WHAT ALL HAPPENED JUNE TO DECEMBER 1979
Find out what all happened June to December 1979

Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president. (14. September 1979)

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

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

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

Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. (28. November 1979)

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

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

Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, which has an immediate, dramatic effect on the United States. (16. December 1979)

The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for USD $1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy. (7. September 1979)

Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein. (16. July 1979)

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

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

The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, demands "an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people", and draws 200,000 people. (14. October 1979)

Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown. (4. June 1979)

In Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert. (3. December 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)

The Vela Incident (also known as the South Atlantic Flash) is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test. (22. September 1979)

A package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. (15. November 1979)

The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election. (13. December 1979)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains its independence from the United Kingdom. (27. October 1979)