WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO MAY 1979
Find out what all happened February to May 1979

Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc publicly for the first time. (8. March 1979)

The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers. (17. March 1979)

Etan Patz, who is six years old, disappears from the street just two blocks away from his home in New York City, prompting an international search for the child, and causing the U.S. President Ronald Reagan to designate May 25 as National Missing Children's Day (in 1983). (25. May 1979)

The Sino-Vietnamese War begins. (17. February 1979)

Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom. (22. February 1979)

Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran. (9. May 1979)

The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile. (1. February 1979)

In Kabul, Setami Milli militants kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police. (14. February 1979)

Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C.. (26. March 1979)

Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history. (18. February 1979)

Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence is commuted by President Jimmy Carter. (1. February 1979)

Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war. (16. March 1979)

Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (4. May 1979)

A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial melt down. (28. March 1979)

Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility. (30. March 1979)

Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people. (10. April 1979)

Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community. (28. May 1979)

American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground. (25. May 1979)

The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government, precipitating a general election. (28. March 1979)

Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed. (11. April 1979)