September 1979


The following events occurred in September 1979:

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September 1, 1979: Pioneer 11 becomes the first Earth spacecraft to visit the planet Saturn
September 30, 1979: The U.S. Canal Zone territory of Panama goes out of existence
September 7, 1979: The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network first appears on cable television

September 1, 1979 (Saturday)
  • The U.S. interplanetary probe Pioneer 11 became the first Earth spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passed the planet at a distance of less than 13,000 miles (21,000 km).[1] At 16:29:34 UTC it came within 20,591 km (12,795 mi) of Saturn. Less than two hours earlier, it had come within 6,676 kilometres (4,148 mi) of the moon Epimethus.
  • Hurricane David swept through the Dominican Republic as a Category 5 storm,[2] devastating much of the western side of the island of Hispaniola and killing at least 2,000 people there. Neighboring Haiti, on the eastern side of Hispaniola, was not affected.
  • A 33-year old woman, Jessie Thomas, became the first person to receive an artificial spine, following a successful 19-hour surgery at the University of Maryland in Baltimore during which a metal device took the place of four vertebrae of her lower back. Dr. Charles Edwards designed the metal spinal prosthesis and led the surgical team in performing the surgery.[3][4]
  • Color television was introduced to Indonesia as the TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) network began color broadcasting.
  • The Australian rock band INXS performed its first concert under that name, after having been formed on August 16, 1977 by Andrew, Jon and Tim Farriss as "The Farriss Brothers". After briefly performing as "The Vegetables" in 1978, the group adopted its current name shortly before playing at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina, New South Wales.[5]
  • Died:

September 2, 1979 (Sunday)
Zimbabwe Rhodesia flag

September 3, 1979 (Monday)
  • The U.S. Navy combat supply ship USS White Plains rescued 154 Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea, the largest number saved by the U.S. since it had started its search for "boat people" in July. A Navy F-3 Orion patrol plane had spotted two overloaded boats 285 miles (459 km) from the Philippines.[10]
  • Aeroflot Flight 513 crashed in the Soviet Union as it was approaching the airport in Amderma, after having taken off from Archangelsk on a 650 mi (1,050 km) trip. Only three of the 43 people on board survived when the plane crashed on a hillside.[11]
  • Born: Júlio César (Júlio César Soares de Espíndola), Brazilian soccer football goalkeeper; in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro

September 4, 1979 (Tuesday)
  • The United States banned the importation of tuna from Canada in retaliation for the seizure of 19 American tuna fishing boats by the Canadian Coast Guard on charges of fishing in Canada's territorial waters, defined by Canadian law as within 200 miles (320 km) of Canada's coastline.[12] The cargo of each of the 19 boats had been confiscated, and a company was required to post a $5,000 bond for the release of a boat pending criminal action. At the time, the amount of Canada's exports of tuna to the U.S. was worth only $130,000.
  • Died:

September 5, 1979 (Wednesday)

September 6, 1979 (Thursday)

September 7, 1979 (Friday)
former President Macapagal
  • The first cable sports channel, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (better known as ESPN), was launched in the United States at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on participating cable television systems. The first program was a half-hour segment called "ESPN Premiere", followed by a preview of the 1979 college football season.[19]
  • Diosdado Macapagal, the former President of the Philippines, was charged with sedition and arrested in Manila by the government of his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos. The charges arose from Macapagal's criticism of martial law while at a birthday dinner. In 1976, Macapagal had published a book, Democracy in the Philippines, which called upon the nation's armed forces to overthrow the Marcos government "to free the people from dictatorship".[20]
  • Born: Nathan Hindmarsh, Australian National Rugby League player and five-time winner of the Provan-Summons Medal; in Bowral, New South Wales

September 8, 1979 (Saturday)

September 9, 1979 (Sunday)

September 10, 1979 (Monday)
Angola's President Neto

September 11, 1979 (Tuesday)

