In the news... back in our high school years
- 1978 Record of the Year: "Hotel California," Eagles
- 1978 Album of the Year: Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
- 1978 - Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable stereo.
- Nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island, Pa., releases radiation March 28, 1979
- Iran hostage crisis - the events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979
- December 1979, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- 1980 Unemployment: 7.1%
- 1980 Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.15
- 1980 Super Bowl-Pittsburgh d. La Rams (31-19)
- 1980 World Series - Philadelphia Phillies d. Kansas City (4-2)
- Tornado ripped through Kalamazoo May 13, 1980
- Jimmy Carter pressured the USOC to officially withdraw from the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow
- 21–year-old American speed skater Eric Heiden won five individual gold medals, and the U.S. hockey team—a bunch of college kids (average age 22) beat the unbeatable Russians at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid
- John Lennon was murdered outside his New York apartment building by Mark Chapman on Dec 8, 1980
- 1980 Academy Award, Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
- 1980 Record of the Year: "What a Fool Believes," Doobie Brothers
- 1980 Album of the Year: 52nd Street, Billy Joel (Columbia)
- 1980 Song of the Year: "What a Fool Believes," Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald, songwriters
- 1980 Pulitzer Prize - Fiction: The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer
- 79-80 Emmy Awards: Outstanding Comedy Series Taxi (ABC)
- 1980 - Washington Volcano Mount Saint Helen Erupts , 22 Die
- 1980 - 125,000 Cuban Refugees Released By Castro Arrive In Miami
- Ronald Reagan elected president in Republican sweep Nov. 4, 1980.