Timeline of the Seventies, 1979

This is a list of important events the occured during 1979. Exact dates are listed when known.

We also have pages on this topic devoted to the 80s and 90s

  • The Shah flees Iran
    The Ayatollah Khomeini assumes power an introduces Islamic law

  • Iranian students storm the US embassy
    They held 52 of the 66 people in the embassy hostage for 444 days, which helped to undermine Jimmy Carters re-election efforts in the 1980.

  • Margaret Thatcher becomes British PM
    The Conservatives had taken over the Parliment, and Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to hold the highest office in a European country.

  • The Soviets invade Afghanistan

  • The Sony Walkman is introduced

  • Moral Majority is begun by Jerry Falwell

  • Susan B Anthony dollar coin

  • Skylab fell into the Indian Ocean

  • Diplomatic ties with China formalized

  • Three Mile Island partial meltdown
    In March a series of mechanical and human errors caused a near meltdown of the reactor at one of the plants in Three Mile Island Pennsylvania near Harrisburg.

  • Sioux Nation awarded $100 million in land claim

  • Ayatollah Khomeini
    Ayatollah took power in Iran on February 11, 1979.

  • The Greensboro Massacre
    On Nov. 3, a group of Klu Klux Klan members and American Nazi party members attacked a group of Communist Worker's Party members who were gathered for a demonstration that was speaking out against the klan.

  • Mother Teresa Wins Nobel Peace Prize
    In Stockholm Sweden, Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her saint-like presence in India.

  • Terrorism at Saudi Mosque
    Radical militants of the Wahhabi sect of Islam stormed the grand mosque of Mecca and held it until Saudi security forces with the help of French special forces were able to retake it.

  • The Who Concert Tragedy
    December 3, 1979. 11 people were trampled to death outside the Riverfront Coliseum in Cicinnatti, OH. The city of Cicinnatti passed a by-law banning festival seating and general admission.

  • Nicaraguan Revolution
    On July 17, 1979, the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan people won their freedom from the dictator Anastasio Somoza, who fled to Miami with the Nicaraguan treasury. A junta was set up to run Nicaragua until their first real election, in 1984, in which Daniel Ortega was elected president.

  • ESPN starts broadcasting
    ESPN started as an alternative to standard television news broadcasts and the information found in "Sports" sections of newspapers. It launched on September 7, 1979.

[1970] [1971] [1972] [1973] [1974] [1975] [1976] [1977] [1978] =[1979]= [1980s] [1990s]

We also have pages on this topic devoted to the 80s and 90s

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