1979

Events in 1979 74

• 1887 – 1979 Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) Died 22 October 1979, aged 92 French composer and teacher Nadia Boulanger, who trained generations of leading composers including Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, and Astor Piazzolla, died in Paris. She was also one of the first women to conduct major orchestras in the US and Europe. She died on 22 October 1979.
• 1894 – 1979 Jean Renoir (1894-1979) Died 12 February 1979, aged 84 French film director Jean Renoir, son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and maker of classics including La Grande Illusion and The Rules of the Game, died in Beverly Hills. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in cinema history. He died on 12 February 1979.
• 1894 – 1979 Arthur Fiedler (1894-1979) Died 10 July 1979, aged 84 Arthur Fiedler, longtime conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, died in Brookline, Massachusetts. He led the orchestra for half a century, popularizing classical and light orchestral music for mass American audiences through recordings and outdoor concerts. He died on 10 July 1979.
• 1895 – 1979 John Diefenbaker (1895-1979) Died 16 August 1979, aged 83 John Diefenbaker, who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 to 1963, died in Ottawa. His Progressive Conservative government introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights and extended the vote to First Nations peoples. He died on 16 August 1979.
• 1896 – 1979 Mamie Eisenhower (1896-1979) Died 1 November 1979, aged 82 Mamie Eisenhower, widow of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961, died of a stroke at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She was buried beside her husband in Abilene, Kansas. She died on 1 November 1979.
• 1897 – 1979 Jack Haley (1897-1979) American vaudevillian and actor, the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.
• 1898 – 1979 Gracie Fields (1898-1979) English singer and comedian from Rochdale, the biggest British star of the 1930s.
• 1898 – 1979 Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) Died 29 July 1979, aged 81 German-American philosopher Herbert Marcuse, a leading theorist of the Frankfurt School whose writing influenced the New Left and 1960s student movements, died in Starnberg, West Germany. His books One-Dimensional Man and Eros and Civilization shaped radical political thought in Europe and the United States. He died on 29 July 1979.
• 1900 – 1979 Louis Mountbatten (1900-1979) Died 27 August 1979, aged 79 Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was killed when the IRA planted a bomb on his fishing boat off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland. Three others, including his 14-year-old grandson, also died in the attack. His assassination was one of the most prominent killings of the Troubles.
• 1901 – 1979 Zeppo Marx (1901-1979) Died 30 November 1979, aged 78 Zeppo Marx, the youngest of the Marx Brothers comedy team, died of lung cancer in Palm Springs, California. After leaving the act in the 1930s he became a successful engineer and talent agent. He died on 30 November 1979.
• 1906 – 1979 Joan Blondell (1906-1979) American actress, the wisecracking blonde of Warner Bros. pre-Code musicals and comedies.
• 1907 – 1979 John Wayne (1907-1979) Died 11 June 1979, aged 72 American actor John Wayne, star of dozens of Western and war films including Stagecoach and True Grit, died of stomach cancer in Los Angeles. He had won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1970 and remained one of Hollywood's most enduring symbols of American masculinity. He died on 11 June 1979.
• 1908 – 1979 Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979) Died 26 January 1979, aged 70 Nelson Rockefeller, businessman and four-term Governor of New York who served as US Vice President under Gerald Ford, died of a heart attack in New York City. A grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, he was a major figure in liberal Republican politics for decades. He died on 26 January 1979.
• 1909 – 1979 Al Capp (1909-1979) Died 5 November 1979, aged 70 American cartoonist Al Capp, creator of the long-running comic strip Li'l Abner, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His satirical strip ran in newspapers for 43 years and introduced characters and expressions that entered American popular culture. He died on 5 November 1979.
• 1911 – 1979 Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) Died 6 October 1979, aged 68 American poet Elizabeth Bishop, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a US Poet Laureate, died in Boston. Known for her precise, observational style, she published relatively little in her lifetime but is regarded as one of the twentieth century's finest poets. She died on 6 October 1979.
• 1917 – 1979 Merle Oberon (1917-1979) Died 23 November 1979, aged 62 Merle Oberon, an Academy Award-nominated actress best known for Wuthering Heights, died of a stroke in Malibu, California. Born in Bombay, she concealed her mixed-race heritage for much of her Hollywood career to work in a racially restrictive studio system. She died on 23 November 1979.
• 1925 – 1979 Pahlavi dynasty The last shahs; rapid modernisation The Pahlavi dynasty, founded by Reza Shah after a 1921 coup, was Iran's last monarchy. Reza Shah and his son Mohammad Reza drove rapid, top-down modernisation and Westernisation, and in 1935 the country's international name was formally changed from Persia to Iran. Autocratic rule and inequality fuelled the discontent that led to revolution.
