1979

Facts and Events That Happened in This Year

Nov 30

Pink Floyd released their eleventh studio album titled The Wall.

Oct 24

The Guinness World Records awarded Paul McCartney the best-selling singer-songwriter of all time.

Oct 22

The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida received its 100-millionth visitor.

Oct 17

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to humanitarian Mother Teresa.

Oct 14

Up to 125,000 people marched in the first LGBT civil rights march in Washington, D.C.

Oct 12

The world's strongest storm ever was recorded.

Oct 6

Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House in Washington, D.C.

Sep 29

John Paul II became the first pope to visit the Republic of Ireland.

Sep 27

Elton John collapsed on stage when performing at the Hollywood Universal Amphitheater.

Sep 23

Anti-nuclear protests in New York City, 200,000 showed up, including Jane Fonda.

Sep 22

An unidentified double flash of light was detected over the Indian Ocean south of Africa.

Aug 14

A rainbow lasting three hours was recorded over the Gwynedd coast in Wales.

Jul 11

The Skylab, America's first space station, was destroyed as it entered Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

Jul 9

NASA's Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter, continuing its journey towards Saturn.

Jul 1

Sony's iconic Walkman first went on sale in Japan.

Jun 27

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali retired for the third time.

Jun 2

NASA's UK-6 was launched into space.

Jun 2

Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles, signed the first US gay rights bill.

May 25

Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver, was released.

May 20

Elton John and his entourage flew into Moscow, making him the first western pop star to tour the USSR.

May 14

The rockumentary film featuring The Who titled 'Kids Are All Right' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

May 4

Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister.

Apr 20

A swamp rabbit attacked President Jimmy Carter while he was fishing in Plains, Georgia.

Apr 13

The world record for the longest table tennis doubles marathon was broken with a time of 101 hours.

Apr 2

Sixty-six people died in Sverdlovsk, USSR, when a bio-warfare lab accidentally released airborne anthrax.

Mar 28

A nuclear disaster occurred at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, US.

Mar 27

US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that police can't stop cars just to check the driver and their registration.

Mar 25

The world's first fully-functional space shuttle, Columbia, was delivered to the JFK Space Center.

Mar 8

Many volcanoes were discovered on one of planet Jupiter's moons called Io.

Mar 8

Philips demonstrated the compact disc publicly for the first time.

Feb 22

The Caribbean island state of Saint Lucia gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

Feb 18

The Sahara Desert temperature dropped so low that some areas became covered in snow.

Jan 30

Varig Flight 967 disappeared thirty minutes after taking off from Tokyo.

Jan 25

Robert Williams became the first recorded person to be killed by a robot in the US.

Jan 16

The natural history series 'Life on Earth,' presented by David Attenborough, aired on BBC One in the UK for the first time.

Jan 14

US President Jimmy Carter expressed his support for Martin Luther King's birthday to become a national holiday.