September 12, 1979 (Wednesday)
  • The eruption of the Mount Etna volcano in Italy killed at least nine tourists, and severely injured 12 others who required amputation of limbs because of burns. A rescue official reported that the death toll from the explosion of Etna was probably higher because "based on what we've seen so far, some victims must literally have been blown to pieces" while others were buried under large rocks.[31][32]
  • Hurricane Frederic struck the U.S. Gulf Coast with winds of 130 miles per hour (210 km/h) and caused heavy damage to a stretch of coast along the U.S. states of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.[33] Because of advance warning, the death toll was only nine people, compared to 250 killed when Hurricane Camille struck the same area in August 1969.[34]
  • Born: Michelle Dorrance, American choreographer and tap dancer, 2015 MacArthur Grant winner; in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  • Died: Les Clark, 71, American animator with the Walt Disney Studios

September 13, 1979 (Thursday)
Venda
  • South Africa granted nominal independence to the "tribal homeland" or Bantustan of Venda. The impoverished nation, located in northeast South Africa along the border with Zimbabwe, was recognized as sovereign only by South Africa, Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and Botswana. With a population of 320,000 and a capital at Thohoyandou, it was the third of a planned 10 black-ruled nations (after Transkei and Bophuthatswana), established by the white-minority government, which had set aside 13 percent of South Africa's land for relocation of much of its black population. Chief Patrick Mphephu was sworn in as the first President of the Republic of Venda.[35]
  • At least 50 people were killed in Yugoslavia when a heavily-loaded freight train crashed into the back of an express train transporting newly-recruited soldiers of the Yugoslavian Army.[36] The accident happened outside of the railway station at the Serbian village of Stalać, when the freight train engineer went through a stop signal.
  • The American television show Benson, a situation comedy starring Robert Guillaume, began a seven-season run as one of the few successful fall premieres of the 1979-1980 U.S. television season.

September 14, 1979 (Friday)
Afganistan's President Taraki, arrested for murder

September 15, 1979 (Saturday)
  • The popular video game Galaxian was introduced by the Namco corporation, initially in Japan [41] before being marketed in the United States by Midway Manufacturing on February 2, 1980.
  • U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the first to run in a ten-kilometre footrace while in office, almost collapsed from heat exhaustion while participating in a 10K run at Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland.[42] President Carter, a regular jogger at 54 years old, became ill about two-thirds of the way during the 6.2 mile race and required immediate medical attention from the White House physician, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William M. Lukash, including an intravenous saline solution while lying on the ground. When his condition stabilized, he was driven to Camp David for more treatment, and had recovered by the next day.[43]
  • An unsuccessful TV show whose stars would go on to greater fame, Working Stiffs premiered on CBS. Starring Jim Belushi and Michael Keaton as a pair of brothers who were janitors, Working Stiffs was canceled after its fourth episode on October 20.
  • Born:
  • Fiction: In the British TV series Still Game, Pete the Jakey claims to have invented the Beefy Bake on this date.[44]

September 16, 1979 (Sunday)
  • Elections were held in Sweden for the 349-seat Riksdag, in a race that was not decided until the counting of mail-in ballots three days later. Although results from polling places initially indicated that a Socialist coalition of the Social Democrats and the Vänsterpartiet ("Left" party) would return to control the Riksdag for the first time since 1976, the final results showed that the non-Socialist parties (the People's Party, the Centre Party and the Moderate Party) were able to combine for 175 while the Social Democrats and Leftists had 174. The margin of difference was the examination of the mailed ballots, that showed that in one of the 310 elected constituencies, the Moderate Party had won a seat initially thought to have been won by the Social Democrats.[45]
  • Two families fled in a homemade hot-air balloon from East Germany to West Germany, crossing 23 miles (37 km) of the heavily-guarded border of the then-Communist nation and landing in the west after running out of fuel. Led by an aircraft mechanic, Hans-Peter Strelzik of Pössneck, the group of four adults and four children departed from a forest near Ziegenrück at 2:40 in the morning, and landed in Naila 20 minutes later.[46]
  • The Sugarhill Gang released Rapper's Delight in the United States, the first rap single to become a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Born:
  • Died:

