- July 9
- Dr Walter Massey is named director of Argonne national Lab. [1]
- In Eastern China, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurs. At least 41 people killed, more than 2,000 injured, and considerable damage in the Liyang area. [53]
- A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility. [840]
- July 11
- American Skylab space station enters the atmosphere over Australia and disintegrates, after being in orbit for 6 years and 2 months. [1] [5] [840]
- July 12
- Kiribati (Gilbert and Ellice Islands) gains independence from Britain. [1] [559.15] [840]
- Carmine Galante, boss of the Bonanno crime family, is assassinated. [840]
- A fire at a hotel in Saragossa, Spain leaves 72 dead. Worst hotel fire in Europe in decades. [840]
- July 17
- Iraqi President Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr resigns due to ill health, handing power to Vice President Saddam Hussein. [1215.812] (July 16 [840])
- Nicaraguan dictator General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami, Florida. [840]
- July 18
- Gold hits record US$303.85 an ounce in London, England. [1] [639.25]
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- July 19
- Oil tankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain collide off Tobago, spilling about 350 million litres of crude oil. [1] [522]
- The Sandinista National Liberation Front concludes a successful revolutionary campaign against the U.S. backed Somoza dictatorship and assumes power in Nicaragua. [840] [1544.57]
- Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal. [840]
- Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela wins the Miss Universe Pageant; the stage collapses after contestants and news photographers rush to her. [840]
- August 3
- Dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is overthrown in a bloody coup d'état lead by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. [840]
- August 5
- The Polisario Front signs a peace treaty with Mauritania. Mauritania withdraws from the Western Sahara territory it had occupied, and cedes it to the SADR. [840]
- August 9
- Raymond Washington, co-founder of the Crips today one of the largest, most gang in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. [840]
- August 10
- Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album "Off the Wall". (It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7x platinum album.) [840]
- August 11
- The former Mauritanian province of Tiris al-Gharbiyya in Western Sahara is annexed by Morocco. [840]
- August 14
- Rainbow seen in Northern Wales for a three-hour duration. [1]
- A freak storm during the Fastnet Race results in the death of 15 sailors. [840]
- August 15
- Andrew Young resigns as United Nations ambassador. [1]
- August 19
- Crew of Soyuz 32 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 after 175-day flight. [1]
- August 20
- Grenada recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- August 23
- Bolshoi Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects in New York City. [1]
- United Nations' Vienna (Austria) office opens. [1] [37]
- August 24
- Ghana recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- August 27
- Lord Mountbatten of Burma and three others are assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He was a British admiral, statesman and an uncle of The Duke of Edinburgh. [1] [840]
- Provisional Irish Republican Army members attack a British convoy at Narrow Water, County Down, killing 18 British soldiers. [840]
- August 28
- Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne, age 83, dies in a hospital as a result of her injuries the previous day's IRA bombing. [840]
- August 29
- A national referendum is held in which Somali voters approve a new liberal constitution, promulgated by President Siad Barre to placate the United States. [840]
- August 31
- Donald McHenry named to succeed Andrew Young as United Nations ambassador. [1]
- (month unknown)
- A block of four US 24-cent airmail postage stamps with inverted Jenny aircraft sells at auction for US$500,000, a world record. [655.5]
- September 1
- The U.S. Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km. [1] [840]
- Dominica, Guyana, and Saint Lucia recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- September 2
- The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride opens in Frontierland at Disneyland. It cost US$15.8 million to build. [6]
- September 3
- Hurricane David, a strong Atlantic storm, kills over 1,000. [1]
- September 4
- Jamaica recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- September 5
- The Royal Canadian Mint begins sales of its first Maple Leaf gold bullion coins. [435.38] [497.56]
- Earl of Mountbatten funeral held in Burma. [1]
- September 6
- Nicaragua and Uganda recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- September 7
- In the USA, the Entertainment Sports Programming Network, known as ESPN, broadcasts for the first time. [457] [840]
- September 8
- México recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- September 9
- Sid Bernstein offers US$500 million for a Beatles reunion. [1]
- September 10
- Three Puerto Rican nationalists who attempted to kill US President Harry Truman are freed. [1]
- September 12
