WHAT ALL HAPPENED AUGUST TO OCTOBER 1979
Find out what all happened August to October 1979

Pope John Paul II denounces all forms of concentration camps and torture while speaking at the U.N. in New York City. (2. October 1979)

The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip. (12. October 1979)

Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (17. October 1979)

The MTR, the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong, opens. (1. October 1979)

Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by Korean Central Intelligence Agency head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May. (26. October 1979)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published. (12. October 1979)

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

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

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

CompuServe launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service. (24. September 1979)

Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States. (21. August 1979)

Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States. (1. October 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)

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

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

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

Black Monday in Malta. The Building of the Times of Malta, the residence of the opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami and several Nationalist Party clubs are ransacked and destroyed by supporters of the Malta Labour Party. (15. October 1979)

The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency. (27. September 1979)

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