WHAT ALL HAPPENED SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 1979
Find out what all happened September to December 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 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)

South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa). (13. September 1979)

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran. (3. December 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 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)

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)

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House. (6. October 1979)

A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada just west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history. (10. 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)

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

The first European Ariane rocket is launched. (24. December 1979)

The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services. (17. October 1979)

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

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

Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States. (1. October 1979)

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

Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee. (12. December 1979)

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