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This article is about the year 1979. For other uses, see 1979 (disambiguation).

1979

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Clockwise from top-left: the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, starting the Soviet-Afghan War; Sony releases the Walkman; the SALT II treaties are signed; Iranian students crowd the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis; the oil tanker Betelgeuse explodes, killing 50 people; American Airlines Flight 191 crashes, leaving 271 people dead; Ixtoc 1 suffers a blowout, spilling 3.5 million barrels of oil; the Iranian Revolution culminates in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century 20th century 21st century
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
Years:	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982

2024 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	2024 MMXXIV
Ab urbe condita	2777
Armenian calendar	1473 ԹՎ ՌՆՀԳ
Assyrian calendar	6774
Baháʼí calendar	180–181
Balinese saka calendar	1945–1946
Bengali calendar	1431
Berber calendar	2974
British Regnal year	2 Cha. 3 – 3 Cha. 3
Buddhist calendar	2568
Burmese calendar	1386
Byzantine calendar	7532–7533
Chinese calendar	癸卯年 (Water Rabbit) 4721 or 4514     — to — 甲辰年 (Wood Dragon) 4722 or 4515
Coptic calendar	1740–1741
Discordian calendar	3190
Ethiopian calendar	2016–2017
Hebrew calendar	5784–5785
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2080–2081
- Shaka Samvat	1945–1946
- Kali Yuga	5124–5125
Holocene calendar	12024
Igbo calendar	1024–1025
Iranian calendar	1402–1403
Islamic calendar	1445–1446
Japanese calendar	Reiwa 6 (令和６年)
Javanese calendar	1957–1958
Juche calendar	113
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4357
Minguo calendar	ROC 113 民國113年
Nanakshahi calendar	556
Thai solar calendar	2567
Tibetan calendar	阴水兔年 (female Water-Rabbit) 2150 or 1769 or 997     — to — 阳木龙年 (male Wood-Dragon) 2151 or 1770 or 998
Unix time	1704067200 – 1735689599

1979 (MCMLXXIX) is the current year, and is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1979th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 979th year of the 2nd millennium, the 79th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1970s decade.

Events

January

Main article: January 1979

• January 1
  • United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the International Year of the Child. Many musicians donate to the Music for UNICEF Concert fund, among them ABBA, who write the song Chiquitita to commemorate the event.
  • In 1979, the United States officially severed diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan). This decision marked a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy, turning to view the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China.
  • The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations.
  • Following a deal agreed during 1978, French carmaker Peugeot completes a takeover of American manufacturer Chrysler's European operations, which are based in Britain's former Rootes Group factories, as well as the former Simca factories in France.
• January 6 – Geylang Bahru family murders: Four children are brutally killed in Geylang Bahru, Singapore. The children were aged 5 to 10.
• January 7 – Cambodian–Vietnamese War: The People's Army of Vietnam and Vietnamese-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area along the Thai border, ending large-scale fighting.
• January 8 – Whiddy Island Disaster: The French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry, Ireland; 50 are killed.
• January 9 – The Music for UNICEF Concert is held at the United Nations General Assembly to raise money for UNICEF and promote the Year of the Child. It is broadcast the following day in the United States and around the world. Hosted by the Bee Gees, other performers include Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fire. A soundtrack album is later released.
• January 16 – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran with his family, relocating to Egypt after a year of turmoil.
• January 19 – Former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell is released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama.
• January 22 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Mutukula: The Tanzanian military captures the Ugandan border town of Mutukula after a short battle.
• January 25 – Pope John Paul II arrives in Mexico City for his first visit to Mexico, mainly for 1979's Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) or Conference of Puebla.
• January 28 – Deng Xiaoping arrives in Washington, D.C., for the first visit of a paramount leader of the People's Republic of China to the United States.

