content
1980 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1980 in the United Kingdom
Incumbents
Events
2 January - Workers at British Steel go on a nationwide strike over pay.[1] 14 February –23 February - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York , United States and win one gold medal.25 February - first episode of the popular political sitcom Yes Minister BBC .20 March - Radio Caroline , the pirate radio station, forced to cease transmission when the ship on which it was based sank.[2] 25 March
27 March - The Alexander Kielland North Sea accommodation platform for oil workers collapses into the sea, killing 123 oil workers. A massive wave hit one of the legs of the platform, causing it to break and fall into the water.[4] 10 April - The UK reaches agreement with Spain to re-open the Spain-Gibraltar border.18 April - Zimbabwe becomes independent of the United Kingdom.[2] 30 April - The Iranian Embassy Siege begins. A six-man terrorist team calling itself the "Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan" (DRMLA) captures the Embassy of Iran in Prince's Gate, Knightsbridge , central London, taking 26 hostages.[2] 1 May - British Aerospace privatised.[5] 5 May - The SAS storm the Iranian Embassy building, kill 5 out of the 6 terrorists and free all the hostages.[6] 27 May - Inquest into the death of Blair Peach returns a verdict of misadventure, sparking a public outcry.[7] June - British Leyland launches its Morris Ital range of family saloons and estates, which are a reworking of the nine-year-old Marina that was one of Britain's most popular cars during the 1970s . It will be produced for up to four years until an all-new front-wheel drive model is launched.
17 June - Secretary of State for Defence , Francis Pym reveals to the House of Commons that US nuclear cruise missiles would be located at RAF Greenham Common , Berkshire, and the disused RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire.[8] 19 June - Gunmen attack the British embassy in Iraq , three unknown attackers shot dead by Iraqi security forces.[9] 30 June - the pre-decimal Sixpence withdrawn from circulation.[2] July - Alexandra Palace in London destroyed by fire.[10]
19 July –3 August - Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and win 5 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze medals.1 September - Ford launches one of the most important new cars of the year - the mark 3 Escort , which is a technological innovation in the small family car market, spelling the end of the traditional rear-wheel drive saloon in favour of the front-wheel drive hatchback. An estate version is also available.11 September - The Marlborough diamond is stolen in London .[11] 13 September - Hercules the bear who had gone missing on a Scottish island filming a Kleenex advert is found.[12] 21 September - First CND rally at RAF Greenham Common .[5] 8 October - British Leyland launches the Austin Metro , a small hatchback which uses the much of the Mini's mechanical design but an entirely different body which offers more space and practicality. Production of the 21-year-old Mini, however, is set to continue for the foreseeable future.10 October - Margaret Thatcher makes her famous "The lady's not for turning" speech to the Conservative Party conference.[13] 17 October - Queen Elizabeth II makes history by becoming the first British monarch to make a state visit to the Vatican .[14] 10 November - Michael Foot is elected Leader of the Labour Party .[15] 8 December - John Lennon is shot dead in New York .[16] 10 December - Frederick Sanger wins his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry , jointly with Walter Gilbert , "for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids".[17] 28 December - The Independent Broadcasting Authority award contracts for commercial broadcasting on ITV . TV-am is awarded the first ever breakfast TV contract, and is set to go on air by 1983 .[18]
Publications
Births
2 January - Rebekah Teasdale , model and journalist20 January - Jenson Button , racecar driver10 February - Steve Tully , footballer8 April - Ben Freeman , actor30 May - Steven Gerrard , footballer1 June - Oliver James , actor29 June - Katherine Jenkins , soprano28 October - Alan Smith , footballer19 November - Adele Silva , actress6 December - Steve Lovell , footballer7 December - John Terry , footballer20 December - Ashley Cole , footballer25 December - Laura Sadler , television actress (died 2003 )
Deaths
11 January - Barbara Pym , novelist (born 1913 )18 January - Sir Cecil Beaton , photographer (born 1904 )17 February - Graham Sutherland , artist (born 1903 )19 February - Bon Scott , singer (AC/DC ) (born 1946 )1 March - Dixie Dean , football player (born 1907 )29 April - Alfred Hitchcock , film director (born 1899 )14 May - Hugh Griffith , actor (born 1912 )18 May - Ian Curtis , musician and singer (Joy Division ) (born 1956 )7 June - Elizabeth Craig , writer (born 1883 )12 June - Billy Butlin , founder of Butlins (born 1899 , South Africa)23 June - John Laurie , actor (born 1897 )1 July - C. P. Snow , novelist and physicist (born 1905 )24 July - Peter Sellers , actor (born 1925 )26 July - Kenneth Tynan , theatre critic (born 1927 )24 August - Yootha Joyce , actress (born 1927)25 September - John Bonham , drummer (Led Zeppelin ) (born 1948 )6 October - Hattie Jacques , Carry On films actress (heart attack) (born 1922 )4 November - Johnny Owen , boxer (born 1956 )22 November - Norah McGuinness , painter and illustrator (born 1901 )26 November - Rachel Roberts , actress (suicide) (born 1927 )3 December - Oswald Mosley , leader of the British Union of Fascists (born 1896 )8 December - John Lennon , singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Beatles ) (murdered) (born 1940 )
References
^ "1980: Steel workers strike over pay", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ a b c d e (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day . Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0 .
^ "1980: Britain will go to Moscow Olympics", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: North Sea platform collapses", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ a b Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History . London: Century Ltd, 443-444. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2 .
^ "1980: SAS rescue ends Iran embassy siege", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Peach death was 'misadventure'", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Government announces missile sites", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Gunbattle at British embassy in Iraq", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert (1995). The London Encyclopaedia . Macmillan, 288. ISBN 0-333-57688-8 . ^ "1980: Famous gem grabbed in armed raid", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Missing Scottish bear is found", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Thatcher 'not for turning'", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Pope welcomes Queen to the Vatican", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Michael Foot is new Labour leader", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: John Lennon shot dead", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1980 . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .^ "1980: Green light for breakfast television", BBC On This Day . Retrieved on 2008 -01-14 .
See also
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1980 in the United Kingdom: 
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