Wikipedia / 1979
Wikipedia / 1979
Events
January
United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the International Year of the Child. Many musicians donate to the Music for UNICEF Concert fund, among them ABBA, who write the song Chiquitita to commemorate the event.
In 1979, the United States officially severed diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan). This decision marked a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, turning to view the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China.
The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations.
Following a deal agreed during 1978, French carmaker Peugeot completes a takeover of American manufacturer Chrysler's European operations, which are based in Britain's former Rootes Group factories, as well as the former Simca factories in France.
January 6 – Geylang Bahru family murders: Four children, aged five to ten, are brutally killed in Geylang Bahru, Singapore.
January 7 – Cambodian–Vietnamese War: The People's Army of Vietnam and Vietnamese-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 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 people are killed.
January 9 – The Music for UNICEF Concert is held at the United Nations General Assembly to raise money for UNICEF and promote the Year of the Child. It is broadcast the following day in the United States and around the world. Hosted by the Bee Gees, other performers include Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fire. A soundtrack album is later released.
January 16 – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran with his family, relocating to Egypt after a year of turmoil.
January 19 – Former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell is released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama.
January 20 – Capital punishment in Peru: Following a hasty conviction on espionage and treason charges, Air Force member Julio Vargas Garayar became the last person to be executed by Peru.
January 22 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Mutukula: The Tanzanian military captures the Ugandan border town of Mutukula after a short battle.
January 25 – Pope John Paul II arrives in Mexico City for his first visit to Mexico, mainly for 1979's Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) or Conference of Puebla.
January 28 – Deng Xiaoping 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 Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
February 3 – Ayatollah Khomeini creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution.
Iranian Revolution: Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts, and government administration; the final session of the Iranian National Consultative Assembly is held.
Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
Nazi criminal Josef Mengele suffers a fatal stroke and drowns while swimming in Bertioga, Brazil. His remains are found in 1985.
February 10–11 – The Iranian Revolution ends with the Iranian army withdrawing to its barracks leaving power in the hands of Ayatollah Khomeini, ending the Pahlavi dynasty.
February 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Simba Hills: The Tanzanian military began its assault on the Simba Hills near the town of Kakuuto.
February 12 – Prime Minister Hissène Habré starts the Battle of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chad's President Félix Malloum.
An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
The Guardian Angels are formed in New York City as an unarmed organization of young crime fighters.
February 14 – In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, who is killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
February 15 – A suspected gas explosion in a Warsaw bank kills 49 people.
February 17 – The People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.
The 1979 Daytona 500 is televised on CBS, the first ever full airing of a 500-mile race on US television, Richard Petty wins after Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison battle for first place on the final lap and crash out, leading to a fist fight. This race brought NASCAR to a wider audience.
The Khomeini government in Iran cuts diplomatic relations with Israel.
February 21 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Gayaza Hills: 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 – Saint Lucia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
A total solar eclipse, the last visible from the continental United States until 2017, arcs over northwestern conterminous US and central Canada ending in Greenland. A partial solar eclipse is visible over almost all of North America and Central America including the eastern half of Alaska and the western half of the UK.
The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
The annual Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans is cancelled due to a strike called by the New Orleans Police Department.
The Soviet oil tanker Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in Ventspils, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the Baltic Sea.
March
Scottish devolution referendum: Scotland 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 votes against devolution.
Philips publicly demonstrate a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
March 2 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Tororo: Ugandan rebels attack and capture the town of Tororo.
The U.S. Voyager 1 spaceprobe photos reveal Jupiter's rings.
Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Tororo: The Ugandan military retakes Tororo from rebels.
March 5 – Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter at .
March 7 – The largest Magnetar (Soft gamma repeater) event is recorded.
Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
Thousands of women participate in the International Women's Day Protests in Tehran, 1979 against the introduction of mandatory veiling during the Iranian revolution.
Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.
March 10 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lukaya: The Ugandan military, a Libyan expeditionary force and allied Palestine Liberation Organisation 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 – 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 – Maurice Bishop leads a successful coup in Grenada. His government will be crushed by American intervention in 1983.
March 14 – In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing 31 people on the ground and injuring 200.
End of major hostilities in the Sino-Vietnamese War.
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 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel in the UK collapses, killing two workers.
March 19 – C-SPAN, an American television channel focusing on government and public affairs, is launched.
March 18 – Ten miners die in a methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.
March 22 – The National Hockey League votes to approve its merger with the World Hockey Association, to take effect in three months, following the leagues' respective postseasons.
March 25 – The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center, to be prepared for its first launch.
In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign an Egypt–Israel peace treaty.
Michigan State University, led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson, defeats Larry Bird-led Indiana State 75–64 in the NCAA tournament championship game at Salt Lake City.
In Britain, James Callaghan's minority Labour government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election which is to be held on 3 May.
America's most serious nuclear power plant accident occurs, at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.
March 29 – Sultan Yahya Petra of Kelantan, the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State) of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.
March 30 – Airey Neave, Conservative M.P. in the British House of Commons, is killed, presumably by an Irish National Liberation Army bomb in the car park for the Houses of Parliament.
The last British soldier (belonging to the Royal Navy) leaves the Maltese Islands, after 179 years of presence. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
Milk and Honey win the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 for Israel, with the song Hallelujah.
April
Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially.
Nickelodeon 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. wins his first career NASCAR race at the 1979 Southeastern 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He would go on to win 76 races and seven championships during his career.
April 1–18 – Police lock Andreas Mihavecz in a holding cell in Bregenz, Austria and forget about him, leaving him there without food or drink.
April 2 – Sverdlovsk anthrax leak: A Soviet biowarfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock. It is a violation of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972.