February

Main article: February 1979

22 February: Saint Lucia becomes independent

Restored flag of Iran

• February 1 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
• February 3 – Ayatollah Khomeini creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution.
• February 7
  • Iranian Revolution: Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts, and government administration; the final session of the Iranian National Consultative Assembly is held.
  • Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
  • Nazi criminal Josef Mengele suffers a fatal stroke and drowns while swimming in Bertioga, Brazil. His remains are found in 1985.
• February 10–11 – The Iranian Revolution ends with the Iranian army withdrawing to its barracks leaving power in the hands of Ayatollah Khomeini, ending the Pahlavi dynasty.
• February 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Simba Hills: The Tanzanian military began its assault on the Simba Hills near the town of Kakuuto.
• February 12 – Prime Minister Hissène Habré starts the Battle of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chad's President Félix Malloum.
• February 13
  • An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1.3 km (0.81 mi) long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.
  • The Guardian Angels are formed in New York City as an unarmed organization of young crime fighters.
• February 14 – In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, who is killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
• February 15 – A suspected gas explosion in a Warsaw bank kills 49.
• February 17 – The People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.
• February 18
  • The 1979 Daytona 500 is televised on CBS, the first ever full airing of a 500-mile race on US television, Richard Petty wins after Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison battle for first place on the final lap and crash out, leading to a fist fight. This race brought NASCAR to a wider audience.
  • The Khomeini government in Iran cuts diplomatic relations with Israel.
• February 21 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Gayaza Hills: A Tanzanian brigade successfully dislodged Ugandan forces from the Gayaza Hills. The battle is hard-fought, and the Tanzanians suffer their largest number of casualties in a single engagement of the war.
• February 22 – Saint Lucia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• February 26
  • A total solar eclipse, the last visible from the continental United States until 2017, arcs over northwestern conterminous US and central Canada ending in Greenland. A partial solar eclipse is visible over almost all of North America and Central America including the eastern half of Alaska and the western half of the UK.
  • The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
• February 27
  • The annual Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans is cancelled due to a strike called by the New Orleans Police Department.
  • The Soviet oil tanker Antonio Gramsci suffers a minor shipwreck in shallow waters shortly after leaving shore in Ventspils, resulting in a 5,000 ton oil spill, the largest that has ever occurred on the Baltic Sea.

March

Main article: March 1979

• March 1
  • Scottish devolution referendum: Scotland votes in favour of a Scottish Assembly, which is not implemented due to failing a condition that at least 40% of the electorate must support the proposal; in a Welsh devolution referendum, Wales votes against devolution.
  • Philips publicly demonstrate a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
• March 2 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Tororo: Ugandan rebels attack and capture the town of Tororo.
• March 4
  • The U.S. Voyager 1 spaceprobe photos reveal Jupiter's rings.
  • Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Tororo: The Ugandan military retakes Tororo from rebels.
• March 5 – Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Jupiter at 277,000 kilometres (172,000 mi).
• March 7 – The largest Magnetar (Soft gamma repeater) event is recorded.
• March 8
  • Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
  • Thousands of women participate in the International Women's Day Protests in Tehran, 1979 against the introduction of mandatory veiling during the Iranian revolution.
  • Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.
• March 10 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lukaya: The Ugandan military, a Libyan expeditionary force and allied Palestine Liberation Organisation militants begin a counter-offensive against Tanzanian troops in south-central Uganda. The Ugandan-led alliance retakes Lukaya after a short clash with the Tanzanian military.
• March 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lukaya: The Tanzanian military counter-attacks at Lukaya, completely defeating the Ugandan-led alliance. This defeat permanently cripples the Ugandan military.
• March 13 – Maurice Bishop leads a successful coup in Grenada. His government will be crushed by American intervention in 1983.
• March 14 – In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing 31 people on the ground and injuring 200.
• March 16
  • End of major hostilities in the Sino-Vietnamese War.
  • In his letter to the United Nations, Elisio De Figueiredo, the People's Republic of Angola's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, requests an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the question of South Africa's continuous acts of aggression in Angola.
• March 17 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel in the UK collapses, killing two workers.
• March 19 – C-SPAN, an American television channel focusing on government and public affairs, is launched.
• March 18 – Ten miners die in a methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.
• March 22 – The National Hockey League votes to approve its merger with the World Hockey Association, to take effect in three months, following the leagues' respective postseasons.
• March 25 – The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center, to be prepared for its first launch.
• March 26
  • In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign an Egypt–Israel peace treaty.
  • Michigan State University, led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson, defeats Larry Bird-led Indiana State 75–64 in the NCAA tournament championship game at Salt Lake City.
• March 28
  • In Britain, James Callaghan's minority Labour government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election which is to be held on 3 May.
  • America's most serious nuclear power plant accident occurs, at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.
• March 29 – Sultan Yahya Petra of Kelantan, the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State) of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.
• March 30 – Airey Neave, Conservative M.P. in the British House of Commons, is killed, presumably by an Irish National Liberation Army bomb in the car park for the Houses of Parliament.
• March 31
  • The last British soldier (belonging to the Royal Navy) leaves the Maltese Islands, after 179 years of presence. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).
  • Milk and Honey win the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 for Israel, with the song Hallelujah.

