December 30 - Richard Rodgers, American composer (b. 1902)
Events
January 1 - Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.
January 7 - Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
January 8 - The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland (The Betelgeuse incident).
January 16 - The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.
January 29 - Brenda Ann Spencer kills 2 and injures 9 in the Cleveland Elementary School shootings, inspiring the "I don't Like Mondays" song by Boomtown Rats.
February 1 - Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
February 1 - The Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back into Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
February 7 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
February 7 - The final session of the Iranian National Consultative Assembly is held.
February 8 - Denis Sassou-Nguesso became the President of the Republic of the Congo for the first time.
February 11 - Islamic revolution of Iran achieves victory under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
February 13 - An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1/2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
February 14 - In Kabul, Muslims kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
February 18 - Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first and only recorded time in history.
February 22 - Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.
March 4 - The first encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis (Latin for "The Redeemer of Man") is promulgated less than five months after his installation as pope.
March 5 - Detection equipment picks up a gamma ray burst originating from the Large Magellanic Cloud, leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
March 5 - Voyager 1's closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
March 8 - The first extraterrestrial volcano is discovered on Io, a satellite of the planet Jupiter.
March 13 - The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a nearly bloodless coup d'etat in Grenada.
March 14 - In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.
March 17 - The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
March 19 - The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.
March 22 - Margaret Thatcher puts down an early day motion censuring the government, which leads to the defeat of the Labour government of James Callaghan.
March 25 - The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, The Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.
March 26 - Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, DC.
March 28 - In Pennsylvania, a pump in the reactor cooling system fails in the Three Mile Island accident, resulting in the evaporation of some contaminated water causing a nuclear meltdown.
March 28 - British Prime Minister James Callaghan, is defeated by one vote in a Motion of No Confidence. This results in Parliament being dissolved to make way for a General Election.
March 30 - Airey Neave, a British politician, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.
March 31 - The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
April 1 - Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.
April 4 - President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.
April 10 - Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
April 13 - Tanzania and Zambia recognize Yusufu Lule as President of Uganda.
April 15 - A disastrous earthquake (of M 7.1) on Montenegro coast.
April 23 - Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protester Blair Peach.
May 3 - Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher becomes the United Kingdom's first female prime minister as the Labour government is ousted in parliamentary elections.
May 4 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
May 10 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
May 21 - White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
May 25 - American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.
May 28 - Constantine Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
June 1 - Vizianagaram district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
June 1 - The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power.
June 3 - 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.
June 4 - Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
June 12 - Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.
June 18 - SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
June 20 - ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparked international outcry of the regime.
July 2 - The first U.S. coin to honor a woman, the Susan B. Anthony dollar, is introduced.
July 3 - US President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
July 9 - A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
July 11 - The space station Skylab reenters the Earths atmosphere.
July 12 - The island nation of Kiribati declares independence from Great Britain.
July 15 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter gives his famous "malaise" speech, where he characterizes the greatest threat to the country as "this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation."
July 16 - Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
July 17 - Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida.
July 19 - The Sandinista rebels overthrow the U.S.-backed government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.
August 5 - In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising.
August 13 - The roof of the uncompleted Rosemont Horizon near Chicago, Illinois collapses, killing 5 workers and injuring 16.
August 17 - Two Soviet Aeroflot jetliners collide in mid-air over Ukraine, killing 156
August 20 - The East Coast Main Line rail route between England and Scotland is restored when the Penmanshiel Diversion opens.
August 23 - Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
August 27 - An IRA bomb kills British World War II admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten and 3 others while they were boating on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another bomb near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.
August 28 - An IRA bomb explodes on the Grand Place in Brussels.
September 1 - The American space probe Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km.
September 7 - The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its debut.
September 7 - The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for USD $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
September 12 - Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter scale.
September 13 - South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).
September 20 - Lee Iacocca is elected president of the Chrysler Corporation.
September 20 - The Punjab wing of the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist) formally splits and constitutes a parallel UCCRI(ML).
September 20 - Assassination of French left-wing militant Pierre Goldman.
September 21 - Two RAF Hawker Siddeley Harrier jump-jets from RAF Wittering collide over the UK. Both pilots ejected safely. One of the jets broke up in midair and fell harmlessly into a field but the other dropped onto the centre of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, destroying two houses and a bungalow. Several people were injured in the accident and three people were killed.
September 22 - The South Atlantic Flash or Vela Incident is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.
September 27 - The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.
September 30 - The Hong Kong MTR commences service with the opening of its Modified Initial System (aka. Kwun Tong Line).
October 1 - The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to Panama.
October 12 - The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.
October 14 - The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, demands "an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people," draws 200,000 people.
October 17 - Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
October 17 - The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services. Both replace the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
October 20 - The John F Kennedy library is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
October 21 - Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
October 26 - Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by KCIA head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.
November 3 - Greensboro massacre: Five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot dead 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: a group of Iranians, mostly students, invades the United States embassy in Tehran and takes 90 hostages (53 of whom are American).
November 8 - The Chilean Communist Party (Proletarian Action) is formed.
November 12 - Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
November 14 - Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States in response to the hostage crisis.
November 15 - A package from the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
November 16 - The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea in Bucharest, Romania.
November 19 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
November 20 - Grand Mosque Seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages in the Kaaba. The Saudi government received help from French special forces to put down the uprising.
November 21 - The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set alight, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)
November 23 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.
November 28 - The Mount Erebus disaster: An Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.
December 3 - In Cincinnati, Ohio, eleven fans are killed during a stampede for seats before a Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum.
December 3 - Shadow Traffic begins broadcasting in the New York City metropolitan area.
December 4 - The Hastie fire in Hull, kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee.
December 5 - Sonia Johnson is formally excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for her outspoken criticism of the church concerning the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
December 9 - The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.
December 12 - 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-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
December 12 - President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
December 12 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
December 13 - The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election.
December 16 - Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, having an immediate dramatic effect on the United States.
December 21 - Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.
December 23 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
December 24 - The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to support the country's Marxist government.
December 24 - The first European Ariane rocket is launched.
December 25 - The Soviet Union airlifts forces into Afghanistan to begin its costly occupation.
December 26 - Soviet Special forces take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
December 26 - Opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon; a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot.
December 27 - The Soviet Union seizes control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.
