We've been through the archive and compiled everything we think you need to know about the year. To make it easier
for you to find what you're looking for, everything is organised into categories.
the top stories
In London, the Government announced a voluntary picketing code to avoid
declaring a state of emergency
Disruption to food and petrol supplies was evident as the winter of discontent
continued
Callaghan called an election for May 3rd which was won by Margaret Thatcher.
The Conservatives won 339 seats to Labour's 269.
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in America
The US spacecraft, Voyager 1, sent back pictures showing that Jupiter
had rings like its neighbour Saturn
The Yorkshire Ripper claimed his 11th victim
Milk went up to 15p a pint whilst the ongoing situation in Iran provoked
panic buying of petrol - it cost £1.22 a gallon
Building societies increased the mortgage rate by 3.5% to a record 15%
on the chart
Stephen Stills became the first rock artist to record digitally. Digital
recording was the biggest advance since stereo. Instead of recording on
tape, sounds were sampled up to 50,000 times a second and the information
stored in binary numbers.
Rod Stewart married Alanna Hamilton, the ex-wife of A-Team actor George
Hamilton
Elton John became the first western rock star to perform in the USSR
Joe Walsh of The Eagles announced his intention to run for American president
The Eurovision Song Contest was won by Milk and Honey representing Israel.
The winning song was called Hallelujah.
Sid Vicious was accused of murdering his girlfriend
on the tv and at the cinema
Life On Earth, Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected and The Dukes of
Hazzard were transmitted for the first time. Other new shows for 1979
were Wurzel Gummidge, starring Jon Pertwee, and Minder with Dennis Waterman
and George Cole.
The favourites of the year were To The Manor Born, Larry Grayson's Generation
Game, Blankety Blank, Are You Being Served? and Mastermind.
Canada became the first country in the world to operate satellite television Films of the year were James Bond in Moonraker,
Superman, Watership Down, Grease
and Midnight Express
Meanwhile, John Hurt and Sigourney Weaver starred in Alien, Mel Gibson
featured as Max Max and Steve Martin was The Jerk
At the Oscars, The Deer Hunter starring Robert De Niro won Best Picture
The French film director Jean Renoir died and we also said goodbye
to John Wayne,
Mary Pickford and Gracie Fields.
sports achievements and milestones
Trevor Francis became Britain's first million pound footballer when he
signed for Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City
Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Cup Final. The First Division
Champions were Liverpool.
Rubstic won the Grand National at Aintree
The Formula 1 World Championship was won by Jody Scheckter
Seve Ballesteros was golf's Open Champion
Wales defeated England 27-3 in Cardiff to win the Triple Crown
and finally
Brighton became the first seaside resort to open a special area for nudist
swimmers
Douglas Adams created The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy for radio.
The answer to just about every question was 42.
New words included user-friendly, heavy metal and the winter of discontent
The Jubilee line ran for the first time on London's Underground
New at the shops: the Walkman, a mini cassette machine, the Trivial Pursuit
board game and Post-it notes.
your memories
Seen something that has jogged your memory or reminded you of something
you thought you'd forgotten? Please tell us about it!