September 17, 1979 (Monday)
  • Leonid Koslov and Valentina Koslova, principal dancers with Russia's Bolshoi Ballet, were given political asylum by the United States while the ballet company was in Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Koslov had contacted the Los Angeles Police Department the day before, and the LAPD contacted federal agents. The defection came at the end of the company's U.S. tour, and almost four weeks after the August 22 defection of Alexander Godunov. The rest of the company flew back to the Soviet Union.[47]

September 18, 1979 (Tuesday)
  • The Soviet husband-and-wife figure skating team of Lyudmilla Belousova and Oleg Protopopov, winners of Winter Olympic gold medals in 1964 and 1968, defected to the West a day before they were scheduled to fly from Geneva back to Moscow, after a four week tour of West Germany and Switzerland.[48]
  • In response to continuing price inflation in the United States, the Federal Reserve Board of the U.S. voted, 4 to 3, to raise the discount rate for commercial banks to a then-record high of 11 percent as a way of limiting the amount of money available to lenders. Chairman Paul A. Volcker cast the deciding vote to break a disagreement between the other six directors.[49]
  • Born: Junichi Inamoto, Japanese soccer football midfielder and national team member; in Kagoshima

September 19, 1979 (Wednesday)
  • A mountain climber in France found the bodies of two U.S. Army Air Force fliers and the remnants of their warplane, believed to have crashed more than 34 years earlier in late 1944 or early 1945.[50] The discovery was made at a glacier on a 9,200 foot (2,800 m) high Alpine peak above the town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
  • Struck by Lightning, one of the least successful shows of the 1979 U.S. television season, premiered on the CBS network. A fantasy comedy featuring Frankenstein's monster, it was canceled two weeks later, after its third episode on October 3.

September 20, 1979 (Thursday)
picture1
picture2
President Dacko replaces Emperor Bokassa in Central Africa
  • French paratroopers helped David Dacko to overthrow Emperor Bokassa in the Central African Empire. Bokassa was out of the country out of the time, visiting Libya.[51] Dacko, a former president immediately restored the name of the nation to Central African Republic and became its president for a second time.
  • Five people were killed by an earthquake in Italy, and more than 500 injured, and various ancient monuments in Rome sustained damage. The fatalities occurred in the villages of San Marco di Norcia and in Chiavano di Cascia.[52] The Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine and the Column of Marcus Aurelius all were found to have "superficial" cracks after the quake and multiple aftershocks.[53]
  • The Treaty of Tarawa was signed between representatives of the United States and the newly-independent Republic of Kiribati as a "treaty of friendship and territorial sovereignty", acknowledging Kiribati's sovereignty of 14 islands in the South Pacific Ocean in return for being able to maintain military bases on the islands of Kanton, Enderbury and Hull.
  • Ola Ullsten submitted his resignation as Prime Minister of Sweden four days after elections for the Riksdag, the lower house of Sweden's parliament.[54]
  • Theunis de Klerk, one of the white members of the Zimbabwe Rhodesia House of Assembly, was assassinated by a rocket attack on his home.[55] His death was the second of an Assembly member, four days after Terrence Mashambanhaka was murdered by guerrillas who attacked him with axes on September 16.
  • Died:

September 21, 1979 (Friday)
  • The collision of two Royal Air Force Harrier jets, at an altitude of 8,000 feet (2,400 m), killed two men and a young boy on the ground in the village of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in England.[56]
  • The Cabinet of India voted to declare the Jewels of the Nizams of Hyderabad to be an Indian national treasure and ruled that it was not in the national interest to allow the jewelry collection to be taken out of the country.[57] The ruling effectively ended a proposed auction of the collection. Both Stavros Niarchos, the Greek shipping magnate, and banker Abdul Wahab E. Galadari of Dubai had deposited $26 million with the auction house as an opening bid for the jewels.[58]

September 22, 1979 (Saturday)

September 23, 1979 (Sunday)

