Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile and takes over the Iranian law enforcement, courts and government administration and Khomeini seizes power in Iran
- Iran's government becomes Islamic Republic when the Shah of Persia is forced to leave
More Information and Timeline for Ayatollah Khomeini
The Iranian Revolution comes to an end in February of 1979 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to power after being in exile for about fifteen years. Khomeini had been exiled for his opposition to the Shah’s land reforms and attempts to modernize and Westernize the country in the 1960s. Khomeini returned not long after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee the country. Shah Reza Pahlavi had been in power since 1941. Khomeini’s first orders were to expel all foreigners from Iran, forcing over 1,000 U.S. State Department workers to leave the country. He also wanted to return the government’s focus to creating a country that followed the principles of Islam and shunned outside interference and Westernization.
Idi Amin is deposed in Uganda
- The Dictator Idi Amin is deposed in Uganda
More Information and Timeline for Idi Amin
The dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin, is overthrown on April 11th, 1979. Amin fled from the Ugandan capital of Kampala when a coalition of troops from Tanzania and Ugandan forces who opposed Amin marched to the capital to take over the government. Amin had taken over the country in 1971 and his extreme nationalist policies caused the collapse of the economy. He was also though responsible for the deaths of around 300,000 people due to his genocidal policies against different ethnic groups. Amin escaped and lived in Saudi Arabia until he died in 2003.
United States - Skylab Space Station
1. The experimental space station, Skylab, crashed back to Earth during
July.
2. Skylab was launched by the United States in
May of
1973 and was NASA’s first space station.
3. It was occupied by three three-person crews for about 171 days between its launch and February of
1974 and there were over 300 experiments performed.
4. The space station had a few technical difficulties when a meteoroid shield was ripped off during launch and damaged the solar panels.
5. It was in orbit for a total of 2,249 days before its orbit decayed the space station plummeted back to Earth.
6. Engineers calibrated its orbit so that by the time it crashed it would be over the Indian Ocean and not in range of a populous area. Some debris landed in Western Australia.
Voyager I photo reveals Jupiter's rings
More Information and Timeline for Voyager 1
The Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched in September of 1977 with the mission of gathering information on Jupiter and exploring the outer edges of the solar system. On March 5th of 1979 Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Jupiter and made observations about the moons,
rings, radiation, and magnetic fields of the solar system’s largest planet. Voyager 1 is still exploring space and as of August in 2012, the spacecraft entered interstellar space and will continue exploring indefinitely.
More News and Key Events From 1979
US Embassy Attacked Pakistan
- A mob attack destroys the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan
Sahara Desert
- The Sahara Desert experiences snow for 30 minutes.
Tornadoes Texas and Oklahoma
- 13 Tornadoes ripped through Texas and Oklahoma
Rhodesia / Zimbabwe
- The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power on June 1 News Events and the countries name is changed to Zimbabwe,
Pope John Paul II
- Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country
Iraq Saddam Hussein
- President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam Hussein replaces him in Iraq
Oil Prices Increase around the world
- Due to crisis in Iran Oil Prices Increase around the world and the public begin panic buying making things worse.
U.S.
- During the "Death to the Klan March" organised by communist supporters in Greensboro, North Carolina white supremists open fire killing five marchers
WHO Concert --- Riverfront Coliseum
- Eleven fans are killed and dozens are injured at a WHO Concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio
Three Mile island Nuclear Accident
- Three Mile island Nuclear Accident after fire at reactor in Pennsylvania US
Iran US Hostages
- 3000 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the United States embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages
- 63 Americans are taken hostage in the American Embassy in Tehran
Grand Mosque in Mecca
- 400 Armed Sunni Islamic Muslims, seize the Grand Mosque in Mecca taking pilgrims present for the annual hajj hostage. The crisis ends after two weeks and more than 250 dead.
British nudist beach
- The first British nudist beach is established in Brighton
The Times news paper
- The Times news paper is not published for nearly a year due to an industrial dispute
Peace treaty
- Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin sign the first peace treaty between an Arab nation and the Jewish state
Canada
- A Canadian Pacific freight train carrying dangerous chemicals is derailed causing an explosion and releasing toxic fumes causing mass evacuation in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Lord Mountbatten assassinated by the I.R.A
- Lord Mountbatten and three others assassinated by the I.R.A. on August 27th . He was a British admiral, statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Northern Ireland
- Eighteen British soldiers are murdered at Warrenpoint, South Down
France - tsunami
- 23 people die in Nice, France, when the coastal town is hit by a tsunami
Nicaragua
- The Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrow the regime in the central American republic of Nicaragua
China - 1 child policy
- China institutes the one child per family rule to help control it's exploding population
Anthrax epidemic
- The worlds first anthrax epidemic begins in Ekaterinburg, Russia following a biological weapons plant accident
American Airlines Flight 191
- "American Airlines Flight 191" crashed and exploded in a field near O'Hare International Airport in Chicago
Barrel oil reaches $24
- The price of oil reaches a new record of $24 per barrel
IRA Murders MP Airey Neave
- The British Conservative MP Airey Neave is killed by a car bomb
Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto