November 1979

Saturday 03:

In Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot dead and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a "Death to the Klan" rally.

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).

Monday 05:

Ayatollah Khomeini declares the USA to be "the great Satan".

Thursday 08:

Foundation of the Chilean Communist Party (Proletarian Action).

Monday 12:

Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.

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.

Thursday 15:

A package from the Unabomber explodes in the mail on its way to Washington.

Friday 16:

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

Monday 19:

Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.

Wednesday 21:

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

Friday 23:

In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.

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.

Friday 30:

Rock band Pink Floyd release the mega-selling rock opera The Wall.