Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
**
United Nations Secretary-General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
Kurt Waldheim
Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for t ...
heralds the start of the ''
''. Many musicians donate to the ''
Music for UNICEF Concert
The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song was a benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on January 9, 1979. It was intended to raise money for UNICEF world hunger programs and to mark the b ...
'' fund, among them
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...
, who write the song ''
Chiquitita
"Chiquitita" (a Spanish term of endearment for a woman meaning "little one") is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from the group's sixth album, '' Voulez-Vous'' (1979). Agnetha Fält ...
'' to commemorate the event.
** The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full
diplomatic relations
Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
.
** Following a deal agreed during 1978,
French carmaker
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
completes a takeover of American manufacturer
Chrysler's
European operations, which are based in
Britain's former
Rootes Group
The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and de ...
factories, as well as the former
Simca
Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bough ...
factories in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
*
January 7 –
Cambodian–Vietnamese War
The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...
: The
People's Army of Vietnam and Vietnamese-backed
Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, and the collapse of the
Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the
Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area along the
Thai border, ending large-scale fighting.
*
January 8 –
Whiddy Island Disaster: The French tanker ''Betelgeuse'' explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at
Bantry, Ireland; 50 are killed.
*
January 9 – The ''
Music for UNICEF Concert
The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song was a benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on January 9, 1979. It was intended to raise money for UNICEF world hunger programs and to mark the b ...
'' is held at the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
to raise money for
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
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
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...
,
Rod Stewart and
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...
. A soundtrack album is later released.
*
January 16 – Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
with his family, relocating to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
after a year of turmoil.
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrend ...
– Former U.S. Attorney General
John N. Mitchell is released on
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama.
*
January 22 –
Uganda–Tanzania War
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War (Kiswahili: ''Vita vya Kagera'') and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugan ...
:
Battle of Mutukula
The Battle of Mutukula (Kiswahili: ''Mapigano ya Mutukula'') took place from 21–22 January 1979 near and in the town of Mutukula, Uganda, during the Uganda–Tanzania War. After repulsing a Ugandan invasion of the Kagera Salient in 1978, Tan ...
: The
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
n military captures the
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
n border town of
Mutukula after a short battle.
*
January 25 –
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
arrives in Mexico City for his first visit to Mexico, mainly for 1979's
Latin American Episcopal Conference
Based in Bogotá ( Colombia), the Latin American Episcopal Council ( es, Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano; pt, Conselho Episcopal Latino-Americano), better known as CELAM, is a council of the Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America, created i ...
(CELAM) or Conference of
Puebla.
*
January 28
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany.
* 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession ...
-
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
arrives in Washington, D.C. for the
first visit of a
paramount leader of the People's Republic of China to the United States.
February
*
February 1 -
Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Etymology
The title is originally derived from Arabic word p ...
Ruhollah Khomeini returns to
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
after nearly 15 years of
exile.
*
February 3 – Ayatollah Khomeini creates the
Council of the Islamic Revolution.
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
**
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
: Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts, and government administration; the final session of the Iranian
National Consultative Assembly
The National Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای ملی, Mad̲j̲les-e s̲h̲ūrā-ye mellī) or simply Majles, was the national legislative body of Iran from 1906 to 1979.
It was elected by universal suffrage, excluding the armed for ...
is held.
**
Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...
moves inside
Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
** Nazi criminal
Josef Mengele
, allegiance =
, branch = Schutzstaffel
, serviceyears = 1938–1945
, rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain)
, servicenumber =
, battles =
, unit =
, awards =
, commands =
, ...
suffers a stroke and drowns while swimming in
Bertioga
Bertioga is a Brazilian municipality of the state of São Paulo in the Baixada Santista. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista.
The population is 64,723 (2020 est.) in an area of 490.15 km2.
Because it neighbors resort to ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. His remains are found in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
.
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
–
11 – The Iranian Revolution ends with the Iranian army withdrawing to its barracks leaving power in the hands of Ayatollah
Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
, ending the
Pahlavi dynasty.
*
February 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Simba Hills
The Battle of Simba Hills or Battle of Kakuuto (Kiswahili: ''Mapigano ya Kakuuto'') was a conflict of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place over several days in mid-February 1979 around the Simba Hills in southern Uganda, near the town of Kak ...
: The Tanzanian military began its assault on the Simba Hills near the town of
Kakuuto
Kakuuto is a town in southwestern Central Uganda.
Location
Kakuuto is located in Kyotera District, approximately , by road, south of Masaka, the largest city in the sub-region. This location lies immediately west of the highway between Masaka an ...
.
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
*1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.
*1429 – English forces under ...
– Prime Minister
Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 u ...
starts the Battle of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow
Chad's President
Félix Malloum.
*
February 13
** An intense
windstorm
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderst ...
strikes western
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and sinks a long section of the
Hood Canal Bridge
The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal of Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and Kitsap P ...
.
** The
Guardian Angels
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in ...
are formed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
as an unarmed organization of young crime fighters.
*
February 14 – In
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Adolph Dubs
Adolph Dubs (August 4, 1920 – February 14, 1979), also known as Spike Dubs, was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan from May 13, 1978, until his death in 1979. He was killed during a rescue attem ...
, who is killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
*
February 15 – A
suspected gas explosion in a
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
bank kills 49.
*
February 17 – The People's Republic of China invades northern
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, launching the
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a border war fought between China and Vietnam in early 1979. China launched an offensive in response to Vietnam's actions against the Khmer Rouge in 1978, which ended the rule of the C ...
.
*
February 18
Events Pre-1600
* 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
*1268 & ...
**The
1979 Daytona 500
The 1979 Daytona 500, the 21st annual event, was the second race of the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. It was held on February 18, 1979. Sports pundits consider the 1979 Daytona 500 to be the most important race in stock car history.
Th ...
is televised on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, the first ever full airing of a 500-mile race on US
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
,
Richard Petty wins after
Cale Yarborough and
Donnie Allison
Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...
battle for first place on the final lap and crash out, leading to a fist fight. This race brought
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
to a wider audience.
** The Khomeini government in Iran cuts
diplomatic relations
Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
with
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
*452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
*1440 – The Pru ...
– Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Gayaza Hills
The Battle of Gayaza Hills or the Battle of Kajurungusi (Kiswahili: ''Mapigano ya Kajurungusi'') was a conflict of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place in late February 1979 around the Gayaza Hills and Lake Nakivale in southern Uganda, near ...
: A Tanzanian brigade successfully dislodged Ugandan forces from the Gayaza Hills. The battle is hard-fought, and the Tanzanians suffer their largest number of casualties in a single engagement of the war.
*
February 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferd ...
–
Saint Lucia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
*
February 26
** A
total solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
, the last visible from the continental United States until 2017, arcs over northwestern
conterminous USA 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.
** The
Superliner railcar enters revenue service with
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
.
*
February 27
**The annual
Mardi Gras celebration in
is cancelled due to a strike called by the
New Orleans Police Department
The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish, while the city is divided into eight police districts.
The NOPD has ...
.
**The Soviet oil tanker
''Antonio Gramsci'' suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in
Ventspils
Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...
, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
.
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
**
Scottish devolution referendum:
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
votes in favour of a Scottish Assembly, which is not implemented due to failing a condition that at least 40% of the electorate must support the proposal; in a
Welsh devolution referendum,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
votes against devolution.
**
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
publicly demonstrate a prototype of an
optical digital audio disc at a press conference in
Eindhoven, Netherlands.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Tororo
The Battle of Tororo was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place from 2 to 4 March 1979 at Tororo, Uganda and its surroundings. It was fought between Ugandan rebels loyal to Milton Obote and Uganda Army (1971–1980), Uganda Army ...
: Ugandan rebels attack and capture the town of
Tororo.
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
** The U.S. ''
Voyager 1
''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin ''Voyager 2'', ''Voya ...
'' spaceprobe photos reveal
Jupiter's rings.
** Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Tororo: The Ugandan military retakes Tororo from rebels.
*
March 5 – ''
Voyager 1
''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin ''Voyager 2'', ''Voya ...
'' makes its closest approach to
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
at .
*
March 7 – The largest
Magnetar
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field (∼109 to 1011 T, ∼1013 to 1015 G). The magnetic-field decay powers the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.War ...
(
Soft gamma repeater
A soft gamma repeater (SGR) is an astronomical object which emits large bursts of gamma-rays and X-rays at irregular intervals. It is conjectured that they are a type of magnetar or, alternatively, neutron stars with fossil disks around them.
Hi ...
) event is recorded.
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
*1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
* 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bou ...
**
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
demonstrates the
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...
publicly for the first time.
** Thousands of women participate in the
International Women's Day Protests in Tehran, 1979
On International Women's Day on March 8, 1979, a women's march took place in Tehran in Iran. The march was originally intended to celebrate the International Women's Day, but transformed into massive protests against the changes taking place in ...
against the introduction of mandatory veiling during the
Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
.
** Images taken by
Voyager I proved the
existence of volcanoes on
Io, a
moon of Jupiter.
*
March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a ...
– Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Lukaya
The Battle of Lukaya (Kiswahili: ''Mapigano ya Lukaya'') was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War. It was fought between 10 and 11 March 1979 around Lukaya, Uganda, between Tanzanian forces (supported by Ugandan rebels) and Ugandan government f ...
: The Ugandan military, a Libyan expeditionary force and allied
Palestine Liberation Organisation
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...
militants begin a counter-offensive against Tanzanian troops in south-central Uganda. The Ugandan-led alliance retakes
Lukaya after a short clash with the Tanzanian military.
*
March 11
Events Pre-1600
* 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.
* 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the ven ...
– Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lukaya: The Tanzanian military counter-attacks at Lukaya, completely defeating the Ugandan-led alliance. This defeat permanently cripples the Ugandan military.
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
–
Maurice Bishop
Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation ...
leads a successful coup in
Grenada. His government will be crushed by
American intervention in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
.
*
March 14 – In China, a
Hawker Siddeley Trident
The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley.
In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA ...
crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing 31 people on the ground and injuring 200.
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
**End of major hostilities in the
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a border war fought between China and Vietnam in early 1979. China launched an offensive in response to Vietnam's actions against the Khmer Rouge in 1978, which ended the rule of the C ...
.
** In his letter to the United Nations,
Elisio De Figueiredo, the People’s Republic of Angola’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, requests an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the question of
South Africa’s continuous acts of aggression in Angola.
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
* 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of ei ...
– The
Penmanshiel Tunnel in the UK collapses, killing two workers.
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
* 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen en ...
-
C-SPAN, an American television channel focusing on government and public affairs, is launched.
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
* 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ara ...
– Ten miners die in a
methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...
gas explosion at
Golborne Colliery near
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
, England.
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
– The
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
votes to approve its
merger with the
WHA, effective in the fall.
*
March 25 – The first fully functional
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
orbiter,
''Columbia'', is delivered to the
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
, to be prepared for its first launch.
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, ...
** In a ceremony at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
, President
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and Prime Minister
Menachem Begin of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
sign an
Egypt–Israel peace treaty
The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...
.
**
Michigan State University, led by
Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...
, defeats
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...
-led
Indiana State
Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...
75–64 in the
NCAA tournament championship game
In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match sy ...
at
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
.
*
March 28
Events Pre-1600
* AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
* 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Di ...
** In Britain,
James Callaghan's minority
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
government loses a
motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election which is to be held on 3 May.
** America's most serious
nuclear power plant accident occurs, at
Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Sultan
Yahya Petra of Kelantan
Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; 10 December 1917 – 29 March 1979) was the sixth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia from 21 September 1975 to his death, and the 27th Sultan of Kelantan (1960–1979).
Early life ...
, the 6th
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The o ...
(Head of State) of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan
Ahmad Shah of Pahang
Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’azzam Shah ( Jawi: ; 24 October 1930 – 22 May 2019) was the fifth modern Sultan of Pahang, and also served as the seventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong ...
.
*
March 30
Events Pre-1600
* 598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro- Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague.
*1282 &ndash ...
–
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.
*
March 31
** The last British soldier (belonging to the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
) leaves the
Maltese Islands
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, after 179 years of presence.
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
**
Milk and Honey win the
Eurovision Song Contest 1979
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by th ...
for
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, with the song ''
Hallelujah
''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...
''.
April
*
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
*1081 – Alexios I Ko ...
**
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's government becomes an
Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the
Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
officially.
**
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
launches from
QUBE's Pinwheel experiment and begins airing on various Warner Cable systems beginning in Buffalo, New York, expanding its audience reach.
**
Dale Earnhardt Sr
Dale or dales may refer to:
Locations
* Dale (landform), an open valley
* Dale (place name element)
Geography
;Australia
* The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean
;Canada
* Dale, Ontario
;Ethiopia
*Dale (woreda), district
;Norway
* ...
wins his first career
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
race at the
1979 Southeastern 500 at
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...
. He would go on to win 76 races and 7 championships during his career.
*
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
*1081 – Alexios I Ko ...
–
18 – Police lock
Andreas Mihavecz
Andreas Mihavecz is an Austrian from Bregenz who holds the record of surviving the longest without any food or liquids. His ordeal is documented in the ''Guinness World Records''.
On 1 April 1979, the then 18-year-old bricklayer's apprentice. was ...
in a holding cell in
Bregenz
Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...
, Austria and forget about him, leaving him there without food or drink.
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...
–
Sverdlovsk anthrax leak: A
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
biowarfare
Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Bi ...
laboratory at
Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne
anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
. It is a violation of the
Biological Weapons Convention
The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpil ...
of
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
.
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...
- In
Japan, the channel of
TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
premieres ''
Doraemon
''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and ...
''.
*
April 4 –
Pakistani Prime Minister
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pakist ...
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
is executed by hanging for the murder of a political opponent.
*
April 6
Events Pre–1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) at the Battle of Thapsus.
* 402 – Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.
*13 ...
–
Student protests break out in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
.
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Empe ...
– In Japan,
Yoshiyuki Tomino
is a Japanese mecha anime creator, animator, director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art ...
directs ''
Mobile Suit Gundam
, also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcastin ...
'', the first series of the metaseries of the same name.
*
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 140 ...
– A tornado hits
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accord ...
, killing 42 people (the most notable of
26 tornadoes that day).
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
*1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
*1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferrare ...
– Uganda–Tanzania War:
Fall of Kampala
The Fall of Kampala, also known as the Liberation of Kampala ( Kiswahili: ''Kukombolewa kwa Kampala''), was a battle during the Uganda–Tanzania War in 1979, in which the combined forces of Tanzania and the Uganda National Liberation Front ...
: Tanzanian troops take
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
, the capital of Uganda;
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
flees.
*
April 13 – The
La Soufrière volcano erupts in
St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– The
Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting over 70 deaths and over 500 injured.
*
April 15
Events Pre-1600
* 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
* 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscar ...
–
1979 Montenegro earthquake
The 1979 Montenegro earthquake occurred on 15 April at 06:19 UTC with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). It was the most devastating earthquake in SR Montenegro, then part of Yugoslavia,(Montenegrin)Crn ...
: A 6.9 shock affects
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
(then part of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
) and parts of
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of
Budva
Budva ( cnr, Будва, or ) is a Montenegrin town on the Adriatic Sea. It has 19,218 inhabitants, and it is the centre of Budva Municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, kn ...
is devastated.
*
April 17
Events Pre-1600
*1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
*1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
– Schoolchildren in the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory
school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996), also known as Bokassa I, was a Central African political and military leader who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and as the emperor of its s ...
"almost certainly" took part in the massacre.
*
April 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
* 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
*1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern h ...
– The
Albert Einstein Memorial
The Albert Einstein Memorial is a monumental bronze statue by sculptor Robert Berks, depicting Albert Einstein seated with manuscript papers in hand. It is located in central Washington, D.C., United States, in a grove of trees at the southwes ...
is unveiled at the
National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
*
April 23 – Fighting breaks out in London between the
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups i ...
and the
Metropolitan Police's
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group (SPG) was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally based mobile capacity to combat serious public disorder, crime, and terrorism, that could not be dealt with by loca ...
; protester
Blair Peach
Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 24 April 1979) was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in a ...
receives fatal injuries during the incident, now officially attributed to the SPG.
May
*
May 1
Events Pre-1600
* 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
* 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
*1169 – N ...
–
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
is granted limited autonomy from Denmark, with its own
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
sitting in
Nuuk
Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other coun ...
.
*
May 3
Events Pre-1600
* 752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico, assumes the throne.
* 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
...
– The
1979 United Kingdom general election for the House of Commons takes place, giving the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
a majority, and electing
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
as the nation's first woman prime minister, ending the rule of
James Callaghan's
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
government.
*
May 8 – Ten shoppers die in
a fire at the Woolworths department store in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
city centre in England.
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
** The
Salvadoran Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
The Farabundo Ma ...
begins.
** The
Unabomber
Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...
bomb injures
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
graduate student John Harris.
*
May 10 – The
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...
becomes self-governing.
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
– Uganda–Tanzania War:
Battle of Lira:
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
and its
Uganda National Liberation Front
The Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was a political group formed by exiled Ugandans opposed to the rule of Idi Amin with an accompanying military wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA fought alongside Tanzanian forces in ...
allies capture
Lira, Uganda
Lira is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial centre of Lira District.
History
Lira was one of the last towns in Uganda held by loyalists of Idi Amin during the Uganda–Tanzania War ...
, from the forces of Ugandan dictator
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...
.
*
May 21
Events Pre-1600
* 293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as ''Caesar'' to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
* 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabi ...
**
Dan White
Daniel James White (September 2, 1946 – October 21, 1985) was an American politician who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. White was convicted of manslaugh ...
is convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, for the assassination of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
Mayor
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone (; November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. He was known ...
and Supervisor
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...
, after using what would become known as the "
Twinkie defense
"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of ...
" 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
The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of a lenient sentencing of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco, and of Harvey Milk, a member of the city's Board of Supe ...
" in the gay community.
** The
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
defeat the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
four games to one to win their fourth consecutive
Stanley Cup.
*
May 25
Events Pre-1600
* 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
*240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Tol ...
**
American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a
DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 19 ...
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.
**
John Spenkelink
John Arthur Spenkelink (March 29, 1949 – May 25, 1979) was an American convicted murderer. He was executed in 1979, the first convicted criminal to be executed in Florida after capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, and the second (after Gar ...
is executed in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, in the first use of the
electric chair
An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...
in America after the reintroduction of the
death penalty in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
.
**
Etan Patz, 6 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.
*
May 27 –
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
:
Rick Mears
Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (1 ...
wins the race for the first time, and car owner
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
for the second time.
June
*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
* 1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed k ...
** The
Vizianagaram district
Vizianagaram district is one of the six districts in the Uttarandhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with its headquarters located at Vizianagaram. The district was once the part of ancient Kalinga.Saripilli Dibbilingeswara te ...
is formed in
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, India.
** The first black-led government of
Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1 ...
and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of
Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, and sometimes as Rhobabwe, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June to 12 December 1979. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was p ...
.
** The
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...
win the NBA Championship against the
Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
.
*
June 2
Events Pre-1600
* 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
* 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later. 1601 ...
**
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
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.
**
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
' city council passes the city's first
homosexual rights bill signed without fanfare by mayor
Tom Bradley.
*
June 3
Events Pre-1600
* 350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
* 713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, depos ...
**
Ixtoc I oil spill
Ixtoc 1 was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig ''Sedco 135'' in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters deep. On 3 June 1979, the well suffered ...
: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
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.
**
1979 Italian general election
The 1979 Italian general election was held in Italy on 3 June 1979.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1048. This election was called just a week before the European vote: the failure to hold the two ...
: The
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
loses a significant number of seats.
*
June 4
Events Pre-1600
*1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
* 1561 – The steeple of St Paul's, the medieval cathedr ...
**
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
becomes Canada's 16th and youngest Prime Minister.
**
Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings
Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...
takes power in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
after a military
coup in which
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Fred Akuffo
Lieutenant General Frederick William "Fred" Kwasi Akuffo (21 March 1937 – 26 June 1979) was a Ghanaian soldier and politician. He was Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from 1976 to 1978, and chairman of the ruling Supr ...
is overthrown.
** Following the "
Muldergate
The Muldergate scandal, also known as the Information Scandal or Infogate, was a South African political scandal involving a secret propaganda campaign conducted by the apartheid Department of Information. It centred on revelations about the Depa ...
" Information Scandal,
John Vorster
Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; also known as John Vorster; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983) was a South African apartheid politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state presiden ...
resigns as
State President of South Africa.
[Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961–1994](_blank)
Accessed 14 April 2017.
*
June 7
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire).
* 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state.
* 1002 – Henr ...
–
1979 European Parliament election
The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Europe ...
: The first direct elections to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
begin, allowing citizens from across all nine (at this time)
member states of the European Union to elect 410
MEPs. It is also the first international election in history.
*
June 12
Events Pre-1600
* 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
* 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of Fr ...
–
Bryan Allen flies the man-powered ''
Gossamer Albatross
The ''Gossamer Albatross'' is a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr Paul B MacCready's company AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979, it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel to win the second Kremer ...
'' across the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
.
*
June 15
Events Pre-1600
* 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
* 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
* 923 – Battle of So ...
**
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
introduces the
Happy Meal
A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley fac ...
in the United States in a nationwide advertising campaign after testing the product since February in franchises in the U.S. state of
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
.
** The ecological horror-thriller ''
Prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a '' prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pr ...
'' is
released in the United States by
Paramount Pictures.
*
June 18
Events Pre-1600
* 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China.
* 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
* 860 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about ...
–
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
and
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
sign the
SALT II
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds o ...
agreement in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
*
June 19
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The original Nicene Creed is adopted at the First Council of Nicaea.
*1179 – The Battle of Kalvskinnet takes place outside Nidaros (now Trondheim), Norway. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle chan ...
–
Marais Viljoen
Marais Viljoen, (2 December 1915 – 4 January 2007) was the last ceremonial state president of South Africa from 4 June 1979 until 3 September 1984. Viljoen became the last of the ceremonial presidents of South Africa when he was succeeded in ...
becomes
State President of South Africa.
*
June 20 – A
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
n 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.
*
June 22
Events Pre-1600
* 217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
* 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus ...
**''
The Muppet Movie
''The Muppet Movie'' is a 1979 American musical road comedy film directed by James Frawley, produced by Jim Henson, and the first theatrical film featuring the Muppets. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the fil ...
'' is released.
** Former
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
leader
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the ...
was acquitted of
conspiracy to murder
Conspiracy to murder is a statutory offence defined by the intent to commit murder.
England and Wales
The offence of conspiracy to murder was created in statutory law by section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and retained as ...
Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.
*
June 23 –
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Premier
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman ...
officially opens the
Eastern Suburbs Railway
The Eastern Suburbs Railway is a commuter railway line in Sydney constructed in the 1970s. It is operated by Sydney Trains and has stations at Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction. In addition, it has dedicated platforms ...
in Sydney. It operates as a shuttle between Central and Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line in 1980.
*
June 24
Events Pre-1600
*1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa.
* 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome. ...
– The
Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, is founded in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
at the initiative of Senator
Lelio Basso
Lelio Basso (25 December 1903 – 16 December 1978) was an Italian democratic socialist politician, political scientist and journalist.
Early life
Lelio Basso was born in Varazze (in the province of Savona) into a Liberal bourgeois family. In ...
.
*
June 25
Events Pre-1600
* 524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
* 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of ...
–
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
Supreme Allied Commander Alexander Haig
Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these ...
escapes an assassination attempt in Belgium by the
Baader-Meinhof terrorist organization.
July
*
July 1
**
Sweden outlaws
corporal punishment in the home
Physical or corporal punishment by a parent or other legal guardian is any act causing deliberate physical pain or discomfort to a minor child in response to some undesired behavior. It typically takes the form of spanking or slapping the chi ...
.
** The
Sony Walkman
Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term fo ...
goes on sale for the first time in Japan.
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolut ...
– U.S. President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
*
July 5
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – The official opening of Constantine's Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus ( Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.
* 1316 – The Burgundian a ...
– Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
attends the millennium celebrations of the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
's Parliament,
Tynwald
Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of ...
.
*
July 8 – Los Angeles passes its gay and lesbian civil rights bill.
*
July 9 – A car bomb destroys a
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
owned by Nazi hunters
Serge and Beate Klarsfeld
Serge Klarsfeld (born 17 September 1935) is a Romanian-born French activist and Nazi hunter known for documenting the Holocaust in order to establish the record and to enable the prosecution of war criminals. Since the 1960s, he has made notab ...
at their home in France. A note purportedly from
ODESSA claims responsibility.
*
July 11
Events Pre-1600
* 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter's Basilica and put to death.
* 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, ...
–
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
's first orbiting space station, ''
Skylab
Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...
'', begins falling back
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
as its orbit decays after more than six years.
*
July 12
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.
* 927 – King Constantine II o ...
** The
Gilbert Islands become fully independent of the United Kingdom as
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
.
** A ''
Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night was a Major League Baseball (MLB) promotion on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field ...
'' publicity stunt goes awry at
Comiskey Park, forcing the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
to
forfeit
Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke
* "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next''
* ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers
L ...
their game against the
Detroit Tigers.
**
Carmine Galante, boss of the
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as ...
, is assassinated in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
** A
fire at a hotel in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.
*
July 15
Events Pre-1600
*484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
* 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. ( 17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
* 756 – ...
– 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.
*
July 16
Events Pre-1600
* 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
* 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
* 1 ...
–
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i President
Hasan al-Bakr
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr ' (1 July 1914 – 4 October 1982) was the fourth president of Iraq, from 17 July 1968 to 16 July 1979. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and i ...
resigns and Vice President
Saddam al-Tikriti
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
, more commonly referred to in the Western press as "Saddam Hussein", replaces him.
*
July 17
Events Pre-1600
* 180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
*1048 – Damasu ...
–
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
n president General
Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
.
*
July 21
Events Pre-1600
* 356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.
* 230 – Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope. After being exiled to Sardinia, he became t ...
** The
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...
concludes a successful revolutionary campaign against the Somoza dynasty and assumes power in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
.
**
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal.
**
Maritza Sayalero
Maritza Sayalero Fernández (born February 16, 1961, in Caracas) is a Venezuelan designer, model, businesswoman and beauty queen. In 1979 she was crowned both Miss Venezuela and Miss Universe, the first woman from Venezuela to win this title. She ...
of
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
wins the
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
pageant; the stage collapses after contestants and news photographers rush to her throne.
** 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.
*
July 22
Events Pre-1600
* 838 – Battle of Anzen: The Byzantine emperor Theophilos suffers a heavy defeat by the Abbasids.
*1099 – First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of J ...
–
1979 Ba'ath Party Purge
The 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge (Arabic: تطهير حزب البعث) or Comrades Massacre (Arabic: مجزرة الرفاق) was a public purge of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party orchestrated on 22 July 1979 by then-president Saddam Hussein six days after hi ...
:
Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
arranges the arrest and later execution of nearly seventy members of his ruling
Ba'ath Party.
*
July 28
Events Pre-1600
*1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
*1540 – Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day his former Chancellor, Thom ...
–
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...
resigns as India's prime minister and
Charan Singh succeeds him.
August
*
August 3
Events Pre-1600
* 8 – Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna.
* 435 – Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emper ...
– Dictator
Francisco Macías Nguema
Francisco Macías Nguema ( Africanised to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong; 1 January 1924 – 29 September 1979), often mononymously referred to as Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first President of Equatorial Guinea ...
of
Equatorial Guinea is overthrown in a bloody
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
led by
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (; born 5 June 1942) is an Equatoguinean politician and former military officer who has served as the second president of Equatorial Guinea since August 1979. He is the longest-serving president of any country ev ...
.
*
August 4
Events Pre-1600
* 598 – Goguryeo-Sui War: In response to a Goguryeo (Korean) incursion into Liaoxi, Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo during th ...