September 24, 1979 (Monday)
President Limann
  • After more than seven years of military rule in the West African nation of Ghana, an elected civilian president and 140-member parliament were inaugurated. Hilla Limann, an economist and a former diplomat, was sworn into office. The leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, Flight Lieutenant Jerry J. Rawlings, told listeners in a radio broadcast that he was handing over power three months after overthrowing the previous government and that his fellow council members would "return to the barracks" and warned that "if people in power use their offices to pursue self-interest, they will be resisted and unseated, no matter how unshakeable their opposition may seem to be." [62]
  • Born:
  • Died: Carl Laemmle Jr., head of production of Universal Studios from 1928 to 1936

September 25, 1979 (Tuesday)
  • The government of Argentina released former newspaper publisher Jacobo Timerman, who had been held under house arrest since April 1977 without being charged with a crime. Timerman, who had founded the opposition newspaper La Opinión in Buenos Aires in 1971, was taken to an airport and placed on an Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Rome as part of an order expelling him from Argentina.[63] Timerman would later publish a bestselling memoir of his experience, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number.
  • The Montreal Star, which had published for 111 years, announced that it had published its last issue.[64]
  • U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed legislation permitting the completion of the Tellico Dam hydroelectric project in Tennessee, almost three years after construction had been halted because of its threat to a species of fish on the Little Tennessee River, the snail darter (Percina tanasi). The project had stopped on January 31, 1977, because of a lawsuit brought under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the bill passed by Congress exempted the Tellico Dam project from the ESA. [65] The dam was completed on November 29 and the Tellico Reservoir began forming.
  • Born:

September 26, 1979 (Wednesday)

September 27, 1979 (Thursday)

September 28, 1979 (Friday)
  • A fire at the Am Augarten Hotel in Vienna killed 25 people after apparently having been started in a wastebasket in the hotel's reception area and then spreading up the elevator shafts of the four-story building.[69][70]
  • Born:

September 29, 1979 (Saturday)
Executed former dictator Macias Nguema

September 30, 1979 (Sunday)

