What Happened in 1979 — Events, Births & Deaths

the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Taiwan Relations Act enter into force. Through the Communiqué, the United States establishes normal diplomatic relations with China. Through the Act, the United States guarantees military support for Taiwan.

Third Indochina War: Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.

Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.

Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.

Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.

The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.

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

The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.

Richard Petty wins a then-record sixth Daytona 500 after leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crash on the final lap of the first NASCAR race televised live flag-to-flag.

An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.

Saint Lucia gains independence from the United Kingdom.

The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.

Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.

Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.

Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.

1979 International Women's Day protests in Tehran: Protestor involvement peaks with 15,000 Iranian women and girls performing a three‐hour-long sit‐in at the Courthouse of Tehran.

The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d'état.

Alia Royal Jordanian Flight 600 crashes at Doha International Airport, killing 45 people.

Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ending the war.

The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.

Aeroflot Flight 1691 crashes on approach to Vnukovo International Airport, killing 58.

The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.

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

Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in Washington, D.C.

An Interflug Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Quatro de Fevereiro Airport during a rejected takeoff, killing 10.

A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.

The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by one vote, precipitating a general election.

Quebecair Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec City, killing 17.

Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament (MP), is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.

Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.

A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.

Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.

Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people.

Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.

The Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting in over 70 deaths and over 500 injuries.

SAETA Flight 011 crashes in Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage was not discovered until 1984.

Blair Peach, a British activist, is fatally injured after being knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration against a National Front election meeting in Southall, London.

Eruption of Mount Marapi: Mount Marapi, a complex volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, erupts. Between 80 and 100 people are killed.

The Conservative Party wins the United Kingdom general election. The following day, Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female British Prime Minister.

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

Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.

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

John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.

American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.

Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.

Downeast Airlines Flight 46 crashes on approach to Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine, killing 17.

The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.

Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.

Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.

The Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney, Australia, kills seven.

Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man-powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.

SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.

ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.

Former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.

Sony introduces the Walkman.

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

A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld outside their home in France in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.

America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

U.S. president Jimmy Carter gives his "malaise speech".

Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.

A landslide occurs on the Iliwerung volcano in Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that kills over 530 and leaves 700 missing.

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

The oil tanker SS Atlantic Empress collides with another oil tanker, causing the largest ever ship-borne oil spill.

Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In accord with the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, Israel begins its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula.

In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake the Bala Hissar uprising against the Leninist government.

Female workers of YH Trading in South Korea hold a sit-in protest in response to the company's unilateral shutdown.

Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners.

The Troubles: Eighteen British soldiers are killed at the Warrenpoint ambush by the Provisional Irish Republican Army near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, in the deadliest attack on British forces during Operation Banner. An IRA bomb also kills British royal family member Lord Mountbatten and three others on his boat at Mullaghmore, Republic of Ireland.

The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for US$1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.

South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).

Afghan leader Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party.

Eight people escape from East Germany to the west in a homemade hot air balloon.

The Sugarhill Gang released their first single, Rapper's Delight.

A French-organized coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.

A bright flash, resembling the detonation of a nuclear weapon, is observed near the Prince Edward Islands. Its cause is never determined.

Equatorial Guinean dictator Francisco Macías Nguema is executed by soldiers from Western Sahara.

Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States.

The MTR, Hong Kong's rapid transit railway system, opens.

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.

Swissair Flight 316 crashes at Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, killing 14.

The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant began operations in Eurajoki, Satakunta, Finland.

Typhoon Tip becomes the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded.

The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights draws approximately 100,000 people.

Supporters of the Malta Labour Party ransack and destroy the Times of Malta building and other locations associated with the Nationalist Party.

A coup d'état in El Salvador overthrows President Carlos Humberto Romero and begins the 12 year-long Salvadoran Civil War.

Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Department of Education Organization Act creates the U.S. Department of Education.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.

Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.

Park Chung Hee, President of South Korea, is assassinated by Korean CIA head Kim Jae-gyu.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes on landing in Mexico City, killing 73 people.

In Bolivia, Colonel Alberto Natusch executes a bloody coup d'état against the constitutional government of Wálter Guevara.

Griselda Álvarez becomes the first female governor of a state of Mexico.

Greensboro massacre: 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 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States.

Iran hostage crisis: A group of Iranian college students overruns the U.S. embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages.

Cold War: Nuclear false alarm: The NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, detect a purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert is cancelled.

A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario.

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

US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.

A package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

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

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.

Grand Mosque seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6,000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from French special forces to put down the uprising.

The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 crashes near Taif in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, killing all 156 people on board.

Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.

In Cincinnati, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert.

Iranian Revolution: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.

The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.

The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (with rinderpest in 2011 being the other).

Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.

The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.

Coup d'état of December Twelfth occurs in South Korea.

Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.

Soviet–Afghan War: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.

The first Ariane 1 rocket is launched from ELA-1 at the Guiana Space Centre.

Giorgio Pantano, Italian racing driver

Brett Emerton, Australian footballer

Luis Ortiz, Cuban boxer

Matt Cooper, Australian rugby league player

Kourtney Kardashian, American television personality

Kate Hudson, American actress

Virginie Basselot, French chef

James McAvoy, Scottish actor

Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager

Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer

Rosario Dawson, American actress

Brandon Webb, American baseball player

Steve Smith Sr., American football player

Ashley Massaro, American wrestler and model (died 2019)

Roberto De Zerbi, Italian football manager

Anna Torv, Australian actress

Derek Trucks, American guitarist, former member of the Allman Brothers band

Richard Hughes, Scottish footballer

Busy Philipps, American actress

Mike Vogel, American actor

Francesco Bellotti, Italian cyclist

Jaime Correa, Mexican footballer

Travis Reed, American basketball player

Jack Haley, American actor (born 1897)

Jon Hall, American actor and director (born 1915)

Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet and translator (born 1916)