• 1928 – 1979 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928-1979) Died 4 April 1979, aged 51 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, was executed by hanging after being convicted of authorizing a political murder, a trial widely regarded as a judicial farce. He had been overthrown in a 1977 military coup by General Zia-ul-Haq. His execution on 4 April 1979 remains one of the most controversial episodes in Pakistani history.
• 1938 – 1979 Jean Seberg (1938-1979) Died 30 August 1979, aged 40 American actress Jean Seberg, known for Breathless and Saint Joan, was found dead in her car in Paris of a barbiturate overdose ruled a probable suicide. She had been the target of an FBI harassment campaign over her support for the Black Panther Party. Her body was discovered on 8 September, though her death is dated to 30 August 1979.
• 1947 – 1979 Minnie Riperton (1947-1979) Died 12 July 1979, aged 31 American singer Minnie Riperton, known for her five-octave vocal range and the 1975 hit "Lovin' You," died of breast cancer in Los Angeles. She had publicly campaigned for cancer awareness after her diagnosis. She died on 12 July 1979.
• 1957 – 1979 Sid Vicious (1957-1979) Died 2 February 1979, aged 21 Sid Vicious, bassist for the punk band the Sex Pistols, died of a heroin overdose in New York City while awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. His short, chaotic career made him one of punk rock's most notorious figures. He died on 2 February 1979.
• 1970 – 1979 Disco era Dance music dominates Disco music dominated the 1970s dancefloors, with artists like Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, and Gloria Gaynor defining a decade of glitter and liberation.
• 1975 – 1979 Punk rock Sex Pistols, The Clash Punk rock exploded in the mid-1970s as a raw anti-establishment reaction to mainstream rock. Bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash defined a generation.
• 1979 Iran revolution Islamic Republic declared The Iranian Revolution ousted the Shah and brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power, establishing the Islamic Republic that transformed the Middle East.
• 1979 – present Islamic Republic of Iran A Shia theocratic republic Since 1979 Iran has been an Islamic Republic combining elected institutions with a Supreme Leader holding ultimate authority. It has been a major regional power and a focus of international tension over its nuclear programme, sanctions, and domestic movements for reform.
• 1979 – 1989 Soviet-Afghan War USSR invades Afghanistan The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, beginning a decade-long conflict that became a significant factor in the eventual collapse of the USSR.
• 1979 – 1988 Tales of the Unexpected ITV anthology series, 1979-1988 Dahl introduced the early episodes on camera. When his own stories ran out, others were written in his style.
• 1979 Thatcher elected UK's first female PM Margaret Thatcher became the UK's first female Prime Minister in 1979, ushering in an era of free-market economics and privatisation.
• 1979 – 1980 The Act of Succession Change Gender Equality in Royalty Sweden became the first monarchy to allow the eldest child, regardless of gender, to inherit the throne.
• 1979 Three Mile Island accident Three Mile Island accident A cooling fault and misread instruments caused a partial meltdown in reactor two at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania on 28 March 1979. Little radiation escaped and no injuries were established, but the confused public communication did lasting damage. New American reactor orders effectively stopped for three decades.
• 1979 Voyager flybys Jupiter & Saturn explored NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft sent back stunning images of Jupiter and Saturn, transforming our understanding of the outer solar system.
• 1979 The Jura Question Creation of Canton Jura The newest Swiss canton was created following a series of plebiscites and a long-standing separatist movement.
• 1979 Fall of Phnom Penh ends Khmer Rouge rule Vietnamese forces topple Pol Pot's government Vietnamese troops and Cambodian rebels captured Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979, ending nearly four years of Khmer Rouge rule under Pol Pot. The invasion ousted the genocidal Democratic Kampuchea regime and installed the People's Republic of Kampuchea. Remnants of the Khmer Rouge retreated to the Thai border and continued fighting for years.
• 1979 – 2001 Aaliyah (1979-2001) Died 25 August 2001, aged 22 Aaliyah Haughton was an American singer and actor whose blend of R&B and hip-hop, on albums such as her self-titled 2001 release, made her a defining figure of the era. She had begun a film career with Romeo Must Die. She was killed with eight others when an overloaded plane crashed after a video shoot in the Bahamas.
• 1979 – present Valentino Rossi The Doctor One of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships.
• 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War China invades Vietnam over the Cambodia conflict China launched a punitive invasion of Vietnam on 17 February 1979 in response to Vietnam's overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, a Chinese ally. Fighting lasted about a month along the border before Chinese forces withdrew on 16 March 1979, both sides claiming victory. The brief but bloody war caused tens of thousands of casualties.
• 1979 Yemenite War of 1979 Brief border war between North and South Yemen North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic) and South Yemen (People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) fought a short border war from late February to March 1979. Arab League mediation produced a ceasefire and renewed talk of unification between the two states. The rivalry between the two Yemens continued until they finally unified in 1990.
