1979 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

• The Quote: "This is the product that will satisfy those young people who want to listen to music all day." - Akio Morita, Sony Chairman, about the Sony Walkman.
• On January 9, Vietnamese troops took the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, and toppled the brutal regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge.
• The Top Song was My Sharona by The Knack
• The Big Movies included Kramer vs. Kramer, Superman and The Amityville Horror
• TRS-80 Computer, 4k, Model 1: $499.00
  Price of a gallon of gas in 1979: 88 cents
• The World Population was ~ 4,312,000,000
• The First Strawberry Shortcake doll went on sale.
• The Cray supercomputer was invented by Seymour Cray.
• And... The China Syndrome, a movie about a nuclear meltdown caused by a faulty sensor reading and a stuck-open pressure release valve, aired only 12 days before the 3 Mile Island Meltdown, caused by a faulty sensor reading and a stuck open pressure release valve.

John Paul II visted the Unites States of America (October 1st-8, 1979).

The Grateful Dead played the final concert at the iconic Winterland venue in San Francisco on New Years Eve 1978 which lasted over 8 hours. The guests were treated to a hot buffet breakfast at dawn when the show ended.

Maichael Jackson released Off the Wall, his fifth solo studio album.

The last claim under the 1866 Homestead Act, which entitled a person to free frontier land if they lived on it for five years and built a farm, was made on 80 acres near the Stony River in Alaska in 1979.

In 1979 the US had specific days to get gas based on if you're license plate ended in an odd or even number, due to a gasoline shortage.

Jimmy Carter signed the bill that made homebrewing legal in 1978. It took effect in 1979.

Black and Decker released the now-famous cordless mini-vacuum, The Dustbuster.

Guy Lafleur, a player for the Montreal Canadiens, released an album called "Lafleur". It consisted of Lafleur giving hockey instructions over the sound of disco music.

An LA man received thousands of parking tickets due to DMV computers matching tickets for cars without plates to his custom "NO PLATE" license plate.

PBS' This Old House was one of the earliest home improvement shows. It was initially controversial among building contractors, and the cast was afraid that they were giving away secrets of the building trades.

On 9/22/1979 there was an unidentified nuclear explosion in the Indian Ocean, and it is known as the Vela Incident.

1979's Mad Max was dubbed for original US release, because producers assumed American audiences would have trouble understanding Australian accents.

The first recorded human death by robot was on Jan. 25, 1979, when a Ford Motors assembly line worker was killed in Flat Rock, Michigan.

ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) began broadcasting on September 7.

Alec Guiness was one of the few cast members who believed that Star Wars would be a box office hit; he negotiated a deal for 2.25% of the gross royalties paid to the director, George Lucas, who received one fifth of the box office takings.

Etan Patz was the first missing child to have their picture on milk carton in 1979 and that the murderer wasn't caught till 2012.

Victoria's Secret stores opened in 1979. It went national in 1982 after being aquired by Limited Brands..

Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.

An unknown group of people paid for the erection of the "Georgia Guidestones", 6 granite slabs that instruct the survivors of an apocalyptic scenario how to rebuild a better world.

April 1st - Nickelodeon TV cable network began.

When the Peanuts started in 1950, Charlie Brown was 4 years old, aged to six 1957, and has been about eight since 1979.

The Cleveland Elementary School shooting which took place in 1979 in San Diego, California. A 16-year-old girl, Brenda Spencer, killed the principal and a custodian, and injured 8 children and a police officer. When asked by a reporter why she did it, she said "I don't like Mondays."

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1979: $185,000.

The first time a black character appeared in a video game was in 1979's "Basketball" on the Atari 800.

The biggest ever storm on record was Typhoon Tip in 1979 - 2,200km wide, 305km/h winds.

The Cleveland Elementary School shooting took place in 1979 in San Diego, California. A 16-year-old girl, Brenda Spencer, killed the principal and a custodian, and injured 8 children and a police officer. When asked by a reporter why she did it, she said "I don't like Mondays."

The Hatfield and McCoy families, of the famous Hatfield-McCoy Feud, faced off once again in 1979 on the game show Family Feud.

Anna Williams received a bizarre poem lamenting her absence from her home on the night of April 28th, 1979, From the serial killer, BTK, who had been waiting in her bedroom closet that night.

Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into the Antarctic Mountains in November 1979. The 257 bodies were recovered but the crash remains was left behind. When the snow partially melts in the Antarctic Summer, the remaining pieces of the fuselage are visible from the air.

A mummified steppe bison named Blue Babe was discovered in Alaska. While preparing the specimen for display, the research team decided to stew and eat part of the mummy's neck to "celebrate the accomplishment". They were fine after the meal.

A woman named Elvita Adams jumped from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building in an attempt to kill herself, but fell into the next floor due to a gust of wind.

Between 1977 and 1979, New Zealand offered scenic Antarctic flights. They stopped when one plane crashed into an Antarctic volcano killing all 257 people on the flight. The wreckage still remains at the crash site.

President Jimmy Carter claimed he had to shoo away an enraged swamp rabbit that began swimming toward his fishing boat in 1979. Upon returning to his office, Carter's staff did not believe his story, insisting that rabbits could not swim, or that they would never approach a person threateningly.

Anna Williams received a bizarre poem lamenting her absence from her home on the night of April 28th, 1979. The author of the letter? The serial killer, BTK, who had been waiting in her bedroom closet that night.

In 1987, FBI agent Robert Hanssen was tasked by his superiors to find a mole within the agency after the FBI's moles in the KGB were caught. In reality, he was the mole, working with the KGB since 1979.

Etan Patz was the 1st missing child to have their picture on milk carton in 1979 and that the murderer wasn't caught untill 2012

Ford's Pinto automobile design allowed its fuel tank to be easily damaged in the event of a rear-end collision which sometimes resulted in deadly fires and explosions. It was first noticed by Ford in 1971 tests.

The 1979 film The China Syndrome, about a coverup at a nuclear plant, was released, it was denounced as a "character assassination of an entire industry". 12 days later, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred... on March 28, Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, had a near melt-down. No one was reported killed or injured, but the accident changed many regulations for American nuclear reactors.

On September 2, there was an unidentified nuclear explosion in the Indian Ocean, and it is known as the Vela Incident

52 Americans are taken hostage in Tehran, Iran for 444 days. Four days later, ABC's Nighline premiered, centering on the crisis.

NASA's Skylab fell to Earth, in Esperance, Western Australia. The Shire of Esperance fined NASA $400 for littering, which went unpaid for 30 years until a radio host raised the money and paid it on behalf of NASA. The San Francisco Examiner offered a $10,000 prize for the first piece of the Skylab space station to be delivered to their offices. 17-year-old Stan Thornton scooped a few pieces of Skylab off the roof of his home in Esperance, Australia flew to San Francisco, and collected the prize.

Rock and Roll Death: Sid Vicious (heroin overdose)

11 people were crushed to death outside of Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum prior to a concert by The Who.

Charles Manson sent a "Get Out of Jail Free" card to his parole board in 1979. It didn't work.

Mattel's Intellivision, Milton Bradley's Microvision, Sony Walkman casette/radio

Inside Sports Magazine (1979-1998)

Self Magazine (1979-2017)

Fangoria began publication