1979 - What happened in 1979 ?

January 1979

Monday 01:

Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.

Tuesday 02:

Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of Nancy Spungen.

Sunday 07:

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge are overthrown by Vietnamese troops.

Tuesday 16:

The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.

February 1979

Friday 02:

Sid Vicious dies of a heroin overdose.

Wednesday 07:

Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either planet was known to science.

Thursday 08:

Denis Sassou-Nguesso became the President of the People?s Republic of the Congo for the first time.

Sunday 11:

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seizes power in Iran.

Wednesday 14:

In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.

March 1979

Monday 05:

Detection equipment picks up a gamma ray burst originating from the Large Magellanic Cloud, leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.

Wednesday 14:

In China, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.

Sunday 25:

The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

Monday 26:

Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in Washington, DC

Saturday 31:

The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta is no longer a military base.

April 1979

Sunday 01:

Iran's government becomes Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially.

Wednesday 04:

President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.

Friday 20:

President Jimmy Carter is attacked by a Swamp Rabbit while on vacation in Plains, Georgia.

Sunday 22:

Brent Mydland performs his first show with the Grateful Dead at Spartan Stadium, San Jose.

Monday 23:

Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protestor Blair Peach.

May 1979

Friday 04:

Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Thursday 10:

The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.

Monday 21:

White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.

Friday 25:

1979 - The movie Alien opens in theaters.

June 1979

Sunday 03:

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional oil spill ever.

Tuesday 12:

Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross, man powered, across the English Channel.

Monday 18:

SALT II is signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Saturday 23:

Sydney: New South Wales Premier Neville Wran officially opens the Eastern Suburbs Railway. It operates as a shuttle between Central & Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line during 1980.

Wednesday 27:

Muhammad Ali announces his retirement from boxing.

July 1979

Sunday 01:

Sony introduces the Walkman.

Monday 02:

The first U.S. coin to honor a woman, the Susan B. Anthony dollar, is introduced.

Tuesday 03:

US President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.

Monday 09:

A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.

Thursday 19:

The Sandinista rebels overthrow the US-backed government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.

August 1979

Friday 17:

Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156

Thursday 23:

Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.

Friday 24:

In Central Park, New York a concert is given by cars.

Monday 27:

An IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten and 3 others on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.

Tuesday 28:

An IRA bomb explodes on the Great Market in Brussels.

September 1979

Saturday 01:

The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km.

Wednesday 12:

Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter scale.

Thursday 20:

A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I

Saturday 22:

The South Atlantic Flash is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.

Thursday 27:

The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.

October 1979

Monday 01:

The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to Panama.

Wednesday 10:

The Pac-Man arcade game is released to the Japanese market by Namco.

Sunday 14:

The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C. demands "an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people," drawing 200,000 people.

Wednesday 17:

The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the United States Department of Education and United States Department of Health and Human Services. Both replace the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Friday 26:

Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by KCIA head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.

November 1979

Sunday 04:

Iran hostage crisis begins: Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the United States embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (63 of whom are American).

Wednesday 14:

Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.

Friday 16:

The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea in Bucharest, Romania.

Wednesday 21:

The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)

Wednesday 28:

The Mount Erebus disaster: an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.

December 1979

Monday 03:

In Cincinnati, Ohio, a stampede for seats at Riverfront Coliseum during a Who concert kills eleven fans.

Friday 14:

Punk rock band The Clash release the influential double album London Calling.

Friday 21:

The Lancaster House Agreement was signed, effectively ending the white rule in Rhodesia under Ian Smith.

Sunday 23:

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: Soviet military units occupy Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan

Wednesday 26:

Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan