WHAT ALL HAPPENED OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 1979
Find out what all happened October to December 1979

Nuclear false alarm: the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert is cancelled. (9. November 1979)

In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten. (23. November 1979)

Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs. (21. October 1979)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published. (12. October 1979)

Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested. (10. December 1979)

Brisbane Suburban Railway Electrification. The first stage from Ferny Grove to Darra is commissioned. (17. November 1979)

The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four. (21. November 1979)

The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to Panama. (1. October 1979)

Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital. (23. December 1979)

The first European Ariane rocket is launched. (24. December 1979)

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. (14. November 1979)

Geoffrey Boycott became the first Cricketer to be stranded at 99 not out against Australia at Perth. (19. December 1979)

The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia. (12. December 1979)

Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by Korean Central Intelligence Agency head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May. (26. October 1979)

Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (17. October 1979)

A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada just west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history. (10. November 1979)

The first line of Bucharest Metro (Line M1) is opened from Timpuri Noi to Semănătoarea in Bucharest, Romania. (16. November 1979)

The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip. (12. October 1979)

Pope John Paul II denounces all forms of concentration camps and torture while speaking at the U.N. in New York City. (2. October 1979)

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. (19. November 1979)