1st January » Formal diplomacy or diplomatic relations are established between China and the United States.
7th January » Sino-Vietnamese War or Third Indochina War Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
8th January » The Whiddy Island Disaster known as tanker 'Betelgeuse' explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland.
16th January » The Mohammad Reza Pahlavi e.g last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
25th January » Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Mexico.
28th January » CBS News Sunday Morning debuts with original host and cocreator Charles Kuralt.
28th January » Pope John Paul II starts his first pastoral visit to Mexico.
30th January » A Varig Boeing 707 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Varig Flight 820 Flight 820, 1979 Boeing 707-323C disappearance disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
1st February » Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence is commuted by President of the United States known as President Jimmy Carter.
1st February » The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
11th February » The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
13th February » An intense February 13, 1979 Windstorm or windstorm strikes western Washington (state) e.g Washington and sinks a 1/2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
14th February » 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.
15th February » Don Dunstan resigns as Premier of South Australia, ending a decade of sweeping social liberalisation.
18th February » Snowfall called Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.
22nd February » Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.
5th March » Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios probes named Helios II all are hit by Gamma-ray burst called "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
8th March » Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc publicly for the first time.
14th March » In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.
17th March » The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
19th March » The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.
25th March » The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, 'Space Shuttle Columbia known as Columbia', is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.
26th March » Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C..
30th March » Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament United Kingdom called Member of Parliament, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.
31st March » The last British soldier leaves the Malta known as Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
1st April » Iran becomes an Islamic republic Iranian Islamic Republic referendum, March 1979 named by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi called Shah.
4th April » Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.
10th April » 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak e.g Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
11th April » Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
3rd May » After the United Kingdom general election, 1979 e.g general election, Margaret Thatcher forms her first government as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
4th May » Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
9th May » Persian Jews or Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran.
10th May » The Federated States of Micronesia become self-governing.
21st May » White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
28th May » Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
1st June » The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.
2nd June » Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
3rd June » A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least convert 3000000 oilbbl m3 of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.
9th June » The 1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire known as Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney (Australia) kills seven.
12th June » Bryan Allen (cyclist) named Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.
18th June » SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
20th June » ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart (journalist) named Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
3rd July » U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for Operation Cyclone called secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
9th July » A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by the famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
12th July » The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from United Kingdom.
15th July » United States called U.S. President of the United States called President Jimmy Carter gives his so-called malaise speech, where he characterizes the greatest threat to the country as "this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives an
16th July » President of Iraq called Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
17th July » Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida.
19th July » The Sandinista National Liberation Front named Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Anastasio Somoza Debayle called Somoza family in Nicaragua.
25th July » Another section of the Sinai Peninsula is peacefully returned by Israel to Egypt.
5th August » In Afghanistan, Afghanistan Liberation Organization called Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising.
7th August » 1979 Woodstock, Ontario tornado or Several tornadoes strike the city of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada and the surrounding communities.
11th August » Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukraine called Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners.
13th August » The roof of the uncompleted Allstate Arena named Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, collapses, killing five workers and injuring 16.
21st August » Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
27th August » A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb kills British retired admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma or Lord Mountbatten and three others while they are boating on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Shortly after, 18 British Army so
28th August » An Provisional Irish Republican Army e.g IRA bomb explodes at the Grote Markt (Brussels) named Grote Markt in Brussels.
1st September » The American space probe 'Pioneer 11' becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of convert 21000 km mi.
7th September » The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for US$1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
12th September » Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter magnitude scale e.g Richter scale.
13th September » South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).
14th September » President of Afghanistan named Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president.
22nd September » The Vela Incident (also known as the South Atlantic Flash) is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.
24th September » CompuServe launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service.
27th September » The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the Congress of the United States e.g U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet (government) or Cabinet agency.
29th September » Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to visit Republic of Ireland called Ireland.
30th September » The Hong Kong MTR commences service with the opening of its Kwun Tong Line called Modified Initial System (aka. Kwun Tong Line).
1st October » Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States.
1st October » The MTR, the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong, opens.
1st October » The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama Canal to Panama.
2nd October » Pope John Paul II denounces all forms of concentration camps and torture while speaking at the U.N. in New York City.
6th October » Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
12th October » The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.
14th October » The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, demands "an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people", and draws 200,000 people.
15th October » Black Monday (Malta) named Black Monday in Malta. The Building of the Times of Malta, the residence of the opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami and several Nationalist Party (Malta) e.g Nationalist Party clubs are ransacked and destroyed by supporters of
17th October » Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
17th October » The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services.
21st October » Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
26th October » Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is Park Chung-hee assassination e.g assassinated by Korean Central Intelligence Agency head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.
27th October » Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
4th November » Iran hostage crisis: a mob of Iranians, mostly students, overruns the United States called US embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages (53 of whom are American).
9th November » North American Aerospace Defense Command False alarms e.g Nuclear false alarm: the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet Union named Soviet nuclear strike. After revi
10th November » A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada 1979 Mississauga train derailment or derails in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada just west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, causing a massive explosi
12th November » 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.
14th November » Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the Iran hostage crisis e.g hostage crisis.
15th November » 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.
16th November » The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi metro station known as Timpuri Noi to Petrache Poenaru metro station called Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
17th November » Brisbane Suburban Railway Electrification. The first stage from Ferny Grove, Queensland known as Ferny Grove to Darra, Queensland or Darra is commissioned.
19th November » Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black United States e.g American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
20th November » 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 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from Pakistani special forces to put down the uprising.
21st November » The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and 1979 U.S. Embassy Burning in Islamabad called set on fire, killing four.
23rd November » In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon (Irish republican) known as Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma e.g Lord Mountbatten.
28th November » Air New Zealand Flight 901, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 or DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.
3rd December » In Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 fans are suffocated in 1979 The Who concert disaster a crush for seats on the concourse outside U.S. Bank Arena Riverfront Coliseum before a The Who Who concert.
3rd December » Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
4th December » The Hastie fire in Kingston upon Hull e.g Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
9th December » The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.
10th December » Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.
12th December » President of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq confers 'Nishan-e-Imtiaz' on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
12th December » The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
13th December » The Politics of Canada Canadian Government of Prime Minister of Canada Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons of Canada House of Commons, prompting the Canadian federal election, 1980 1980 Canadian election.
19th December » Geoffrey Boycott became the first cricketer to be stranded at 99 not out against Australia at Perth.
21st December » Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London London, England, United Kingdom by Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington Lord Peter Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe,
23rd December » Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghanistan named Afghan capital.
24th December » The first European Ariane (rocket family) known as Ariane rocket is launched.
27th December » The Soviet Union Soviet war in Afghanistan or invades the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.