1979 CE

The Soviet–Afghan War begins as the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan; the Iran hostage crisis erupts when militants seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran; American Airlines Flight 191 crashes in Chicago, killing 271; Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park turns into a riot; the Three Mile Island accident causes a partial nuclear meltdown; the Sony Walkman debuts; SALT II is signed to limit nuclear arms; the 1979 oil crisis sends fuel prices soaring; and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty is signed, marking the first peace deal between Israel and an Arab nation.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 1 – The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations.source
February 18 – The Khomeini government in Iran cuts diplomatic relations with Israel.source
February 22 – Saint Lucia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.source
March 26 – In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign an Egypt–Israel peace treaty.source
March 28 – In Britain, James Callaghan's minority Labour government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election which is to be held on 3 May.source
March 31 – The last British soldier (belonging to the Royal Navy) leaves the Maltese Islands, after 179 years of presence. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).source
April 1 – Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially.source
May 1 – Greenland is granted limited autonomy from Denmark, with its own Parliament sitting in Nuuk.source
May 3 – The 1979 United Kingdom general election for the House of Commons takes place, giving the Conservatives a majority, and designating Margaret Thatcher the nation's first woman prime minister, ending the rule of James Callaghan's Labour government.source
June 1 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.source
June 4 – Following the "Muldergate" Information Scandal, John Vorster resigns as State President of South Africa.source
June 4 – Joe Clark becomes Canada's 16th and youngest Prime Minister.source
June 7 – 1979 European Parliament election: The first direct elections to the European Parliament begin, allowing citizens from across all nine (at this time) member states of the European Communities to elect 410 MEPs. It is also the first international election in history.source
June 18 – Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna.source
July 16 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam al-Tikriti, more commonly referred to in the Western press as "Saddam Hussein", assumes the presidency.source
July 21 – Nicaraguan Revolution: The Sandinista National Liberation Front concludes a successful revolutionary campaign against the Somoza dynasty and assumes power in Nicaragua.source
July 28 – Morarji Desai resigns as India's prime minister and Charan Singh succeeds him.source
August 5 – The Polisario Front signs a peace treaty with Mauritania. Mauritania withdraws from the Western Sahara territory it had occupied, and cedes it to the SADR.source
October 1 – Nigeria terminates military rule, and the Second Nigerian Republic is established.source
October 12 – Thorbjörn Fälldin returns as Prime Minister of Sweden, replacing Ola Ullsten who is named Foreign Minister of Sweden.source
October 27 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence from the UK.source
December 5 – Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland; he is succeeded by Charles Haughey.source
December 12 – The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.source
December 13 – The Canadian Progressive Conservative minority government of Prime Minister Joe Clark, falls in a non-confidence motion.source

Conflict & Security

January 22 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Mutukula: The Tanzanian military captures the Ugandan border town of Mutukula after a short battle.source
February 1 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.source
February 7 – Iranian Revolution: Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts, and government administration; the final session of the Iranian National Consultative Assembly is held.source
February 17 – The People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.source
March 30 – Airey Neave, Conservative M.P. in the British House of Commons, is killed, presumably by an Irish National Liberation Army bomb in the car park for the Houses of Parliament.source
April 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Fall of Kampala: Tanzanian troops take Kampala, the capital of Uganda; Idi Amin flees.source
April 23 – Fighting breaks out in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group; protester Blair Peach receives fatal injuries during the incident, now officially attributed to the SPG.source
May 21 – The Montreal Canadiens defeat the New York Rangers four games to one to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup.source
June 25 – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Alexander Haig escapes an assassination attempt in Belgium by the Baader-Meinhof terrorist organization.source
July 3 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan.source
July 9 – A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.source
July 12 – Carmine Galante, boss of the Bonanno crime family, is assassinated in Brooklyn.source
August 3 – Dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is overthrown in a bloody coup d'état led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.source
September 22 – Vela incident: The "South Atlantic Flash" is observed near the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, thought to be a nuclear weapons test conducted by South Africa and Israel.source
October 14 – National March for gay rights takes place in Washington, D.C., involving tens of thousands of people.source
November 1 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests.source
November 2 – Assata Shakur (née Joanne Chesimard), a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, escapes from a New York prison to Cuba, where she remains under political asylum until her death in 2025.source
November 3 – Greensboro massacre: In Greensboro, North Carolina, five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot to death and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis, during a "Death to the Klan" rally.source
November 4 – Iran hostage crisis begins: 500 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial.source
November 12 – Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran.source
November 17 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and African American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.source
November 20 – Grand Mosque seizure: A group of 200 Juhayman al-Otaybi militants occupy Mecca's Masjid al-Haram, the holiest place in Islam. They are driven out by Saudi military forces after bloody fighting that leaves 250 people dead and 600 wounded.source
December 24 – The Soviet Union covertly launches its invasion of Afghanistan – 3 days later, PDPA general secretary Hafizullah Amin is executed in Operation Storm-333 and Babrak Karmal replaces him, beginning the war.source
December 26 – In Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital Salisbury to monitor a ceasefire that begins December 28.source