April

Main article: April 1979

• April 1
  • Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially.
  • Nickelodeon launches from QUBE's Pinwheel experiment and begins airing on various Warner Cable systems beginning in Buffalo, New York, expanding its audience reach.
  • Dale Earnhardt Sr. wins his first career NASCAR race at the 1979 Southeastern 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He would go on to win 76 races and seven championships during his career.
• April 1–18 – Police lock Andreas Mihavecz in a holding cell in Bregenz, Austria and forget about him, leaving him there without food or drink.
• April 2 – Sverdlovsk anthrax leak: A Soviet biowarfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock. It is a violation of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972.
• April 2 – In Japan, the channel of TV Asahi premieres Doraemon.
• April 4 – Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is executed by hanging for the murder of a political opponent.
• April 6 – Student protests break out in Nepal.
• April 7 – In Japan, Yoshiyuki Tomino directs Mobile Suit Gundam, the first series of the metaseries of the same name.
• April 10 – A tornado hits Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people (the most notable of 26 tornadoes that day).
• April 11 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Fall of Kampala: Tanzanian troops take Kampala, the capital of Uganda; Idi Amin flees.
• April 13 – The La Soufrière volcano erupts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
• April 14 – The Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting over 70 deaths and over 500 injured.
• April 15 – 1979 Montenegro earthquake: A 6.9 M_w shock affects Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.
• April 17 – Schoolchildren in the Central African Republic are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa "almost certainly" took part in the massacre.
• April 22 – The Albert Einstein Memorial is unveiled at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
• April 23 – Fighting breaks out in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group; protester Blair Peach receives fatal injuries during the incident, now officially attributed to the SPG.

May

Main article: May 1979

• May 1 – Greenland is granted limited autonomy from Denmark, with its own Parliament sitting in Nuuk.
• May 3 – The 1979 United Kingdom general election for the House of Commons takes place, giving the Conservatives a majority, and designating Margaret Thatcher the nation's first woman prime minister, ending the rule of James Callaghan's Labour government.
• May 4 – Thatcher is appointed the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
• May 8 – Ten shoppers die in a fire at the Woolworths department store in Manchester city centre in England.
• May 9
  • The Salvadoran Civil War begins.
  • The Unabomber bomb injures Northwestern University graduate student John Harris.
• May 10 – The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
• May 15 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Lira: Tanzania and its Uganda National Liberation Front allies capture Lira, Uganda, from the forces of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
• May 21
  • Dan White is convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, for the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, after using what would become known as the "Twinkie defense" and persuading a jury that the crime was not premeditated. The maximum sentence is seven years imprisonment, with eligibility for early parole, prompting the "White Night riots" in the gay community.
  • The Montreal Canadiens defeat the New York Rangers four games to one to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup.
• May 24
  • Thorpe Park: Opens its doors having attractions such as Phantom Fantasia also next door had a farm called Thorpe Farm
• May 25
  • American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport, killing all 271 on board and 2 people on the ground in the deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history.
  • John Spenkelink is executed in Florida, in the first use of the electric chair in America after the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976.
  • Etan Patz, six years old, is kidnapped in New York. He is often referred to as the "Boy on the Milk Carton" and the investigation later sprouts into one of the most famous child abduction cases of all time. This is a cold case until 2010 when it is re-opened. In April 2017, Pedro Hernandez is convicted of the murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• May 27 – Indianapolis 500: Rick Mears wins the race for the first time, and car owner Roger Penske for the second time.

June

Main article: June 1979

• June 1
  • The Vizianagaram district is formed in Andhra Pradesh, India.
  • The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
  • The Seattle SuperSonics win the NBA Championship against the Washington Bullets.
• June 2
  • Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on his first official, nine-day stay, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country. This visit, known as nine days that changed the world, brings about the solidarity of the Polish people against Communism, ultimately leading to the rise of the Solidarity movement.
  • Los Angeles' city council passes the city's first homosexual rights bill signed without fanfare by mayor Tom Bradley.
• June 3
  • Ixtoc I oil spill: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date. Some estimate the spill to be 428 million gallons, making it the largest unintentional oil spill until it is surpassed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
  • 1979 Italian general election: The Italian Communist Party loses a significant number of seats.
• June 4
  • Joe Clark becomes Canada's 16th and youngest Prime Minister.
  • Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
  • Following the "Muldergate" Information Scandal, John Vorster resigns as State President of South Africa.
• June 7 – 1979 European Parliament election: The first direct elections to the European Parliament begin, allowing citizens from across all nine (at this time) member states of the European Union to elect 410 MEPs. It is also the first international election in history.
• June 9–23 – The 1979 Cricket World Cup is held in England with West Indies defeating England in the final.
• June 12 – Bryan Allen flies the man-powered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel.
• June 13 – The 1979 NHL Expansion Draft takes place, restocking the franchises from Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec, and Winnipeg, which are being admitted from the WHA as expansion teams.
• June 15
  • McDonald's introduces the Happy Meal in the United States in a nationwide advertising campaign after testing the product since February in franchises in the U.S. state of Missouri.
  • The ecological horror-thriller Prophecy is released in the United States by Paramount Pictures.
• June 18 – Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna.
• June 19 – Marais Viljoen becomes State President of South Africa.
• June 20 – A Nicaraguan National Guard soldier kills ABC TV news correspondent Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape.
• June 22
  • The Muppet Movie is released.
  • Former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe was acquitted of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, who had accused Thorpe of having a relationship with him.
  • The WHA formally ceases operations, completing the merger with the NHL.
• June 23 – New South Wales Premier Neville Wran officially opens the Eastern Suburbs Railway in Sydney. It operates as a shuttle between Central and Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line in 1980.
• June 24 – The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, is founded in Bologna at the initiative of Senator Lelio Basso.
• June 25 – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Alexander Haig escapes an assassination attempt in Belgium by the Baader-Meinhof terrorist organization.

