1980

• The program premieres on 14 July, at 7pm on the Nine Network
• Vincent Smith of Sale, Victoria (pictured with Tony Barber and models Judy Green and Simonette Gardner) becomes the first contestant to win 'all the way'

1982

• The cash jackpot is introduced to the show
• Victoria Nicholls leaves, and Delvene Delaney takes the job. This gives the show a ratings boost

1983

• Hayward Mayberley of Chapel Hill, Queensland, becomes the biggest prize-winner in the history of Sale of the Century, and of Australian television. Between 3 and 12 October, he wins a prize pool totalling $343 536 ($206 000 cash and, $137 536 in prizes)

1985

• The Australia vs USA championship, airs. Champions from the program compete against the same from the USA version. The Australian team wins
• Vincent Smith releases The Great Australian Trivia Quiz Book
• The final episode for the year, is also Delvene's final show

1986

• Alyce Platt joins the show as hostess
• Former champion contestant, Fran Powell, becomes the program's question writer/adjudicator
• The Ashes occurs. Working in the same way as the championship from the previous year, but with Aussies playing against Brits. The Australian team wins
• Following the success of The Ashes, the program holds its Commonwealth Games. Australian, Canadian and New Zealand contestants (from their respective versions of the show) compete against each other. Cary Young wins
• The Wild card is added to the fame game
• David Poltorak, of Sydney, New South Wales, becomes the new record-holder, winning cash and prizes with a value totalling $376 200 ($244 000 cash, $132 200 in prizes) On his final show, his score is $200. This score has never been equalled

1987

• The first world championship airs. Contestants from the Australian, New Zealand, American, and English versions of 'Sale' compete. Cary Young wins

1988

• The second world championship airs. David Bock wins
• The first student championship airs. Year 12 students from across Australia compete

1989

• The third world championship airs. Brian MacDonnell wins
• A format re-vamp occurs. Cash Cards, audio questions, a mid-show Fast Money and an extra fame game are now included in the front game. The major prize round adopts the winners board. Now, winning contestants are able to play for a car on any night, and winning seven consecutive shows, guarantees winning 'the lot'
• Episode 2000 airs
• The second student championship airs. During this series, the show celebrates its ninth anniversary

1990

• The Masters series airs. The three winners from the world championships compete against each other. Cary Young wins
• Kate Buckingham, of Seventeen Mile Rocks, Queensland, breaks the prize record in October. She wins cash and prizes whose value totals $471 640
• To celebrate the show's 10th anniversary, the first celebrity series airs

1991

• Before the show's season begins, the Nine Network runs three weeks of 'classic' episodes
• David Poltorak replaces Fran Powell as question writer/adjudicator
• Tony has a steel hip replacement. On one of the year's first episodes, he apologises for not running on to the set at the start of the show!
• Tony Barber and Alyce Platt leave the show in April. Glenn Ridge and Jo Bailey replace them

1992

• A champion of champions series airs. Kate Buckingham is absent due to the birth of her child
• Robert Kusmierski, of Victoria, breaks the prize-winning record. On 1 June he wins the cash jackpot, and his winnings total $676 919 ($508 000 cash, $168 919 in prizes). He really needs the money, because he has to borrow a friend's suit to wear on the show!

1993

• Jo Bailey leaves, several weeks before the end of the season. For the remainder of the year, guest hostesses have week-long tenures. Guests include Alyssa-Jane Cook, Denise Drysdale, Effie, Alyce Platt, Jo Beth Taylor, Suuzie Wilks and Dame Edna Everage. Jo is a 'guest hostess' for one week, as well
• Minor format changes mean that winning the cash jackpot requires eight wins, rather than seven

1994

• Nicky Buckley joins the show as hostess. She competes in the celebrity race at the Adelaide Grand Prix
• Episode 3000 airs
• A Battle of the TV Shows series airs. Red Symons and John Blackman of Hey Hey it's Saturday win

1995

• Sale's 15th Anniversary Special airs. Tony Barber, Alyce Platt, Jo Bailey and Delvene Delaney, make guest appearances on the hour-long program
• A French production team comes to Australia, to film two pilot episodes for a French version of Sale. Using the Australian set, studio and sounds, the shows are made, with the French community organising French-speaking contestants and studio audience members. The show goes well, despite the fact that the host snaps his Achilles tendon prior to recording

1996

• As Australian television celebrates its 40th anniversary, Sale airs a 40 Years of Television celebrity series. On one episode, Pete Smith is a contestant AND does the announcing. He wins this episode, against international guest Gary Coleman. In the finals of the series, Gary does the announcing

1997

• Nicky Buckley gives birth to her first child, Cooper Alan Bingham. She works on the show throughout her pregnancy, and some viewers express concerns about her "flaunting her pregnancy." Her supporters greatly out-number her critics, though
• At the Logie Awards, Daryl Somers presents Nicky with a special Logie for 'most publicised pregnancy'. To ensure the whole family can enjoy the award, it makes a squeaking sound when squashed
• When Nicky takes maternity leave, guest hostesses are Rhonda Burchmore, Colleen Hewett, Gina Jeffreys and Kim Watkins. A Battle of the Footy Codes series airs during this time, and each night therein has a different sportswoman serve as hostess.
• A Masters series airs. Contestants who win their way through to the finals, play against Cary Young. Cary wins

1998

• The 'State of Origin University Challenge' airs
• Other 'specials' to air are the 18th Anniversary challenge (a champion of champions series with most of the big winners from the show's history, won by David Bock), Battle of the TV Shows (won by Russell Gilbert and Wilbur Wilde of Hey Hey it's Saturday) and Battle of the Footy Codes.
• Episode 4000 airs
• Nicky gives birth to her second child, Jasper Leonard Bingham. When she takes maternity leave, guest hostesses are Livinia Nixon, Chelsea Gibb and Felicity (country music performer)
• The Nicky for a Night competition occurs. For a week during Nicky's absence, 'everyday' people are given the chance to co-host Sale of the Century. After sending in short 'audition' videos, the producers choose ten finalists, and the viewers vote to determine the winners. Strangely, the 'everyday' people all end up being tall blonde women.
• Another Masters knock-out series occurs. The two-week-long series begins with seven champion contestants from the last two years, with one being eliminated every night. They play for the chance to compete in another knock-out series, opposing Cary Young, David Bock and Vincent Smith. David wins

1999

• The year commences with a celebrity challenge
• Robert Robert Kusmierski's big win makes its way into Who Weekly magazine's 100 Greatest Moments in Television
• Nicky Buckley's "resignation" is announced after the show's season concludes. It is later revealed that the Nine Network decided to replace her

2000

• The show is re-titled Sale of the New Century... despite the fact that the 'new century' does not begin until 2001
• The most significant format change is the controversial contestant elimination rule. The show now begins with four players, and the lowest-scoring player is eliminated at the end of rounds two and three

2001

• The program reverts to the title Sale of the Century
• The show returns to a three-contestant format, with the lowest scorer being eliminated before the final 'fast money'
• At the end of the year, Glenn Ridge, Karina Brown and Pete Smith are axed from the program... the network later announces that the show will be "rested" for the first half of 2002 and returned with new hosts

2002

• A nationwide search for a new host is conducted, with commercials airing inviting people to submit audition tapes
• Shafted fills Sale's timeslot, and is planned to air for six months before Sale returns. However, the show rates poorly, is replaced by re-runs of Frasier which rates so well that plans for Sale to return are put on the backburner

2005

• The program returns to the Nine Network, under its 1970s Australian title of Temptation.