Exploration & Expansion

The remains of Tsar Nicholas II and some of the Romanovs are discovered and exhumed near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).source

Religion & Belief

January 25 – Pope John Paul II arrives in Mexico City for his first visit to Mexico, mainly for 1979's Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) or Conference of Puebla.source
February 3 – Ayatollah Khomeini creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution.source
March 13 – Maurice Bishop leads a successful coup in Grenada. His government will be crushed by American intervention in 1983.source
June 2 – Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on his first official, nine-day stay, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country. This visit, known as nine days that changed the world, brings about the solidarity of the Polish people against Communism, ultimately leading to the rise of the Solidarity movement.source
September 1 – Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps is formed.source
October 1–7 – Pope John Paul II makes a six-city visit to the United States, starting in Boston.source
October 2 – Pope John Paul II arrives in New York City for his first papal tour where he addresses the U.N. General Assembly against all forms of concentration camps and torture.source
October 7 – Pope John Paul II ends his first U.S. papal visit in Washington, D.C., with his first-ever visit to the White House.source
December 3 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.source
Hànyǔ Pīnyīn is widely adopted as the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, leading to changes in Western spelling of Chinese toponyms.source

Economy & Finance

January 1 – Following a deal agreed during 1978, French carmaker Peugeot completes a takeover of American manufacturer Chrysler's European operations, which are based in Britain's former Rootes Group factories, as well as the former Simca factories in France.source
March 22 – The National Hockey League votes to approve its merger with the World Hockey Association, to take effect in three months, following the leagues' respective postseasons.source
June 1 – The Vizianagaram district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.source
June 3 – 1979 Italian general election: The Italian Communist Party loses a significant number of seats.source
June 22 – The WHA formally ceases operations, completing the merger with the NHL.source
July 15 – President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation in a televised speech talking about the "crisis of confidence in America today"; it would go on to be known as his "national malaise" speech.source
August 9 – Female workers of YH Trading in South Korea held a sit-in protest in response to the company's unilateral shutdown.source
October 6 – Federal Reserve System changes from an interest rate target policy to a money supply target policy.source
November 14 – Iran hostage crisis: U.S. President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis.source
December 3 – The United States dollar exchange rate with the Deutsche Mark falls to 1.7079 DM, the all-time low so far; this record is not broken until November 5, 1987.source
China International Trust Investment Group (CITIC) founded.source
The One-child policy is introduced in China – it contributes to the country's sex-ratio imbalance. It was loosened in 2013.source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 1 – United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the International Year of the Child. Many musicians donate to the Music for UNICEF Concert fund, among them ABBA, who write the song Chiquitita to commemorate the event.source
February 13 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1.3 km mi long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.source
February 18 – The 1979 Daytona 500 is televised on CBS, the first ever full airing of a 500-mile race on US television, Richard Petty wins after Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison battle for first place on the final lap and crash out, leading to a fist fight. This race brought NASCAR to a wider audience.source
February 26 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.source
March 1 – Philips publicly demonstrate a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference in Eindhoven, Netherlands.source
March 8 – Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.source
March 17 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel in the UK collapses, killing two workers.source
March 19 – C-SPAN, an American television channel focusing on government and public affairs, is launched.source
April 1 – Nickelodeon launches from QUBE's Pinwheel experiment and begins airing on various Warner Cable systems beginning in Buffalo, New York, expanding its audience reach.source
April 7 – In Japan, Yoshiyuki Tomino directs Mobile Suit Gundam, the first series of the metaseries of the same name.source
May 24 – Thorpe Park: Opens its doors having attractions such as Phantom Fantasia also next door had a farm called Thorpe Farmsource
May 27 – Indianapolis 500: Rick Mears wins the race for the first time, and car owner Roger Penske for the second time.source
June 23 – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran officially opens the Eastern Suburbs Railway in Sydney. It operates as a shuttle between Central and Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line in 1980.source
July 1 – The Sony Walkman goes on sale for the first time in Japan.source
August 11 – The Machchu-2 dam in Morbi, India, collapses, killing between 1800 and 25000 people in one of the worst ever dam failures.source
September 7 – The first cable sports channel, the Entertainment Sports Programming Network (better known as ESPN), is launched in the United States.source
September 30 – The MTR in Hong Kong begins service with the opening of its Modified Initial System, the Kwun Tong Line.source
October 1 – The MTR, the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong, opens.source
October 9 – Peter Brock wins the Bathurst 1000 by a record six laps, with a lap record on the last lap.source
October 20 – The first McDonald's in Singapore opens at Liat Towers in Orchard Road.source
November 16 – Bucharest Metro Line One is opened, in Bucharest, Romania (from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea stations, 8.63 km mi).source
November 29 – After 12 years of environmental controversy and legal action, the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam project is completed. It remains the last dam to be built by the agency as of 2023.source
December 23 – The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the Klein Matterhorn, opens.source
The first usenet experiments are conducted by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis of Duke University.source

