1979

1979 (MCMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1979th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 979th year of the 2nd millennium, the 79th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1970s decade.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1940s  1950s  1960s  – 1970s –  1980s  1990s  2000s
Years:	1976 1977 1978 – 1979 – 1980 1981 1982

Events

Picture of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1

• January 4 – The State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of the dead and injured in the Kent State shootings
• February 1 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile
• March 4 – The U.S. Voyager 1 spaceprobe photos show Jupiter's rings
• April 1 – Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially
• May 1 – Greenland is given limited autonomy from Denmark. The new Parliament of Greenland will meet in Nuuk.
• June 18 – Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna
• July 16 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam al-Tikriti replaces him
• August 3 – Dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is overthrown in a bloody coup d'état led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
• September 1 – The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km
• September 7 – The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy
• September 7 – ESPN starts broadcasting
• September 16 – Three families flee from East Germany by balloon
• September 20 – French paratroopers help David Dacko to overthrow Bokassa
• September 22 – The South Atlantic Flash is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test
• October 14 – A major gay rights march in the United States takes place in Washington, DC, involving many tens of thousands of people
• October 16 – 23 people die in Nice, France, when the coastal town is hit by a tsunami
• October 21 – 259 Muslim radicals occupy Kaaba and the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Saudi-Arabian army goes in to expel them
• October 26 – South Korean president Park Chunghee killed by KCIA head Kim Jaekyu
• October 27 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence
• October 29 – Pope John Paul II visits Ireland
• November 5 – The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio in the United States
• December 5 – Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. He is succeeded by Charles Haughey.
• December 15 – Chris Haney and Scott Abbott develop the board game Trivial Pursuit

Births

Pierre Bouvier of Simple Plan

Florin Salam

• January 2 – Morena Baccarin, Brazilian actress
• January 12 – Marián Hossa, Slovakian hockey player
• January 16 – Aaliyah, American singer (d. 2001)
• January 20 – Will Young, English singer and actor
• January 26 – Sara Rue, American actress
• February 9 – Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
• February 11 – Brandy Norwood, American singer
• February 21 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress
• March 8 – Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)
• March 9 – Melina Perez, American wrestler
• March 12 – Pete Doherty, English musician
• March 27 – Hiromu Shinozuka, Japanese manga artist
• April 4
  • Heath Ledger, Australian actor (d. 2008)
  • Roberto Luongo, Canadian hockey player
• April 5 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
• April 24 – Marie Picasso, Swedish model and singer
• May 9 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician
• May 15 – Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist
• May 16 – Prince Carl Philip of Sweden
• May 26 – Ashley Massaro American model and wrestler
• May 29 – Arne Friedrich German footballer
• August 3 – Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress
• August 16 – Cleo Lemon, American NFL player
• September 13 – Manuel Friedrich, German footballer
• September 17 – Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician
• October 1 - Florin Salam, Romanian singer
• October 3 – John Hennigan, American wrestler
• October 8 – Kristanna Loken, American actress
• November 14 – Michael Owen, English footballer
• November 27 – Hilary Hahn, American violinist
• December 26 – Chris Daughtry, American singer

Deaths

January

Charles Mingus

Nelson Rockefeller

Victoria Ocampo

• January 3 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
• January 5 – Charles Mingus, American bassist (b. 1922)
• January 16 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
• January 18 – Gaston Heuet, French long-distance runner (b. 1892)
• January 26 – Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
• January 27 – Victoria Ocampo, Argentine writer (b. 1890)

February

Sid Vicious

Josef Mengele

Dennis Gabor

Jean Renoir

• February 2 – Sid Vicious, English musician (b. 1957)
• February 7 – Josef Mengele, Nazism war criminal (b. 1911)
• February 8 – Nikolai Tikhonov, Soviet writer (b. 1896)
• February 9 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-British engineer (b. 1900)
• February 12 – Jean Renoir, French film director (b. 1894)
• February 17 – William Gargan, American actor (b. 1905)

