Memory Lane - 1980 - 1/31/26

A Trip Down Memory Lane - 1980

November 1, 2025 - January 31, 2026

LEVELS
Fond Memories: 1-5 tasks
Reminiscing: 6-10 tasks
Nostalgia: 11-15 tasks
 
0/15
 
Tasks:
1. Popular Baby Names
Brandon, Kristen, Joshua, Stephanie,
🟪 Read a book by an author/main character named Brandon, Kristen, Joshua, or Stephanie.
 
2. The average price for a movie ticket is $2.69.
🟪 Read a series book #2, #6, #9, #26, #29 or #69 (include series name and number).
 
3. U.S. President - Jimmy Carter
🟪 Read a book where a character is/was in the Navy OR with a character who plays football or runs cross country OR set in Georgia.
 
4. In the U.S. average yearly wages were $19,500.
🟪 Read a book that has a 0, 1, 5 or 9 in the page count (share page count).
 
5. Born in 1980
January 16 – Seydou Keita, Malian athlete
January 17 – Gareth McLearnon, Irish musician
May 8 – Alfredo Valente, Canadian soccer player
April 10 – Charlie Hunnam, British actor
July 18 - Kristen Bell, American actor
August 23 - Joanne Froggatt, British actor
August 26 – Chris Pine, American actor
October 21 – Kim Kardashian, American celebrity
October 31 – Samaire Armstrong, American actor
November 5 - Luke Hemsworth, Australian actor
🟪 Read a book with a main character whose first name or last name begins with A, B, C, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, P, S, or V (tell us their name).
 
6. Died in 1980
February - Bon Scott, Scottish-Australian rock singer (AC/DC)
March - Jesse Owens, American Olympic athlete
April - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel laureate in Literature
July - Peter Sellers, British comedian and actor
September - Katherine Anne Porter, American author
November - Steve McQueen, American actor
🟪 Read a book published in February, March, April, July, September, or November of any year (share pub date).
 
7. New Books
V. C. Andrews – Petals on the Wind
Pat Conroy – The Lords of Discipline
Stephen King – Firestarter
Madeleine L'Engle – A Ring of Endless Light
Robert Ludlum – The Bourne Identity
Mordecai Richler – Joshua Then and Now
Robert B. Parker – Looking for Rachel Wallace
🟪 Read a book set in Canada, Florida, France, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, on an island, South Carolina, Switzerland, or Virginia (share location).
 
8. In Theaters
The Empire Strikes Back
9 to 5
Any Which Way You Can
Coal Miner's Daughter
The Blue Lagoon
Ordinary People
Raging Bull
🟪 Read a book with the genre or tag Action, Biography, Comedy, Drama, Epic, Family, Music, Space Opera, Sports or Young Adult (share genre).
 
 
IN THE NEWS
9. February 22 – The US upset the USSR in the Olympics, a hockey game known as the Miracle on Ice. They then proceeded to defeat Finland to secure the first and only gold medal since 1960.
🟪 Read a book where a hockey game is played OR where the Olympics are referenced OR where a miracle happens.
 
10. May 18 – The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington (state) kills 57 and causes US$3 billion in damage.
🟪 Read a book where a natural disaster happens OR set in Washington OR a series #3, #5 or #7 (share series name).
 
11. May 23 – Horror film "The Shining" is released, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on the book by Stephen King
🟪 Read The Shining OR a book where someone stays in a grand hotel OR a book tagged Horror.
 
12. June 1 – The first 24-hour news channel, Cable News Network (CNN), is launched.
🟪 Read a book set in Atlanta OR where a character watches the news OR whose title contains the letters CNN in any order.
 
13. November 4 – 1980 United States presidential election: Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California defeats incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter and is elected the 40th President of the United States.
🟪 Read a book with a character that is an actor or governor OR where there is an election OR by an author whose first and last initial is the same letter.
 
14. November 21 – A record number of viewers on this date (for an entertainment program) tune into the U.S. television show Dallas to learn who shot lead character J. R. Ewing. The "Who shot J.R.?" event is an international obsession.
🟪 Read a book set in Texas OR with a character who has a nickname OR where someone is shot but does not die.
 
15. December 8 – Murder of John Lennon: Mark David Chapman is arrested following the murder of English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, outside his New York City apartment building, The Dakota.
🟪 Read a book where someone is murdered OR with a main character that is a musician.