - David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
 February 14 - Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
 February 20 - Ronald Belford (Bon) Scott, Scottish-born singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
 February 20 - J.B. Rhine, parapsychologist (b. 1895)
 February 20 - Alice Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, wife of Nicholas Longworth (b. 1884)
 February 27 - George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
 March 1 - Dixie Dean, English football player (b. 1907)
 March 1 - Wilhelmina, high-fashion model and owner of model agency (b. 1940)
 March 1 - Daniil Khrabrovitsky, Soviet film director (b. 1923)
 March 5 - Jay Silverheels, American actor (b. 1912)
 March 5 - Winifred Wagner, Richard Wagner's daughter-in-law, close friend of Adolf Hitler
 March 14 - Anna Jantar, Polish Singer - LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 Crash
 March 16 - Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
 March 18 - Erich Fromm, German-born psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
 March 21 - Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (b. 1888)
 March 24 - Oscar Romero, El Salvador Roman catholic Archbishop (b. 1917)
 March 24 - Pierre Etchebaster, French real tennis player (b. 1893)
 March 25 - Roland Barthes, French literary critic and writer (b. 1915)
 March 25 - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (b. 1913)
 March 25 - James Wright, American poet (b. 1927)
 March 29 - Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1905)
 March 31 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
 March 31 - Jesse Owens, American athlete (b. 1913)
April - June
 
 April 4 - Red Sovine, American country & folk singer & songwriter (b. 1917)
 April 12 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker and billiards player (b. 1895)
 April 15 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
 April 20 - Katherine K. Davis, American composer (b. 1892)
 April 21 - Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (b. 1928)
 April 24 - Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
 April 29 - Alfred Hitchcock, British film director (b. 1899)
 April 30 - Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician (b. 1898)
 May 4 - Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
 May 16 - Marin Preda, Romanian writer (b. 1922)
 May 18 - David A. Johnston, a U.S. Volcanoligist was also a victim of Mount St. Helens eruption (b. 1949)
 May 18 - Ian Curtis, British musician and singer (Joy Division) (b. 1956)
 May 28 - Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (b. 1895)
 June 7 - Henry Miller, American writer (b. 1891)
 June 7 - Elizabeth Craig, British writer (b. 1883)
 June 12 - Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
 June 13 - Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (b. 1942)
 June 20 - Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet (b. 1892)
 June 21 - Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter (b. 1923)
 June 23 - Clyfford Still, American painter (b. 1904)
 June 23 - John Laurie, British actor (b. 1897)
July - September
 
 July - Robert Brackman, American painter (b. 1898)
 July 7 - Dore Schary, American film writer, director, and producer (b. 1905)
 July 9 - Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian writer, poet and diplomat (b. 1913)
 July 15 - Ben Selvin, famed American 1920's & 1930's orchestra leader & recording artist (b. 1898)
 July 17 - Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
 July 24 - Uttam Kumar (Arun Kumar Chatterjee), the legendary Bengali Actor (b. 1926).
 July 24 - Peter Sellers, English actor (b. 1925)
 July 25 - Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, poet, actor (b. 1938)
 July 26 - Kenneth Tynan, English theatre critic (b. 1927)
 July 27 - Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (b. 1919)
 July 31 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)
 August 7 - Jackie Cochran, American pilot (b. 1906)
 August 10 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
 August 14 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model (murdered) (b. 1960)
 August 19 - Otto Frank, father of Jewish diarist Anne Frank (b. 1889)
 August 20 - Joe Dassin, French singer (b. 1938)
 August 24 - Yootha Joyce, British actress (b. 1927)
 August 26 -