March

Mustafa Barzani

José María Velasco Ibarra

• March 1 – Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish leader (b. 1903)
• March 7 – Klaus Egge, Norwegian nationalist (b. 1906)
• March 15 – Alexandre Parodi, French Politician (b. 1901)
• March 30 – José María Velasco Ibarra, 24th President of Ecuador (b. 1893)

April

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

• April 4 – Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, 4th President of Pakistan (b. 1928)

May

Giulio Natta

Gabriel Ramanantsoa

Mary Pickford

• May 1 – Morteza Motahhari, Iranian philosopher (b. 1919)
• May 2 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemical engineer (b. 1903)
• May 9 – Gabriel Ramanantsoa, 2nd President of Madagascar (b. 1906)
• May 29 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress (b. 1892)

June

John Wayne

• June 11 – John Wayne, American actor (b. 1907)

July

Shin'ichirō Tomonaga

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz

• July 3 – Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1988)
• July 8 – Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, Japanese physicist (b. 1906)
• July 15 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, 49th President of Mexico (b. 1911)

August

Bertil Ohlin

Giuseppe Meazza

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

• August 3 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• August 21 – Giuseppe Meazza, Italian football player (b. 1910)
• August 27 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British statesman and naval officer (b. 1900)

September

Agostinho Neto

Francisco Macías Nguema

• September 10 – Agostinho Neto, 1st President of Angola (b. 1922)
• September 20 – Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (b. 1907)
• September 28 – John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist (b. 1921)
• September 29 – Francisco Macías Nguema, 1st President of Equatorial Guinea (executed) (b. 1924)

October

Nur Muhammad Taraki

Park Chung-hee

• October 1 – Preguinho, Brazilian footballer (b. 1905)
• October 8 – Nur Muhammad Taraki, President of Afghanistan (b. 1917)
• October 26 – Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea (b. 1917)

November

Mamie Eisenhower

• November 1 – Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States (b. 1896)
• November 25 – Ky Ebright, American Olympic rowing coach (b. 1894)

December

Hafizullah Amin

• December 27 – Hafizullah Amin, President of Afghanistan (b. 1929)

Nobel Prizes

• Nobel Prize in Physics shared by Sheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam, and Steven Weinberg for their work on electroweak interactions
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry shared by Herbert C. Brown and Georg Wittig for their work with organoboranes
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared by Allan McLeod Cormack and Godfrey N. Hounsfield for their work on X-ray computed tomography
• Nobel Prize in Literature won by Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet
• Nobel Peace Prize won by Mother Teresa
• Nobel Prize in Economics – Theodore Schultz, American economist, and W. Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian economist

Movies released

• 10
• Alien, important for science fiction types of movie
• The Amityville Horror based on Jay Anson's novel
• Apocalypse Now, written by Francis Ford Coppola and John Milius
• Kramer vs. Kramer, winner of 5 Academy Awards
• Monty Python’s Life of Brian
• The Muppet Movie
• Mad Max
• Rocky II
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• The Warriors, a cult movie