– Opening game of the ''
American Football Bundesliga'' played between
Frankfurter Löwen
The Frankfurter Löwen ( en, Frankfurt Lions) were an American football team from Frankfurt, Germany.
The ''Löwen'' were the first American football club to be formed in Germany.[Düsseldorf Panther
The Düsseldorf Panther are an American football team from Düsseldorf, Germany. The club is the oldest extant American football club in Europe, having been formed on 1 May 1978.][American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...]
in Germany.
*
August 5
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.
* 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are ...
– The
Polisario Front
The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس ...
signs a peace treaty with
Mauritania. Mauritania withdraws from the
Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...
territory it had occupied, and cedes it to the
SADR
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a ...
.
*
August 6 -
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
releases their debut single "
Bela Lugosi's Dead", considered to be the first
gothic rock release.
*
August 8
Events Pre-1600
* 685 BC – Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as the ...
– Two American
commercial divers, Richard Walker and Victor Guiel, die of
hypothermia
Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
after their
diving bell
A diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work. The most common types are the open-bottomed wet bell and the closed bell, which c ...
becomes stranded at a depth of over in the
East Shetland Basin
The East Shetland Basin is a major oil-producing area of the North Sea between Scotland and Norway.
Oil produced in the UK area is landed at Sullom Voe Terminal in the Shetland Islands. Associated gas flows via the FLAGS, FLAGS pipeline to St Fe ...
. The legal repercussions of the accident will lead to important safety changes in the diving industry.
*
August 9
Events Pre-1600
*48 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
* 378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople: A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens ...
–
Raymond Washington
Raymond Lee Washington (August 14, 1953 – August 9, 1979) was an American gangster, known as the founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Washington formed the Crips as a minor street gang in the late 1960s in South Los Angeles, becoming a pr ...
, co-founder of the
Crips
The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...
, today one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles; the killers have not yet been identified.
*
August 10
Events Pre-1600
* 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I.
* 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Gro ...
–
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
releases his breakthrough album ''
Off the Wall''. It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7× platinum album.
*
August 11
** The former Mauritanian province of
Tiris al-Gharbiyya
Tiris al-Gharbiyya ( ar, تيرس الغربية, links=, lit=Western Tiris, translit=Tīris al-Ġarbiyya) was the name for the area of Western Sahara under Mauritanian control between 1975 and 1979.
Background
Mauritania annexed the southern t ...
in
Western Sahara
Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...
is annexed by
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
.
** The
Machchu-2 dam in
Morbi
Morbi or Morvi is a city in the Morbi district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 194,947. The city is on the Machhu River, from the sea and from Rajkot.
Hi ...
, India, collapses, killing between 1800 and 25000 people in one of the worst ever
dam failure
A dam failure or dam burst is a catastrophic type of structural failure characterized by the sudden, rapid, and uncontrolled release of impounded water or the likelihood of such an uncontrolled release. Between the years 2000 and 2009 more than ...
s.
*
August 14 –
A freak storm during the Fastnet Race results in the deaths of 15 sailors.
*
August 17
Events Pre-1600
*309/310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, possibly from a hunger strike.
* 682 – Pope Leo II begins his pontificate.
* 986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle ...
– The controversial religious satirical film ''
Monty Python's Life of Brian
''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It ...
'' premieres in the United States.
*
August 27
Events Pre-1600
* 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days.
* 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England.
*1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the K ...
–
Lord Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of Germa ...
and two others are killed in a bombing on his boat in the Republic of Ireland by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...
(IRA). Mountbatten was a British 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
Doreen Geraldine Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne, DStJ (née Lady Doreen Geraldine Browne; 29 May 1896 – 28 August 1979) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and socialite. She died as a result of her injuries following an attack by the Provisional ...
would die in a hospital the following day from injuries sustained in the bombing.
*
August 29
Events Pre-1600
* 708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
* 870 – The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzantine M ...
– A national referendum is held in which
Somali voters approve a new liberal constitution, promulgated by
President Siad Barre to placate the United States.
September
*
September 1
Events Pre-1600
*1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
*1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona b ...
** The U.S. ''
Pioneer 11
''Pioneer 11'' (also known as ''Pioneer G'') is a robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 5, 1973, to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays. It was the first probe to encounter ...
'' becomes the first spacecraft to visit
Saturn when it passes the
planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
at a distance of .
**
Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps is formed.
*
September 7
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem.
* 878 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned as king of West Francia by Pope John VIII.
*1159 – Pope Alexander III is chosen.
*1191 – Third Cr ...
– The first cable sports channel, the Entertainment Sports Programming Network (better known as
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
), is launched in the United States.
*
September 9
Events Pre-1600
* 337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.
*1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age.
* 1141 – ...
– 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.
*
September 12
Events Pre-1600
*490 BC – Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece.
* 372 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin ...
–
Hurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic was an intense and damaging tropical cyclone that carved a path of destruction from the Lesser Antilles to Quebec, in particular devastating areas of the United States Gulf Coast. Though only five were killed directly, the US ...
makes landfall at 10:00 p.m. on Alabama's Gulf Coast.
*
September 13
Events Pre-1600
* 585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.
* 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...
– South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of
Venda
Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...
(not recognised outside South Africa).
*
September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
*1620 – A determined band of 35 religio ...
**
East German balloon escape
The East German balloon escape occurred on 16 September 1979, when eight people in two families escaped the Eastern Bloc country of East Germany by crossing the border to the Western Bloc's West Germany in a homemade hot air balloon at aroun ...
: Two families flee from
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
by balloon.
**
The Sugarhill Gang
The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; reaching a peak position of number 36 on January 12, 1980. This was the trio's onl ...
release ''
Rapper's Delight
"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 hip-hop track by the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing hip-hop mus ...
'' in the United States, the first
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
to become a
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...
hit on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
.
*
September 20
Events Pre-1600
*1058 – Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.
*1066 – At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin.
*1187 – Saladin b ...
– French
paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...
s help
David Dacko
David Dacko (; 1927 – 21 November 2003) was a Central African politician who served as the first president of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 1 January 1966, and 3rd President from 21 September 1979 to 1 September 1981. Af ...
to overthrow
Emperor Bokassa in the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
.
*
September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
–
Vela incident
The Vela incident was an unidentified double flash of light detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite on 22 September 1979 near the South African territory of Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, roughly midway between Africa and Antar ...
: The "South Atlantic Flash" is observed near the
Prince Edward Islands
The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...
in the Indian Ocean, thought to be a
nuclear weapons test
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...
conducted by
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
*
September 29
Events Pre-1600
*61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.
* 1011 – Danes capture Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah, ...
– The overthrown dictator
Francisco Macías Nguema
Francisco Macías Nguema ( Africanised to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong; 1 January 1924 – 29 September 1979), often mononymously referred to as Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first President of Equatorial Guinea ...
of
Equatorial Guinea is convicted of
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
and executed by firing squad.
*
September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
– The Hong Kong
MTR metro begins service with the opening of its Modified Initial System, the Kwun Tong Line.
October
*
October 1
Events Pre-1600
* 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
* 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated.
* 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadw ...
–
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
terminates military rule, and the
Second Nigerian Republic
The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic.
Background
Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region en ...
is established.
*
October 1
Events Pre-1600
* 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
* 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated.
* 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadw ...
–
7 –
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
visits the United States, starting in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
*
October 1
Events Pre-1600
* 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
* 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated.
* 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadw ...
– The
MTR, the
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
railway system in Hong Kong, opens.
*
October 2
Events Pre-1600
* 829 – Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor.
* 939 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and ...
– Pope John Paul II arrives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
for his first papal tour where he addresses the
U.N. General Assembly against all forms of
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
s and
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...
.
*
October 6
Events Pre-1600
* 105 BC – Cimbrian War: Defeat at the Battle of Arausio accelerates the Marian reforms of the Roman army of the mid-Republic.
* 69 BC – Third Mithridatic War: The military of the Roman Republic subdue Armenia.
*A ...
–
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
changes from an interest rate target policy to a money supply target policy.
*
October 7
Events Pre-1600
* 3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar.
* 1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon.
* 1477 ...
– Pope John Paul II ends his first U.S. papal visit in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
with his first-ever visit to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
.
*
October 9
Events Pre-1600
* 768 – Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned kings of the Franks.
* 1238 – James I of Aragon founds the Kingdom of Valencia.
* 1410 – The first known mention of the Prague astronomical clock.
* 1446 &ndash ...
–
Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, a ...
wins the
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...
by a record six laps, with a lap record on the last lap.
*
October 12
Events Pre-1600
* 539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire. (Julian calendar)
* 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by an alliance u ...
** Near
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
,
Typhoon Tip
Typhoon Tip, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Warling, was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded. The forty-third tropical depression, nineteenth tropical storm, twelfth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 1979 Pa ...
reaches a record intensity of 870 millibars, the lowest pressure recorded at sea level. This makes Tip the most powerful
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...
in known world history.
**
Thorbjörn Fälldin
Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin (24 April 1926 – 23 July 2016) was a Swedish politician. He was Prime Minister of Sweden in three non-consecutive cabinets from 1976 to 1982, and leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 1971 to 1985. On his ...
returns as
Prime Minister of Sweden
The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...
, replacing
Ola Ullsten
Stig Kjell Olof "Ola" Ullsten (23 June 1931 – 28 May 2018) was a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1978 to 1979 and leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1978 to 1983. He also served as Deputy Prime ...
who is named
Foreign Minister of Sweden.
** ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'', the first novel by
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...
, is published in the United Kingdom
*
October 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.
* 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's ...
–
National March for
gay rights takes place in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, involving tens of thousands of people.
*
October 15 –
Black Monday
Black Monday refers to specific Mondays when undesirable or turbulent events have occurred. It has been used to designate massacres, military battles, and stock market crashes.
Historic events
*1209, Dublin – when a group of 500 recently arriv ...
events, in which members of a political group sack a newspaper office, unfold in Malta.
*
October 16
Events Pre-1600
* 456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire.
* ...
– A
tsunami in Nice, France kills 23 people.
*
October 17
Events Pre-1600
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China.
*1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.
*1346 – The English capture King Davi ...
– The
Pittsburgh Pirates become only the fourth
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
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
The 1979 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1979 season. The 76th edition of the World Series was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates (98–64) and ...
.
*
October 19
Events Pre-1600
* 202 BC – Second Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage.
* 439 – The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in ...
– 13 U.S. Marines die in a fire at
Camp Fuji
Combined Arms Training Center (CATC) Camp Fuji is an installation of the United States Marine Corps next to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force JGSDF Camp Takigahara ( ja, 滝ヶ原駐屯地). It is located near the city of Gotemba in Shizuoka ...
, Japan as a result of Typhoon Tip.
*
October 20
Events Pre-1600
*1568 – The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.
* 1572 – Eighty Years' War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the re ...
– The first
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
opens at Liat Towers in Orchard Road.
*
October 26
Events Pre-1600
* 1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
* 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally b ...
–
**
Park Chung-hee, the
President of South Korea
The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...
, is assassinated by
KCIA
The National Intelligence Service (NIS; Korean language, Korean: 국가정보원, 국정원) is the chief intelligence agency of South Korea. The agency was officially established in 1961 as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA; Korea ...
director
Kim Jae-gyu.
**The eradication of the
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...
is announced by the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
, making smallpox the first of only two human diseases that have been driven to extinction (
rinderpest
Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including gaurs, buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthog ...
in 2011 being the other).
*
October 27
Events Pre-1600
* 312 – Constantine is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.
* 1275 – Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam.
* 1524 – French troops lay siege to Pavia.
* 1553 – Condemned as ...
–
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea w ...
gains independence from the UK.
*
October 31
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor.
* 683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down.
* 802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Co ...
–
Western Airlines Flight 2605
Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico City, Mexico. On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. CST ( UTC−06:00), the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 o ...
crashes upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, killing 72 occupants plus one on the ground; 16 people on board survive.
November
*
November 1
Events Pre-1600
*365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freisin ...
** Military coup in
Bolivia.
**
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
:
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on
November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
*1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
*1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
and to expand attacks on United States and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i interests.
*
November 2
Events Pre-1600
* 619 – A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.
* 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the ...
** French police shoot gangster
Jacques Mesrine
Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made ...
in Paris.
**
Assata Shakur
Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947; also married name, JoAnne Chesimard) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the first-degree murder ...
(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.
*
November 3
Events Pre-1600
* 361 – Emperor Constantius II dies of a fever at Mopsuestia in Cilicia; on his deathbed he is baptised and declares his cousin Julian rightful successor.
*1333 – The River Arno floods causing massive damage in Fl ...
– In
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...
, five members of the
Communist Workers Party are shot to death and seven are wounded by a group of
Klansmen
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
and
neo-Nazis
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
, during a "Death to the Klan" rally.
*
November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
*1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
*1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
–
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
begins: 500 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former
Shah of Iran
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
back to stand trial.
*
November 5
Events Pre-1600
*1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
*1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Bre ...
**
All Saints' Massacre: The military junta in
Bolivia initiates a violent crack-down on its opponents.
** The radio news program ''
Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...
'' premieres on
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
in the United States.
*
November 6
Events Pre-1600
* 447 – A powerful earthquake destroys large portions of the Walls of Constantinople, including 57 towers.
* 963 – Synod of Rome: Emperor Otto I calls a council at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope John XII is ...
– At
Montevideo,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
adopts a resolution, whereby
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
Olympic and sports teams will participate with the name
Chinese Taipei in future
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
and international sports tournaments and championships.
*
November 7
Events Pre-1600
* 335 – Athanasius is banished to Trier, on the charge that he prevented a grain fleet from sailing to Constantinople.
* 680 – The Sixth Ecumenical Council commences in Constantinople.
* 921 – Treaty of Bon ...
– U.S. Senator
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
announces that he will challenge President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
for the 1980
Democratic presidential nomination.