- In West Irian region, 1000km north of Australia, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs. Extensive damage on Yapen island. [53]
- Hurricane Frederic makes landfall at 10:00 p.m. on Alabama's Gulf Coast. [840]
- September 13
- South Africa grants Venda independence (not recognized out of South Africa). [1]
- September 16
- Two families flee from German Democratic Republic by balloon. [840]
- September 18
- Bolshoi Ballet dancers Leonid and Valentina Kozlov defect. [1]
- September 19
- In Italy, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurs, about 110 kilometres northeast of Rome. Five people killed, and extensive damage occurred in the vicinity of Norcia. [53]
- September 20
- French paratroopers help David Dacko to overthrow Bokassa in the Central African Republic. [1] [840]
- September 22
- A US Vela satellite detects a double flash in the Indian Ocean between Bouvet Island and the Prince Edward Islands; also detected by US Navy hydrophones, and by the radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It is not known if this is a nuclear detonation (and by whom), or if it is a mid-air meteor explosion. [521] [840]
- September 24
- Compu-Serve launches the first customer Internet service, including the first public e-mail service. [1] [5]
- September 29
- Gold hits record US$400.20 an ounce in Hong Kong. [1] [659.6]
- Pope John Paul II becomes first pope to visit Ireland. [1]
- Death of Francisco Macías Nguema, first president of Equatorial Guinea (executed) (born 1924). [840]
- September 30
- The Hong Kong MTR begins service with the opening of its Modified Initial System (aka Kwun Tong Line). [840]
- October 1
- Treaty between Panama and the USA over the Panama Canal goes into effect. Panama assumes jurisdiction over the Canal Zone, with operation of the canal replaced by board of 9 directors, 4 of them Panamanian. Treaty to expire December 31, 1999, when the canal will be turned over to Panama. [1] [5] [1119.115]
- Nigeria terminates military rule, and the Nigerian Second Republic is established. [840]
- October 3
- A EF4 Tornado hits Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA causing extensive damage to the town. [840]
- October 6
- Pope John Paul II is first Pope to visit the White House. [1]
- October 9
- Lesotho recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- October 11
- Allan McLeod Cormack and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield win Nobel Prize for medicine for developing the CAT scan. [1]
- October 12
- Zambia recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). [840]
- October 15
- In Imperial Valley, California, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurs. [53]
- Black Monday events, in which members of a political group sack a newspaper office, unfold in Malta. [840]
- October 16
- A tsunami in Nice, France kills 23 people. [840]
- October 17
- Mother Teresa of India is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. [1] [5]
- Personal Software releases VisiCalc for the Apple II, for US$99. (Over its lifetime, over 700,000 copies are sold.) [4]
- October 18
- Beatlemania opens in London, England. [1]
- October 19
- 13 US Marines die in a fire at Camp Fuji, Japan as a result of Typhoon Tip. [840]
- October 22
- Deposed Shah of Iran arrives in New York for medical treatment. [1]
- Walt Disney World welcomes its 100-millionth guest, Kurt Miller. [6]
- October 26
- Park Chung-hee, the President of South Korea, is assassinated by KCIA director Kim Jaegyu. [1] [840]
- October 27
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines becomes independent of United Kingdom. [1] [840]
- Voluntary Euthanasia Society publishes how-to-do-it suicide guide. [1]
- October 31
- The expanded Lome Agreement is signed between the European Community (EG, Europäische Gemeinschaft, now called the Europäische Union) and 58 developing nations. [37]
- November 1
- Tanker Burmah Agate off Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 10.7 million gallons of oil, in US's worst oil tanker spill disaster. [1]
- Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests. [840]
- November 2
- French police shoot gangster Jacques Mesrine in Paris. [840]
- November 4
- 3000 militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted Shah of Iran to travel to New York City for medical treatment, seize the U.S. embassy in Teheran, taking 90 hostages (53 Americans). They demand that the United States send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial. (The last 52 hostages are released 444 days later.) [1] [129] [840]
- November 6
- At Montevideo, Uruguay, the International Olympic Committee adopts a resolution, whereby Taiwan Olympic and sports teams will participate with the name Chinese Taipei in future Olympics Games and international sports tournaments and championships. [840]
- November 9
- The NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detect purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert is cancelled. [840]
- November 12
- In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran. [1] [840]
- Süleyman Demirel, of AP forms the new government of Turkey (43rd government, a minority government). [840]
- November 14
- U.S. President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis. [840]
- November 15
- British government identifies Sir Anthony Blunt as fourth man in Soviet spy ring. [1]
