The following events happened in August 1980:
August 1, 1980 (Friday) The premium cable network Cinemax was inaugurated in the U.S. as a films-only channel operated by Home Box Office (HBO)"2d Cable Movie Service From Home Box Office", The New York Times, July 31, 1980, pT-19 The new service began at 10:00 in the morning Eastern Time."All-movie channel debuting on cable", Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, August 1, 1980, p13 The wreck of the Dublin to Cork express train killed 18 people and injured more than 70, most of them teenagers who were on their way to Cork for a weekend vacation. Part of a group of 200 students, the victims were enjoying themselves in "two crowded restaurant cars located just behind the locomotive." At the railway station in the village of Buttevant in County Cork, only from their destination, the locomotive struck a faulty switch and derailed; the rear coaches then plowed into the back of the second dining car. The accident, at the time, was Ireland's deadliest crash."Train Disaster In Ireland Kills At Least 17, Injures 40", Indianapolis Star, August 2, 1980, p4 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became the 4th President of Iceland and the world's first democratically elected female president."Iceland's 1st Woman President Says World Full Of Conflict", Indianapolis Star, August 2, 1980, p4 Died: Strother Martin, 61, American film actor known for Cool Hand Luke Patrick Depailler, 35, French race car driver María Lourdes de Urquijo and her husband, Manuel de la Sierra, were murdered in their Madrid home"Marquess, Wife Slain After Death Threat", Indianapolis Star, August 2, 1980, p4 by their son-in-law, Rafael Escobedo. The couple, marquis and marchioness, were the heads of one of Spain's wealthiest families as part of the Urquijo banking group.
August 2, 1980 (Saturday) A terrorist bombing killed 85 people at the Bologna Centrale railway station and wounded more than 200. At 10:25 in the morning, the bomb exploded inside the first-class and second-class waiting rooms of the station and collapsed the roof above a platform of the tracks onto three cars of a train pulling out to go to Basel in Switzerland."Rail Station Blast Kills 55 in Italy", Miami Herald, August 3, 1980, p1 Two hours earlier, a judge in the Italian city signed the indictments of eight members of the right-wing Armed Revolutionary Nuclei Group."Terrorists blamed in Italy blast", Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4, 1980, p1 Born: Jose Sixto "Dingdong" Dantes, Philippine actor and film producer; in Quezon City Died: Regina "Gene" Weltfish, 77, American anthropologist and authority in the history of the Pawnee people of the Plains Indians. Verdun Scott, 64, the only athlete to be a member of both the New Zealand test cricket team and the New Zealand rugby league team.
August 3, 1980 (Sunday)
The closing ceremony was held in Moscow for the 1980 Summer Olympics. Of the 81 participating national teams, 18 marched with the Olympic flag instead of their national flags in order to show their disapproval of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Later, in place of the American flag to identify the nation that would host the next summer games, the flag of Los Angeles was hoisted instead."Games end, boycott debate continues", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 4, 1980, p9 The first triathlon in Canada was held at Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park near Saanich, British Columbia, almost six years after the modern event had been introduced in San Diego on September 25, 1974. The event of a one-mile swim across Elk Lake, a 20-mile bicycle race and a ten-kilometer run, attracted 51 competitors."Triple trial for 51 athletes", Victoria (BC) Colonist, August 7, 1980, p43 Born: Teuku Rifnu Wikana, Indonesian film actor, in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra Nadia Ali, Libyan-born Pakistani-American singer, in Tripoli Died: Donald Ogden Stewart, 85, American author and screenweriter
August 4, 1980 (Monday) Hurricane Allen swept across Haiti, killing 220 people in 24 hours."Hurricane Allen's Wrath Rips Haiti, Jamaica", Sacramento (CA) Bee, August 6, 1980, pA1 After officials in Haiti discovered 140 additional bodies that had been buried in mudslides, the death toll was revised from 80 to 220."140 more bodies found in Allen's wake— Haitian officials shovel mud as toll of hurricane climbs", Arizona Republic (Phoenix), August 12, 19806, p6 Of 272 people killed by Hurricane Allen, all but 52 of the deaths were in Haiti."Hurricane Toll in Haiti Increases to 220", The New York Times, August 13, 1980, pA11 As Hurricane Allen broke the high pressure system that had stalled over Texas and brought rainstorms, the record heat wave in much of the United States began to abate as Dallas and most of north Texas reached a temperature of only "Texas streak ends; high 'only' 95, Billings (MT) Gazette, August 5, 1980, p11 after six weeks in a row (42 consecutive days) of "triple-digit heat" — daily highs of at least temperatures — since June 23."Rains End 42 Days of 100-Plus Heat", Los Angeles Times, August 5, 1980, p2 Died: Susan G. Komen, 36, American model, from breast cancer. In her memory, her younger sister Nancy Goodman Brinker founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
August 5, 1980 (Tuesday) Two serial killers— Jorge Sagrado Pizarro and Carlos Topp Collins— committed the first of a string of 10 murders in a period of 16 months in the city of Viña del Mar in Chile. The first random victim was Enrique Gajardo Casales, an electrician"Sicópatas de Viña: El Caso Completo" (Psychopaths of Viña: The Complete Case) Born: A. G. Sulzberger, American journalist and publisher of The New York Times since 2018; in Washington, DC Claire Kuo (Kuo Po-yu), Taiwanese singer, actress and television host; in Hong Kong Died: Harold L. Runnels, 56, U.S. Congressman for New Mexico since 1971, died from respiratory failure related to cancer Warren A. Taylor, 89, the first Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives
August 6, 1980 (Wednesday) Legislative elections were held in the Solomon Islands, with 241 candidates running for the 38 seats of the National Parliament."Solomons hold first election", Baltimore Sun, August 7, 1980, p4 The United Party, led by Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea, won 16 of the 38 seats. Born: Will Pan (Pan Weibo), American-born Taiwanese TV actor, in West Virginia Died: Gaetano Costa, 64, Chief Prosecutor of Palermo, was assassinated by the Sicilian Mafia."Sicilian official shot dead", The Guardian (London), August 7, 1980, p6 Costa, who had signed the arrest orders on 55 indictments of the Spatola-Inzerillo-Gambino heroin trafficking gang, was outside of a bookstore when he was shot by two gunmen on a motorcycle. Bronte Woodard, American screenwriter who adapted the Broadway musical Grease to film; in Alabama
August 7, 1980 (Thursday)
The Belgian Senate voted, 132 to 23, to approve legislation to grant limited autonomy to the northern region of Belgium, Vlaanderen (Flanders), where most residents speak Flemish, a Germanic language similar to Dutch and the southern region in Wallonie (Wallonia, where the predominant language is French), with the Capital Region of Brussels to be separate."Limited Autonomy Is Given To Regions in Belgium", The New York Times, August 8, 1980, pA9 The vote followed approval earlier in the week in the Chamber of Representatives. In Poland, Anna Walentynowicz was fired from her job as a crane operator at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk for attempting to recruit new members to the unauthorized labor union Free Coastal Trade Unions (Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża or WZZW). The firing came seven months before Walentynowicz would have qualified for retirement on a government pension, prompting shipyard electrician Lech Wałęsa to call a strike on August 14, 1980."More strikes, unrest grip Polish industries", Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 1980, p17-A Nanyang University was closed and merged with the University of Singapore into the new National University of Singapore. From 1956 to 1980, Nanyang was Singapore's only private university to teach its curriculum in the Chinese language. The final graduation ceremonies were conducted on August 16, 1980, with 599 bachelor's degrees and four master's degrees awarded."University merger", Sydney Morning Herald, August 18, 1980, p4Singapore Infopedia, quoting "This Will be Nantah's Last Convocation", The Straits Times (Singapore), August 10, 1980, p5
August 8, 1980 (Friday) Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos issued the National Service Law, making national service obligatory for all Filipino citizens."Presidential Decree No. 1706, August 8, 1980", The LawPhil Project, Arellano Law Foundation Although a prior law required all men between 18 and 30 years old to perform military service, the 1980 decree provided for citizens to perform civic welfare service, law enforcement service or military service. Production ceased on the Ford Pinto compact car as the final model came off of the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company of Canada plant in St. Thomas, Ontario at the last factory that manufactured the vehicle. The St. Thomas plant had manufactured the first Pinto almost exactly ten years earlier, on August 10, 1970."Ford Pinto put out to pasture, will be replaced by new models", The Province (Vancouver), August 10, 1980, p21 Five adults and five children were killed in a fire at the Central Hotel in the Irish seaside resort of Bundoran in County Donegal."10 die in resort hotel blaze", San Francisco Examiner, August 8, 1980, p12 Chuttalunnaru Jagratha, one of the most popular movies in India, was released as a Telugu language film and starred the actress Sridevi (Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan) and the actor Krishna (Siva Rama Krishna Ghattamaneni). Sridevi reprised her role in two remakes, the Tamil language Pokkiri Raja in 1982 and the Hindi language Mawaali in 1983. Born: Armenchik (stage name for Armen Gondrachyan), Armenian-born American pop music singer, in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union Komila "Kim" Jagtiani, Indian-born Canadian television host; in Mumbai Died: Yahya Khan, 63, former President of Pakistan"Yahya Khan, Ex-Head of Pakistan, Dies", Indianapolis News, August 9, 1980, p15 Titus Theverthundiyil, 75, Indian independence activist and adviser to Mahatma Gandhi Lieutenant General Kim Hong-il, 81, South Korean military officer and diplomat, former activist for Korea's independence from Japan.
August 9, 1980 (Saturday) Mohammad-Ali Rajai was nominated to be the first new Prime Minister of Iran in almost nine months, as the second choice of President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr."Educator Selected As Iran's Premier", Miami Herald, August 10, 1980, p1 The Islamic Republican Party had rejected Bani-Sadr's original pick, the moderately conservative Mostafa Mir-Salim, the director of the Iranian national police. On August 11, the Islamic Republic's new parliament, the Majlis, approved Education Minister Rajai, a hardliner who was more adamant about Islamic law."Iran's Parliament Picks Hard-Liner as Prime Minister by a Wide Margin", The New York Times, August 12, 1980, pA8 Iran had been without a prime minister since the resignation of Mehdi Bazargan on November 6. Takieddin el-Solh resigned as Prime Minister of Lebanon after 20 days of trying to form a coalition government during the Lebanon Civil War."Lebanon's Prime Minister Resigns", Tampa Tribune, August 10, 1980, p7 President Elias Sarkis had selected el-Solh on July 20 to replace Salim Al-Hoss. Died: Jacqueline Cochran, 74, woman aviator who set numerous speed and altitude records and was the first woman to fly faster than Mach 1 and Mach 2.Jacqueline Cochran Dies; Record-Shattering Pilot", Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1980, p1
August 10, 1980 (Sunday)