April 2 – In Japan, the channel of TV Asahi premieres Doraemon.
April 4 – Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is executed by hanging for the murder of a political opponent.
April 6 – Student protests break out in Nepal.
April 7 – In Japan, Yoshiyuki Tomino directs Mobile Suit Gundam, the first series of the metaseries of the same name.
April 10 – A tornado hits Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people (the most notable of 26 tornadoes that day).
April 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Fall of Kampala: Tanzanian troops take Kampala, the capital of Uganda; Idi Amin flees.
April 13 – The La Soufrière volcano erupts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
April 14 – 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 – 1979 Montenegro earthquake: A 6.9 shock affects Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.
April 17 – Schoolchildren in the Central African Republic are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa "almost certainly" took part in the massacre.
April 22 – The Albert Einstein Memorial is unveiled at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
April 23 – Fighting breaks out in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group; protester Blair Peach receives fatal injuries during the incident, now officially attributed to the SPG.
May
May 1 – Greenland is granted limited autonomy from Denmark, with its own Parliament sitting in Nuuk.
May 3 – The 1979 United Kingdom general election for the House of Commons takes place, giving the Conservatives a majority, and designating Margaret Thatcher the nation's first woman prime minister, ending the rule of James Callaghan's Labour government.
May 8 – Ten shoppers die in a fire at the Woolworths department store in Manchester city centre in the UK.
The Salvadoran Civil War begins.
The Unabomber bomb injures Northwestern University graduate student John Harris.
May 10 – The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
May 15 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lira: Tanzania and its Uganda National Liberation Front allies capture Lira, Uganda, from the forces of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Dan White is convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, for the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, after using what would become known as the "Twinkie defense" and persuading a jury that the crime was not premeditated. The maximum sentence is seven years imprisonment, with eligibility for early parole, prompting the "White Night riots" in the gay community.
The Montreal Canadiens defeat the New York Rangers four games to one to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup.
Thorpe Park: Opens its doors having attractions such as Phantom Fantasia also next door had a farm called Thorpe Farm
American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport, killing all 271 on board and 2 people on the ground in the deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history.
John Spenkelink is executed in Florida, in the first use of the electric chair in America after the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976.
Etan Patz, six years old, is kidnapped in New York. He is often referred to as the "Boy on the Milk Carton" and the investigation later sprouts into one of the most famous child abduction cases of all time. This is a cold case until 2010 when it is re-opened. In April 2017, Pedro Hernandez is convicted of the murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment.
May 27 – Indianapolis 500: Rick Mears wins the race for the first time, and car owner Roger Penske for the second time.
June
The Vizianagaram district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
The Seattle SuperSonics win the NBA Championship against the Washington Bullets.
Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on his first official, nine-day stay, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country. This visit, known as nine days that changed the world, brings about the solidarity of the Polish people against Communism, ultimately leading to the rise of the Solidarity movement.
Los Angeles' city council passes the city's first homosexual rights bill signed without fanfare by mayor Tom Bradley.
Ixtoc I oil spill: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428million 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 Italian Communist Party loses a significant number of seats.
Joe Clark becomes Canada's 16th and youngest Prime Minister.
Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
Following the "Muldergate" Information Scandal, John Vorster resigns as State President of South Africa.
June 7 – 1979 European Parliament election: The first direct elections to the European Parliament begin, allowing citizens from across all nine (at this time) member states of the European Communities to elect 410 MEPss. It is also the first international election in history.
June 9–23 – The 1979 Cricket World Cup is held in England with West Indies defeating England in the final.
June 12 – Bryan Allen flies the man-powered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel.
June 13 – The 1979 NHL Expansion Draft takes place, restocking the franchises from Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg, which are being admitted from the WHA as expansion teams.
McDonald's introduces the Happy Meal in the United States in a nationwide advertising campaign after testing the product since February in franchises in the U.S. state of Missouri.
The ecological horror-thriller Prophecy is released in the United States by Paramount Pictures.
June 18 – Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna.
June 19 – Marais Viljoen becomes State President of South Africa.
June 20 – A Nicaraguan National Guard soldier kills ABC TV news correspondent Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape.
Former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.
The WHA formally ceases operations, completing the merger with the NHL.
June 23 – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran officially opens the Eastern Suburbs Railway in Sydney. It operates as a shuttle between Central and Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line in 1980.
June 24 – The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, is founded in Bologna at the initiative of Senator Lelio Basso.
June 25 – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Alexander Haig escapes an assassination attempt in Belgium by the Baader-Meinhof terrorist organization.
July
Sweden becomes the first country to outlaw corporal punishment in the home.
The Sony Walkman goes on sale for the first time in Japan.
July 3 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan.
July 4 – Psychiatrist and leader of the global anti-asylum movement Franco Basaglia visits the Colônia de Barbacena Psychiatric Hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and compares the facility to Nazi concentration camps, a move that momentum to psychiatric reform in the country that same year.
July 5 – Queen Elizabeth II attends the millennium celebrations of the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald.
July 8 – Los Angeles passes its gay and lesbian civil rights bill.
July 9 – A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
July 11 – NASA's first orbiting space station, Skylab, begins falling back Earth as its orbit decays after more than six years.
The Gilbert Islands become fully independent of the United Kingdom as Kiribati.
A Disco Demolition Night publicity stunt goes awry at Comiskey Park, forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers.
Carmine Galante, boss of the Bonanno crime family, is assassinated in Brooklyn.
A fire at a hotel in Zaragoza, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.
July 15 – President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation in a televised speech talking about the "crisis of confidence in America today"; it would go on to be known as his "national malaise" speech.
July 16 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam al-Tikriti, more commonly referred to in the Western press as "Saddam Hussein", assumes the presidency.