*
November 9
** The
Carl Bridgewater
The Bridgewater Four are four men who were tried and found guilty of killing 13-year-old paperboy Carl Bridgewater, who was shot in the head at close range near Stourbridge, England, in 1978. In February 1997, after almost two decades of imprisonm ...
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.
** Nuclear
false alarm
A false alarm, also called a nuisance alarm, is the deceptive or erroneous report of an emergency, causing unnecessary panic and/or bringing resources (such as emergency services) to a place where they are not needed. False alarms may occur with ...
: the
NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in
Fort Ritchie, Maryland
Fort Ritchie is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Maryland, United States, just south of the Pennsylvania state line. The population was 276 at the 2000 census. Fort Ritchie is a former U.S. military base that closed in Septem ...
, detect an apparent massive
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
nuclear strike
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...
. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the
early-warning radar
An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...
s, the alert is cancelled.
*
November 10
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Emperor Leo II dies after a reign of ten months. He is succeeded by his father Zeno, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
* 937 – Ten Kingdoms: Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang ...
–
1979 Mississauga train derailment
The Mississauga train derailment occurred on November 10, 1979, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, when a CP Rail freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and caught fire. More than 200,000 people were evacuated in the largest peacetime ...
: 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.
*
November 12
Events Pre-1600
* 954 – The 13-year-old Lothair III is crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom.
*1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe takes the throne as empress consort to Romanos III Argyros.
* 13 ...
**
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
: In response to the hostage situation in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
imports into the United States from Iran.
**
Süleyman Demirel, of the
Justice Party (AP) forms the new government of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
(43rd government, a minority government).
* November 13 - Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for President of the United States.
*
November 14
Events Pre-1600 1601–1900
*1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope.
*1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile.
...
–
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
: U.S. President Jimmy Carter issues
Executive Order 12170
Executive Order 12170 was issued by American president Jimmy Carter on November 14, 1979, ten days after the Iran hostage crisis had started. The executive order, empowered under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ordered the freezi ...
, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis.
*
November 15
Events Pre-1600
* 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
* 1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Mo ...
– British art historian and former
Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures
The office of the Surveyor of the King's/Queen's Pictures, in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, is responsible for the care and maintenance of the royal collection of pictures owned by ...
Anthony Blunt's role as the "fourth man" of the '
Cambridge Five
The Cambridge Spy Ring was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and was active from the 1930s until at least into the early 1950s. None of the known members were ever prosecuted ...
'
double agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organ ...
s for the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
is revealed by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
in the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom; she gives further details on November 21.
*
November 16
Events Pre-1600
* 951 – Emperor Li Jing sends a Southern Tang expeditionary force of 10,000 men under Bian Hao to conquer Chu. Li Jing removes the ruling family to his own capital in Nanjing, ending the Chu Kingdom.
*1272 – Whi ...
–
Bucharest Metro
The Bucharest Metro ( ro, Metroul din București) is an underground rapid transit system that serves Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It first opened for service on 16 November 1979. The network is run by Metrorex. One of two parts of the large ...
Line One is opened, in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
(from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea stations, ).
*
November 17
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November.
* 1183 & ...
–
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
*
November 20
Events Pre-1600
* 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.
* 762 – During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels.
* 1194 – Palermo is conquered by Henry ...
–
Grand Mosque seizure
The Grand Mosque seizure lasted from 20 November 1979 to 4 December 1979, when extremist militants in Saudi Arabia calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud besieged and took over Masjid al-Haram, the holiest Islamic site, in the city of M ...
: A group of 200
Juhayman al-Otaybi militants occupy
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
'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.
*
November 21
Events Pre-1600
* 164 BCE – Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, rededicates the Temple in Jerusalem, an event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah. (25 Kislev 3597 in the Hebrew calendar.)
* 235 ...
– After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that the Americans had occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing 4, and disturbing
Pakistan–United States relations
On 15 August 1947, one day after the independence of Pakistan through the partition of British India, the United States became one of the first nations to establish relations with Pakistan. The relations are a very important factor in the United ...
.
*
November 23
Events Pre-1600
* 534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
* 1248 – Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.
* 1499 – Pretender to the t ...
– In
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, Ireland,
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...
member
Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of
Lord Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of Germa ...
.
*
November 25
Events Pre-1600
*571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates the first of his three triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans.
*1034 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, dies. His grandson, Donnchad, son of Bethó ...
– The last cargo of
phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...
was shipped from
Banaba Island
BanabaThe correct spelling and etymology in Gilbertese should be ''Bwanaba'' but the Constitution of Kiribati writes Banaba. Because of the spelling in English or French, the name was very often written Paanapa or Paanopa, as it was in 1901 A ...
in
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
in the South Pacific ocean, bringing an end to the island's chief industry.
*
November 28
Events Pre-1600
* 587 – Treaty of Andelot
The Treaty of Andelot (or Pact of Andelot) was signed at Andelot-Blancheville in 587 between King Guntram of Burgundy and Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. Based on the terms of the accord, Brun ...
–
Air New Zealand Flight 901
The Mount Erebus disaster occurred on 28 November 1979 when Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE-901) flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board. Air New Zealand had been operating scheduled A ...
: an
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...
DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 19 ...
crashes into
Mount Erebus
Mount Erebus () is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley), the highest active volcano in Antarctica, and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth-highest ultra mountain on the continent.
With a summ ...
in Antarctica on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.
*
November 30
Events Pre-1600
* 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900
*1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the Br ...
– ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'', a
rock opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
and
concept album by
Pink Floyd, is first released.
December
*
December 3
Events Pre-1600
* 915 – Pope John X crowns Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor (probable date). 1601–1900
* 1775 – American Revolutionary War: becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the ...
**
The Who concert disaster
The Who concert disaster was a crowd disaster that occurred on December 3, 1979, when English rock band The Who performed at Riverfront Coliseum (now known as Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and a rush of concert-goer ...
: Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
rock concert at the
Riverfront Coliseum
Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the fa ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
.
** The
United States dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
exchange rate with the
Deutsche Mark
The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
falls to 1.7079 DM, the all-time low so far; this record is not broken until November 5,
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
.
** Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
*
December 4
Events Pre-1600
* 771 – Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom.
* 963 – The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 ...
– The Hastie fire in
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...
, England, leads to the deaths of 3 boys and begins the hunt for
Bruce George Peter Lee
Peter Tredget (born Peter George Dinsdale 31 July 1960), formerly Bruce George Peter Lee, is a British serial killer, arsonist and mass murderer. He confessed to a total of 11 acts of arson, pleading guilty to 26 counts of manslaughter. 14 of ...
, the UK's most prolific killer.
*
December 5
Events Pre-1600
* 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
* 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
* 1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multipl ...
–
Jack Lynch resigns as
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...
of the Republic of Ireland; he is succeeded by
Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...
.
*
December 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1060 – Béla I is crowned king of Hungary.
*1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus': Kyiv, defended by Voivode Dmytro, falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
*1492 – After exploring the island of Cuba for gold (wh ...
– The world premiere of ''
Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' is held at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, D.C.
*
December 12
Events Pre-1600
* 627 – Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
*1388 – Maria of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia t ...
** The
NATO Double-Track Decision
The NATO Double-Track Decision was the decision by NATO from December 12, 1979 to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It was combined with a threat by NATO to d ...
: is the decision of NATO from December 12, 1979, to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles combined with the threat that in case of disagreement NATO would deploy more middle-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe, following the so-called "
Euromissile Crisis".
** The 8.2
Tumaco earthquake shakes
Colombia and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
with a maximum
Mercalli intensity
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
of IX (''Violent''), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
**
Coup d'état of December Twelfth
The Coup d'état of December Twelfth (Hangul: 12.12 군사반란; Hanja: 12.12 軍事叛亂) or the "12.12 Military Insurrection" was a military coup d'état which took place on December 12, 1979, in South Korea.
Republic of Korea Army Major Gen ...
:
South Korean Army
The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...
Major General
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah as president of South Korea from 1980 to 198 ...
orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General
Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President
Choi Kyu-hah
Choi Kyu-hah (; ; July 16, 1919 – October 22, 2006), also spelled Choi Kyu-ha or Choi Gyu-ha, was a South Korean politician who served as the fourth president of South Korea from 1979 to 1980.
Early life
Choi was born in Wonju-myeon, Wonj ...
, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President
Park Chung-hee.
** The unrecognised state of
Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, and sometimes as Rhobabwe, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June to 12 December 1979. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was p ...
returns to British control and resumes using the name
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...
.
*
December 13
Events Pre-1600
*1294 – Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
* 1545 – The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.
* 1577 & ...
– The government of Canada falls in a non-confidence motion.
*
December 15
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.
* 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodor ...
– The directorial debut of
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
, ''
The Castle of Cagliostro
is a 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, with animation produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS). It is the second feature film featuring Monkey Punch's master thief Arsène Lupin III, ...
'' based on the
manga series ''
Lupin III
, also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsèn ...
'' is released in Japan.
*
December 21
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
*1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Celes ...
– A
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
for
Rhodesia is signed at London.
*
December 23
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity.
* 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks.
* 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque.
* 962 &ndas ...
– The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the
Klein Matterhorn
The Klein Matterhorn (sometimes translated as ''Little Matterhorn'') is a peak of the Pennine Alps, overlooking Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais. At above sea level, it is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial tramway or ...
, opens.
*
December 24
Events Pre-1600
* 502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate.
* 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death.
* 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, whe ...
** The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
covertly launches its
invasion of Afghanistan
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations ...
- 3 days later,
PDPA general secretary
Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (Pashto/ prs, حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghan ...
is executed in
Operation Storm-333
Operation Storm-333 (russian: Шторм-333, ), also known as the Tajbeg Palace Assault, was executed by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan on 27 December 1979. It saw Spetsnaz storm the heavily fortified Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and subsequently as ...
and
Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal (Farsi/ Pashto: , born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Pa ...
replaces him, beginning the war.
** The first European
Ariane rocket is launched.
*
December 26
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia.
* 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of Bu ...
– In
Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
to monitor a ceasefire that begins
December 28
Events Pre-1600
* 418 – A papal conclave begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I.
* 457 – Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor.
* 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the ...
.
Date unknown
* The
One-child policy
The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much br ...
is introduced in China – it contributes to
Missing women of China
In China, there are significantly fewer women than men, leading to an imbalanced population sex ratio resulting from cultural influences and government policy. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the missing women or missing girls of China ...
. It was loosened in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
.
*
Hànyǔ Pīnyīn
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese ...
is widely adopted as the official
romanization
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...
system for
Standard Chinese, leading to changes in Western spelling of Chinese toponyms.
*
VisiCalc
VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hob ...
becomes the first
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
spreadsheet program.
* The first
usenet
Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it wa ...
experiments are conducted by
Tom Truscott
Tom Truscott is an American computer scientist best known for creating Usenet with Jim Ellis, when both were graduate students at Duke University. He is also a member of ACM, IEEE, and Sigma Xi. One of his first endeavors into computers was ...
and
Jim Ellis of
Duke University.
* Worldwide
per capita
''Per capita'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "by heads" or "for each head", and idiomatically used to mean "per person". The term is used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistic ...
oil production reaches a historic
peak Peak or The Peak may refer to:
Basic meanings Geology
* Mountain peak
** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics
* Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion
* Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...
.
* The remains of Tsar Nicholas II and some of the Romanovs are discovered and exhumed near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).
* NBC introduces a new version of its famous peacock, used in conjunction with the 1975-style N, for the 1979 in American television, Fall season.
*''Onde Tem Bruxa Tem Fada'', book is published.
* Citic Group, China International Trust Investment Group (CITIC) founded.
Births
January
![Rapper Wiley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Rapper_Wiley.jpg)
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
** Brody Dalle, Australian singer
** Vidya Balan, Indian actress
** Gisela (singer), Gisela, Spanish pop singer and voice actress
* January 2
**Erica Hubbard, American actress
**Jagmeet Singh, Canadian politician, leader of the New Democratic Party
* January 3
** Koit Toome, Estonian singer and musical actor
** Rie Tanaka, Japanese voice actress
* January 4 – Kevin Kuske, German Olympic bobsledder
* January 6
** Christina Chanée, Danish-Thai pop singer
** Bernice Liu, Hong Kong actress
*
January 7
** Bipasha Basu, Indian actress and model
** Christian Lindner, German politician
*
January 8
** Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, writer, director, producer and political activist
** Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer
** Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian football goalkeeper
*
January 9
** Tomiko Van, Japanese singer (Do As Infinity)
** Bipasha Basu, Indian actress and model
** Hannah Yeoh, Malaysian politician
* January 11
** Terence Morris, American basketball player
**Siti Nurhaliza, Malaysian singer
* January 12
** Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
** Lee Bo-young, South Korean actress and model
** Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
* January 13
** María de Villota, Spanish racing driver (d.
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
)
* January 15
** Drew Brees, American football player
** Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
*
January 16 – Aaliyah, American R&B singer and actress (d. 2001)
* January 17 – Sharon Chan, Hong Kong actress
* January 18
** Jay Chou, Taiwanese singer, song producer and actor
** Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
** Leo Varadkar, 14th
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...
of Ireland
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrend ...
