On this day

March 31, 1980

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from March 31, 1980

M.T.A.'S FIRST OFFER FOR TRANSIT RAISES FAR BELOW DEMAND; UNION RESPONSE IS 'NEGATIVE' Authority Is Reportedly Proposing 3.5% Annual Pay Increase-- Counteroffer Is Expected Offer by M.T.A. Far Below Level Unions Demand Union Response Expected

By Damon Stetson

With a bus and subway strike threatened for 12:01 A.M. tomorrow, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday made its first money offer. But the proposal, reported to call for a 3.5 percent increase in each year of a 34-month contract, did not come close to what the unions are seeking.

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of March 26, 1980, covering March 31, 1980.

  1. 1
    Album cover for The Wall by Pink Floyd

    The Wall

    Pink Floyd

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    16
  2. 2
    Album cover for Against The Wind by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

    Against The Wind

    Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

    Last week
    9
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    3
  3. 3
    Album cover for Mad Love by Linda Ronstadt

    Mad Love

    Linda Ronstadt

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    3
  4. 4
    Album cover for Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

    Damn The Torpedoes

    Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    21
  5. 5
    Album cover for Bebe Le Strange by Heart

    Bebe Le Strange

    Heart

    Last week
    5
    Peak
    5
    Weeks
    4

Notable Births

Martin Albrechtsen

1980Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer[†]

Martin Albrechtsen is a Danish former professional footballer who primarily played as a centre-back. He currently plays for Danish amateur club FK Prespa. He played four games for the Danish national team and is the older brother of Jacob Albrechtsen.

Karolina Lassbo

1980Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger[†]

Karolina Charlotte Lassbo is a Swedish blogger, internet personality and lawyer.

Matias Concha

1980Matias Concha, Swedish footballer[†]

Hernån Matias Arsenio Concha is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He started off his career with Malmö FF in 2000 and then represented DjurgÄrdens IF and VfL Bochum before returning to Malmö FF in 2012. A full international between 2006 and 2008, he won eight caps for the Sweden national team.

Kate Micucci

1980Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress[†]

Kate Micucci is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in Scrubs, Ally in 'Til Death, Shelley in Raising Hope, Lucy in The Big Bang Theory, Sadie Miller in Steven Universe, Sara Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law, Kelly in Hamster and Gretel, Daisy in Nature Cat, Clayface in The Lego Batman Movie, Velma Dinkley in Scooby-Doo since 2015, Webby Vanderquack in DuckTales, Stacey in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, and Dr. Fox in Unikitty!

Michael Ryder

1980Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player[†]

Michael Glen Wayne Ryder is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. He played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, and New Jersey Devils.

Maaya Sakamoto

1980Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese actress, voice actress and singer[†]

Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime Little Twins, and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in The Vision of Escaflowne. Other major roles in anime include Leila Malcal in Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, Jeanne d'Arc in Fate/Apocrypha, Shiki Ryƍgi in The Garden of Sinners, Eto in Tokyo Ghoul, Riho Yamazaki in Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective, Moe Katsuragi in Risky Safety, Princess Tomoyo in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club, Sayaka Nakasugi in Birdy the Mighty, Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler, Shinobu Oshino in Monogatari, Lunamaria Hawke in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, Merlin in The Seven Deadly Sins, Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Quinella in season 3 of Sword Art Online, and Echidna in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.

Notable Deaths

VladimĂ­r Holan

1980Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (born 1905)[†]

VladimĂ­r Holan was a Czechoslovak poet famous for employing obscure language, dark topics and pessimistic views in his poems. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in the late 1960s.

Jesse Owens

1980Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (born 1913)[†]

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who made history at the 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in track and field history.

Historical Events

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad

1980The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.[†]

The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.

Historical Context for March 31, 1980

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