On this day

December 17, 1980

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

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Headlines from December 17, 1980

A Christmas Feast; In an Island An Impromptu Christmas Feast Prepared in an Island Setting Some Dishes They Enjoyed Roast Small Chickens With Prosciutto and Rosemary Spicy Tomato Salad Moroccan-Style Spicy Orange Salad Moroccan-Style

By Craig Claiborne

THE Christmas feast that I remember best had nothing to do with sleigh bells, Yule logs, mistletoe or holly. It was on a Caribbean island where the only chimneys were not for a bearded St. Nicholas to scamper down but rather for baking loaves of French bread.

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of December 17, 1980, covering December 17, 1980.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits by Kenny Rogers

    Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits

    Kenny Rogers

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    10
  2. 2
    Album cover for Guilty by Barbra Streisand

    Guilty

    Barbra Streisand

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    11
  3. 3
    Album cover for Hotter Than July by Stevie Wonder

    Hotter Than July

    Stevie Wonder

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    6
  4. 4
    Album cover for Back In Black by AC/DC

    Back In Black

    AC/DC

    Last week
    5
    Peak
    4
    Weeks
    18
  5. 5
    Album cover for Crimes Of Passion by Pat Benatar

    Crimes Of Passion

    Pat Benatar

    Last week
    6
    Peak
    5
    Weeks
    18

Notable Births

Suzy Batkovic

1980Suzy Batkovic, Australian basketball player[†]

Suzy Batkovic is an Australian professional basketball player and politician. Suzy played her junior basketball with the Port Hunter Basketball Club in Newcastle. She has played basketball for several European clubs including the French Valenciennes, the Spanish side Ros Casares, the Russian side UMMC Ekaterinburg, and Italian side Cras Basket. In the United States, she has played for the Seattle Storm after having been selected as a first round draft pick in 2003. She has played professional basketball domestically for the Australian Institute of Sport in 1996–1999, the Sydney Uni Flames from 1999–2001, and 2009–2010, the Townsville Fire in 2001–2002, the Canberra Capitals in 2010–2011, and the Adelaide Lightning in 2011–2013; she returned to the Fire for the 2013–14 season. She has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, being named to the team for the first time in 1999. She won a silver medal with the team at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Ryan Hunter-Reay

1980Ryan Hunter-Reay, American race car driver[†]

Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay is an American professional racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. He currently competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became the first American to win since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006. Hunter-Reay also won in the defunct Champ Car World Series twice and the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. In addition to his experience in Indy car racing, Hunter-Reay has competed in the Race of Champions, A1 Grand Prix, and various forms of sports car racing.

1980Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower[†]

Alexandra Papageorgiou is a hammer thrower from Athens, Greece. Her personal best throw is 70.73 metres, achieved on August 1, 2009, in Thessaloniki. This places her second on the Greek all-time list, behind Stiliani Papadopoulou.

Eli Pariser

1980Eli Pariser, American activist and author[†]

Eli Pariser is an author, activist, and entrepreneur. He has stated that his focus is "how to make technology and media serve democracy". He became executive director of MoveOn.org in 2004, where he helped pioneer the practice of online citizen engagement. He is the co-founder of Upworthy, a website for meaningful viral content, and Avaaz, a global citizen's organization. His bestselling book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You, introduced the term “filter bubble” to the lexicon. He is currently an Omidyar Fellow at New America and co-directs New_ Public.

Historical Context for December 17, 1980

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