1979 Annual History Facts

1979 Annual History Facts

  • The Quote: “This is the product that will satisfy those young people who want to listen to music all day.” – Akio Morita, Sony Chairman, about the Sony Walkman.
  • On January 9, Vietnamese troops took the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and toppled the brutal regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge.
  • The Top Song was My Sharona by The Knack
  • The Big Movies included Kramer vs. Kramer, Superman, and The Amityville Horror
  • TRS-80 Computer, 4k, Model 1: $499.00
    Price of a gallon of gas in 1979: 88 cents
  • The World Population was ~ 4,312,000,000
  • The First Strawberry Shortcake doll went on sale.
  • Seymour Cray invented the Cray supercomputer.
  • And… The China Syndrome, a movie about a nuclear meltdown caused by a faulty sensor reading and a stuck-open pressure release valve, aired only 12 days before the 3 Mile Island Meltdown, caused by a faulty sensor reading and a stuck open pressure release valve.

World Series Champions

Pittsburgh Pirates

Superbowl XIII Champions

Pittsburgh Steelers

Stanley Cup Champions

Montreal Canadiens

National Basketball Association Champions

Seattle SuperSonics

US Open Golf

Hale Irwin

US Open Tennis (Men Ladies)

John McEnroe/Tracy Austin

Wimbledon (Men/Women)

Bjorn Borg/Martina Navratilova

NCAA Football Champions

Alabama

NCAA Basketball Champions

Michigan State

Bowl Games

Orange Bowl: January 1, 1979 – Oklahoma over Nebraska
Rose Bowl: January 1, 1979 – USC over Michigan
Sugar Bowl: January 1, 1979 – Alabama over Penn State

Kentucky Derby

Spectacular Bid

Westminster Kennel Best in Show Dog

Oak Tree’s Irishtocrat

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year

Ayatollah Khomeini

Miss America

Kylene Barker (Roanoke, VA)

Miss USA

Mary Therese Friel (New York)

Fashion Icons and Movie Stars

Kim Alexis, Carol Alt, Loni Anderson, Susan Anton, Barbara Bach, Catherine Bach, Kim Basinger, Candice Bergen, Valerie Bertinelli, Jacqueline Bisset, Christie Brinkley, Gia Carangi, Lynda Carter, Cher, Bo Derek, Janice Dickinson, Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher, Karen Graham, Erin Gray, Shelly Hack, Debbie Harry, Marilu Henner, Lauren Hutton, Iman, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, Audrey Landers, Jessica Lange, Olivia Newton-John, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Bernadette Peters, Victoria Principal, Diana Ross, Jane Seymour, Brooke Shields, Jacquelyn Smith, Suzanne Somers, Meryl Streep, Donna Summer, Cheryl Tiegs, Charlene Tilton, Mary Woronov

“The Quotes”

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
– Robert Duvall in ‘Apocalypse Now’

“Have a coke and smile.”
-Coca-Cola

“Quality is job one.”
– Ford

“Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.”
– Brooke Shields, for Calvin Klein

“Reach out and touch someone.”
– AT&T

Richard Pryor was the first comedian to perform at the original Laugh Factory in 1979. When the owner attempted to pay him, he declined, handed him a $100 bill, saying, “You need this for your rent, boy.”

1979 Pop Culture History

Elvita Adams jumped from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building in an attempted suicide, only to be blown back onto the 85th floor by a gust of wind. Her only injury was a broken hip.

In 1979, you could call a 1-800 number and listen to messages from Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C3PO, and Darth Vader.

Many Swedish people were called sick with a ‘case of being homosexual’ as a protest against homosexuality being labeled an illness.

John Paul II visited the United States of America (October 1st-8, 1979).

The Grateful Dead played the final concert at the iconic Winterland venue in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve 1978, which lasted over 8 hours. The guests were treated to a hot buffet breakfast at dawn when the show ended.

Michael Jackson released Off the Wall, his fifth solo studio album.

The last claim under the 1866 Homestead Act entitled a person to free frontier land if they lived on it for five years and built a farm was made on 80 acres near the Stony River in Alaska in 1979.

In 1979, due to a gasoline shortage, the US had specific days to get gas based on whether your license plate ended in an odd or even number.

Jimmy Carter signed the bill that made homebrewing legal in 1978. It took effect in 1979.

Black and Decker released the now-famous cordless mini-vacuum, The Dustbuster.

Guy Lafleur, a player for the Montreal Canadiens, released an album called “Lafleur.” It consisted of Lafleur giving hockey instructions over the sound of disco music.

An LA man received thousands of parking tickets due to DMV computers matching tickets for cars without plates to his custom “NO PLATE” license plate.

PBS’ This Old House was one of the earliest home improvement shows. It was initially controversial among building contractors, and the cast feared that they were giving away secrets of the building trades.

On 9/22/1979, there was an unidentified nuclear explosion in the Indian Ocean, known as the Vela Incident.

1979’s Mad Max was dubbed for original US release because producers assumed American audiences would have trouble understanding Australian accents.

The first recorded human death by a robot was on Jan. 25, 1979, when a Ford Motors assembly line worker was killed in Flat Rock, Michigan.

ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) began broadcasting on September 7.

Alec Guinness was among the few cast members who believed that Star Wars would be a box office hit; he negotiated a deal for 2.25% of the gross royalties paid to the director, George Lucas, who received one-fifth of the box office takings.

Etan Patz was the first missing child to have their picture on a milk carton in 1979, and the murderer wasn’t caught till 2012.

Victoria’s Secret stores opened in 1979. It went national in 1982 after being acquired by Limited Brands.

Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.

An unknown group of people paid for the erection of the “Georgia Guidestones,” six granite slabs that instruct the survivors of an apocalyptic scenario how to rebuild a better world.

April 1st – Nickelodeon TV cable network began.

When Peanuts started in 1950, Charlie Brown was four years old, aged six in 1957, and has been about eight since 1979.

The Cleveland Elementary School shooting occurred in 1979 in San Diego, California. A 16-year-old girl, Brenda Spencer, killed the principal and a custodian, and injured eight children and a police officer. When asked by a reporter why she did it, she said, “I don’t like Mondays.”

The cost of a Superbowl ad in 1979: $185,000.

A black character first appeared in a video game in 1979’s “Basketball” on the Atari 800.

The biggest storm on record was Typhoon Tip in 1979 – 2,200km wide, 305km/h winds.

RIP, Sc