WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO NOVEMBER 1979
Find out what all happened April to November 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)

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

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

Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter scale. (12. September 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)

The roof of the uncompleted Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, collapses, killing 5 workers and injuring 16. (13. August 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)

An IRA bomb explodes at the Grote Markt in Brussels. (28. August 1979)

America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. (11. July 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)

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

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)

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

A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I. (20. September 1979)

The Ghost Train Fire at Luna Park Sydney (New South Wales, Australia) kills seven. (9. June 1979)

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

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to visit Ireland. (29. September 1979)

The Hong Kong MTR commences service with the opening of its Modified Initial System (aka. Kwun Tong Line). (30. September 1979)