Hit songs

Freddie Mercury in 1977

• "A Message To You Rudi/Nite Klub" – The Specials
• "Accidents Will Happen" – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• "After the Love Has Gone" – Earth, Wind & Fire
• "Ambition" – Vic Goddard and the Subway Sect
• "Bad Case Of Loving You(Doctor Doctor)" – Robert Palmer
• "Bang Bang" – B.A. Robertson
• "Bat out of Hell" – Meat Loaf
• "Boogie Wonderland" – Earth Wind and Fire with the Emotions
• "Born To Be Alive" – Patrick Hernandez
• "Boys Don't Cry" – The Cure
• "Boys Keep Swinging" – David Bowie
• "Breakfast In America" – Supertramp
• "Bright Side Of The Road" – Van Morrison
• "California Über Alles" – The Dead Kennedys
• "Can You Feel The Force" – The Real Thing
• "Can't Stand Losing You" – The Police
• "Chiquitita" – ABBA
• "Comme disait Mistinguett" – Dalida
• "Computer Games" – Mi-Sex
• "Cool for Cats" – Squeeze
• "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" – Queen
• "Cruel To Be Kind" – Nick Lowe
• "Dance Away" – Roxy Music
• "Death Disco" – Public Image Limited
• "Do Anything You Wanna Do" – Thin Lizzy
• "Does Your Mother Know?" – ABBA
• "Don't Do Me Like That" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• "Don't Stop Me Now" – Queen
• "Dreaming" – Blondie
• "Driver's Seat" – Sniff and the Tears
• "Duchess" – The Stranglers
• "Electricity" – OMD
• "Eton Rifles" – The Jam
• "Every Day Hurts" – Sad Cafe
• "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" – The Buzzcocks
• "Gangsters" – The Specials AKA
• "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" – ABBA
• "Girls Talk" – Dave Edmunds
• "Go West" – Village People
• "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" – Viola Wills
• "Goodbye Stranger" – Supertramp
• "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" – Edwin Starr
• "He must have been eighteen" – Dalida
• "Helwa Ya Baladi" – Dalida
• "Here Comes The Summer" – The Undertones
• "Highway to Hell" – AC/DC
• "I Don't Like Mondays" – The Boomtown Rats
• "I Only Wanna Be With You" – The Tourists
• "I Have A Dream" – ABBA
• "Il faut danser reggae" – Dalida
• "In The Navy" – Village People
• "Into The Valley" – The Skids
• "Is It Love You're After?" – Rose Royce
• "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" – Joe Jackson
• "Jimmy Jimmy" – The Undertones
• "Just The Way You Are" – Barry White
• "Just What I Needed" – The Cars
• "Lady Writer" – Dire Straits
• "Lay Your Love On Me" – Racey
• "Let me dance tonight" – Dalida
• "Let's Go" – The Cars
• "London Calling" – The Clash
• "Lucky Number" – Lene Lovich
• "Making Plans For Nigel" – XTC
• "Milk And Alcohol" – Dr. Feelgood
• "Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser" – Dalida
• "Morning Dance" – Spyro Gyra
• "Oliver's Army" – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• "On My Radio" – The Selector
• "One Step Beyond" – Madness
• "On The Inside – Lynne Hamilton
• "Parisenne Walkways" – Gary Moore
• "Problemorama (L'Argent... L'Argent...)" – Dalida
• "Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)" – Ian Dury and the Blockheads
• "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" – Steely Dan
• "Roll Over Beethoven(EP)" – Chuck Berry
• "Roxanne" – The Police
• "Sarah" – Thin Lizzy
• "Slap And Tickle" – Squeeze
• "Smash It Up" – The Damned
• "Something Else/Friggin' In The Riggin'" – The Sex Pistols
• "Spiral Scratch(EP)" – The Buzzcocks
• "Stop Your Sobbing" – Pretenders
• "Sultans Of Swing" – Dire Straits
• "Take Me To The River" – Talking Heads
• "Tears Of A Clown/Ranking Full Stop" – The Beat
• "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" – Marianne Faithfull
• "The Cost Of Living(EP)" – The Clash
• "The Logical Song" – Supertramp
• "The Long Run" – The Eagles
• "Transmission" – Joy Division
• "Union City Blue" – Blondie
• "Up The Junction" – Squeeze
• "Vedrai Vedrai" – Dalida
• "Voulez-Vous" – ABBA
• "We Are Family" – Sister Sledge
• "Whatever You Want" – Status Quo
• "Wonderful Christmastime" – Paul McCartney
• "You Decorated My Life" – Kenny Rogers
• "You Needed Me" – Anne Murray

New books

Douglas Adams in 2008

• Douglas Adams – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• V. C. Andrews – Flowers in the Attic
• David Attenborough – Life on Earth
• L. Sprague de Camp, editor – The Blade of Conan
• Stephen King – The Dead Zone