– Svetlana Khorkina, Russian artistic gymnast
* January 20
** Rob Bourdon, American drummer (Linkin Park)
** Asaka Kubo, Japanese gravure idol
** Will Young, English singer
* January 21
** Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby union player
** Inul Daratista, Indonesian dangdut singer
** Johann Hari, Scot-Swiss Journalist and author
* January 23 – Larry Hughes, American basketball player
* January 24 – Tatyana Ali, American actress
*
January 25 – Christine Lakin, American actress
* January 26
** Antônio Carlos Magalhães Neto, ACM Neto, Brazilian lawyer and politician
** Sara Rue, American actress
* January 27
** Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer
* January 29 – B. J. Flores, American boxer
* January 31 – Jenny Wolf, German speed skater
February
![Jordan Peele Peabody 2014 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Jordan_Peele_Peabody_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
February 1
** Julie Augustyniak, American footballer
** Mahek Chahal, Norwegian actress and model
** Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer (d. 2006)
** Peter Fulton, New Zealand cricketer
** Rachelle Lefevre, Canadian actress
** Clodoaldo Silva, Brazilian paralympian swimmer
* February 2
** David Paisley, Scottish actor
** Fani Chalkia, Greek athlete
** Mayer Hawthorne, American soul singer
** Christine Lampard, Northern Irish television presenter
** Shamita Shetty, Indian actress and interior designer
** Yuichi Tsuchiya, Japanese actor
* February 4
**Andrei Arlovski, Belarusian mixed martial artist
** Jodi Shilling, American actress
** Tabitha Brown (actress), Tabitha Brown, American actress
* February 5
** Paulo Gonçalves (motorcyclist), Paulo Gonçalves, Portuguese rally racing motorcycle rider (d. 2020)
** Katie Brambley, Canadian distance freestyle swimmer
* February 6 – David Dolníček, Czech ice hockey player
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
** Cerina Vincent, American actress and writer
** Michał Karwan, Polish footballer
** Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
* February 8
** Josh Keaton, American actor
** Martin Rowlands, Irish footballer
** Aleksey Mishin (wrestler), Aleksey Mishin, Russian wrestler
* February 9
** Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress and model
** Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
** Paul Waggoner, American guitarist (Between the Buried and Me)
*
February 11 – Brandy Norwood, African-American singer and actress
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
*1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.
*1429 – English forces under ...
** Antonio Chatman, American football player
** Jesse Spencer, Australian actor
*
February 13
** Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian Right-wing terrorism, far-right terrorist responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks
** Mena Suvari, American actress
** Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer
*
February 14 – Jocelyn Quivrin, French actor (d. 2009)
*
February 15 – Gordon Shedden, Scottish race car driver
* February 16
** Valentino Rossi, Italian seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing#MotoGP class, MotoGP world champion
** Eric Mun, leader of Korean boy-band Shinhwa
* February 19
** Mariana Ochoa, Mexican singer and actress
** Vitas, Ukrainian and Russian singer and actor
* February 20 – Song Chong-gug, South Korean footballer
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
*452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
*1440 – The Pru ...
** Maria Annus, Estonian actress
** Carly Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
** Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer
** Jordan Peele, American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer
* February 25 – László Bodnár, Hungarian footballer
*
February 26
** Corinne Bailey Rae, British singer-songwriter and guitarist
** Susana Diazayas, Mexican actress
** Ngô Thanh Vân, Norwegian-Vietnamese actress, singer and model
* February 28
** Michael Bisping, British mixed martial artist
** Sébastien Bourdais, French racing driver
** Sander van Doorn, Dutch DJ and electronic music producer
March
![Norah Jones at Bright Eyes 1 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Norah_Jones_at_Bright_Eyes_1_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
– Iurie Chiorescu, Moldova politician
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
** Ben Fouhy, New Zealand flatwater canoeist
** Geoff Huegill, Australian swimmer
** Jon Fratelli, Scottish singer (The Fratellis)
*
March 5
** Martin Axenrot, Swedish metal drummer
** Riki Lindhome, American actress and comedian
** Tang Gonghong, Chinese weightlifter
* March 6 – Érik Bédard, Canadian pitcher
*
March 7
** Stephanie Anne Mills, Canadian voice actress
** Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rican politician, Governor of Puerto Rico
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
*1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
* 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bou ...
** Jasmine You, Japanese musician (d. 2009)
** Tom Chaplin, British singer (Keane (band), Keane)
* March 9
** Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor
** Melina Perez, American professional wrestler
* March 12 – Pete Doherty, British singer and guitarist (The Libertines, Babyshambles)
*
March 13
Events Pre-1600
*624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.
*1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.
*1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
– Johan Santana, Venezuelan baseball player
*
March 14
** Nicolas Anelka, French footballer
** Gao Ling, Chinese badminton player
** Chris Klein (actor), Chris Klein, American actor
** Michele Riondino, Italian actor
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
– Adriana Fonseca, Mexican actress and dancer
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
* 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of ei ...
– Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
* 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ara ...
** Shola Ama, English singer
** Adam Levine, American singer (Maroon 5)
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
* 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen en ...
** Emil Dimitriev, Macedonian politician, Prime Minister
** Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkish basketball player
* March 20
**Daniel Cormier, American retired mixed martial artist
** Freema Agyeman, British actress
** Molly Jenson, American musician
** Bianca Lawson, American actress
* March 21 – Jimenez Lai, American architect
* March 23
** Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
** Bryan Fletcher (American football), Bryan Fletcher, American football player
*
March 25
** Lee Pace, American actor
** Traxamillion, American producer rapper
** Gorilla Zoe, American rapper
*
March 28
Events Pre-1600
* AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
* 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Di ...
** Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, producer, singer, film organiser and media personalities
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Estela Giménez, Spanish gymnast
*
March 30
Events Pre-1600
* 598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro- Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague.
*1282 &ndash ...
** Daniel Arenas, Colombian-Mexican actor
** Norah Jones, American musician
** Jose Pablo Cantillo, American actor
April
![Kate Hudson (8033413872) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Kate_Hudson_%288033413872%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. J ...
** Lindy Booth, Canadian actress
** Jesse Carmichael, American musician (Maroon 5)
* April 3
** Grégoire (musician), Grégoire, French singer-songwriter
** Živilė Balčiūnaitė, Lithuanian long-distance runner
*
April 4
** Heath Ledger, Australian actor and music video director (d. 2008)
** Roberto Luongo, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
** Maksim Opalev, Russian canoeist
* April 8
** Mohamed Kader, Togolese footballer
** Alexi Laiho, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom) (d. 2020)
** David Petruschin, American drag queen
* April 9
** Sebastián Silva (director), Sebastián Silva, Chilean director, actor, screenwriter, painter and musician
** Keshia Knight Pulliam, African-American actress
** Mario Matt, Austrian alpine skier
*
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 140 ...
** Ryan Agoncillo, Filipino actor and TV personality
** Rachel Corrie, American activist and diarist (d. 2003)
** Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese entertainer (KinKi Kids)
** Sophie Ellis-Bextor, British singer
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
*1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
*1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferrare ...
** Sebastien Grainger, Canadian singer and musician
** Michel Riesen, Swiss ice hockey player
** Josh Server, American actor
* April 12
** Claire Danes, American actress
** Jennifer Morrison, American actress
*
April 13 – Baron Davis, American basketball player
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
** Pedro Andrade, Brazilian journalist and model
** Rebecca DiPietro, American model
** Pierre Roland, Indonesian actor
*
April 15
Events Pre-1600
* 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
* 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscar ...
– Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer
*
April 17
Events Pre-1600
*1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
*1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
– Sung Si-kyung, South Korean singer
* April 18
** Michael Bradley (basketball), Michael Bradley, American basketball player
** Anthony Davidson, English racing driver
** Yusuke Kamiji, Japanese actor
** Kourtney Kardashian, American reality television star
* April 19
** Kate Hudson, American actress and co-founder of Fabletics
** Antoaneta Stefanova, Bulgarian chess player
* April 20 – Teoh Beng Hock, Malaysian journalist (d. 2009)
* April 21
** Cindy Kurleto, Filipina-Austrian model and TV personality
** James McAvoy, Scottish actor
** Karin Rask, Estonian actress
*
April 22
Events Pre-1600
* 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
* 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
*1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern h ...
– Daniel Johns, Australian musician (Silverchair)
*
April 23
** Jaime King, American actress
** Yana Gupta, Indian actress of Czech origin
* April 24
** Laurentia Tan, Singaporean Paralympic equestrienne
** Avey Tare, American musician
** Adam Andretti, American race car driver
* April 25
** Andreas Küttel, Swiss ski jumper
** Andrea Osvárt, Hungarian actress
* April 27 – Travis Meeks, American musician (Days of the New)
* April 28 – Bahram Radan, Iranian actor
* April 29
** Jo O'Meara, English singer (S Club 7)
* April 30 – Shelley Calene-Black, American voice actress
May
![Ashley chalkphoto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Ashley_chalkphoto.jpg)
*
May 1
Events Pre-1600
* 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
* 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
*1169 – N ...
** Roman Lyashenko, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
** Lars Berger, Norwegian biathlete and cross-country skier
** Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby union player
* May 2 – Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
*
May 3
Events Pre-1600
* 752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico, assumes the throne.
* 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties.
...
** Danny Foster (musician), Danny Foster, English singer (Hear'Say)
** Ingrid Isotamm, Estonian actress
* May 4
** Lance Bass, American singer (NSYNC)
** Wes Butters, English broadcaster
* May 5 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
* May 6
** Mark Burrier, American cartoonist
** Kerry Ellis, English stage actress and singer
** Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
** Jon Montgomery, Canadian former skeleton racer and television personality; host of ''The Amazing Race Canada''
*
May 8 – Wendy Armoko, Indonesian singer, actor, presenter and comedian
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
** Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician
** Rosario Dawson, American actress
*
May 10
** Marieke Vervoort, Belgian athlete (d. 2019)
** Lee Hyori, South Korean entertainer
* May 12 – Adrian Serioux, Canadian soccer player
* May 13
** Mickey Madden, American musician (Maroon 5)
** Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland
* May 14 – Urijah Faber, WEC Featherweight Champion
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
– James Mackenzie (actor), James Mackenzie, Scottish actor and TV presenter
* May 16
** Brandon Lee (pornographic actor), Brandon Lee, Filipino-American gay pornographic film actor
** Jessica Morris, American actress
* May 18
** Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
** Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
** Jens Bergensten ("Jeb"), Swedish game designer and co-founder of the game company Mojang
* May 19
** Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
** Diego Forlán, Uruguayan football player
* May 20 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician
*
May 21
Events Pre-1600
* 293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as ''Caesar'' to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
* 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabi ...
– Sonja Vectomov, Czech-Finnish electronic musician and composer
* May 22
** Maggie Q, American actress
**Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-British-American actress
* May 23 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
* May 24
** Frank Mir, American mixed martial artist
** Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
*
May 25
Events Pre-1600
* 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
*240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Tol ...
– Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby union player
* May 26
** Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler and model (d. 2019)
** Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
*
May 27 – Michael Buonauro, American comic creator
* May 28 – Jesse Bradford, American actor
* May 29 – Brian Kendrick, American wrestler
* May 30
** Mike Bishai, Canadian ice hockey player
** Clint Bowyer, American race car driver
** Rie Kugimiya, Japanese voice actress and singer
June
![Konzert- Matisyahu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Konzert-_Matisyahu.jpg)
*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
* 1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed k ...
** TheFatRat, German musician and producer
** Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson, Swedish video game programmer, designer and creator of Minecraft
** Rhea Santos, Filipina journalist based in Canada
*
June 2
Events Pre-1600
* 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
* 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later. 1601 ...
** Choirul Huda, Indonesian professional footballer and civil servant (d. 2017)
** Morena Baccarin, Brazilian actress
* June 5
** François Sagat, French male gay porn film actor, model and director
** Pete Wentz, American musician, lyricist and bassist (Fall Out Boy)
* June 6 – Murder of Shanda Sharer, Shanda Sharer, American murder victim (d. 1992)
*
June 7
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire).
* 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state.
* 1002 – Henr ...
** Anna Torv, Australian actress
** Kevin Hofland, Dutch footballer
* June 8
** Pete Orr, Canadian baseball player
** Eddie Hearn, British promoter
* June 9 – Émilie Loit, French tennis player
* June 10 – Lee Brice, American country music singer-songwriter
*
June 12
Events Pre-1600
* 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
* 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of Fr ...
** Robyn, Swedish singer-songwriter
** Amandine Bourgeois, French singer
** Diego Milito, Argentine football player
** Jodie Prenger, British actress
* June 13
** Nila Håkedal, Norwegian beach volleyball player
** Ágnes Csomor, Hungarian actress
* June 14
** Paradorn Srichaphan, Thai tennis player
*
June 15
Events Pre-1600
* 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
* 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
* 923 – Battle of So ...
– Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian athlete
* June 16 – Ari Hest, American singer-songwriter
* June 17 – Young Maylay, American actor, record producer and rapper
*
June 18
Events Pre-1600
* 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China.
* 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
* 860 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about ...
** Yumiko Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress
** Chris Neil, Canadian ice hockey player
** Pini Balili, Israeli-Turkish footballer and manager
** Ivana Wong, Hong Kong singer-songwriter
*
June 19
Events Pre-1600
* 325 – The original Nicene Creed is adopted at the First Council of Nicaea.
*1179 – The Battle of Kalvskinnet takes place outside Nidaros (now Trondheim), Norway. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle chan ...
** John Duddy, Irish boxer
** Kate Tsui, Hong Kong actress
* June 21
** Chris Pratt, American actor
** Makasini Richter, Tongan rugby league player
*
June 22
Events Pre-1600
* 217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
* 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus ...
** Sandra Klösel, German tennis player
** Jai Rodriguez, American actor and musician
*
June 23
** Marilyn Agliotti, Dutch field hockey player
** LaDainian Tomlinson, American football player
*
June 24
Events Pre-1600
*1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa.
* 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome. ...
** Petra Němcová, Czech model
** Joaquín de Orbegoso, Peruvian actor
** Craig Shergold, British cancer patient
** Mindy Kaling, American actress, comedian and author
*
June 25
Events Pre-1600
* 524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
* 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of ...