July

Main article: July 1979

12 July: Kiribati becomes independent

• July 1
  • Sweden becomes the first country to outlaw corporal punishment in the home.
  • The Sony Walkman goes on sale for the first time in Japan.
• July 3 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan.
• July 5 – Queen Elizabeth II attends the millennium celebrations of the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald.
• July 8 – Los Angeles passes its gay and lesbian civil rights bill.
• July 9 – 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.
• July 11 – NASA's first orbiting space station, Skylab, begins falling back Earth as its orbit decays after more than six years.
• July 12
  • The Gilbert Islands become fully independent of the United Kingdom as Kiribati.
  • A Disco Demolition Night publicity stunt goes awry at Comiskey Park, forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers.
  • Carmine Galante, boss of the Bonanno crime family, is assassinated in Brooklyn.
  • A fire at a hotel in Zaragoza, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.
• July 15 – President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation in a televised speech talking about the "crisis of confidence in America today"; it would go on to be known as his "national malaise" speech.
• July 16 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam al-Tikriti, more commonly referred to in the Western press as "Saddam Hussein", replaces him.
• July 17 – Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami.
• July 18 – Over 500 people die after a tsunami occurs on Lembata Island, triggered by a landslide on the Iliwerung volcano.
• July 21
  • The Sandinista National Liberation Front concludes a successful revolutionary campaign against the Somoza dynasty and assumes power in Nicaragua.
  • Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal.
  • Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela wins the Miss Universe pageant; the stage collapses after contestants and news photographers rush to her throne.
  • The disco music genre dominates and peaks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the first six spots (beginning with Donna Summer's Bad Girls), and seven of the chart's top ten songs ending that week.
• July 22 – 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein arranges the arrest and later execution of nearly seventy members of his ruling Ba'ath Party.
• July 28 – Morarji Desai resigns as India's prime minister and Charan Singh succeeds him.

August

Main article: August 1979

• August 3 – Dictator Francisco Macías Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is overthrown in a bloody coup d'état led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
• August 4 – Opening game of the American Football Bundesliga played between Frankfurter Löwen and Düsseldorf Panther, first-ever league game of American football in Germany.
• 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.
• August 6 – Bauhaus releases their debut single "Bela Lugosi's Dead", considered to be the first gothic rock release.
• August 8 – Two American commercial divers, Richard Walker and Victor Guiel, die of hypothermia after their diving bell becomes stranded at a depth of over 160 metres (520 ft) in the East Shetland Basin. The legal repercussions of the accident will lead to important safety changes in the diving industry.
• August 9 – Raymond Washington, co-founder of the Crips, today one of the largest, most notorious gangs in the United States, is killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles; the killers have not yet been identified.
• August 10 – Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album Off the Wall. It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7× platinum album.
• August 11
  • The former Mauritanian province of Tiris al-Gharbiyya in Western Sahara is annexed by Morocco.
  • The Machchu-2 dam in Morbi, India, collapses, killing between 1800 and 25000 people in one of the worst ever dam failures.
• August 14 – A freak storm during the Fastnet Race results in the deaths of 15 sailors.
• August 17 – The controversial religious satirical film Monty Python's Life of Brian premieres in the United States.
• August 27 – The Troubles: Lord Mountbatten of Burma and two others are killed in a bombing on his boat in the Republic of Ireland by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Mountbatten was a British fleet admiral, statesman and an uncle of The Duke of Edinburgh. On the same day, the Warrenpoint ambush occurs, killing 18 British soldiers. Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne would die in a hospital the following day from injuries sustained in the bombing.
• 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.

September

Main article: September 1979

• 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 kilometres (13,000 mi).
  • Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps is formed.

Predicted & Scheduled Events

• October 1 – Nigeria will military rule, and the Second Nigerian Republic is established.
• October 1–7 – Pope John Paul II will the United States, starting in Boston.
• October 1 – The MTR, the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong, will open.