Contemporary
Iran Hostage Crisis 1979-1981: 444 Days at the US Embassy
The 52 remaining hostages were freed under the Algiers Accords on 20 January 1981; US-Iranian relations were broken and have never been fully restored.
Era · 1945 – present
Contemporary
From the Cold War and the Space Race to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the world we live in today.
Contemporary
Iranian Revolution 1979: The Fall of the Shah and Khomeini's Rise
The Pahlavi monarchy collapsed and Iran became an Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini, confirmed by referendum on 30-31 March 1979.
Contemporary
John Paul II's 1979 Pilgrimage to Poland: Nine Days That Mattered
Millions of Poles gathered peacefully outside state control, a shared experience widely seen as preparing the ground for Solidarity in 1980.
Contemporary
First European Parliament Elections (1979): Voting Across Europe
410 members were elected by direct universal suffrage; the Socialists formed the largest group and Simone Veil became the first president of the elected Parliament.
Contemporary
Three Mile Island Accident (1979): America's Worst Nuclear Crisis
About half of the Unit 2 reactor core melted, but the containment building held; small releases of radioactivity occurred and the accident reshaped US nuclear regulation.
Contemporary
1980 Moscow Olympics Boycott: The US-Led Protest Over Afghanistan
About 65 invited nations stayed away, only 80 took part, and the Soviet bloc retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Contemporary
Zimbabwe Independence 1980: From Rhodesia to Majority Rule
Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zimbabwe under majority rule, with Robert Mugabe as prime minister and Canaan Banana as president.
Contemporary
Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988: Saddam Hussein's War against Iran
A UN-brokered ceasefire under Resolution 598 ended the war with no territorial change, after an estimated half a million or more deaths.
Contemporary
Solidarity Movement (1980–1989): Poland's Free Trade Union
Solidarity forced the communist government into the first free union in the Soviet bloc and, after years underground, won the semi-free elections of June 1989.
Contemporary
Mount St. Helens Eruption (1980): America's Deadliest Volcano
The north flank collapsed in the largest landslide in recorded history; 57 people died, the summit lost about 400 metres and some 600 square kilometres of forest were destroyed.
Contemporary
Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp: Protest Against Cruise
The camp became a symbol of the 1980s peace movement; the cruise missiles left under the INF Treaty in 1991 and the base closed soon after.
Contemporary
Assassination of Anwar Sadat (1981): Death at a Cairo Parade
Sadat was killed and Vice-President Hosni Mubarak succeeded him, ruling under emergency law for almost 30 years while keeping peace with Israel.