Science & Discovery

February 7 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.source
February 26 – A total solar eclipse, the last visible from the continental United States until 2017, arcs over northwestern conterminous US and central Canada ending in Greenland. A partial solar eclipse is visible over almost all of North America and Central America including the eastern half of Alaska and the western half of the UK.source
March 4 – The U.S. Voyager 1 spaceprobe photos reveal Jupiter's rings.source
March 5 – Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter at 277000 km mi.source
March 7 – The largest Magnetar (Soft gamma repeater) event is recorded.source
March 25 – The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center, to be prepared for its first launch.source
April 22 – The Albert Einstein Memorial is unveiled at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.source
June 12 – Bryan Allen flies the man-powered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel.source
June 15 – The ecological horror-thriller Prophecy is released in the United States by Paramount Pictures.source
July 11 – NASA's first orbiting space station, Skylab, begins falling back Earth as its orbit decays after more than six years.source
September 1 – The U.S. Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21000 km mi.source
November 9 – Nuclear false alarm: the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, detect an apparent massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert is cancelled.source
December 24 – The first European Ariane rocket is launched.source

Health & Medicine

June 15 – McDonald's introduces the Happy Meal in the United States in a nationwide advertising campaign after testing the product since February in franchises in the U.S. state of Missouri.source
July 1 – Sweden becomes the first country to outlaw corporal punishment in the home.source
July 4 – Psychiatrist and leader of the global anti-asylum movement Franco Basaglia visits the Colônia de Barbacena Psychiatric Hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and compares the facility to Nazi concentration camps, a move that momentum to psychiatric reform in the country that same year.source
August 27 – The Troubles: Lord Mountbatten of Burma and two others are killed in a bombing on his boat in the Republic of Ireland by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Mountbatten was a British fleet admiral, statesman and an uncle of The Duke of Edinburgh. On the same day, the Warrenpoint ambush occurs, killing 18 British soldiers. Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne would die in a hospital the following day from injuries sustained in the bombing.source
October 26 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is announced by the World Health Organization, making smallpox the first of only two human diseases that have been driven to extinction (rinderpest in 2011 being the other).source