July 17 – Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami.
July 18 – Over 500 people die after a tsunami occurs on Lembata Island, triggered by a landslide on the Iliwerung volcano.
Nicaraguan Revolution: The Sandinista National Liberation Front concludes a successful revolutionary campaign against the Somoza dynasty and assumes power in Nicaragua.
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal.
Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela wins the Miss Universe 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 – 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein arranges the arrest and later execution of nearly seventy members of his ruling Ba'ath Party.
July 28 – Morarji Desai resigns as India's prime minister and Charan Singh succeeds him.
August
August 3 – Dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is overthrown in a bloody coup d'état led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
August 4 – Opening game of the American Football Bundesliga played between Frankfurter Löwen and Düsseldorf Panther, first-ever league game of American football in Germany.
August 5 – The Polisario Front signs a peace treaty with Mauritania. Mauritania withdraws from the Western Sahara territory it had occupied, and cedes it to the SADR.
August 6 – Bauhaus releases their debut single "Bela Lugosi's Dead", considered to be the first gothic rock release.
August 8 – Two American commercial divers, Richard Walker and Victor Guiel, die of hypothermia after their diving bell becomes stranded at a depth of over in the East Shetland Basin. The legal repercussions of the accident will lead to important safety changes in the diving industry.
Raymond Washington, co-founder of the Crips, one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
Female workers of YH Trading in South Korea held a sit-in protest in response to the company's unilateral shutdown.
August 10 – Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album Off the Wall. It sells 7million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7× platinum album.
The former Mauritanian province of Tiris al-Gharbiyya in Western Sahara is annexed by Morocco.
The Machchu-2 dam in Morbi, India, collapses, killing between 1800 and 25000 people in one of the worst ever dam failures.
August 14 – A freak storm during the Fastnet Race results in the deaths of 15 sailors.
August 17 – The controversial religious satirical film Monty Python's Life of Brian premieres in the United States.
August 27 – The Troubles: Lord Mountbatten of Burma and two others are killed in a bombing on his boat in the Republic of Ireland by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Mountbatten was a British fleet admiral, statesman and an uncle of The Duke of Edinburgh. On the same day, the Warrenpoint ambush occurs, killing 18 British soldiers. Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne would die in a hospital the following day from injuries sustained in the bombing.
August 29 – 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
The U.S. Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of .
Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps is formed.
September 7 – The first cable sports channel, the Entertainment Sports Programming Network (better known as ESPN), is launched in the United States.
September 9 – The long-running comic strip For Better or For Worse begins its run, in Canada, before becoming syndicated elsewhere in North America and the world.
September 12 – Hurricane Frederic makes landfall at 10:00p.m. on Alabama's Gulf Coast.
September 13 – South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).
East German balloon escape: Two families flee from East Germany by balloon.
The Sugarhill Gang release Rapper's Delight in the United States, the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
September 20 – French paratroopers help David Dacko to overthrow Emperor Bokassa in the Central African Empire.
September 22 – Vela incident: The "South Atlantic Flash" is observed near the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, thought to be a nuclear weapons test conducted by South Africa and Israel.
September 29 – The overthrown dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is convicted of genocide and executed by firing squad.
September 30 – The MTR in Hong Kong begins service with the opening of its Modified Initial System, the Kwun Tong Line.
October
October 1 – Nigeria terminates military rule, and the Second Nigerian Republic is established.
October 1–7 – Pope John Paul II makes a six-city visit to the United States, starting in Boston.
October 1 – The MTR, the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong, opens.
October 2 – Pope John Paul II arrives in New York City for his first papal tour where he addresses the U.N. General Assembly against all forms of concentration camps and torture.
October 6 – Federal Reserve System changes from an interest rate target policy to a money supply target policy.
October 7 – Pope John Paul II ends his first U.S. papal visit in Washington, D.C., with his first-ever visit to the White House.
October 9 – Peter Brock wins the Bathurst 1000 by a record six laps, with a lap record on the last lap.
Near Guam, Typhoon Tip reaches a record intensity of 870 millibars, the lowest pressure recorded at sea level. This makes Tip the most powerful tropical cyclone in known world history.
Thorbjörn Fälldin returns as Prime Minister of Sweden, replacing Ola Ullsten who is named Foreign Minister of Sweden.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first novel by Douglas Adams, is published in the United Kingdom
October 14 – National March for gay rights takes place in Washington, D.C., involving tens of thousands of people.
October 15 – Black Monday events, in which members of a political group sack a newspaper office, unfold in Malta.
October 16 – A tsunami in Nice, France, kills 23 people.
October 17 – The Pittsburgh Pirates become only the fourth MLB team (as well as the only MLB franchise to accomplish the feat twice) to recover from a 3-games-to-1 deficit to win the 1979 World Series.
October 19 – 13 U.S. Marines die in a fire at Camp Fuji, Japan, as a result of Typhoon Tip.
October 20 – The first McDonald's in Singapore opens at Liat Towers in Orchard Road.
Park Chung Hee, the President of South Korea, is assassinated by KCIA director Kim Jae-gyu.
The eradication of the smallpox virus is announced by the World Health Organization, making smallpox the first of only two human diseases that have been driven to extinction (rinderpest in 2011 being the other).
October 27 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence from the UK.
October 31 – Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashes upon landing at Mexico City International Airport, killing 72 occupants plus one on the ground; 16 people on board survive.
November
General Luis García Meza carries out a military coup in Bolivia.
Iran hostage crisis: Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests.
French police shoot gangster Jacques Mesrine in Paris.
Assata Shakur (née Joanne Chesimard), a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, escapes from a New York prison to Cuba, where she remains under political asylum until her death in 2025.