References
  1. "Spacecraft Takes First Close Look At Saturn, Slipping Through Rings; Pioneer 11, After 4 Hours Near Second Largest Planet, Then Veers Off Toward Titan, the Largest Moon", by John Noble Wilford, The New York Times, September 2, 1979, p. A1
  2. "Dominicans Report 400 Killed by Hurricane and Flooding; Residents Flee Keys", The New York Times, September 3, 1979, p. A1
  3. "World's First Surgery to Replace Vertebrae Is Termed Successful", The New York Times, September 2, 1979, p. A18
  4. "Spine device patient goes off the respirator", Daily News (New York), September 5, 1979, p. 10
  5. Ed St John, Burn : The life and times of Michael Hutchence and INXS (Bantam Books, 1998)
  6. "12 Britons Set Off to Circle Globe Via the North and South Poles", by R. W. Apple Jr., The New York Times, September 3, 1979, p. A1
  7. Ranulph Fiennes, To the Ends of the Earth : The Transglobe Expedition, the First Pole-to Pole Circumnavigation of the Globe (Gage Learning, 1983) p. 290
  8. "Zimbabwe Rhodesia Holds Ceremony for New Flag", The New York Times, September 3, 1979, p. A2
  9. "Krishna Palace Amazes West Virginia— Sect's New Temple, on a Mountaintop, Cost Half a Million", by Edward Schumacher, The New York Times, September 3, 1979, p. A6
  10. "U.S. Warship Saves 154, Largest Refugee Total Yet", The New York Times, September 4, 1979, p. A13
  11. Aviation Safety Network
  12. "The great tuna tussle— U.S., Canada swap charges, threats as fish fray continues to boil", The Ottawa Citizen, September 5, 1979, p. 1
  13. "Alberto Di Jorio, Oldest Cardina, Dies at 95 at His Home in Rome", The New York Times, September 6, 1979, p. D21
  14. "Guy Bolton, One of the Originators of the Broadway Musical, 96, Dies", The New York Times, September 6, 1979, p. D21
  15. "Change of Pace in NBA: Ann Meyers Signs to Play", The Los Angeles Times, September 6, 1979, p.III-1
  16. "Pacers Close Book On The Ann Meyers Story", by Dick Mittman, Indianapolis News, September 13, 1979, p.30
  17. "I.B.M. and MCA Form Video-Disk Joint Venture", The New York Times, September 6, 1979, p. D4
  18. "President to Free 4 Puerto Ricans In Washington Shootings of 1950's— Nationalists Tried to Kill Truman and Shot Five Congressment in House", by Martin Tolchin, The New York Times, September 7, 1979, p. A3
  19. "24-Hour Sports Channel Starts Tonight on Cable", Wichita (KS) Eagle, September 7, 1979, p. 4D
  20. "Ex-President Arrested by Manila for Rumormongering and Sedition", The New York Times, September 8, 1979, p. A3
  21. "Whitecaps Set Back Rowdies for Title, 2-1", by Alex Yannis, The New York Times, September 9, 1979, p. 5-1
  22. "A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Bahais of Iran" (Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2006) p. 41
  23. "McEnroe and Miss Austin Win U.S. Open Titles", by Neil Amdur, The New York Times, September 10, 1979, p. C1
  24. "Iran Says a Key Religious Leader, Ayatollah Taleghani, Dies in Sleep", The New York Times, September 10, 1979, p. A4
  25. "Agostinho Neto, 56, Angola's Leader, Dies in Moscow After Surgery", by Thomas A. Johnson, The New York Times, September 12, 1979, p. A6
  26. "2 new comic strips take a look at coping", Chicago Tribune, September 10, 1979, p.2-6
  27. "New comic starts today in Gazette", The Gazette (Montreal), September 10, 1979, p.1
  28. "Elections Are Set for Dec. 2 By President in Portugal", The New York Times, September 12, 1979, p. A7
  29. "Female Sailors Go Overseas First Time on U.S. Warship", The New York Times, September 12, 1979, p. A14
  30. "Raymond Lederer, Abscam Figure, Is Dead at 70", The New York Times, December 3, 2008
  31. "Rocks Emitted by Etna Kill Six Tourists at Summit", The New York Times, September 13, 1979, p. A7
  32. "Mt. Etna Deaths Rise to 9; Higher Toll Is Feared", The New York Times, September 14, 1979, p. A5
  33. "Gulf Hurricane Crashes Ashore In Mobile, Ala.", by Howell Raines, The New York Times, September 13, 1979, p. A1
  34. "Hurricane Damages 100 Miles of Coast, But Few Are Killed", by William K. Stevens, The New York Times, September 14, 1979, p. A1
  35. "South Africa Starts a New Nation", The New York Times, September 14, 1979, p. A4
  36. "50 Die as Freight Train Rams Express in Yugoslavia", The New York Times, September 14, 1979, p. A5
  37. "Taraki Yields Afghan Presidency And Party Posts to Prime Minister", The New York Times, September 17, 1979, p. A1
  38. "New Afghan Head Called Survivor Of a Rebel Ambush Over Weekend", The New York Times, September 20, 1979, p. A1
  39. Aviation Safety Network