** Busy Philipps, American film actress
* June 26
** Ryan Tedder, American singer (OneRepublic), songwriter and producer
** Julia Benson, Canadian actress
* June 27
** Cazwell, American rapper and songwriter
** Scott Taylor (politician), Scott Taylor, American politician
** Fabrizio Miccoli, Italian professional footballer
* June 28
** Felicia Day, American actress, writer, director, violinist and singer
** Randy McMichael, American football player
* June 29
** Lee Hee-joon, South Korean actor
** Abz Love, English singer (Five (band), 5ive)
** Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch swimmer
** Yehuda Levi, Israeli actor and male model
** Liliana Castro, Ecuadorian-born Brazilian actress
** Artur Avila, Brazilian and French mathematician
* June 30
** Rick Gonzalez, American actor
** Ed Kavalee, Australian comedian, actor, radio and television host
** Faisal Shahzad, Pakistani-American bomber
** Matisyahu, Jewish-American reggae vocalist, beatboxer and alternative rock musician
** Nelson Lucas, Seychellois sprinter
** Christopher Jacot, Canadian actor
** Andy Burrows, English songwriter and musician
July
![Michelle Williams 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Michelle_Williams_2015.jpg)
*
July 1
** Danisa Phiri, Zimbabwean footballer
** Forrest Griffin, American mixed martial arts fighter
** Patrik Baboumian, German-Iranian strongman competitor, strength athlete and bodybuilder
* July 2
** Diana Gurtskaya, Georgian singer
** Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver
** Ayiesha Woods, American singer
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolut ...
** Sayuri Katayama, Japanese actress, singer and lyricist
** Ludivine Sagnier, French model and actress
* July 4 – Kevin Thoms, American actor and voice actor
*
July 5
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – The official opening of Constantine's Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus ( Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius.
* 1316 – The Burgundian a ...
** Oh Dae-hwan, South Korean actor
** Shane Filan, Irish singer (Westlife)
** Amélie Mauresmo, French tennis player
** Darine Hamze, Lebanese actress
* July 6
** Mohsen Bengar, Iranian footballer
** Kevin Hart, American actor, comedian, writer and producer
* July 7
** Pat Barry (kickboxer), Pat Barry, American kickboxer and mixed martial artist
** Douglas Hondo, Zimbabwean cricketer
** Shebly Niavarani, Swedish actor
** Amanda Françozo, Brazilian television presenter and model
*
July 8 – Ben Jelen, Scottish-born American former singer-songwriter
*
July 9
** Ella Koon, Hong Kong actress
** Gary Chaw, Malaysian Chinese singer
* July 10
** Gong Yoo, South Korean actor
** Dimitri Soudas, Canadian political consultant
*
July 11
Events Pre-1600
* 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter's Basilica and put to death.
* 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, ...
** Im Soo-jung, South Korean actress
** Marina Gatell, Spanish actress
*
July 12
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.
* 927 – King Constantine II o ...
** Nikos Barlos, Greek basketball player and coach
** Justin Rockefeller, American venture capitalist and political activist
** Sam Golzari, British actor
* July 13
** Dejan Ćirjaković, Serbian actor, screenwriter and musician
** Daniel Galera, Brazilian writer, translator and editor
** Holly Gauthier-Frankel, Canadian voice actress
** Ladyhawke (musician), Ladyhawke, New Zealand singer-songwriter
* July 14
** Axel Teichmann, German cross-country skier
** Scott Porter, American actor and singer
** Cristián Verón, Argentine footballer
*
July 15
Events Pre-1600
*484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
* 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. ( 17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
* 756 – ...
** Laura Benanti, American actress and singer
** Travis Fimmel, Australian fashion model and actor
** Philipp Karner, American actor, writer and director
*
July 16
Events Pre-1600
* 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
* 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
* 1 ...
** Landy Wen, Taiwanese singer
** Jayma Mays, American actress and singer
** Kinya Kotani, Japanese singer
** Kim Rhode, American double trap and skeet shooter
*
July 17
Events Pre-1600
* 180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
*1048 – Damasu ...
** Mike Vogel, American actor
** Brendan James, American piano-based singer/songwriter
* July 18
** Rick Baxter, American politician
** Jason Weaver, American actor and singer
* July 19
** Malavika (actress), Malavika, Indian actress
** David Sakurai, Danish-Japanese actor, director, scriptwriter and martial artist
** Bruno Cabrerizo, Brazilian football player, model and actor
* July 20
** Claudine Barretto, Filipino film actress, television actress, entrepreneur and product endorser
** Marcos Mion, Brazilian TV host, actor, voice actor and businessman
** Milan Nikolić (musician), Milan Nikolić, Serbian accordionist
** Adam Rose, South African professional wrestler
** Amr Shabana, Egyptian squash player
*
July 22
Events Pre-1600
* 838 – Battle of Anzen: The Byzantine emperor Theophilos suffers a heavy defeat by the Abbasids.
*1099 – First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of J ...
– Parvesh Cheena, American actor
* July 23 – Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams, American singer and actress
* July 24
** Rose Byrne, Australian actress
** Lee Si-yeon, South Korean actress
** Stat Quo, American rapper
* July 25
** Juan Pablo Di Pace, Argentinian actor and singer
** Allister Carter, English snooker player
* July 26
** Johnson Beharry, British recipient of the Victoria Cross
** Tamyra Gray, American singer
** Derek Paravicini, British pianist
** Hamudi Salman, Arab-Israeli professional football player
** Peter Sarno, Canadian ice hockey player
** Mageina Tovah, American actress
* July 27
** Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician (d. 2018)
** Jorge Arce, Mexican boxer
** Shannon Moore, American professional wrestler
* July 30
** Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rican basketball player
** Show Lo, Taiwanese singer
** Graeme McDowell, Northern Irish professional golfer
** Maya Nasser, Syrian journalist (d. 2012)
* July 31 – B. J. Novak, American actor, director and producer
August
![Aaron Paul by Gage Skidmore 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Aaron_Paul_by_Gage_Skidmore_3.jpg)
* August 1
** Jason Momoa, American actor
** Junior Agogo, Ghanaian footballer (d. 2019)
** Honeysuckle Weeks, British actress
*
August 3
Events Pre-1600
* 8 – Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna.
* 435 – Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emper ...
** Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress and author of children's literature
** Maria Haukaas Mittet, Norwegian recording artist
*
August 4
Events Pre-1600
* 598 – Goguryeo-Sui War: In response to a Goguryeo (Korean) incursion into Liaoxi, Emperor Wéndi of Sui orders his youngest son, Yang Liang (assisted by the co-prime minister Gao Jiong), to conquer Goguryeo during th ...
– Patryk Dominik Sztyber, Polish rock musician
*
August 5
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.
* 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are ...
– David Healy (footballer), David Healy, Northern Irish footballer
* August 7 – Miguel Llera, Spanish footballer
*
August 10
Events Pre-1600
* 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I.
* 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Gro ...
** JoAnna Garcia, American actress
** Ted Geoghegan, American screenwriter
*
August 11
** Drew Nelson (actor), Drew Nelson, Canadian actor and voice actor
** Bubba Crosby, American baseball player
* August 12
** Peter Browngardt, American cartoonist
** Cindy Klassen, Canadian speed skater
* August 13 – Taizō Sugimura, Japanese politician
* August 15
** Carl Edwards, American race car driver
** Peter Shukoff, American comedian, musician and personality
* August 16
** Sarah Balabagan, Filipina prisoner and singer
* August 19 – Oumar Kondé, Swiss footballer
* August 20 – Jamie Cullum, English jazz pianist and singer
* August 22
**Matt Walters, American football player
**Angelu de Leon, Filipina actress
* August 23
** Mulan Jameela, Indonesian singer and politician
** Ritchie Neville, English singer (Five (band), 5ive)
* August 24
** Elva Hsiao, Taiwanese singer
** Michael Redd, American basketball player
* August 25 – Andrew Hussie, American artist
* August 26
** Jamal Lewis, American football player
** Cristian Mora, Ecuadorian footballer
*
August 27
Events Pre-1600
* 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days.
* 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England.
*1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the K ...
** Giovanni Capitello, American filmmaker and actor
** Tian Liang, Chinese diver
** Aaron Paul, American actor
* August 28
** Robert Hoyzer, German football referee
** Yuki Maeda, Japanese singer
** Shane Van Dyke, American actor
*
August 29
Events Pre-1600
* 708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708).
* 870 – The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzantine M ...
– Justine Pasek, Miss Universe 2002
* August 30
** Leon Lopez, British actor, film director, singer-songwriter and occasional model
** Tavia Yeung, Hong Kong actress
** Niki Chow, Hong Kong actress
* August 31
** Mickie James, American professional wrestler
** Simon Neil, Scottish musician (vocalist, guitarist, songwriter), Biffy Clyro Marmaduke Duke
** Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian film composer
September
![Bam Margera 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Bam_Margera_2017.jpg)
*
September 1
Events Pre-1600
*1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
*1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona b ...
– Neg Dupree, British comedian
* September 2
** Ron Ng, Hong Kong actor
** Łukasz Żygadło, Polish volleyball player
* September 3 – Júlio César (football goalkeeper, born 1979), Júlio César, Brazilian football goalkeeper
* September 4 – Maxim Afinogenov, Russian ice hockey player
* September 5
** John Carew, Norwegian footballer
** Stacey Dales, Canadian basketball player and sportscaster
* September 6 – Ned Collette, Australian singer and musician
*
September 7
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem.
* 878 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned as king of West Francia by Pope John VIII.
*1159 – Pope Alexander III is chosen.
*1191 – Third Cr ...
– Nathan Hindmarsh, Australian rugby league player
* September 8
** Pink (singer), Pink, American singer and actress
**Ashraf Sinclair, English-Malaysian actor (d. 2020)
* September 10 – Mustis, Norwegian pianist
* September 11
** Ariana Richards, American actress
** Eric Abidal, French footballer
** Cameron Richardson, American actress and model
*
September 12
Events Pre-1600
*490 BC – Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece.
* 372 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin ...
** Michelle Dorrance, American tap dancer
** Jay McGraw, American author, son of TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw
*
September 13
Events Pre-1600
* 585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.
* 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...
– Ivan Miljković, Serbian volleyball player
* September 14
** Stuart Fielden, English rugby league player
** Chris John (boxer), Chris John, Indonesian former featherweight boxing champion
** Kamya Panjabi, Indian television actress
* September 15
** Dave Annable, American actor
** Amy Davidson, American actress
** Edna Kiplagat, Edna Ngeringway Kiplagat, Kenyan long-distance runner
** Patrick Marleau, Canadian ice hockey player
*
September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
*1620 – A determined band of 35 religio ...
** Fanny (singer), Fanny, French singer
** Flo Rida, African-American rapper
** Soo Ae, South Korean actress
* September 17
** Akin Ayodele, American football player
** Chuck Comeau, Canadian drummer
* September 18
** Junichi Inamoto, Japanese footballer
** Alison Lohman, American actress
* September 19 – Noémie Lenoir, French supermodel
*
September 20
Events Pre-1600
*1058 – Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.
*1066 – At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin.
*1187 – Saladin b ...
– David Long (New Zealand musician), David Long, New Zealand musician
*
September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
– MyAnna Buring, Swedish-English actress
* September 23 – Lote Tuqiri (rugby, born 1979), Lote Tuqiri, Fijian-Australian rugby player
* September 24
** Justin Bruening, American actor and model
** Erin Chambers, American actress
** Katja Kassin, German porn actress
** Julia Clarete, Filipina actress
* September 25
** Rashad Evans, American retired mixed martial artist
** Michele Scarponi, Italian road bicycle racer (d. 2017)
* September 26
** Naomichi Marufuji, Japanese professional wrestler
** Taavi Rõivas, Prime Minister of Estonia
* September 27
** Zoltán Horváth (basketball), Zoltán Horváth, Hungarian basketball player (d. 2009)
** Shinji Ono, Japanese football player
** Nathan Foley (singer), Nathan Foley, Australian performer
* September 28
** Bam Margera, American skateboarder
** Anndi McAfee, American actress and voice actress
*
September 29
Events Pre-1600
*61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.
* 1011 – Danes capture Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah, ...
** Gaitana (singer), Gaitana, Ukrainian singer and songwriter of Ukrainian and Congolese descent
** Artika Sari Devi, Putri Indonesia 2004
*
September 30
Events Pre-1600
* 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time.
* 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...
** Mike Damus, American actor
** Vince Chong, Malaysian singer
** Juho Kuosmanen, Finnish film director and screenwriter
October
![John Krasinski 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/John_Krasinski_2018.png)
*
October 1
Events Pre-1600
* 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
* 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated.
* 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadw ...
** Rudi Johnson, American football player
** Senit, Italian singer of Eritrean descent
** Marko Stanojevic, English-born Italian rugby union player
*
October 2
Events Pre-1600
* 829 – Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor.
* 939 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and ...
– Brianna Brown, American actress
* October 3
** Matt Davis (comedian), Matt Davis, American stand-up comedian
** Josh Klinghoffer, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
** John Morrison (wrestler), John Hennigan, American professional wrestler
* October 4
** Caitriona Balfe, Irish model and actress
** Brandon Barash, American actor
** Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
** Adam Voges, Australian cricketer
* October 5 – Gao Yuanyuan, Chinese actress
*
October 7
Events Pre-1600
* 3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar.
* 1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon.
* 1477 ...
** Aaron Ashmore, Canadian film and television actor
** Shawn Ashmore, Canadian film and television actor
** Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
** Tang Wei, Chinese actress
* October 8 – Kristanna Loken, American actress and model
*
October 9
Events Pre-1600
* 768 – Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned kings of the Franks.
* 1238 – James I of Aragon founds the Kingdom of Valencia.
* 1410 – The first known mention of the Prague astronomical clock.
* 1446 &ndash ...
** Csézy, Hungarian singer
** Vernon Fox, American football player
** Alex Greenwald, American singer-songwriter, producer and actor (Phantom Planet and Phases (band), JJAMZ)
** Todd Kelly, Australian race car driver
** Chris O'Dowd, Irish actor and comedian
** DJ Rashad, Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ (d. 2014)
** Hendrik Odendaal, South African swimmer
** Brandon Routh, American actor
** Gonzalo Sorondo, Uruguayan footballer
* October 10
** Wu Chun, Bruneian actor, model and singer
** Nicolás Massú, Chilean tennis player
** Mýa, American singer and actress
* October 11
** Bae Doona, South Korean actress
** Gabe Saporta, Uruguayan singer (Cobra Starship)
* October 13
** Ryan Malcolm, Canadian singer
** Mamadou Niang, Senegalese footballer
*
October 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1066 – The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.
