WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO AUGUST 1979
Find out what all happened February to August 1979

The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN. (19. March 1979)

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 sparks an international outcry against the regime. (20. June 1979)

Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters. (5. March 1979)

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

The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from United Kingdom. (12. July 1979)

The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power. (1. June 1979)

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

Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida. (17. July 1979)

Another section of the Sinai Peninsula is peacefully returned by Israel to Egypt. (25. July 1979)

In Afghanistan, Maoists undertake an attempted military uprising. (5. August 1979)

Sony introduces the Walkman. (1. July 1979)

Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered. (7. February 1979)

The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch. (25. March 1979)

Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah. (1. April 1979)

Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country. (2. June 1979)

President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed. (4. April 1979)

Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross. (12. June 1979)

An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1/2-mile-long section of the Hood Canal Bridge. (13. February 1979)

Several tornadoes strike the city of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada and the surrounding communities. (7. August 1979)

In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200. (14. March 1979)