Skip to main content

In January 1979

In January 1979, TMLT began writing policies. Also in January 1979,

  • China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations, 30 years after the People's Republic was established.
  • UNESCO proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child.
  • Vietnam and Vietnam-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and collapse of Pol Pot regime.
  • Shah leaves Iran after year of turmoil; revolutionary forces under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini take over.
     
  • President: James Earl Carter
  • Vice President: Walter F. Mondale
  • Texas Governor: Dolph Briscoe (until January 16); Bill Clements (after January 16)
  • U.S. Population: 225,055,487
  • Life expectancy: 73.9 years
  • The average household income per year was $17,500
     
  • In the news — The State of Ohio agreed to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings
  • In the news — The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in Superbowl XIII.
  • In the news — A 16-year-old girl opened fire at an elementary school in San Diego, California, killing two faculty members and wounding eight students. She was convicted and remains in prison.
  • In the news — The Sahara Desert experienced snow for 30 minutes.
     
  • Nobel prize for physiology or medicine went to Allan McLeod Cormack (US) and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (UK) for developing computed axial tomography (CAT scan).
  • Billboard’s Number one song was “Too Much Heaven” by the Bee Gees
  • At the top of the New York Times fiction best seller list was Chesapeake by James Mitchner
  • Most popular baby names were Michael and Melissa
  • A Sony Walkman cost $200
  • A gallon of gas cost 86 cents
  • A postage stamp was 15 cents