- November 16
- Bucharest Metro Line One is opened, in Bucharest, Romania (from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea stations, 8.63 km). [840]
- November 17
- Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and African American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. [840]
- November 20
- A group of 200 Juhayman al-Otaibi militants occupy Mecca's Grand Mosque. They are driven out by French commandos after bloody fighting that leaves 250 people dead and 600 wounded. [840]
- November 21
- After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that the Americans had occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing four. [840]
- November 23
- In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten of Burma. [840]
- November 28
- Air New Zealand Flight 901 DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus (in Antarctica) on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board. [1] [840]
- (to November 29) Bowers and Ruddy Galleries holds the first auction session of The John Work Garrett Collection in New York City. 622 lots sell for US$7.1 million. Some highlights:
- USA 1787 Brasher doubloon gold pattern, "EB" punch on wing, MS-63, finest known: $725,000;
- USA 1783 Nova Constellatio Mark, MS-60: $190,000;
- USA 1783 Nova Constellatio Quint, MS-65: $165,000;
- USA 1829 half eagle, large planchet, MS-65: $165,000;
- USA 1815 half eagle, AU-55: $150,000;
- USA 1793 1-cent, chain, "AMERICA", MS-63: $115,000, a record for any copper coin;
- USA 1879 $4 gold pattern, coiled hair, Proof: $115,000;
- USA 1798 $5 gold, small eagle, EF-40: $110,000.
[525.78] [586.41] [591.10]
- December 2
- Crowds attack US embassy at Tripoli, Libya. [1]
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- December 3
- Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before The Who concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. [1] [840]
- Iran accepts constitution. [1]
- December 5
- Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland; he is succeeded by Charles Haughey. [1] [840]
- December 7
- Prince Chahryar Shafik, Shah of Iran's nephew, murdered in Paris, France. [1]
- December 9
- The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction. [840]
- December 10
- Piet Dankert appointed as chairman of European Parliament. [1]
- December 11
- The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia. [1] [840]
- December 12
- NATO decides on a two option policy in the face of the new middle range rockets installed in German Democratic Republic. NATO will begin installation of its own middle range rockets in Federal Republic of Germany, but will agree to remove them if the Soviet Union removes its rockets. [37]
- Gold hits record US$462.50 an ounce. [1]
- Near the coast of Ecuador, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurs. At least 600 people killed, 20,000 injured. The earthquake was felt strongly in many parts of southern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. A 3-metre tsunami along the Colombian coast caused deaths and damage on Gorgona Island, and caused extensive damage to most port cities along the coast of Colombia from Buenaventura south. [53] [840]
- 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. [840]
- Rhodesia becomes the independent nation of Zimbabwe. [1]
- December 13
- Strikes against price increases in Gdansk, Poland. [1]
- December 15
- Deposed Shah of Iran leaves US for Panamá. [1]
- World Court in Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages. [1]
- December 17
- In the Sumbawa Island region, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs. Twenty-seven people reported killed, 200 reported injured, and about 80 percent of the homes and buildings were destroyed or badly damaged in Karangasem on eastern Bali. [53]
- Stanley Barrett in Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 km/h (739.666 MPH, record for wheeled vehicle). [1]
- December 18
- The Vatican's Congregation for the Faith removes the authority of University of Tubingen theologian Hans Kung to teach theology as a Catholic theologian. [37]
- December 21
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- A ceasefire for Rhodesia is signed at London, England. [840]
- Zimbabwe adopts constitution. [1]
- December 23
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the Klein Matterhorn, opens. [840]
- December 24
- The first European Ariane rocket is launched. [1] [5] [840]
- December 26
- In the United Kingdom, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurs, located about 30 km northeast of Carlisle. [53]
- In Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital Salisbury to monitor a ceasefire that begins December 28. [840]
- December 27
- The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. [129] [840]
- Death of Hafizullah Amin (executed), General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, President of Afghanistan (born 1929). [1] [840]
- Babrak Karmal, leader of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, is installed as Afghanistan's new head of government. [129] [840]
- December 30
- Rock group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer break up. [1]
- Togo adopts constitution. [1]
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