Crime & Justice

January 6 – Geylang Bahru family murders: Four children, aged five to ten, are brutally killed in Geylang Bahru, Singapore.source
January 19 – Former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell is released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama.source
January 20 – Capital punishment in Peru: Following a hasty conviction on espionage and treason charges, Air Force member Julio Vargas Garayar became the last person to be executed by Peru.source
February 7 – Nazi criminal Josef Mengele suffers a fatal stroke and drowns while swimming in Bertioga, Brazil. His remains are found in 1985.source
February 13 – The Guardian Angels are formed in New York City as an unarmed organization of young crime fighters.source
February 14 – In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, who is killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.source
February 27 – The annual Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans is cancelled due to a strike called by the New Orleans Police Department.source
April 1–18 – Police lock Andreas Mihavecz in a holding cell in Bregenz, Austria and forget about him, leaving him there without food or drink.source
April 4 – Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is executed by hanging for the murder of a political opponent.source
May 21 – Dan White is convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, for the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, after using what would become known as the "Twinkie defense" and persuading a jury that the crime was not premeditated. The maximum sentence is seven years imprisonment, with eligibility for early parole, prompting the "White Night riots" in the gay community.source
May 25 – Etan Patz, six years old, is kidnapped in New York. He is often referred to as the "Boy on the Milk Carton" and the investigation later sprouts into one of the most famous child abduction cases of all time. This is a cold case until 2010 when it is re-opened. In April 2017, Pedro Hernandez is convicted of the murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment.source
May 25 – John Spenkelink is executed in Florida, in the first use of the electric chair in America after the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976.source
June 20 – A Nicaraguan National Guard soldier kills ABC TV news correspondent Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape.source
June 22 – Former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.source
July 21 – The disco music genre dominates and peaks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the first six spots (beginning with Donna Summer's Bad Girls), and seven of the chart's top ten songs ending that week.source
July 22 – 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein arranges the arrest and later execution of nearly seventy members of his ruling Ba'ath Party.source
August 9 – Raymond Washington, co-founder of the Crips, one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.source
September 9 – The long-running comic strip For Better or For Worse begins its run, in Canada, before becoming syndicated elsewhere in North America and the world.source
September 16 – The Sugarhill Gang release Rapper's Delight in the United States, the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.source
September 29 – The overthrown dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is convicted of genocide and executed by firing squad.source
November 2 – French police shoot gangster Jacques Mesrine in Paris.source
November 9 – The Carl Bridgewater murder trial ends in England with all four men found guilty. James Robinson, 45, and 25-year-old Vincent Hickey are sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended 25-year minimum for murder. 18-year-old Michael Hickey is also found guilty of murder and sentenced to indefinite detention. Patrick Molloy, 53, is found guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison.source
November 15 – British art historian and former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures Anthony Blunt's role as the "fourth man" of the 'Cambridge Five' double agents for the Soviet NKVD during World War II is revealed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom; she gives further details on November 21.source
November 23 – The Troubles: In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten of Burma in August. He was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.source

Disasters & Accidents

January 8 – Whiddy Island Disaster: The French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry, Ireland; 50 people are killed.source
February 15 – A suspected gas explosion in a Warsaw bank kills 49 people.source
February 27 – The Soviet oil tanker Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in Ventspils, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the Baltic Sea.source
March 14 – In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing 31 people on the ground and injuring 200.source
March 18 – Ten miners die in a methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.source
March 28 – America's most serious nuclear power plant accident occurs, at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.source
April 2 – Sverdlovsk anthrax leak: A Soviet biowarfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock. It is a violation of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972.source
May 8 – Ten shoppers die in a fire at the Woolworths department store in Manchester city centre in the UK.source
May 9 – The Unabomber bomb injures Northwestern University graduate student John Harris.source
May 25 – American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport, killing all 271 on board and 2 people on the ground in the deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history.source
June 3 – Ixtoc I oil spill: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional oil spill until it is surpassed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.source
July 12 – A fire at a hotel in Zaragoza, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.source
July 12 – A Disco Demolition Night publicity stunt goes awry at Comiskey Park, forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers.source
August 8 – Two American commercial divers, Richard Walker and Victor Guiel, die of hypothermia after their diving bell becomes stranded at a depth of over 160 m in the East Shetland Basin. The legal repercussions of the accident will lead to important safety changes in the diving industry.source
October 31 – Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, killing 72 occupants plus one on the ground; 16 people on board survive.source
November 10 – 1979 Mississauga train derailment: A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history.source
November 28 – Air New Zealand Flight 901: an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus in Antarctica on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.source
December 3 – The Who concert disaster: Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before The Who rock concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.source
Worldwide per capita oil production reaches a historic peak.source

Climate & Environment

March 8 – Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.source
April 10 – A tornado hits Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people (the most notable of 26 tornadoes that day).source
April 13 – The La Soufrière volcano erupts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.source
April 15 – 1979 Montenegro earthquake: A 6.9 shock affects Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.source
July 18 – Over 500 people die after a tsunami occurs on Lembata Island, triggered by a landslide on the Iliwerung volcano.source
September 12 – Hurricane Frederic makes landfall at 10:00 p.m. on Alabama's Gulf Coast.source
October 12 – Near Guam, Typhoon Tip reaches a record intensity of 870 millibars, the lowest pressure recorded at sea level. This makes Tip the most powerful tropical cyclone in known world history.source
October 16 – A tsunami in Nice, France, kills 23 people.source
October 19 – 13 U.S. Marines die in a fire at Camp Fuji, Japan, as a result of Typhoon Tip.source
November 25 – The last cargo of phosphate was shipped from Banaba Island in Kiribati in the South Pacific Ocean, bringing an end to the island's chief industry.source
December 12 – The 8.2 Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.source

