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April 12, 1980

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

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Headlines from April 12, 1980

SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK OUTLAWED; New Federal Rules Term Practice a Violation of Civil Rights Law U.S. Prohibits Sexual Harassment Of Workers as Violation of Rights Few Court Precedents Voluntary Compliance Urged

By Robert Pear Special To the New York Times

WASHINGTON, April 11 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published regulations today explicitly forbidding sexual harassment of employees by their supervisors, whether in government or in private business.

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of April 9, 1980, covering April 12, 1980.

  1. 1
    Album cover for The Wall by Pink Floyd

    The Wall

    Pink Floyd

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    18
  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
    2
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    5
  3. 3
    Album cover for Mad Love by Linda Ronstadt

    Mad Love

    Linda Ronstadt

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    5
  4. 4
    Album cover for Glass Houses by Billy Joel

    Glass Houses

    Billy Joel

    Last week
    4
    Peak
    4
    Weeks
    4
  5. 5
    Album cover for Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

    Damn The Torpedoes

    Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

    Last week
    5
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    23

Notable Births

Sara Head

1980Sara Head, Welsh Paralympic table tennis champion[†]

Sara Head is a Welsh Paralympic table tennis player. Head has represented Wales at two Commonwealth Games and was selected for the 2012 Paralympic Games, where she took the bronze medal in the women's team class 1–3 event with team-mate Jane Campbell.

Brian McFadden

1980Brian McFadden, Irish singer-songwriter[†]

Brian Nicholas McFadden is an Irish pop singer and television presenter. He rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo album, Irish Son. He has since released four studio albums: Set in Stone (2008), Wall of Soundz (2010), The Irish Connection (2013), and Otis (2019). In 2016 Brian teamed up with Keith Duffy of Boyzone to form Boyzlife and currently have two albums to date "Strings Attached" (2020) and "Old School" (2022)

Notable Deaths

William Tolbert

1980William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (born 1913)[†]

William Richard Tolbert Jr. was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until his assassination in 1980.

Historical Events

1980 Liberian coup d'état

1980The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed.[†]

The 1980 Liberian coup d'état happened on April 12, 1980, when President William Tolbert of Liberia was overthrown and murdered in a violent coup. The coup was staged by an indigenous Liberian faction of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the command of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe. Following a period of transition, Doe ruled Liberia throughout the 1980s, until his murder in 1990 during the First Liberian Civil War.

Transbrasil Flight 303

1980Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed.[†]

Transbrasil Flight 303 was a flight from Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, to Hercílio Luz International Airport in Florianópolis, Brazil, on 12 April 1980. It crashed on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport. Only 3 of the 58 people on board survived.

Terry Fox

1980Canadian runner and athlete, Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope Run in St. John's, NF[†]

Terrance Stanley Fox was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$900 million has been raised in his name through the Terry Fox Research Institute as of September 2024.

Historical Context for April 12, 1980

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