November 3 – Greensboro massacre: In Greensboro, North Carolina, five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot to death and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis, during a "Death to the Klan" rally.
November 4 – Iran hostage crisis begins: 500 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial.
All Saints' Massacre: The military junta in Bolivia initiates a violent crack-down on its opponents.
The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio in the United States.
November 6 – At Montevideo, Uruguay, the International Olympic Committee adopts a resolution, whereby Taiwan Olympic and sports teams will participate with the name Chinese Taipei in future Olympic Games and international sports tournaments and championships.
November 7 – U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy announces that he will challenge President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination.
The Carl Bridgewater murder trial ends in England with all four men found guilty. James Robinson, 45, and 25-year-old Vincent Hickey are sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended 25-year minimum for murder. 18-year-old Michael Hickey is also found guilty of murder and sentenced to indefinite detention. Patrick Molloy, 53, is found guilty on a lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Nuclear false alarm: the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, detect an apparent massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert is cancelled.
November 10 – 1979 Mississauga train derailment: A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history.
Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran.
Süleyman Demirel, of the Justice Party (AP) forms the new government of Turkey (43rd government, a minority government).
November 13 – Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for President of the United States, 9 days after the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis.
November 14 – Iran hostage crisis: U.S. President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis.
November 15 – British art historian and former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures Anthony Blunt's role as the "fourth man" of the 'Cambridge Five' double agents for the Soviet NKVD during World War II is revealed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom; she gives further details on November 21.
November 16 – Bucharest Metro Line One is opened, in Bucharest, Romania (from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea stations, ).
November 17 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and African American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
November 20 – Grand Mosque seizure: A group of 200 Juhayman al-Otaybi militants occupy Mecca's Masjid al-Haram, the holiest place in Islam. They are driven out by Saudi military forces after bloody fighting that leaves 250 people dead and 600 wounded.
November 21 – After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that the Americans had occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing four, and disturbing Pakistan–United States relations.
November 23 – The Troubles: In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten of Burma in August. He was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
November 25 – The last cargo of phosphate was shipped from Banaba Island in Kiribati in the South Pacific Ocean, bringing an end to the island's chief industry.
November 28 – Air New Zealand Flight 901: an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus in Antarctica on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.
November 29 – After 12 years of environmental controversy and legal action, the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam project is completed. It remains the last dam to be built by the agency as of 2023.
November 30 – The Wall, a rock opera concept album by Pink Floyd, is first released.
December
The Who concert disaster: Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before The Who rock concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.
The United States dollar exchange rate with the Deutsche Mark falls to 1.7079 DM, the all-time low so far; this record is not broken until November 5, 1987.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
December 4 – The Hastie fire in Kingston upon Hull, England, leads to the deaths of 3 boys and begins the hunt for Bruce George Peter Lee, the UK's most prolific killer.
December 5 – Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland; he is succeeded by Charles Haughey.
December 6 – The world premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The NATO Double-Track Decision: 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 with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-hah, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
December 13 – The Canadian Progressive Conservative minority government of Prime Minister Joe Clark, falls in a non-confidence motion.
December 15 – The directorial debut of Hayao Miyazaki, The Castle of Cagliostro, is released in Japan.
December 21 – Lancaster House Agreement: A ceasefire for Rhodesia is signed at London.
December 23 – The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the Klein Matterhorn, opens.
The Soviet Union covertly launches its invasion of Afghanistan – 3 days later, PDPA general secretary Hafizullah Amin is executed in Operation Storm-333 and Babrak Karmal replaces him, beginning the war.
The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
December 26 – In Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital Salisbury to monitor a ceasefire that begins December 28.
Date unknown
The One-child policy is introduced in China – it contributes to the country's sex-ratio imbalance. It was loosened in 2013.
Hànyǔ Pīnyīn is widely adopted as the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, leading to changes in Western spelling of Chinese toponyms.
VisiCalc becomes the first commercial spreadsheet program.
The first usenet experiments are conducted by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis of Duke University.
Worldwide per capita oil production reaches a historic peak.
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 Fall season.
Onde Tem Bruxa Tem Fada, book is published.