* 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's ...
– Stacy Keibler, American actress and model
*
October 15 – Jaci Velasquez, American Christian singer
*
October 16
Events Pre-1600
* 456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire.
* ...
– Erin Brown, American actress
*
October 17
Events Pre-1600
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian establishes the Zhou Dynasty of China.
*1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.
*1346 – The English capture King Davi ...
– Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish 2007 Formula 1 world champion
* October 18 – Ne-Yo, African-American singer and songwriter
*
October 19
Events Pre-1600
* 202 BC – Second Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage.
* 439 – The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in ...
– Marc Elliott, British actor
*
October 20
Events Pre-1600
*1568 – The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.
* 1572 – Eighty Years' War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the re ...
** John Krasinski, American actor
** Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby union player
**Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, American filmmaker
* October 23
** Jorge Solís, Mexican professional boxer
** Prabhas, Indian actor
* October 25 – Sarah Thompson (actress), Sarah Thompson, American actress
*
October 26
Events Pre-1600
* 1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
* 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally b ...
– Jonathan Chase (actor), Jonathan Chase, American actor
* October 28
** Brett Dennen, American folk/pop singer and songwriter
**Glover Teixeira, Brazilian-American mixed martial artist
** Jawed Karim, German and Bangladeshi-American software engineer, Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of YouTube
** Martin Škoula, Czech ice hockey player
* October 30 – Yukie Nakama, Japanese actress
November
![Joel Kinnaman (28494159712) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Joel_Kinnaman_%2828494159712%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
November 1
Events Pre-1600
*365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freisin ...
** Coco Crisp, American baseball player
** Atsuko Enomoto, Japanese voice actress
** Milan Dudić, Serbian footballer
*
November 2
Events Pre-1600
* 619 – A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.
* 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the ...
** Marián Čišovský, Slovak footballer (d. 2020)
** Erika Flores, American actress
*
November 3
Events Pre-1600
* 361 – Emperor Constantius II dies of a fever at Mopsuestia in Cilicia; on his deathbed he is baptised and declares his cousin Julian rightful successor.
*1333 – The River Arno floods causing massive damage in Fl ...
** Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer
** Tim McIlrath, American rock singer, songwriter (Rise Against)
*
November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
*1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
*1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
– Audrey Hollander, American porn actress
*
November 5
Events Pre-1600
*1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
*1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Bre ...
** Leonardo Nam, Australian actor
** Tarek Boudali, French actor
** Patrick Owomoyela, German Footballer of Nigerian descent
*
November 6
Events Pre-1600
* 447 – A powerful earthquake destroys large portions of the Walls of Constantinople, including 57 towers.
* 963 – Synod of Rome: Emperor Otto I calls a council at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope John XII is ...
** Lamar Odom, African-American retired basketball player
** Myolie Wu, Hong Kong actress
*
November 7
Events Pre-1600
* 335 – Athanasius is banished to Trier, on the charge that he prevented a grain fleet from sailing to Constantinople.
* 680 – The Sixth Ecumenical Council commences in Constantinople.
* 921 – Treaty of Bon ...
– Jon Peter Lewis, American singer and songwriter
* November 8
** Aaron Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
** Dania Ramirez, Dominican actress
** Dash Berlin, Dutch DJ and music producer
** Salvatore Cascio, Italian actor
*
November 9
** Cory Hardrict, American actor
** Darren Trumeter, American actor and comedian
*
November 12
Events Pre-1600
* 954 – The 13-year-old Lothair III is crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom.
*1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe takes the throne as empress consort to Romanos III Argyros.
* 13 ...
** Matt Cappotelli, American professional wrestler (d. 2018)
** Cote de Pablo, Chilean actress
** Matt Stevic, Australian rules football umpire
* November 13
** Henry Wolfe, American actor and musician
** Metta World Peace, American basketball player
*
November 14
Events Pre-1600 1601–1900
*1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope.
*1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile.
...
** Mavie Hörbiger, German actress
** Olga Kurylenko, Ukrainian model and actress
** Mpule Kwelagobe, Miss Universe 1999
*
November 17
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November.
* 1183 & ...
– Matthew Spring, English footballer
* November 18 – Neeti Mohan, Indian playback singer
* November 19
** Barry Jenkins, American film director, producer, and screenwriter
** Larry Johnson (running back), Larry Johnson, American football player
** Michelle Vieth, American born Mexican actress and model
*
November 20
Events Pre-1600
* 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.
* 762 – During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels.
* 1194 – Palermo is conquered by Henry ...
– Ericson Alexander Molano, Colombian gospel singer
*
November 21
Events Pre-1600
* 164 BCE – Judas Maccabeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, rededicates the Temple in Jerusalem, an event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah. (25 Kislev 3597 in the Hebrew calendar.)
* 235 ...
– Kim Dong-wan, South Korean singer and actor
* November 22
** Chris Doran, Irish singer
** Scott Robinson (singer), Scott Robinson, English singer (Five (band), 5ive)
** Njabuliso Simelane, Swaziland international footballer
*
November 23
Events Pre-1600
* 534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
* 1248 – Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.
* 1499 – Pretender to the t ...
** Ivica Kostelić, Croatian alpine skier
** Kelly Brook, English actress and model
*
November 25
Events Pre-1600
*571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates the first of his three triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans.
*1034 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, dies. His grandson, Donnchad, son of Bethó ...
– Joel Kinnaman, Swedish-American actor
* November 27
** Ricky Carmichael, American motorcycle and stock car racer
** Hilary Hahn, American violinist
*
November 28
Events Pre-1600
* 587 – Treaty of Andelot
The Treaty of Andelot (or Pact of Andelot) was signed at Andelot-Blancheville in 587 between King Guntram of Burgundy and Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. Based on the terms of the accord, Brun ...
** Dane Bowers, English singer-songwriter (Another Level (group), Another Level)
** Jamie Korab, Canadian curler
** Hakeem Seriki, African-American rapper (Chamillionaire)
** Daniel Henney, American actor and model
* November 29
** Simon Amstell, English comedian and writer
** Jayceon Taylor, American rapper (The Game (rapper), The Game)
*
November 30
Events Pre-1600
* 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900
*1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the Br ...
** Diego Klattenhoff, Canadian actor
** Andrés Nocioni, Argentinian basketball player
December
![Adam Brody TIFF 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Adam_Brody_TIFF_2011.jpg)
* December 2
** Sabina Babayeva, Azerbaijani singer
** Yvonne Catterfeld, German singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality
*
December 3
Events Pre-1600
* 915 – Pope John X crowns Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor (probable date). 1601–1900
* 1775 – American Revolutionary War: becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the ...
** Daniel Bedingfield, English pop singer and songwriter
** Rock Cartwright, American football player
** Robby Mook, American former political campaign strategist and campaign manager
** Tiffany Haddish, American actress and comedian
* December 7
** Eric Bauza, Canadian comedian and voice actor
** Sara Bareilles, American singer, songwriter and pianist
** Ayako Fujitani, Japanese actress
** Jennifer Carpenter, American actress
* December 8 – Ingrid Michaelson, American indie pop singer-songwriter
* December 10 – Keiko Nemoto, Japanese voice actress
* December 11 – Rider Strong, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
*
December 12
Events Pre-1600
* 627 – Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
*1388 – Maria of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia t ...
** Emin Agalarov, Azerbaijani-Russian singer-songwriter and businessman
** Barulaganye Bolofete, Botswana footballer
* December 14
** Chris Cheng, American sport shooter
** Michael Owen, English footballer
*
December 15
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.
* 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodor ...
** Adam Brody, American actor
** Eric Young (wrestler), Eric Young, Canadian wrestler
** Lee Carr, African-American singer and songwriter
* December 16
** Trevor Immelman, South African golfer
** Brodie Lee, American professional wrestler (d. 2020)
** Daniel Narcisse, French handball player
** Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer and musician
* December 17
**Jaimee Foxworth, American actress and model
**Erion Veliaj, Albanian politician, Mayor of Tirana
* December 19
** Kevin Devine, American songwriter and musician
** Paola Rey, Colombian actress and model
** Tara Summers, English actress
* December 20
** Flávio Amado, Flávio, Angolan footballer
** Ramón Rodríguez (actor), Ramon Rodriguez, Puerto Rican actor
*
December 21
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
*1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Celes ...
– Rutina Wesley, American actress
* December 22 – Petra Majdič, Slovene cross-country skier
*
December 23
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity.
* 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks.
* 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque.
* 962 &ndas ...
** Jacqueline Bracamontes, Mexican actress and beauty contest winner (Nuestra Belleza México 2000)
** Kenny Miller, Scottish football player
* December 25 – Ferman Akgül, vocalist of Turkish nu-metal band Manga (band), maNga
*
December 26
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia.
* 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of Bu ...
** Chris Daughtry, American singer and guitarist
** Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper
*
December 28
Events Pre-1600
* 418 – A papal conclave begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I.
* 457 – Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor.
* 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the ...
** James Blake (tennis), James Blake, American tennis pro
** André Holland, American actor
** Bree Williamson, Canadian actress
** B-Tight, Robert Edward Davis, German-American rapper
** Zach Hill, American drummer (Death Grips)
* December 29 - Diego Luna, Mexican actor
*December 30
** Milana Terloeva, Chechen journalist and author
** Yelawolf, American rapper
* December 31
** Bob Bryar, American drummer (My Chemical Romance)
** Elaine Cassidy, Irish actress
** Josh Hawley, American politician, United States Senate, U.S. Senator (Republican Party (United States), R-Missouri, MO) from 2019
Deaths
January
![Nelson Rockefeller](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Nelson_Rockefeller.jpg)
* January 3 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
* January 4 – Vincent Korda, Hungarian art director (b. 1897)
* January 5
** Billy Bletcher, American actor (b. 1894)
** Charles Mingus, American musician (b. 1922)
* January 11 – Jack Soo, Japanese-born American actor (b. 1917)
* January 13 – Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)
* January 15 – Charles W. Morris, American philosopher and semiotician (b. 1901)
*
January 16 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
*
January 22 – Ali Hassan Salameh, Palestinian Leader of Black September and mastermind of the 1972 Munich Massacre (b. 1940)
* January 26 – Nelson Rockefeller, List of Vice Presidents of the United States, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
* January 27 – Victoria Ocampo, Argentine publisher, writer and critic (b. 1890)
February
![Sid Vicious 1978 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Sid_Vicious_1978_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
February 1
** William H. Brockman Jr., United States Navy admiral (b. 1904)
** Abdi İpekçi, Turkish journalist and human rights activist (b. 1929)
* February 2
** Issa Pliyev, Soviet general (b. 1903)
** Sid Vicious, English musician (b. 1957)
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
–
Josef Mengele
, allegiance =
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, serviceyears = 1938–1945
, rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain)
, servicenumber =
, battles =
, unit =
, awards =
, commands =
, ...
, German officer and physician (b. 1911)
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
** Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general, economist, and politician, 2nd Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Yugoslavia), Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910))
** Karl von Eberstein, German politician (b. 1894)
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
*1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.
*1429 – English forces under ...
– Jean Renoir, French film director and actor (b. 1894)
*
February 14 – Reginald Maudling, British politician (b. 1917)
*
February 17 – William Gargan, American actor (b. 1905)
* February 20 – Nereo Rocco, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1912)
* February 25 – Henrich Focke, German aviation pioneer (b. 1890)
March
![José María Velasco Ibarra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Jos%C3%A9_Mar%C3%ADa_Velasco_Ibarra.jpg)
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
** Mustafa Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician (b. 1903)
** Dolores Costello, American actress (b. 1903)
* March 15 – Léonide Massine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1896)
*
March 18
Events Pre-1600
* 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10.
* 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ara ...
– Marjorie Daw (actress), Marjorie Daw, American actress (b. 1902)
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
* 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen en ...
– Richard Beckinsale, British actor (b. 1947)
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
– Ben Lyon, American actor (b. 1901)
* March 24 – Yvonne Mitchell, English actress (b. 1915)
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
*1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, ...
– Jean Stafford, American writer (b. 1915)
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra, Sultan of Kelantan and 6th King of Malaysia (b. 1917)
*
March 30
Events Pre-1600
* 598 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro- Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague.
*1282 &ndash ...
**
Airey Neave, British politician (assassinated) (b. 1916)
** José María Velasco Ibarra, Ecuadorian politician, 24th President of Ecuador (b. 1893)
April
![Zulfikar Ali Bhutto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Zulfikar_Ali_Bhutto.jpg)
*
April 4
** Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan and 4th President of Pakistan (executed) (b. 1928)
** Edgar Buchanan, American actor (b. 1903)
*
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 140 ...
– Nino Rota, Italian composer (b. 1911)
*
April 11
Events Pre-1600
* 491 – Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
*1241 – Batu Khan defeats Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi.
*1512 – War of the League of Cambrai: Franco-Ferrare ...
– Hassan Pakravan, Iranian diplomat (b. 1911)
* April 19 – Wilhelm Bittrich, German ''Waffen SS'' general (b. 1894)
*
April 23 –
Blair Peach
Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 24 April 1979) was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in a ...
, New Zealand-born, British teacher (b. 1946)
* April 24 – John Carroll (actor), John Carroll, American actor (b. 1906)
* April 27 – Phan Huy Quát, 4th Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam, Prime Minister of South Vietnam (b. 1908)
May
![Mary_Pickford_cph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Mary_Pickford_cph.3c17995u.jpg)
*
May 1
Events Pre-1600
* 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor.
* 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
*1169 – N ...
– Morteza Motahhari, Iranian cleric and politician (b. 1919)
* May 2 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
* May 6 – Milton Ager, American songwriter (b. 1893)
*
May 8 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist (b. 1902)
* May 11
** Joan Chandler, American actress (b. 1923)
** Barbara Hutton, American socialite (b. 1912)
* May 13 – Predrag Đajić, Bosnian Serb and Yugoslavs, Yugoslav association football, footballer (b. 1922)
* May 14 – Jean Rhys, Dominican novelist (b. 1890)
* May 16 – A. Philip Randolph, African-American civil rights activist (b. 1889)
*
May 27 – Ahmed Ould Bouceif, Mauritanian military officer, second Prime Minister of Mauritania (b. 1934)
* May 29 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress and producer (b. 1892)
June
![John Wayne - still portrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/John_Wayne_-_still_portrait.jpg)
*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
* 1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed k ...
