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In 1980, the world population was approximately 4,447,606,236 people[†]
1980Tim Borowski, German footballer[†]
Tim Borowski is a German football manager and former player.
1980Ellie Kemper, American actress, comedian and writer[†]
Elizabeth Claire Kemper is an American actress, best known for her roles of Erin Hannon in the sitcom The Office (2009–2013) and Kimmy Schmidt in the sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019). She has also appeared in films, notably Bridesmaids (2011), 21 Jump Street (2012), Sex Tape (2014), and Home Sweet Home Alone (2021). In 2018, she released her debut book, My Squirrel Days.
1980Zat Knight, English footballer[†]
Zatyiah Knight is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back.
1980Troy Murphy, American basketball player[†]
Troy Brandon Murphy is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Murphy was born in Morristown, New Jersey but grew up in Sparta Township. He attended the Delbarton School and the University of Notre Dame, both of which are Roman Catholic schools. During his time at Notre Dame, he was a two-time consensus All-American before declaring himself for the 2001 NBA draft, where he was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 14th overall pick. Murphy has since graduated from Columbia University.
1980Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player[†]
Bradley Ray Richards is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Lightning, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings during his National Hockey League (NHL) career.
1980Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer (born 1891)[†]
Clarence Victor Grimmett was a New Zealand-born Australian cricketer. He was one of the finest spin bowlers of his all time and usually credited as the developer of the flipper.
1980George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (born 1908)[†]
George Pal was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after emigrating from Europe.
NEW YORK has become a festival of international theater this first weekend in May. No one planned it that way. It just happened that a repertory company from Peter Brook's Centre International de Creations Theatrales ...
LOS ANGELES, May 1--The optimism that Edgar F. Kaiser Jr. had voiced about the future of the Kaiser Steel Corporation when he took over its management last summer has apparently dimmed--and with reason.
WASHINGTON, May 1--Col. Charlie A. Beckwith, Army commander of the ground force for the rescue mission into Iran, asserted today that he personally recommended to his superiors that the operation be canceled after three of eight helicopters had failed.
HAVANA, May 1--A crude effigy hung on the gate and banners reading "Traitors" wrapped the hedges around the house like a winding sheet. The stink of decomposing eggs floated through the hot air. Someone beat incessantly on a pan.
WASHINGTON, May 1--Ten major American banks lent a subsidiary of the Bache group at least $233 million, taking in return 17.5 million ounces of silver as security, a Government study of the collapse of the silver market disclosed today.
STOCKHOLM, Friday, May 2-- Sweden was plunged today into a series of lockouts and strikes that affected every area of national life and effectively ended the country's reputation as an area of labor peace.
By 8:35 A.M. yesterday, the grayhaired token clerk had had enough angry inquiries from elderly subway riders who wanted to use their half-fare discount cards.
LONDON, May 1--The British Government named a Scottish-born New York investment banker as chairman of its nationalized steel industry today and said it would pay as much as $4.1 million to his American concern for allowing one of its partners to take the job.
WASHINGTON, May 1--At 12:01 this morning the unimaginable happened in this town: The Federal Trade Commission, one of the nation's major agencies, went out of business.
I was wondering if anything interesting on the news was going on when I was born, and decided to create this website for fun. The purpose is to show people what was going on when they were born. With this website I've found out that it was a pretty slow news day on my birthday, but I bet it would feel cool to know a historical event happened on your birthday.
The data used in this project is provided by the New York Times API. They have by far the best API I was able to find, with articles dating back to the 1950s. There weren't any other major newspapers that had an API with close to as much data. The closest was the Guardian API, but theirs only went back to the 1990s. I decided to only use articles from the New York Times because their API was by far the best. This tool works if you have a birthday after the 1950s or so.
Some important dates in history I'd recommend looking up on this website are:
These historical events are just a few examples of the fascinating moments in history you can explore through this tool. Whether you're interested in your own birthday, significant historical dates, or just curious about what was making headlines on any given day, this website offers a unique window into the past through the lens of contemporary news coverage.
You can read more on our blog.