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Historical Context for June 23, 1980

In 1980, the world population was approximately 4,447,606,236 people[†]

In 1980, the average yearly tuition was $738 for public universities and $3,225 for private universities. Today, these costs have risen to $9,750 and $35,248 respectively[†]

Notable Births

1980Becky Cloonan, American author and illustrator[†]

Becky Cloonan is an American comic book creator, known for work published by Tokyopop and Vertigo. In 2012 she became the first female artist to draw the main Batman title for DC Comics.

1980Melissa Rauch, American actress[†]

Melissa Ivy Rauch is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory from 2009 to 2019, for which she was nominated for the Critics Choice Television Award in 2013. From 2004 to 2008, Rauch worked as a regular contributor on the VH1 series Best Week Ever.

1980Francesca Schiavone, Italian tennis player[†]

Francesca Schiavone is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had career-high rankings of world No. 4 in women's singles and No. 8 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Schiavone won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including a major at the 2010 French Open, the first Italian woman to win a singles major. To date, Schiavone is the last one-handed backhand player to win a major women's title.

Notable Deaths

1980Sanjay Gandhi, Indian engineer and politician (born 1946)[†]

Sanjay Gandhi was an Indian politician. He was a member of the Lok Sabha and was the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi.

1980Clyfford Still, American painter and academic (born 1904)[†]

Clyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately following World War II. Still has been credited with laying the groundwork for the movement, as his shift from representational to abstract painting occurred between 1938 and 1942, earlier than his colleagues like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, who continued to paint in figurative-surrealist styles well into the 1940s.

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Headlines from June 23, 1980

BEGIN MOVING OFFICE TO EAST JERUSALEM; Move Is Described as Symbolizing City's Unity Under Israeli Rule Move to East Jerusalem Is Approved Negotiations May Be Hampered

By David K. Shipler Special To the New York Times

JERUSALEM, June 22--Prime Minister Menachem Begin has decided to move his office and the Cabinet's conference room from West Jerusalem to East Jerusalem, the largely Arab sector of the city captured by the Israeli Army in the 1967 war, a Government official said today.

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Police Find No Signs Of Bugging at G.O.P.; Police in Washington Find No Evidence That G.O.P. Office Was Bugged Strange Sounds on Phones District Officer Called In Second Request to Police 'Every Right to Be Concerned'

By Special to The New York Times

WASHINGTON, June 22--The District of Columbia Police Department said today that its investigators had found no evidence of electronic eavesdropping in the office of Mary Crisp, co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, who had expressed suspicions that her office might have been bugged.

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A Youth, 16, A Drab Life And Murder; Slain in the Street 'Not a Bad Boy' Remarkably Dull Days Dancing and Handball Murder Case: One Boy's Aimless Life and Another's Senseless Death 'Hung Out' on the Block Attended Junior High School Fights and Family Court

By Barbara Basler

Angel Claudio, short and spare and dark, was the kind of boy who never did anything seriously wrong, or positively right, but there was nothing in his past that irrevocably drove him toward a cell on Rikers Island.

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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:

  • 9/11/2001: The September 11 Attacks happened on this day, the news articles from this date provide great context to the tragedy our nation suffered and the immediate response from the American people. The headlines capture the shock, confusion, and unity that emerged in the aftermath of this devastating event.
  • 7/20/1969: The historic Apollo 11 moon landing, when humans first set foot on another celestial body. The articles from this date showcase humanity's greatest achievement in space exploration and the culmination of the space race.
  • 11/9/1989: The fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the beginning of the end of the Cold War. The coverage provides fascinating insights into this pivotal moment in world history and the emotions of people as decades of division came to an end.
  • 1/20/2009: Barack Obama's inauguration as the first African American President of the United States, a watershed moment in American history that represented a major milestone in the ongoing journey toward racial equality.
  • 8/15/1969: The Woodstock Music Festival began, marking a defining moment in American counterculture and music history. The coverage captures the spirit of the era and the unprecedented gathering of young people.

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.