1980

Fun Filled Facts!

• Post It Notes are introduced by 3-M.

 

• John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman. 

 

• RU-486 the abortion pill is released in France. 

 

• CNN is launched for the first time. 

 

• Richard Pryor gets badly burned trying to freebase cocaine. 

 

• Saddam Hussein launches war against Iran for close to a decade over oil rights. 

 

• Brook Shields whispers "You know what comes between me and my Calvin's? Nothing." The ad was banned. 

 

• Black & Hispanic Barbie are introduced. 

 

• Led Zeppelins drummer, John Bonham, dies of asphyxiation after drinking binge. 

 

• Bob Dylan becomes a born again Christian. 

 

• Kurtis Blow is the first hip-hop artist to appear on national television. He performs "The Break" on Soul Train in October. 

 

• Ordinary People wins Oscar for Best Movie. 

 

• Empire Strikes Back grosses 290 million at the box office. Security around this movie was so tight that George Lucas had the character of Darth Vader give fake ending to movie - "Obi Wan Kenobi is your father", and later dubbed it to be "I am your father". 

 

• "Rappers Delight" by Sugarhill Gang was first rap act to have huge International hit. 

 

• The hit film Urban Cowboy revives country music sales with the new "Nashville Sound" of pop country tunes. 

 

• Dallas is the # 1 show. 

 

• TV Show That's Incredible popularizes the phrase "Don't Try This At Home". 

 

• US Hockey team beats Russia for the gold in Winter Olympics. 

 

• Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS, makes next to nothing on the deal. 

• 7-Eleven introduces the "Big Gulp".