Births
January
Brody Dalle, Australian singer
Vidya Balan, Indian actress
Gisela, Spanish pop singer and voice actress
Erica Hubbard, American actress
Jagmeet Singh, Canadian politician, leader of the New Democratic Party
Koit Toome, Estonian singer and musical actor
Rie Tanaka, Japanese voice actress
Olger van Dijk, Dutch politician
Kevin Kuske, German Olympic bobsledder
Jason Basham, American stock car racing driver
Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
Christina Chanée, Danish-Thai pop singer
Bernice Liu, Hong Kong actress
Bipasha Basu, Indian actress and model
Aloe Blacc, American singer and rapper
Christian Lindner, German politician
Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer
Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian football goalkeeper
Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, writer, director, producer and political activist
January 10 – Francesca Piccinini, Italian volleyball player
Terence Morris, American basketball player
Siti Nurhaliza, Malaysian singer
Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
Lee Bo-young, South Korean actress and model
Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
María de Villota, Spanish racing driver (d. 2013)
Yang Wei, Chinese badminton player
Drew Brees, American football player
Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
Mélanie Joly, Canadian politician, Minister of Industry (2025-present)
Sharon Chan, Hong Kong actress
Masae Ueno, Japanese judoka
Jay Chou, Taiwanese singer, song producer and actor
Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
Roberta Metsola, Maltese politician
Leo Varadkar, 14th Taoiseach of Ireland
January 19 – Svetlana Khorkina, Russian artistic gymnast
Rob Bourdon, American drummer (Linkin Park)
Sargis Galstyan, American actor
Asaka Kubo, Japanese gravure idol
Will Young, English singer
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
Tatyana Ali, American actress
Christine Lakin, American actress
January 25 – Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, American politician and businesswoman
Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer
January 29 – Christina Koch, American engineer and NASA astronaut
January 31 – Jenny Wolf, German speed skater
February
Mahek Chahal, Norwegian actress and model
Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer (d. 2006)
Peter Fulton, New Zealand cricketer
Juan, Brazilian football player and coach
Rachelle Lefevre, Canadian actress
Clodoaldo Silva, Brazilian paralympian swimmer
Fani Chalkia, Greek athlete
Mayer Hawthorne, American soul singer
Christine Lampard, Northern Ireland television presenter
Shamita Shetty, Indian actress and interior designer
Andrei Arlovski, Belarusian mixed martial artist
Jodi Shilling, American actress
Tabitha Brown, American actress
Paulo Gonçalves, Portuguese rally racing motorcycle rider (d. 2020)
Ilaria Salvatori, Italian fencer
Cerina Vincent, American actress and writer
Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Josh Keaton, American actor
Aleksey Mishin, Russian wrestler
Ânderson Polga, Brazilian footballer
Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress and model
February 10 – Paul Waggoner, American guitarist (Between the Buried and Me)
February 11 – Brandy Norwood, African-American singer and actress
February 12 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor
Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian far-right terrorist responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks
Mena Suvari, American actress
Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer
Wesley Moodie, South African tennis player
Jocelyn Quivrin, French actor (d. 2009)
Valentino Rossi, Italian seven-time MotoGP world champion
February 17 – Cara Black, Zimbabwean tennis player
Mariana Ochoa, Mexican singer and actress
Vitas, Ukrainian and Russian singer and actor
February 20 – Song Chong-gug, South Korean footballer
Maria Annus, Estonian actress
Carly Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
Nathalie Dechy, French tennis player
Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer
Jordan Peele, American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer
February 25 – László Bodnár, Hungarian footballer
Corinne Bailey Rae, British singer-songwriter and guitarist
Susana Diazayas, Mexican actress
Ngô Thanh Vân, Norwegian-Vietnamese actress, singer and model
Michael Bisping, British mixed martial artist
Sébastien Bourdais, French racing driver
Sander van Doorn, Dutch DJ and electronic music producer
Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player
March
Ben Fouhy, New Zealand flatwater canoeist
Geoff Huegill, Australian swimmer
Martin Axenrot, Swedish metal drummer
Riki Lindhome, American actress and comedian
Tang Gonghong, Chinese weightlifter
Érik Bédard, Canadian pitcher
Tim Howard, American soccer player
Stephanie Anne Mills, Canadian voice actress
Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rican politician, Governor of Puerto Rico
Jasmine You, Japanese musician (d. 2009)
Tom Chaplin, British singer (Keane)
Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor
Melina Perez, American professional wrestler
March 10 - Danny Pudi, American actor
March 12 – Pete Doherty, British singer and guitarist (The Libertines, Babyshambles)
March 13 – Johan Santana, Venezuelan baseball player
Nicolas Anelka, French footballer
Gao Ling, Chinese badminton player
Chris Klein, American actor
Michele Riondino, Italian actor
March 16 – Adriana Fonseca, Mexican actress and dancer
Shola Ama, English singer
Adam Levine, American singer (Maroon 5)
Emil Dimitriev, Macedonian politician, Prime Minister
Ivan Ljubičić, Croatian tennis player and coach
Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkish basketball player
Freema Agyeman, British actress
Daniel Cormier, American retired mixed martial artist
Bianca Lawson, American actress
Silvia Navarro, Spanish handball player
Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
Bryan Fletcher, American football player
Misty Hyman, American swimmer
Lee Pace, American actor
Gorilla Zoe, American rapper
March 26 – Juliana Paes, Brazilian actress and model
March 28 – Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi film actor, producer, singer, film organiser and media personalities
March 29 – Estela Giménez, Spanish gymnast
Daniel Arenas, Colombian-Mexican actor
Jose Pablo Cantillo, American actor
Norah Jones, American musician
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Ukrainian football player and coach