  40. "Oregon Forest Fire Uncontrolled; 12 Killed in Nearby Crash of DC-7", The New York Times, September 16, 1979, p. A26
  41. "Midway Mfg. Co. v. Dirkschneider, 543 F. Supp. 466 (D. Neb. 1981)". Justia Law. U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. July 15, 1981. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  42. "Carter, Exhausted and Pale, Drops Out of 6-Mile Rade", by B. Drummond Ayres Jr., The New York Times, September 16, 1979, p. A1
  43. "Physician Pronounces President Fit After Near-Collapse in 6-Mile Race", by Lawrence K. Altman, The New York Times, September 17, 1979, p. A1
  44. "Recipe". IMDb.
  45. "Non-Socialists Win Swedish Elections— Count of Postal Ballots Snatches Victory From Socialist Bloc by Margine of Single Seat", by John Vinocur, The New York Times, September 20, 1979, p. A9
  46. "2 East German Families Escape To West in a Homemade Balloon", The New York Times, September 17, 1979, p. A2
  47. "Two Principal Dancers of Bolshoi Are Given Political Asylum in U.S.", by Ari L. Goldman, The New York Times, September 18, 1979, p. A1
  48. "Soviet 60's Olympic Skating Couple Defect to Swiss", The New York Times, September 25, 1979, p. A1
  49. "Reserve Board, by 4-3, Raises Rate On Loans to Banks to Record 11%", by Robert A. Bennett, The New York Times, September 19, 1979, p. A1
  50. "2 World War II U.S. Fliers' Bodies Found on a French Alpine Glacier", The New York Times, September 23, 1979, p. A22
  51. "Bokassa Is Reported Overthrown In Coup in Central African Empire", The New York Times, September 21, 1979, p. A1
  52. "Quake Strikes Central Italy", The New York Times, September 21, 1979, p. A7
  53. "Severe Italian Quake Cracks Colosseum and Other Sites", The New York Times, September 22, 1979, p. A4
  54. "Sweden's Premier Resigns To Negotiate on Cabinet", The New York Times, September 21, 1979, p. A7
  55. "Rhodesian Legislator Killed", The New York Times, September 22, 1979, p. A3
  56. "1979: Harrier crash kills three", On This Day, BBC.co.uk
  57. "Cabinet Rules Prince's Gems Must Be Kept in India", The New York Times, September 22, 1979, p. A4
  58. "Indian Jewel Auction Bidding Starts at $25 Million", The New York Times, September 10, 1979, p. A5
  59. "U.S. Monitors Signs of Atom Explosion Near South Africa— A Top Pretoria Aide Denies All Knowledge of Any Nuclear Arms Test", by Bernard Gwertzman, The New York Times, October 26, 1979, p. A1
  60. "Declassified Documents Indicate Israel And South Africa Conducted Nuclear Test In 1979", Jewish Business News, December 9, 2016
  61. "Military Governor Is Killed By Basque Separatists", The New York Times, September 24, 1979, p. A7
  62. "Military Regime in Ghana Yields Power to Civilians", by Pranay B. Gupte, The New York Times, September 25, 1979, p. A3
  63. "Argentina Expels Publisher It Had Held for 29 Months", by Juan de Onis, The New York Times, September 26, 1979, p. A6
  64. "Montreal Star Ceases Publication After Loss of Circulation in Strike", by Dierdre Carmody, The New York Times, September 26, 1979, p. A12
  65. "Carter Signs Legislation Approving Completion of a Dam in Tennessee", The New York Times, September 26, 1979, p. A17
  66. "Arizona Guardsmen Seize Factory Where Radioactive Gas Is Leaking", by Robert McG. Thomas Jr.", The New York Times, September 27, 1979, p. A1
  67. "Congress Approves Dept. of Education; Victory for Carter; House Backs 13th Cabinet Unit— H.E.W. Losing Key Agencies and Getting New Name", by Marjorie Hunter, The New York Times, September 28, 1979, p. A1
  68. "1,602 More Get Amnesty In Marcos 'Unity' Move", The New York Times, September 28, 1979, p. A5
  69. "25 Die in Vienna Hotel Fire, Including 3 From Maine", The New York Times, September 29, 1979, p. A3
  70. "Vienna Blaze That Killed 25 Began in Hotel Wastebasket", The New York Times, September 30, 1979, p. A11
  71. "2 Million Irish Expected to See Pope During 3-Day Visit", by R. W. Apple Jr., The New York Times, September 29, 1979, p. A6
  72. "Pontiff, In Ireland, Makes Strong Plea for End to Violence— 2 Million Go out to See Him", By R. W. Apple Jr., The New York Times, September 30, 1979, p. A1
  73. "Pope's Itinerary for Ireland—U.S. Visits", The New York Times, September 19, 1979, p. A21
  74. "Argentine Army Reports Rebellion Move by General", The New York Times, September 30, 1979, p. A11
  75. "Argentine Army Revolt Ended", The New York Times, October 1, 1979, p. A3
  76. "Americans in Canal Zone Sadly Witness End of an Era", by Alan Riding,The New York Times, October 1, 1979, p. A1
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