WHAT ALL HAPPENED MARCH TO JULY 1979
Find out what all happened March to July 1979

The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien). (31. March 1979)

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded. (3. 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)

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

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

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

America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles. (5. March 1979)

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

SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. (18. June 1979)

White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk. (21. May 1979)

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

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

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)

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