April
April 1 – Ruth Beitia, Spanish high jumper and politician
Lindy Booth, Canadian actress
Jesse Carmichael, American musician (Maroon 5)
Živilė Balčiūnaitė, Lithuanian long-distance runner
Grégoire, French singer-songwriter
Sasa Ognenovski, Australian footballer
Heath Ledger, Australian actor and music video director (d. 2008)
Roberto Luongo, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
Maksim Opalev, Russian canoeist
Natasha Lyonne, American actress
Sarah Dobbe, Dutch politician
Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
Mohamed Kader, Togolese footballer
Alexi Laiho, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom) (d. 2020)
David Petruschin, American drag queen
Sebastián Silva, Chilean director, actor, screenwriter, painter and musician
Keshia Knight Pulliam, African-American actress
Mario Matt, Austrian alpine skier
Rachel Corrie, American activist and diarist (d. 2003)
Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese entertainer (KinKi Kids)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor, British singer
Sebastien Grainger, Canadian singer and musician
Michel Riesen, Swiss ice hockey player
Josh Server, American actor
Claire Danes, American actress
Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
Jennifer Morrison, American actress
April 13 – Baron Davis, American basketball player
Pedro Andrade, Brazilian journalist and model
Rebecca DiPietro, American model
Pierre Roland, Indonesian actor
Karen David, Indian born-Canadian actress and singer
Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer
April 17 – Sung Si-kyung, South Korean singer
Michael Bradley, American basketball player
Anthony Davidson, English racing driver
Yusuke Kamiji, Japanese actor
Kourtney Kardashian, American reality television star
Kate Hudson, American actress and co-founder of Fabletics
Antoaneta Stefanova, Bulgarian chess player
April 20 – Teoh Beng Hock, Malaysian journalist (d. 2009)
James McAvoy, Scottish actor
Karin Rask, Estonian actress
April 22 – Daniel Johns, Australian musician (Silverchair)
Yana Gupta, Indian actress of Czech origin
Jaime King, American actress
Joanna Krupa, Polish-born American model and actress
Laurentia Tan, Singaporean Paralympic equestrienne
Avey Tare, American musician
Adam Andretti, American race car driver
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
Jo O'Meara, English singer (S Club 7)
April 30 – Shelley Calene-Black, American voice actress
May
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
Danny Foster, English singer (Hear'Say)
Ingrid Isotamm, Estonian actress
Lance Bass, American singer (NSYNC)
Wes Butters, English broadcaster
May 5 – Vincent Kartheiser, American actor
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
Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician
Rosario Dawson, American actress
Marieke Vervoort, Belgian athlete (d. 2019)
Lee Hyori, South Korean entertainer
May 12 – Adrian Serioux, Canadian soccer player
Mickey Madden, American musician (Maroon 5)
Urijah Faber, WEC Featherweight Champion
Carlos Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer
May 15 – James Mackenzie, Scottish actor and TV presenter
Brandon Lee, Filipino-American gay pornographic film actor
Jessica Morris, American actress
Barbara Nedeljáková, Slovak actress
Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
Jens Bergensten, Swedish game designer and co-founder of the game company Mojang
Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
Diego Forlán, Uruguayan football player
May 20 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician
Maggie Q, American actress
Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-British-American actress
May 23 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
Frank Mir, American mixed martial artist
Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
May 25 – Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby union player
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
Clint Bowyer, American race car driver
Fabian Ernst, German footballer
Rie Kugimiya, Japanese voice actress and singer
June
TheFatRat, German musician and producer
Markus Persson, Swedish video game programmer, designer and creator of Minecraft
Rhea Santos, Filipina journalist based in Canada
Choirul Huda, Indonesian professional footballer and civil servant (d. 2017)
Morena Baccarin, Brazilian actress
June 3 – Pierre Poilievre, Canadian politician
June 4 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese football player and coach
François Sagat, French male gay porn film actor, model and director
Pete Wentz, American musician, lyricist and bassist (Fall Out Boy)
Solenne Figuès, French swimmer
Shanda Sharer, American murder victim (d. 1992)
Anna Torv, Australian actress
Kevin Hofland, Dutch footballer
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
Robyn, Swedish singer-songwriter
Amandine Bourgeois, French singer
Diego Milito, Argentine football player
Nila Håkedal, Norwegian beach volleyball player
Ágnes Csomor, Hungarian actress
June 14 – Paradorn Srichaphan, Thai tennis player
June 15 – Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian athlete
Young Maylay, American actor, record producer and rapper
Nick Rimando, American soccer player
Yumiko Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress
Chris Neil, Canadian ice hockey player
Pini Balili, Israeli-Turkish footballer and manager
Ivana Wong, Hong Kong singer-songwriter
José Kléberson, Brazilian football player and coach
June 20 - Tika Sumpter, american actress
Kate Tsui, Hong Kong actress
Chris Pratt, American actor
Makasini Richter, Tongan rugby league player
Sandra Klösel, German tennis player
Jai Rodriguez, American actor and musician
Marilyn Agliotti, Dutch field hockey player
LaDainian Tomlinson, American football player
Petra Němcová, Czech model
Joaquín de Orbegoso, Peruvian actor
Craig Shergold, British cancer patient
Mindy Kaling, American actress, comedian and author
Busy Philipps, American film actress
Ryan Tedder, American singer (OneRepublic), songwriter and producer
Julia Benson, Canadian actress
Cazwell, American rapper and songwriter
Martin Bourboulon, French film director and screenwriter
Scott Taylor, American politician
Fabrizio Miccoli, Italian professional footballer
Felicia Day, American actress, writer, director, violinist and singer
Randy McMichael, American football player
Lee Hee-joon, South Korean actor
Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch swimmer