Culture & Society

January 9 – The Music for UNICEF Concert is held at the United Nations General Assembly to raise money for UNICEF and promote the Year of the Child. It is broadcast the following day in the United States and around the world. Hosted by the Bee Gees, other performers include Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fire. A soundtrack album is later released.source
March 8 – Thousands of women participate in the International Women's Day Protests in Tehran, 1979 against the introduction of mandatory veiling during the Iranian revolution.source
March 26 – Michigan State University, led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson, defeats Larry Bird-led Indiana State 75–64 in the NCAA tournament championship game at Salt Lake City.source
March 31 – Milk and Honey win the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 for Israel, with the song Hallelujah.source
April 1 – Dale Earnhardt Sr. wins his first career NASCAR race at the 1979 Southeastern 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He would go on to win 76 races and seven championships during his career.source
April 2 – In Japan, the channel of TV Asahi premieres Doraemon.source
June 1 – The Seattle SuperSonics win the NBA Championship against the Washington Bullets.source
June 2 – Los Angeles' city council passes the city's first homosexual rights bill signed without fanfare by mayor Tom Bradley.source
June 9–23 – The 1979 Cricket World Cup is held in England with West Indies defeating England in the final.source
June 13 – The 1979 NHL Expansion Draft takes place, restocking the franchises from Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg, which are being admitted from the WHA as expansion teams.source
June 24 – The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, is founded in Bologna at the initiative of Senator Lelio Basso.source
July 5 – Queen Elizabeth II attends the millennium celebrations of the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald.source
July 21 – Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela wins the Miss Universe pageant; the stage collapses after contestants and news photographers rush to her throne.source
August 4 – Opening game of the American Football Bundesliga played between Frankfurter Löwen and Düsseldorf Panther, first-ever league game of American football in Germany.source
August 6 – Bauhaus releases their debut single "Bela Lugosi's Dead", considered to be the first gothic rock release.source
August 10 – Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album Off the Wall. It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7× platinum album.source
August 17 – The controversial religious satirical film Monty Python's Life of Brian premieres in the United States.source
October 12 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first novel by Douglas Adams, is published in the United Kingdomsource
October 17 – The Pittsburgh Pirates become only the fourth MLB team (as well as the only MLB franchise to accomplish the feat twice) to recover from a 3-games-to-1 deficit to win the 1979 World Series.source
November 5 – The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio in the United States.source
November 6 – At Montevideo, Uruguay, the International Olympic Committee adopts a resolution, whereby Taiwan Olympic and sports teams will participate with the name Chinese Taipei in future Olympic Games and international sports tournaments and championships.source
November 30 – The Wall, a rock opera concept album by Pink Floyd, is first released.source
December 6 – The world premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.source
December 15 – The directorial debut of Hayao Miyazaki, The Castle of Cagliostro, is released in Japan.source

Births

January 2 – Jagmeet Singh, Canadian politician, leader of the New Democratic Partysource
February 7 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureatesource
February 13 – Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian far-right terrorist responsible for the 2011 Norway attackssource
February 16 – Valentino Rossi, Italian seven-time MotoGP world championsource
March 7 – Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rican politician, Governor of Puerto Ricosource
March 28 – Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, producer, singer, film organiser and media personalitiessource
April 4 – Heath Ledger, Australian actor and music video director (d. 2008)source
June 1 – Markus Persson, Swedish video game programmer, designer and creator of Minecraftsource
June 5 – Pete Wentz, American musician, lyricist and bassist (Fall Out Boy)source
October 3 – Josh Klinghoffer, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)source
October 17 – Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish 2007 Formula 1 world championsource
November 3 – Tim McIlrath, American rock singer, songwriter (Rise Against)source
December 31 – Bob Bryar, American drummer (My Chemical Romance) (d. 2024)source
December 31 – Josh Hawley, American politician, U.S. Senator (R-MO) from 2019source

Deaths

March 29 – Sultan Yahya Petra of Kelantan, the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State) of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.source
August 14 – A freak storm during the Fastnet Race results in the deaths of 15 sailors.source
December 4 – The Hastie fire in Kingston upon Hull, England, leads to the deaths of 3 boys and begins the hunt for Bruce George Peter Lee, the UK's most prolific killer.source