- January 19
- John N Mitchell (former Attorney General) released on parole from federal prison. [1]
- January 24
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- January 27
- 36th Golden Globes: Midnight Express, Jon Voight and Jane Fonda. [1]
- January 28
- Wiz closes at Majestic Theater New York City, New York after 1672 performances. [1]
- January 29
- Chinese vice-premier Deng Xiaoping visits Washington DC. [1]
- President Jimmy Carter commutes Patricia Hearst's seven-year sentence to two years. [1]
- February 1
- Patricia Hearst is released from a San Francisco prison for bank robbery. [1]
- February 5
- Costliest single periodical ad, $3.2 million, Gulf + Western in Time. [1]
- Sears Radio Theater premieres on CBS. [1]
- February 8
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 13
- Washington State's Hood Canal Bridge breaks up in windstorm. [1]
- February 14
- Adolph Dubs, US ambassador to Afghanistan, is murdered. [1]
- February 15
- 21st Grammy Awards: "Just the Way You Are", Taste of Honey win. [1]
- February 18
- -52 degrees F (-47 degrees C), Old Forge, New York (state record). [1]
- February 22
- Cleveland (Ohio) Metroparks Zoo's Primate and Cat Building is dedicated. [1]
- Last ever meeting of annual Assay Commission at US Mint in Philadelphia. [582.58]
- February 26
- Last total eclipse of Sun in 20th century for continental USA. [1]
- February 28
- In Mt. Saint Elias, Alaska, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurs. [53]
- March 8
- Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) transported 38 miles overland from Palmdale. [1]
- March 19
- C-SPAN first begins broadcasting the US House of Representitives. [1] [5]
- March 20
- Columbia flies on Shuttle carrier aircraft to Kennedy Space Center. [1]
- March 25
- The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter (Columbia) is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch. [1] [5]
- March 26
- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat sign a peace treaty in Washington DC. [1] [129]
- March 27
- US Supreme Court rules 8-1 that police can't randomly stop cars. [1]
- March 28
- In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, a nuclear energy reactor at Three Mile Island overheats to 4000 degrees, due to a failed drainage valve. Cooling water contaminated with radiation drains into adjoining buildings, releasing radioactive gases throughout the plant and into the atmosphere. By the end of the day, cooling water is restarted, reducing temperature and averting a meltdown. [1] [129]
- April 9
- 51st Academy Awards - The Deer Hunter, Jon Voight and Jane Fonda win. Walter Lantz is given an honorary Oscar for his animated motion pictures. [1] [36.39]
- April 14
- Susan Horvath, of Pennsylvania, crowned America's Young Woman of the Year. [1]
- April 30
- Mary Therese Friel of New York crowned 28th Miss USA. [1]
- May 2
- 14th Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Rogers and Barbara Mandrell win. [1]
- May 5
- Masterpiece Radio Theater begins broadcasting. [1]
- May 9
- US and USSR sign Salt 2 treaty, limiting nuclear weapons. [1]
- May
- The US government drops its monthly gold sell-off from 1.5 million ounces to 750,000 ounces. [590.57]
- May 17
- -12 degrees F (-11 degrees C), on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii (state record). [1] [54]
- May 21
- Dan White convicted of manslaughter death of San Francisco mayor Moscone. [1]
- May 25
- American Airlines DC-10 crashes in Chicago, Illinois killing 275. [1]
- May 31
- Radio City Music Hall (New York City) reopens. [1]
- June 1
- Intel introduces the 4.77 MHz 8088 microprocessor. It was created as a stepping stone to the 8086, as it operates on 16 bits internally, but supports an 8-bit data bus, to use existing 8-bit device-controlling chips. It contains 29,000 transistors, using 3-micron technology, and can directly address 1 MB of memory. Speed is 0.33 MIPS. [4]
- June 8
- The Source, first computer public information service, goes online. [1]
- June 20
- Bill Stewart, ABC television news correspondant, and his interpreter Juan Espinosa are executed by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier while attempting to film war destruction in Nicaragua. The murders are caught on tape, and the footage is later shown on news broadcasts. [467]
- July 2
- The US Mint releases the new Susan B. Anthony small diameter dollar coin to circulation. [417.56] [446.58] [590.80] [709.190]
- July 4
- Birth of Teresa Salcedo in Anaheim, California, USA; first baby born at Disneyland, born to Rosa and Elias Salcedo. [6]
- July 11
- American Skylab space station enters the atmosphere over Australia and disintegrates. [1] [5]
- July 21
- National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Falls, New York) dedicated. [1]
- July 26
- (to July 27) In Saint Louis, Missouri, Auction '79 is held by four large coin companies: Paramount, Rare Coin Company of America, Stack's, and Superior. Some highlights:
- 1787 Brasher gold doubloon pattern, one of seven known: $430,000;
- 1849-C $1 gold, EF: $90,000, record for US gold dollar;
- 1838-O 50-cent, Proof 60: $62,500;
- 1854-O $20, EF: $45,000;
- 1920-S $10, MS-64: $44,000;
- 1828 $5, MS-65: $110,000;
- 1880 $4, flowing hair, Proof: $50,000;
- Ptolemaic gold octadrachm, Sidon Mint, EF: $15,500, record price;
- Canada 1911 $1 pattern: $160,000, bought by Tony Carrato of Niagara, Ontario.