Yehuda Levi, Israeli actor and male model
Liliana Castro, Ecuadorian-born Brazilian actress
Artur Avila, Brazilian and French mathematician
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
Forrest Griffin, American mixed martial arts fighter
Patrik Baboumian, German-Iranian strongman competitor, strength athlete and bodybuilder
Diana Gurtskaya, Georgian singer
Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver
Sayuri Katayama, Japanese actress, singer and lyricist
Ludivine Sagnier, French model and actress
Shane Filan, Irish singer (Westlife)
Amélie Mauresmo, French tennis player
Mohsen Bengar, Iranian footballer
Kevin Hart, American actor, comedian, writer and producer
Pat Barry, American kickboxer and mixed martial artist
Douglas Hondo, Zimbabwean cricketer
Mehdi Hasan, British journalist and broadcaster
Gong Yoo, South Korean actor
Marina Gatell, Spanish actress
Im Soo-jung, South Korean actress
Laura Benanti, American actress and singer
Ladyhawke, New Zealand singer-songwriter
Axel Teichmann, German cross-country skier
Scott Porter, American actor and singer
Travis Fimmel, Australian fashion model and actor
Alexander Frei, Swiss footballer
Jim Banks, American politician
Kinya Kotani, Japanese singer
Kim Rhode, American double trap and skeet shooter
Landy Wen, Taiwanese singer
July 17 – Mike Vogel, American actor
Malavika, Indian actress
David Sakurai, Danish-Japanese actor, director, scriptwriter and martial artist
Bruno Cabrerizo, Brazilian football player, model and actor
Claudine Barretto, Filipino film actress, television actress, entrepreneur and product endorser
Marcos Mion, Brazilian TV host, actor, voice actor and businessman
Milan Nikolić, Serbian accordionist
Adam Rose, South African professional wrestler
Amr Shabana, Egyptian squash player
Tamika Catchings, American basketball player
Andriy Voronin, Ukrainian footballer
July 23 – Michelle Williams, American singer and actress
July 24 – Rose Byrne, Australian actress
Juan Pablo Di Pace, Argentinian actor and singer
Ali Carter, English snooker player
Johnson Beharry, British recipient of the Victoria Cross
Tamyra Gray, American singer
Derek Paravicini, British pianist
Yūko Sano, Japanese volleyball player
Mageina Tovah, American actress
Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician (d. 2018)
Jorge Arce, Mexican boxer
Shannon Moore, American professional wrestler
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
Jason Momoa, American actor
Junior Agogo, Ghanaian footballer (d. 2019)
Honeysuckle Weeks, British actress
Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress and author of children's literature
Maria Haukaas Mittet, Norwegian recording artist
August 4 – Patryk Dominik Sztyber, Polish rock musician
David Healy, Northern Ireland footballer
María Isabel Sánchez Torregrosa, Spanish politician
Miguel Llera, Spanish footballer
Gangsta Boo, American rapper (d. 2023)
JoAnna Garcia, American actress
Ted Geoghegan, American screenwriter
Drew Nelson, Canadian actor and voice actor
Bubba Crosby, American baseball player
Peter Browngardt, American cartoonist
Cindy Klassen, Canadian speed skater
August 13 – Taizō Sugimura, Japanese politician
Carl Edwards, American race car driver
Peter Shukoff, American comedian, musician and personality
Sarah Balabagan, Filipina prisoner and singer
August 19 – Oumar Kondé, Swiss footballer
August 20 – Jamie Cullum, English jazz pianist and singer
Matt Walters, American football player
Angelu de Leon, Filipina actress
Mulan Jameela, Indonesian singer and politician
Ritchie Neville, English singer (5ive)
Elva Hsiao, Taiwanese singer
Michael Redd, American basketball player
August 25 – Andrew Hussie, American artist
Jamal Lewis, American football player
Cristian Mora, Ecuadorian footballer
Erik Valdez, American actor
Giovanni Capitello, American filmmaker and actor
Tian Liang, Chinese diver
Aaron Paul, American actor
Robert Hoyzer, German football referee
Yuki Maeda, Japanese singer
Shane Van Dyke, American actor
August 29 – Justine Pasek, Miss Universe 2002
Leon Lopez, British actor, film director, singer-songwriter and occasional model
Tavia Yeung, Hong Kong actress
Niki Chow, Hong Kong actress
Mickie James, American professional wrestler
Simon Neil, Scottish musician (vocalist, guitarist, songwriter), Biffy Clyro Marmaduke Duke
Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian film composer
September
Neg Dupree, British comedian
Margherita Granbassi, Italian fencer
Ron Ng, Hong Kong actor
Łukasz Żygadło, Polish volleyball player
September 3 – Júlio César, Brazilian football goalkeeper
September 4 – Maxim Afinogenov, Russian ice hockey player
John Carew, Norwegian footballer
Stacey Dales, Canadian basketball player and sportscaster
September 7 – Nathan Hindmarsh, Australian rugby league player
September 8 – Pink, American singer and actress
Mustis, Norwegian pianist
Laia Palau, Spanish basketball player
Eric Abidal, French footballer
Cameron Richardson, American actress and model
David Pizarro, Chilean footballer
Michelle Dorrance, American tap dancer
Jay McGraw, American author, son of TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw
September 13 – Ivan Miljković, Serbian volleyball player
Chris John, Indonesian former featherweight boxing champion
Ivica Olić, Croatian footballer
Dave Annable, American actor
Amy Davidson, American actress
Edna Ngeringway Kiplagat, Kenyan long-distance runner
Patrick Marleau, Canadian ice hockey player
Akin Ayodele, American football player
Chuck Comeau, Canadian drummer
Junichi Inamoto, Japanese footballer
Alison Lohman, American actress
September 19 – Noémie Lenoir, French supermodel
Lars Jacobsen, Danish footballer
Aurélie Trouvé, French politician
September 21 – Chris Gayle, Jamaican cricketer
September 22 – MyAnna Buring, Swedish-English actress
September 23 – Lote Tuqiri, Fijian-Australian rugby player
Justin Bruening, American actor and model
Erin Chambers, American actress
Julia Clarete, Filipina actress
Rashad Evans, American retired mixed martial artist
Michele Scarponi, Italian road bicycle racer (d. 2017)
Naomichi Marufuji, Japanese professional wrestler
Zoltán Horváth, Hungarian basketball player (d. 2009)
Shinji Ono, Japanese football player
Nathan Foley, Australian performer
Bam Margera, American skateboarder
Anndi McAfee, American actress and voice actress
Gaitana, Ukrainian singer and songwriter of Ukrainian and Congolese descent
Artika Sari Devi, Putri Indonesia 2004
Mike Damus, American actor
Vince Chong, Malaysian singer
Juho Kuosmanen, Finnish film director and screenwriter