• 1979 European Monetary System established European Communities create a currency stability zone The European Monetary System came into force on 13 March 1979, linking the currencies of most European Communities member states through the Exchange Rate Mechanism. It aimed to reduce exchange-rate volatility ahead of eventual monetary union. The system operated, with periodic crises, until it was superseded by the euro in 1999.
• 1979 New Jewel Movement seizes power in Grenada Maurice Bishop takes power in a near-bloodless coup The Marxist New Jewel Movement, led by Maurice Bishop, overthrew Grenadian Prime Minister Eric Gairy on 13 March 1979 while Gairy was abroad. Bishop established the People's Revolutionary Government, aligning Grenada with Cuba. The government lasted until Bishop's own overthrow and execution in 1983, which triggered the US invasion of Grenada.
• 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed Sadat and Begin end thirty years of war Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed a peace treaty in Washington, D.C. on 26 March 1979, witnessed by US President Jimmy Carter. It formally ended the state of war between the two countries dating to 1948 and led to Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt became the first Arab state to recognize Israel diplomatically.
• 1979 Three Mile Island Nuclear accident, USA A partial nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in March 1979 was the most significant nuclear accident in US history.
• 1979 Black Sabbath fire Ozzy Osbourne Singer out Ozzy is fired and starts a solo career.
• 1979 – 2008 Heath Ledger (1979-2008) Died 22 January 2008, aged 28 Australian actor known for roles in Brokeback Mountain and, posthumously, as the Joker in The Dark Knight. He died in New York City from an accidental overdose of prescription medications.
• 1979 – 2003 Rachel Corrie (1979-2003) Died 16 March 2003, aged 23 Rachel Corrie was an American activist with the International Solidarity Movement who was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to obstruct the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza. Her death became the subject of a play and lasting dispute over the circumstances.
• 1979 Uganda-Tanzania War ends Idi Amin's rule Tanzanian forces oust the Ugandan dictator Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles captured Kampala on 11 April 1979, forcing dictator Idi Amin to flee into exile. The war began after Amin's failed 1978 invasion of Tanzania and ended eight years of brutal rule marked by mass killings. Amin never returned to Uganda and died in exile in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
• 1979 1979 Montenegro earthquake A magnitude 7.0 quake strikes the Adriatic coast A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Montenegrin coast of Yugoslavia on 15 April 1979, killing around 136 people and damaging the historic town of Budva and the Bay of Kotor. It was the strongest earthquake recorded in the region in the 20th century. Reconstruction of damaged monuments continued for years afterward.
• 1979 1979 World Snooker Championship Terry Griffiths Win A qualifying player won the title. Winner: Terry Griffiths; Runner-up: Dennis Taylor. Score: 24–16.
• 1979 – present Prince Carl Philip Duke of Värmland The King's second child who was born Crown Prince but lost the title months later due to law changes.
• 1979 – present Andrea Pirlo The Architect Deep-lying playmaker who won the 2006 World Cup with Italy.
• 1979 Alien released in cinemas Ridley Scott's film redefines the science-fiction horror genre Ridley Scott's Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver, opened in US cinemas on 25 May 1979. Its tagline "In space no one can hear you scream" and the design of its creature by H. R. Giger made it an instant genre landmark. The film spawned a long-running franchise of sequels and spin-offs.
• 1979 American Airlines Flight 191 crashes in Chicago An engine separation causes the deadliest US air disaster American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed shortly after takeoff from Chicago O'Hare on 25 May 1979 after an engine detached from the wing. All 271 people on board and two on the ground were killed. It remains the deadliest aviation accident to occur in the United States.
• 1979 Pope John Paul II makes first papal visit to Poland A homecoming that emboldens the anti-communist opposition John Paul II, the first Polish pope, visited his communist-ruled homeland from 2 to 10 June 1979, drawing crowds of millions. The trip is widely credited with galvanizing the opposition movement that produced the Solidarity trade union the following year. It marked a turning point in the erosion of Communist Party authority in Eastern Europe.
• 1979 Communiqué Second album — June 5, 1979 Communiqué was released on June 5, 1979, recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett. It reached number 5 in the UK and number 11 in the US. The last album to feature David Knopfler.
• 1979 First direct elections to the European Parliament Voters across nine countries elect MEPs directly Citizens of the nine European Communities member states went to the polls between 7 and 10 June 1979 to directly elect the European Parliament for the first time. Previously its members had been appointed by national legislatures. Simone Veil of France was elected the Parliament's first directly chosen president.
• 1979 SALT II Treaty signed Carter and Brezhnev cap strategic arms US President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT II treaty in Vienna on 18 June 1979, limiting strategic nuclear delivery systems on both sides. The US Senate never ratified it after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan later that year, but both superpowers largely observed its limits informally. It was the second major arms-control agreement of the detente era.