[583.40] [585.30] [586.38] [587.62]
- Estimated 109 cm (43 inches) of rain falls in Alvin, Texas (national record). [1]
- August 23
- Bolshoi Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects in New York City. [1]
- August 30
- US President Jimmy Carter attacked by a rabbit on a canoe trip in Plains, Georgia. [1]
- September 2
- The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride opens in Frontierland at Disneyland. It cost US$15.8 million to build. [6]
- September 7
- Five-day MUSE concert against nuclear energy opens at Madison Square Gardens, New York. [1]
- September 10
- Three Puerto Rican nationalists who attempted to kill US President Harry Truman are freed. [1]
- September 23
- Jane Fonda and 200,000 attend anti-nuke rally in Battery Park, New York City. [1]
- September 24
- Compu-Serve launches the first customer Internet service, including the first public e-mail service. [1] [5]
- September 27
- US Congress' final approval to create Department of Education. [1]
- October 1
- US returns Canal Zone to Panama after 75 years (but not the canal). [1] [5]
- October 6
- Pope John Paul II is first Pope to visit the White House. [1]
- October 15
- In Imperial Valley, California, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurs. [53]
- October 17
- Personal Software releases VisiCalc for the Apple II, for US$99. (Over its lifetime, over 700,000 copies are sold.) [4]
- October 20
- John F Kennedy Library dedicated in Boston, Massachusetts. [1]
- October 22
- Deposed Shah of Iran arrives in New York for medical treatment. [1]
- Walt Disney World welcomes its 100-millionth guest, Kurt Miller. [6]
- (month unknown)
- Representative Ron Paul of Texas introduces the Gold Ownership Act of 1979 in the House of Representatives, seeking to remove from Treasury ability to confiscate gold from American citizens. [591.85]
- November 1
- Tanker Burmah Agate off Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 10.7 million gallons of oil, in US's worst oil tanker spill disaster. [1]
- November 3
- Five mortally wounded during anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in North Carolina. [1]
- November 4
- Militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted Shah of Iran to travel to New York City for medical treatment, seize the U.S. embassy in Teheran, taking 90 hostages. (The last 52 hostages are released 444 days later.) [1] [129]
- November 12
- US halts Iranian oil imports and freezes Iranian assets. [1]
- November 13
- Ronald Reagan in New York announces his candidacy for President. [1]
- November 15
- ABC-TV announces it would broadcast nightly specials on Iran hostage situation. [1]
- November 19
- Chuck Berry is released from prison on income tax evasion. [1]
- November 28
- (to November 29) Bowers and Ruddy Galleries holds the first auction session of The John Work Garrett Collection in New York City. 622 lots sell for US$7.1 million. Some highlights:
- USA 1787 Brasher doubloon gold pattern, "EB" punch on wing, MS-63, finest known: $725,000;
- USA 1783 Nova Constellatio Mark, MS-60: $190,000;
- USA 1783 Nova Constellatio Quint, MS-65: $165,000;
- USA 1829 half eagle, large planchet, MS-65: $165,000;
- USA 1815 half eagle, AU-55: $150,000;
- USA 1793 1-cent, chain, "AMERICA", MS-63: $115,000, a record for any copper coin;
- USA 1879 $4 gold pattern, coiled hair, Proof: $115,000;
- USA 1798 $5 gold, small eagle, EF-40: $110,000.
[525.78] [586.41] [591.10]
- December 2
- Crowds attack US embassy at Tripoli, Libya. [1]
- December 3
- Eleven trampled to death at The Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio. [1]
- December 14
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- December 15
- Deposed Shah of Iran leaves US for Panamá. [1]
- World Court in Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages. [1]
- December 17
- Stanley Barrett in Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 km/h (739.666 MPH, record for wheeled vehicle). [1]
- December 31
- Winterland Rock Concert Hall in San Francisco closes after 556 concerts. [1]
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