October
Rudi Johnson, American football player
Senit, Italian singer of Eritrean descent
Marko Stanojevic, English-born Italian rugby union player
October 2 – Brianna Brown, American actress
Josh Klinghoffer, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
John Morrison, American professional wrestler
Caitriona Balfe, Irish model and actress
Rachael Leigh Cook, American actress
Adam Voges, Australian cricketer
October 5 – Gao Yuanyuan, Chinese actress
October 6 – Mohamed Kallon, Sierra Leonean football player and coach
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
Csézy, Hungarian singer
Chris O'Dowd, Irish actor and comedian
Brandon Routh, American actor
Gonzalo Sorondo, Uruguayan footballer
Wu Chun, Bruneian actor, model and singer
Nicolás Massú, Chilean tennis player
Mýa, American singer and actress
Bae Doona, South Korean actress
Gabe Saporta, Uruguayan singer (Cobra Starship)
Wes Brown, English footballer
Esmah Lahlah, Dutch politician
Mamadou Niang, Senegalese footballer
October 14 – Stacy Keibler, American actress and model
October 15 – Jaci Velasquez, American Christian singer
October 17 – Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish 2007 Formula 1 world champion
October 18 – Ne-Yo, African-American singer and songwriter
John Krasinski, American actor
Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby union player
Anna Boden, American filmmaker
Jorge Solís, Mexican professional boxer
Prabhas, Indian actor
October 25 – Sarah Thompson, American actress
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
Geert Gabriëls, Dutch politician
Yukie Nakama, Japanese actress
October 31 – Raziq Khan, Pakistani cricketer
November
Coco Crisp, American baseball player
Maeve Kennedy McKean, American public health official (d. 2020)
Atsuko Enomoto, Japanese voice actress
Milan Dudić, Serbian footballer
Marián Čišovský, Slovak footballer (d. 2020)
Erika Flores, American actress
Anna Sobolak, Polish politician and businessperson
Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer
Tim McIlrath, American rock singer, songwriter (Rise Against)
November 4 – Audrey Hollander, American porn actress
Leonardo Nam, Australian actor
Tarek Boudali, French actor
Patrick Owomoyela, German Footballer of Nigerian descent
Lamar Odom, African-American retired basketball player
Myolie Wu, Hong Kong actress
November 7 – Jon Peter Lewis, American singer and songwriter
Aaron Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
Dania Ramirez, Dominican actress
Dash Berlin, Dutch DJ and music producer
Salvatore Cascio, Italian actor
Cory Hardrict, American actor
Darren Trumeter, American actor and comedian
Caroline Flack, English television and radio presenter and actress (d. 2020)
Matt Cappotelli, American professional wrestler (d. 2018)
Cote de Pablo, Chilean actress
Matt Stevic, Australian rules football umpire
Henry Wolfe, American actor and musician
Metta World Peace, American basketball player
Mavie Hörbiger, German actress
Olga Kurylenko, Ukrainian model and actress
Osleidys Menéndez, Cuban javelin thrower
November 17 – Matthew Spring, English footballer
November 18 – Neeti Mohan, Indian playback singer
Barry Jenkins, American film director, producer, and screenwriter
Larry Johnson, American football player
Michelle Vieth, American born Mexican actress and model
November 20 – Ericson Alexander Molano, Colombian gospel singer
Kim Dong-wan, South Korean singer and actor
Vincenzo Iaquinta, Italian footballer
Chris Doran, Irish singer
Scott Robinson, English singer (5ive)
Njabuliso Simelane, Swaziland international footballer
Kelly Brook, English actress and model
Nihat Kahveci, Turkish footballer
Ivica Kostelić, Croatian alpine skier
November 24 – Carmelita Jeter, American sprinter
November 25 – Joel Kinnaman, Swedish-American actor
November 26 – Deborah Secco, Brazilian actress
Ricky Carmichael, American motorcycle and stock car racer
Hilary Hahn, American violinist
Dane Bowers, English singer-songwriter (Another Level)
Jamie Korab, Canadian curler
Hakeem Seriki, African-American rapper (Chamillionaire)
Daniel Henney, American actor and model
Simon Amstell, English comedian and writer
Jayceon Taylor, American rapper (The Game)
Diego Klattenhoff, Canadian actor
Andrés Nocioni, Argentinian basketball player
December
Sabina Babayeva, Azerbaijani singer
Yvonne Catterfeld, German singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality
Daniel Bedingfield, English pop singer and songwriter
Rock Cartwright, American football player
Tiffany Haddish, American actress and comedian
December 4 – Adrian Zandberg, Polish politician
December 5 – Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer
December 6 – Tim Cahill, Australian footballer
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
Emin Agalarov, Azerbaijani-Russian singer-songwriter and businessman
Barulaganye Bolofete, Botswana footballer
Chris Cheng, American sport shooter
Michael Owen, English footballer
Adam Brody, American actor
Eric Young, Canadian professional wrestler
Lee Carr, African-American singer and songwriter
Trevor Immelman, South African golfer
Brodie Lee, American professional wrestler (d. 2020)
Daniel Narcisse, French handball player
Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer and musician
Jaimee Foxworth, American actress and model
Erion Veliaj, Albanian politician, Mayor of Tirana
Kevin Devine, American songwriter and musician
Paola Rey, Colombian actress and model
Tara Summers, English actress
Flávio, Angolan footballer
Ramon Rodriguez, Puerto Rican actor
Eleonora Lo Bianco, Italian volleyball player
Petra Majdič, Slovene cross-country skier
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
Chris Daughtry, American singer and guitarist
Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper
James Blake, American tennis player
André Holland, American actor
Bree Williamson, Canadian actress
Robert Edward Davis, German-American rapper
Zach Hill, American drummer (Death Grips)
December 29 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor
Flávio Amado, Angolan footballer
Milana Terloeva, Chechen journalist and author
Yelawolf, American rapper
Bob Bryar, American drummer (My Chemical Romance) (d. 2024)
Elaine Cassidy, Irish actress
Josh Hawley, American politician, U.S. Senator (R-MO) from 2019
Emma Little-Pengelly, Northern Irish politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
Unknown date
Irene Cuadrado, Spanish painter.
Deaths
Nobel Prizes
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