As the continued miniaturization continues new technology allows for new consumer products that could never have existed to appear including domestic Camcorders and Fax machines.
The release of the Pac-Man arcade game.
Politics enters the Olympic Games, with the boycott by the US of the Moscow Olympics.
War breaks out between Iraq and Iran.
This was also a bad year for natural disasters including Mount St. Helens eruption on 27th March and a major heat wave in the US.
The world tunes in to the answer of “Who Shot JR?” on the popular nighttime soap opera “Dallas.”
John Lennon is shot and killed in New York
Post-It Notes go on sale
Liberty City, Miami rioting
MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas destroyed by fire
Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act passed
Population:
- Wake County: 301,429
- NC: 5,880,000
- USA: 226,500,000
National Debt:
- $907,701,000,000 (1980)
- $18,152,809,942,589 (2015)
Value of a Dollar: $1 in 1980 is $3.06 in 2015
Cost Of Living 1980:
- Yearly inflation rate: 13.58%
- Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average: 963
- Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve: 21.50%
- Average cost of new house: $68,700
- Average cost of a new car: $7,200
- Average income per year: $19,500
- Average monthly rent: $300
- Cost of a gallon of gas: $1.19
- Pontiac Firebird: $5,992.00
- Magnavox VHS Recorder: $699
- VHS Home Movie Camera: $1,599
- Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head: $4.77
- Cheeseburger at McDonald’s: $0.30
- Ticket to Disneyland: Admission plus 12 ticket Adventure Book – $10.50-$11.00
Ounce of Gold Price:
- The cost of an ounce of gold was $612.56
- The inflation-adjusted price of an ounce of gold was $1,780.70
Cost of a movie ticket: $2.69
Inflation-adjusted price of a movie ticket: $7.82
The cost of a movie ticket in 2015: $7.92
Top 5 Movies:
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
- 9 to 5
- Stir Crazy
- Airplane!
- Any Which Way You Can
- Best Picture: Ordinary People
- Best Director: Robert Redford – Ordinary People
- Best Actor: Robert De Niro – Raging Bull
- Best Actress: Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner’s Daughter
- Best Supporting Actor: Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People
- Best Supporting Actress: Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard
- Dallas – CBS – 27,565,500
- The Dukes of Hazzard – CBS – 21,812,700
- 60 Minutes – CBS – 21,573,000
- M*A*S*H – CBS – 20,534,300
- The Love Boat – ABC – 19,415,700
- The Jeffersons – CBS – 18,776,500
- Alice – CBS – 18,297,100
- House Calls – CBS – 17,897,600
- Three’s Company – ABC – 17,897,600
- Little House on the Prairie – NBC – 17,657,900
- Blondie – Call Me
- Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall
- Olivia Newton-John – Magic
- Michael Jackson – Rock With You
- Captain and Tennille – Do That To Me One More Time
- Queen – Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- Paul McCartney – Coming Up
- Lipps, Inc. – Funkytown
- Billy Joel – It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me
- Bette Midler – The Rose
- Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
- Gary Numan – Cars
- Smokey Robinson – Cruisin’
- Spinners – Working My Way Back To You-Forgive Me Girl
- Air Supply – Lost In Love
- Elton John – Little Jeannie
- Christopher Cross – Ride Like The Wind
- Diana Ross – Upside Down
- K.C. and The Sunshine Band – Please Don’t Go
- Styx – Babe
- Coward Of The County – Kenny Rogers
- I’ll Be Coming Back For More – T.G. Sheppard
- Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight – The Oak Ridge Boys
- Love Me Over Again – Don Williams
- Years – Barbara Mandrell
- I Ain’t Living Long Like This – Waylon Jennings
- My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys – Willie Nelson
- Why Don’t You Spend The Night – Ronnie Milsap
- I’d Love To Lay You Down – Conway Twitty
- Sugar Daddy – Bellamy Brothers
- Honky Tonk Blues – Charley Pride
- It’s Like We Never Said Goodbye – Crystal Gayle
- A Lesson In Leavin’ – Dottie West
- Are You On The Road To Lovin’ Me Again – Debby Boone
- Beneath Still Waters – Emmylou Harris
- Gone too Far – Eddie Rabbitt
- Starting Over Again – Dolly Parton
- My Heart – Ronnie Milsap
- One Day At A Time – Cristy Lane
- Trying To Love Two Women – The Oak Ridge Boys
ACC Football Champ: North Carolina
ACC Basketball Champs: Duke (Duke 73 – Maryland 72)
World Series Winner: Philadelphia Phillies over the Kansas City Royals
Heavyweight Boxing Champs: John Tate & Mike Weaver
Super Bowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers (Steelers 31 – LA Rams 19)
NASCAR Season Winner: Dale Earnhardt
Masters Winner: Steve Ballesteros (13 under – won $55,000)
Wimbledon Winners:
- Men’s Singles: Sweden Björn Borg defeated United States John McEnroe, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7 (16–18), 8–6
- Women’s Singles: Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley defeated United States Chris Evert 6–1, 7–6 (7–4)
- Men’s Doubles: Australia Peter McNamara / Australia Paul McNamee defeated United States Bob Lutz / United States Stan Smith 7–6 (7–5), 6–3, 6–7 (4–7), 6–4
- Women’s Doubles: United States Kathy Jordan / United States Anne Smith defeated United States Rosemary Casals / Australia Wendy Turnbull 4–6, 7–5, 6–1
- Mixed Doubles: United States Tracy Austin / United States John Austin defeated Australia Dianne Fromholtz / Australia Mark Edmondson 4–6, 7–6 (8–6), 6–3