** Ján Kadár, Czechoslovakian film director (b. 1918)
** Jack Mulhall, American actor (b. 1887)
*
June 2
Events Pre-1600
* 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
* 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later. 1601 ...
- Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
* June 5 – Heinz Erhardt, German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor and poet (b. 1909)
* June 6 – Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1897)
* June 8 - Reinhard Gehlen, German general, 20 July Plotter (b. 1902)
* June 9 - Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1884)
* June 11
** John Wayne, American Academy Award-winning actor and film director (b. 1907)
** Loren Murchison, American Olympic athlete (b. 1898)
* June 13 – Darla Hood, American actress (b. 1931)
* June 16 – Nicholas Ray, American film director, screenwriter and actor (b. 1911)
*
June 22
Events Pre-1600
* 217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
* 168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus ...
– Louis Chiron, Monacan Grand Prix driver (b. 1899)
*
June 25
Events Pre-1600
* 524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
* 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of ...
– Dave Fleischer, American animator (b. 1894)
* June 26 – Akwasi Afrifa, Ghanaian soldier and politician, List of heads of state of Ghana, Head of state (1969–1970) (b. 1936)
* June 28 – Philippe Cousteau, French diver and cinematographer (b. 1940)
* June 29 – Lowell George, American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer (b. 1945)
July
![Tomonaga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Tomonaga.jpg)
* July 2 – Carlyle Smith Beals, Canadian astronomer (b. 1899)
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolut ...
– Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
* July 4 – Theodora Kroeber, American writer and anthropologist (b. 1897)
* July 6
** Antonio María Barbieri, Uruguay Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1892)
** Van McCoy, American musician noted for his 1975 hit "The Hustle (song), The Hustle" (b. 1940)
*
July 8
** Elizabeth Ryan, American 30 Grand Slam (tennis) Tennis Champion (b. 1892)
** Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
** Michael Wilding (actor), Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
** Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
* July 10 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (''Boston Pops'') (b. 1894)
*
July 12
Events Pre-1600
* 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.
* 927 – King Constantine II o ...
– Minnie Riperton, American rhythm and blues singer (''Lovin' You'') (b. 1947)
* July 13 – Corinne Griffith, American actress and author (b. 1894)
*
July 15
Events Pre-1600
*484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome
* 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. ( 17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar).
* 756 – ...
** Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican politician, 49th President of Mexico, 1964-1970 (b. 1911)
** Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet (b. 1892)
*
July 16
Events Pre-1600
* 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
* 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
* 1 ...
– Alfred Deller, English countertenor (b. 1912)
*
July 17
Events Pre-1600
* 180 – Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
*1048 – Damasu ...
– Edward Akufo-Addo, Ghanese politician and lawyer, 5th President of Ghana (b. 1906)
* July 20 – Herbert Butterfield, Sir Herbert Butterfield, English philosopher and historian (b. 1900)
*
July 22
Events Pre-1600
* 838 – Battle of Anzen: The Byzantine emperor Theophilos suffers a heavy defeat by the Abbasids.
*1099 – First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of J ...
– Sándor Kocsis, Hungarian footballer (b. 1929)
*
July 28
Events Pre-1600
*1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.
*1540 – Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day his former Chancellor, Thom ...
– George Seaton, American screenwriter and director (b. 1911)
* July 29 – Herbert Marcuse, German-American philosopher, sociologist and political theorist (b. 1898)
August
![Camorra Jean Seberg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Camorra_Jean_Seberg.png)
* August 2
** Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician, founder and leader of American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, APRA party (b. 1895)
** Thurman Munson, American baseball player (b. 1947)
*
August 3
Events Pre-1600
* 8 – Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna.
* 435 – Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emper ...
– Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and Liberal politician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (b. 1899)
*
August 6 – Feodor Lynen, German biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
*
August 9
Events Pre-1600
*48 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
* 378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople: A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens ...
– Walter O'Malley, American baseball executive (b. 1903)
*
August 10
Events Pre-1600
* 654 – Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I.
* 955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Gro ...
** Dick Foran, American actor (b. 1910)
** Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi, Afghan politician, 9th Prime Minister of Afghanistan (b. 1921)
* August 12 – Ernst Chain, German-born British biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
* August 16 – John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895)
*
August 17
Events Pre-1600
*309/310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, possibly from a hunger strike.
* 682 – Pope Leo II begins his pontificate.
* 986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle ...
– Vivian Vance, American actress and singer (b. 1909)
* August 19 – Saad Jumaa, Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1916)
* August 21 – Stuart Heisler, American film and television director (b. 1896)
* August 24
** Ahmad Daouk, Lebanese politician, 12th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1892)
** Hanna Reitsch, German aviator (b. 1912)
* August 25 – Stan Kenton, American jazz pianist (b. 1911)
* August 26
** Alvin Karpis, American criminal (b. 1907)
** Mika Waltari, Finnish author (b. 1908)
*
August 27
Events Pre-1600
* 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days.
* 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England.
*1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the K ...
– Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British Viceroy of India (assassinated) (b. 1900)
* August 30 (body found on September 8) – Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938)
* August 31 – Sally Rand, American dancer (b. 1904)
September
![Dame Gracie Fields Allan Warren](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Dame_Gracie_Fields_Allan_Warren.jpg)
*
September 1
Events Pre-1600
*1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated.
*1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancona b ...
– Doris Kenyon, American actress (b. 1897)
* September 2 – Felix Aylmer, British actor (b. 1889)
* September 5 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1884)
*
September 9
Events Pre-1600
* 337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.
*1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age.
* 1141 – ...
– Norrie Paramor, British music producer (b. 1914)
* September 10 – Agostinho Neto, Angolan poet and politician, 1st President of Angola (b. 1922)
*
September 16
Events Pre-1600
* 681 – Pope Honorius I is posthumously excommunicated by the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
*1400 – Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers. 1601–1900
*1620 – A determined band of 35 religio ...
** Giò Ponti, Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer and artist (b. 1891)
** Rob Slotemaker, Indonesian-born, Dutch Formula 1 racing car driver (b. 1929)
*
September 20
Events Pre-1600
*1058 – Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.
*1066 – At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin.
*1187 – Saladin b ...
** Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, Sultan of Terengganu and 4th King of Malaysia (b. 1907)
** Ludvík Svoboda, 8th President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1895)
*
September 22
Events Pre-1600
* 904 – The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government.
* 1236 – The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of th ...
** Abul A'la Maududi, Pakistani journalist and philosopher (b. 1903)
** Otto Robert Frisch, Austrian-born British physicist (b. 1904)
* September 24 – Carl Laemmle Jr., American film studio executive (b. 1908)
* September 25 – Yury Kovalyov, Soviet footballer (b. 1934)
* September 26
** John Cromwell (director), John Cromwell, American film director and actor (b. 1887)
** Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (b. 1910)
* September 27
** Gracie Fields, British actress (b. 1898)
** Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish guitarist (Paul McCartney & Wings) (b. 1953)
*
September 29
Events Pre-1600
*61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.
* 1011 – Danes capture Canterbury after a siege, taking Ælfheah, ...
**
Francisco Macías Nguema
Francisco Macías Nguema ( Africanised to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong; 1 January 1924 – 29 September 1979), often mononymously referred to as Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first President of Equatorial Guinea ...
, 1st President of Equatorial Guinea (executed) (b. 1924)
** Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Russian composer (b. 1893)
October
![Park Chung hee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Park_Chung_hee.jpg)
*
October 1
Events Pre-1600
* 331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.
* 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated.
* 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadw ...
– Dorothy Arzner, American film director (b. 1897)
*
October 6
Events Pre-1600
* 105 BC – Cimbrian War: Defeat at the Battle of Arausio accelerates the Marian reforms of the Roman army of the mid-Republic.
* 69 BC – Third Mithridatic War: The military of the Roman Republic subdue Armenia.
*A ...
– Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (b. 1911)
*
October 9
Events Pre-1600
* 768 – Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned kings of the Franks.
* 1238 – James I of Aragon founds the Kingdom of Valencia.
* 1410 – The first known mention of the Prague astronomical clock.
* 1446 &ndash ...
– Nur Muhammad Taraki, Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer (b. 1917)
*
October 15 – Jacob L. Devers, American army general (b. 1887)
*
October 16
Events Pre-1600
* 456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire.
* ...
– Johan Borgen, Norwegian author (b. 1903)
* October 18 – Virgilio Piñera, Cuban author, playwright and poet (b. 1912)
* October 22 – Nadia Boulanger, French composer and composition teacher (b. 1887)
* October 23 – Antonio Caggiano, Argentine cardinal (b. 1889)
* October 25
** Maphevu Dlamini, 2nd Prime Minister of Swaziland (b. 1922)
** Gerald Templer, British field marshal (b. 1898)
*
October 26
Events Pre-1600
* 1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
* 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally b ...
–
Park Chung-hee, Korean politician, 3rd President of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) (assassinated) (b. 1917)
*
October 27
Events Pre-1600
* 312 – Constantine is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.
* 1275 – Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam.
* 1524 – French troops lay siege to Pavia.
* 1553 – Condemned as ...
– Father Charles Coughlin, Canadian-born American priest and controversial conservative radio show commentator (b. 1891)
* October 30
** Barnes Wallis, British aeronautical engineer (b. 1887)
** Rachele Mussolini, Italian, wife of Benito Mussolini (b. 1890)
November
![Merle Oberon-publicity](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Merle_Oberon-publicity.JPG)
*
November 1
Events Pre-1600
*365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.
* 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freisin ...
** Albert Préjean, French actor (b. 1894)
** Mamie Eisenhower, 34th First Lady of the United States (b. 1896)
*
November 2
Events Pre-1600
* 619 – A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.
* 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the ...
–
Jacques Mesrine
Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made ...
, French criminal; known as the "French Robin Hood" (b. 1936)
*
November 5
Events Pre-1600
*1138 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Vietnam at the age of two, beginning a 37-year reign.
*1499 – The '' Catholicon'', written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc in Tréguier, is published; this is the first Bre ...
** Al Capp, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
** Amedeo Nazzari, Italian actor (b. 1907)
* November 8 – Yvonne de Gaulle, French political wife of former President of France Charles de Gaulle (b. 1900)
* November 11 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Russian film composer (b. 1894)
*
November 17
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November.
* 1183 & ...
– Immanuel Velikovsky, Russian author and psychiatrist (b. 1895)
*
November 23
Events Pre-1600
* 534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
* 1248 – Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.
* 1499 – Pretender to the t ...
** Merle Oberon, British actress (b. 1911)
** Judee Sill, American singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
* November 26 – Marcel L'Herbier, French movie-maker (b. 1888)
*
November 30
Events Pre-1600
* 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900
*1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the Br ...
– Zeppo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1901)
December
![Rodgers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Rodgers.jpg)
*
December 3
Events Pre-1600
* 915 – Pope John X crowns Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor (probable date). 1601–1900
* 1775 – American Revolutionary War: becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the ...
– Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (b. 1905)
*
December 5
Events Pre-1600
* 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
* 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
* 1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multipl ...
– Sonia Delaunay, Russian-born French artist (b. 1885)
* December 7 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1900)
* December 9 – Fulton J. Sheen, American Roman Catholic bishop and venerable (b. 1895)
* December 10 – Ann Dvorak, American actress (b. 1911)
* December 11 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (b. 1904)
*
December 13
Events Pre-1600
*1294 – Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
* 1545 – The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.
* 1577 & ...
– Jon Hall (actor), Jon Hall, American actor (b. 1915)
*
December 15
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.
* 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodor ...
– Ethel Lackie, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1907)
* December 16 – Vagif Mustafazadeh, Azerbaijani jazz musician (b. 1940)
*
December 21
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
*1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Celes ...
– Ermindo Onega, Argentine footballer (b. 1940)
* December 22 – Darryl F. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1902)
*
December 23
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity.
* 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks.
* 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque.
* 962 &ndas ...
** Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)
** Ernest B. Schoedsack, American film producer and director (b. 1893)
*
December 24
Events Pre-1600
* 502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate.
* 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death.
* 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, whe ...
– Rudi Dutschke, German radical student leader (b. 1940)
* December 25
** Joan Blondell, American actress (b. 1906)
** Lee Bowman, American actor (b. 1914)
*
December 26
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia.
* 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of Bu ...
– Helmut Hasse, German mathematician (b. 1898)
* December 27 –
Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (Pashto/ prs, حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghan ...
, 2nd General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, People's Democratic Party and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (Afghanistan), Revolutionary Council (b. 1929)
*
December 28
Events Pre-1600
* 418 – A papal conclave begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I.
* 457 – Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor.
* 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the ...
– Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1904)
* December 30 – Richard Rodgers, American composer (b. 1902)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Herbert C. Brown, Georg Wittig
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Allan MacLeod Cormack, Godfrey Hounsfield
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Odysseas Elytis
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Mother Teresa
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Theodore Schultz, W. Arthur Lewis
Media
* The ''Doctor Who'' story ''City of Death'' is set in 1979, its year of broadcast.
* The events of the 2011 science fiction film ''Super 8 (2011 film), Super 8'' take place during 1979.
* 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, an interactive drama video game released in 2016, based on the events of the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
in 1979.
References
Further reading
* Caryl, Christian, ''Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century'' (2013), 1979 as worldwide turning point
excerpt and text search* Facts on File. ''Facts on File Yearbook: 1979'' (1980) weekly factual report on events worldwide.
* Hodson, H.V. ''Annual Register of World Events 1979'' (1980), in-depth coverage of major countries
* Paxton, John, ed. ''Statesman's Yearbook 1978–1979'' (1980), statistical details on all countries
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979
1979,