• 1979 Neil Young releases Rust Never Sleeps Hey Hey, My My One acoustic side, one electric — a link between 60s rock and punk.
• 1979 Moonraker — Roger Moore Bond goes to space — the franchise's most extreme concession to the Star Wars era. Hugo Drax plans to destroy humanity from an orbital station. Jaws returns and unexpectedly falls in love. The film is extravagant, frequently absurd and a massive commercial success. Budget: $34 million. Box office: $210.3 million.
• 1979 Walkman launched Sony changes music forever Sony introduced the Walkman in July 1979, allowing people to listen to music privately on the go for the first time, forever changing how we consume music.
• 1979 Skylab falls to Earth NASA's first space station reenters over Australia The uncontrolled reentry of the US space station Skylab scattered debris over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia on 11 July 1979. NASA had launched Skylab in 1973, but the station's orbit decayed faster than expected. No one was injured, and the town of Esperance issued NASA a symbolic littering fine.
• 1979 Saddam Hussein becomes President of Iraq Consolidation of power through purge Saddam Hussein forced the resignation of President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and assumed the presidency of Iraq on 16 July 1979. Days later he ordered the execution of dozens of senior Ba'ath Party members accused of disloyalty, cementing his personal control. He would rule Iraq for the next 24 years.
• 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution overthrows Somoza Sandinistas topple the Somoza dictatorship The Sandinista National Liberation Front entered Managua on 19 July 1979 after President Anastasio Somoza Debayle fled the country. The victory ended over four decades of Somoza family rule and installed a Sandinista-led government. It set off a decade of civil conflict as US-backed Contra rebels fought the new regime.
• 1979 Apocalypse Now released Coppola's Vietnam War epic reaches cinemas Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, a loose adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness set during the Vietnam War, opened in US cinemas on 15 August 1979. Its troubled, over-budget production became almost as famous as the film itself. It shared the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier that year.
• 1979 Pioneer 11 makes first flyby of Saturn NASA probe becomes the first spacecraft to visit the planet NASA's Pioneer 11 spacecraft flew past Saturn on 1 September 1979, becoming the first probe to visit the ringed planet. It returned the first close-up images of Saturn's rings and discovered a new ring and two additional moons. Voyager 1 and 2 followed with more detailed flybys the next year.
• 1979 The Police release Reggatta de Blanc Message in a Bottle Their first UK number one album, with two number-one singles.
• 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état Young officers oust President Romero A group of reformist military officers overthrew Salvadoran President Carlos Humberto Romero on 15 October 1979, installing a civilian-military junta. The coup failed to halt the country's polarization between left and right, and El Salvador descended into a twelve-year civil war the following year. The conflict would kill an estimated 75,000 people.
• 1979 – present Kimi Räikkönen The Iceman 2007 World Champion with Ferrari; beloved for his deadpan personality and "minimal talking."
• 1979 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release Damn the Torpedoes Refugee Their breakthrough, with Refugee and Don't Do Me Like That.
• 1979 Iran hostage crisis begins Militants storm the US embassy in Tehran On 4 November 1979, Iranian students loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini seized the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage. The crisis lasted 444 days and dominated US-Iran relations for a generation. It followed the Islamic Revolution earlier that year and the admission of the exiled Shah into the United States.
• 1979 Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashes into Mount Erebus A sightseeing flight ends in Antarctica's deadliest disaster An Air New Zealand DC-10 on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica crashed into Mount Erebus on 28 November 1979, killing all 257 people aboard. A later inquiry found the airline had altered the flight's programmed coordinates without informing the crew. It remains New Zealand's deadliest peacetime disaster.
• 1979 Fatal crowd crush at The Who concert Eleven fans die before a Cincinnati show Eleven concertgoers were killed in a crush of festival seating outside Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on 3 December 1979 before a concert by The Who. The disaster prompted many US venues to abandon unreserved "festival seating" policies. The band was not told until after the show had ended.
• 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture Ten years after cancellation, the success of Star Wars prompts Paramount to revive Star Trek as a theatrical film. Directed by Robert Wise, the film reunites the original cast in a slow, visually stunning but narratively underwhelming story about a vast alien entity heading toward Earth. Budget: $46 million. Gross: $139 million. Despite mixed reviews, its commercial success secures the franchise's future.
• 1979 Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Recognition for work among Calcutta's poor Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on 10 December 1979 for her work with the destitute and dying in Calcutta. She asked that the traditional prize banquet be cancelled and its funds given to the poor instead. The award brought international attention to her charitable order.
• 1979 The Clash release London Calling Double album A double album sold for the price of one, often voted the best of its decade.
• 1979 UN adopts Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women A landmark international bill of rights for women The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women on 18 December 1979. Often described as an international bill of rights for women, it committed ratifying states to end discrimination in law and practice. It entered into force in 1981 and has since been ratified by most UN member states.