* 1980 – Matthew Carey, American actor

* 1980 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper

* 1980 – Tanja Poutiainen, Finnish ski racer

* 1980 – Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d ' état, ending over 130 years of minority Americo-Liberian rule over the country.

* 1980 – Terry Fox begins his " Marathon of Hope " at St. John's, Newfoundland.

* 1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer-songwriter ( Westlife )

* 1980 – Erik Mongrain, Canadian composer and guitarist

* 1980 – Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

* 1980 – Jeroen Verhoeven, Dutch footballer

* 1980 – Luis Scola, Argentinean basketball player

* 1912 – Gloria Guinness, Mexican writer and editor ( d. 1980 )

* 1980 – Neha Dhupia, Indian model and actress

* 1980 – Kyle Lowder, American actor

* 1907 – László Heller, Hungarian engineer ( d. 1980 )

* 1980 – Danny Collins, Welsh footballer

* 1980 – Monique Ganderton, Canadian actress and stunt-woman

* 1980 – András Horváth, Hungarian footballer

* 1980 – Charles McCarthy, American mixed martial artist

* 1980 – Wilber Pan, American-Taiwanese singer, producer, and actor

* 1980 – Seneca Wallace, American football player

* 1896 – Erich Hückel, German physicist ( d. 1980 )

* 1896 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist ( d. 1980 )

* 1980 – Texas Battle, American actor

* 1980 – Nuria Cabanillas, Canadian-Spanish gymnast

* 1980 – Charlie David, Canadian actor

He was followed by Jean Picker Firstenberg who held the position of President and CEO from 1980 to 2007.

* 1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world's first democratically elected female head of state

* 1902 – Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician, 1st Vice President of Indonesia ( d. 1980 )

* 1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe ( formerly Rhodesia ) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President.

Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions and on November 25, 1980, Colonel Saye Zerbo overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup.

* 1925 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua ( d. 1980 )

Even though the powers of the Parliament have increased since the 1980 Amendments of the Constitution, the Parliament continues to lack the powers to balance the extensive powers of the President.

From November 1980 to May 1984, power was held by a provisional government responsible to a Revolutionary Council headed by President João Bernardo Vieira.

In 1977, Rau became Chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia SPD, and in 1978 Minister President of the state, were he remained until 1998, with four successful elections for the SPD, which became strongest party in the Landtag each time and gained an absolute majority three times, in 1980, 1985, 1990 and finally 1995.

* 1921 – Seretse Khama, Batswana politician, 1st President of Botswana ( d. 1980 )

* 1980 – President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $ 1. 5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

Despite the popularity of Gayoom, those connected to the former President hired ex-SAS mercenaries in 1980 to carry out a coup to oust him.

* 1892 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman, 1st President of Yugoslavia ( d. 1980 )

* 1913 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia ( d. 1980 )

* 1980 – US President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.

In October 1980, Kim Il-sung and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe signed an agreement for an exchange of soldiers.

As a result of that effort, the Puerto Rico Legislature approved a law regulating presidential primaries in 1979, the first of which was held in 1980, with George H. W. Bush winning the Republican primary and President Carter beating Senator Edward " Ted " Kennedy in a hard-fought Democratic primary.

In January 1980 after clashing with Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, Lopez was forced to resign the chairmanship of the New Democratic Party in exchange of the Governor becoming the President of Carter's campaign in Puerto Rico and throwing the New Progressive Party behind the president's re-election efforts.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had written to President Carter on July 10, 1980 to request that he approve supply of Trident I missiles.

Later in October 1965 he was allowed to move to Najaf, Iraq, where he stayed until being forced to leave in 1978, after then-Vice President Saddam Hussein told him that it's better to leave ( the two countries would fight a bitter eight year war 1980 – 1988 only a year after the two reached power in 1979 ) after which he went to Neauphle-le-Château, suburb of Paris, France on a tourist visa, apparently not seeking political asylum, where he stayed for four months.

In September 1980, President Choi Kyu-ha was forced to resign from president to give way to the new military leader, Chun Doo-hwan.

In 1980, President Senghor retired from politics, and handed power over to his handpicked successor, Abdou Diouf, in 1981.

* 1980 – Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.