FACTBOX: Gold milestones on road to record $898

(Reuters) - The spot gold price XAU= surged to a record high of $898 an ounce on Friday on investor buying.

Gold was previously fixed at a record high of $850 an ounce in January 1980 as high inflation linked to strong oil prices, Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the impact of the Iranian revolution prompted investors to heavily buy the metal.

After adjusting for inflation, the 1980 high was $2,079 an ounce at 2006 prices, while the real average price in 1980 has been calculated at $1,503, according to precious metals consultancy GFMS Ltd.

Based on the London PM fix, the actual average price of gold was $614.50 an ounce in 1980, more than double the average $304.69 the previous year. The metal fell as low as $481.50 in 1980.

Gold's average price was about $604 an ounce last year and the average for 2007 stood at more than $680.

Following are key dates in gold's trading history since the early 1970s:

* August 1971 - President Richard Nixon takes the dollar off the gold standard, which had been in place with minor modifications since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 fixed the conversion rate for one Troy ounce of gold at $35.

* August 1972 - United States devalues the dollar to $38 per ounce of gold.

* March 1973 - Most major countries adopt floating exchange rate system.

* May 1973 - United States devalues dollar to $42.22 per ounce.

* January 1980 - Gold hits record high at $850 per ounce. High inflation because of strong oil prices, Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the impact of the Iranian revolution, prompts investors to move into the metal.

* August 1999 - Gold falls to a low at $251.70 on worries about central banks reducing reserves of gold bullion and mining companies selling gold in forward markets to protect against falling prices.

* October 1999 - Gold reaches two-year high at $338 after agreement to limit gold sales by 15 European central banks. Market sentiment toward gold begins to turn more positive.

* February 2003 - Gold reaches four-and-a-half-year high on safe-haven buying in run-up to conflict with Iraq.

* December 2003-January 2004 - Gold breaks above $400, reaching levels last traded in 1988. Investors increasingly buy gold as risk insurance for portfolios.

* November 2005 - Spot gold breaches $500 for the first time since December 1987, when spot hit $502.97.