On this day

December 9, 1980

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

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Headlines from December 9, 1980

Soviet Armed Services Showing Weaknesses In Several Key Areas; The Soviet Military: Its Power and Limits Last of three articles. Soviet Armed Forces Show Weakness in Many Key Areas Afghanistan Seen as Example Reluctance to Attack Afghans Breakdown of Deployment Soviet Troops Well Trained Maintenance Is Centralized Birth Rate Is Declining Navy and Air Force Problems

By Unknown Author

The Soviet armed forces, like those of the United States, have formidable weaknesses in readiness and manpower. There are ethnic tensions within the ranks; there is a shortage of sophisticated weaponry, and there are deficiencies in battlereadiness in both the army and the navy.

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REAGAN PLANS DRIVE FOR TRANSITION AID; Republicans Need $1 Million More To Cover Record Operations Volumes of Information Reagan Plans Fund-Raising Effort For Record Transition Operations Fund Will Be Audited Doubts on Value Expressed

By David E. Rosenbaum Special To the New York Times

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8--Presidentelect Ronald Reagan is planning to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in private donations to finance the most elaborate transition operation in history.

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of December 3, 1980, covering December 9, 1980.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Guilty by Barbra Streisand

    Guilty

    Barbra Streisand

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    9
  2. 2
    Album cover for Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits by Kenny Rogers

    Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits

    Kenny Rogers

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    8
  3. 3
    Album cover for Hotter Than July by Stevie Wonder

    Hotter Than July

    Stevie Wonder

    Last week
    4
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    4
  4. 4
    Album cover for The River by Bruce Springsteen

    The River

    Bruce Springsteen

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    6
  5. 5
    Album cover for Back In Black by AC/DC

    Back In Black

    AC/DC

    Last week
    6
    Peak
    5
    Weeks
    16

Notable Births

Simon Helberg

1980Simon Helberg, American actor, comedian, and musician[†]

Simon Maxwell Helberg is an American actor and comedian. From 2007 to 2019, he played Howard Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), and won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the role. His performance as Cosmé McMoon in the film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Helberg has also appeared on the sketch comedy series MADtv as a cast member in season 8 (2002–2003), and his other film roles including Old School (2003), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), A Serious Man (2009), and Annette (2021).

Ryder Hesjedal

1980Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian cyclist[†]

Eric Ryder Hesjedal is a Canadian retired professional racing cyclist who competed in mountain biking and road racing between 1998 and 2016. Hesjedal won a silver medal at the 1998 Junior, 2001 Under-23, and Elite world championship in mountain biking. He turned professional with U.S. Postal Service in 2004 after several years with the Rabobank continental team. Having previously finished in fifth place at the 2010 Tour de France, Hesjedal won his first and only Grand Tour at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, the first Grand Tour win by a Canadian. Other major wins include two stages at the Vuelta a España, the first such stage wins by a Canadian.

Mark Riddell

1980Mark Riddell, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster[†]

Mark Robert Riddell is an Australian rugby league commentator and former professional player who played as a hooker in the 2000s and 2010s. A City New South Wales representative goal-kicker, he played in the National Rugby League for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Parramatta Eels and the Sydney Roosters, and in the Super League with the Wigan Warriors.

Historical Context for December 9, 1980

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