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1979

1979

This page refers to the year 1979. For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). 1979 (MCMLXXIX) is a common year starting on Monday.

Events


- 1979 energy crisis - occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution

January


- 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" fund.
- January 1 - Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations
- January 4 - State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings.
- January 7 - Vietnam and Vietnam-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodian capital, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge retreat to Thailand
- January 8 - The French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry in Ireland - 50 dead
- January 13 - YMCA sues the Village People for libel because of their song of the same name
- January 16 - The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocate to Egypt after a year of turmoil.
- January 19 - Former US Attorney General John N. Mitchell released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama
- January 29 - Brenda Ann Spencer opens fire at random in San Diego, California, killing two teachers and wounding 8 students

February


- February 1 - Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst is released from prison after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter
- February 1 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.
- February 2 - Sid Vicious dies of heroin overdose
- February 3 - Khomeini creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution
- February 7 - Supporters of Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts and government administration
- February 7 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either planet was known to science.
- February 10-February 11 - Iranian army mutinies and joins the Islamic Revolution
- February 11 - Khomeini seizes power in Iran.
- February 14 - In Kabul, Muslim extremists kidnap the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, who is later killed during a gunfight between his kidnappers and police
- February 14 - Musician Walter Carlos reveals that he has undergone a sex change operation and become Wendy
- February 17 - The People's Republic of China invades northern Vietnam, launching the Sino-Vietnamese War.
- February 22 - Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.

March

March and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign the Camp David Accords.]]
- March 1 - Scotland voted narrowly for home rule, which was not implemented, and Wales voted against
- March 5 - Voyager I passes Jupiter
- March 13 - In Grenada, Maurice Bishop leads a successful coup
- March 14 - In China, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing killing at least 200
- March 25 - The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, was delivered to the John F. 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 a peace treaty
- March 28 - Nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, releases radiation
- March 28 - In Britain, Jim Callaghan's government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election
- March 29 - Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra, 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Mustain Billah ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Riayatuddin Al-Muadzam Shah, Sultan of Pahang.
- March 30 - Airey Neave, World War Two veteran and Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman, is killed by INLA bomb in British House of Commons car park
- March 31 - The Royal Navy withdraws from Malta

April-May

May.]]
- April 1 - Iran's government becomes Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially
- April 1-April 18 - Police lock Andreas Mihavecz in a holding cell in Bregenz, Austria and forget him there for the next 18 days without food or drink
- April 2 - Soviet biowarfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores. 66 dead plus unknown amount of livestock
- April 4 - President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed
- April 10 - A tornado hits in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people. It was the most notable tornado of twenty-six that hit that day.
- April 11 - Tanzanian troops take Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Idi Amin flees
- April 17 - Schoolchildren in the Central African Republic arrested for protesting against wearing the expensive, school uniforms. Around 100 killed.
- April 23 - Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protestor Blair Peach
- May 1 - Greenland gets home rule
- May 4 - Conservatives win the British general election; Margaret Thatcher becomes the new prime minister.
- May 9 - Unabomber bomb injures Northwestern University graduate student John Harris
- May 10 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
- May 25 - American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, Illinois, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.

June


- June 1 - The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal.
- June 2 - Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country
- June 3 - 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 ever.
- June 4 - Joe Clark becomes Canada's sixteenth, and youngest, prime minister.
- June 12 - Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross, man powered, across the English Channel.
- June 18 - Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna.
- June 20 - a national guard soldier in Nicaragua kills ABC TV news correspondent Bill Stewart and his interpreter Juan Espinosa. Other members of the news crew capture the killing on tape
- June 23 - Sydney: New South Wales Premier Neville Wran officially opens the Eastern Suburbs Railway. It operates as a shuttle between Central & Bondi Junction until full integration with the Illawarra Line during 1980.

July-August


- July 2 - The Susan B. Anthony one-dollar coin is introduced in the US.
- July 3 - President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
- 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 - The space station Skylab returns to Earth.
- July 12 - A "Disco Demolition Night" publicity stunt goes awry at Comiskey Park forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers.
- July 12 - Assassination of Carmine Galante, boss of Bonanno mafia family
- July 13 - Skylab re-enters the Earth atmosphere; the wreckage lands in Australia
- July 16 - Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam Hussein replaces him
- July 17 - Nicaraguan president General Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigns and flees to Miami; Sandinistas form a new government on July 19.
- July 19 - The Marxist Sandinistas take control of Nicaragua
- July 19 - Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo becomes prime minister of Portugal
- July 24 - Soviet Union exchanges Gerald Brook for spies Peter and Helen Kroger with United Kingdom
- July 31 - 400 Iranian pilgrims are killed after clashes with Saudi security forces in Mecca
- August 5 - Polisario signs a peace treaty with Mauritania
- August 5 - Government of Mauritania signs a peace treaty with Polisario
- August 9 - The first British nudist beach is established in Brighton
- August 27 - Lord Mountbatten and three others assassinated by the I.R.A..

September-October


- September 1 - The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km
- September 7 - The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
- September 7 - ESPN starts broadcasting.
- September 16 - Three families flee from East Germany by balloon
- September 20 - French paratroopers help David Dacko to overthrow Bokassa
- September 22 - The South Atlantic Flash is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.
- October 14 - A major gay rights march in the United States takes place in Washington, DC, involving many tens of thousands of people.
- October 16 - 23 people die in Nice, France, when the coastal town is hit by a tsunami
- October 21 - 259 Muslim radicals occupy Kaaba and the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Saudi Arabian army goes in to expel them
- October 26 - South Korean president Park Chunghee killed by KCIA head Kim Jaekyu.
- October 27 - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence.

November

November
- November 1 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urged his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests
- November 2 - French police shoots gangster Jacques Mesrine in Paris
- November 3 - In Greensboro, North Carolina, five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot to death and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a "Death to the Klan" rally
- November 4 - Iran hostage crisis begins: 3000 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the United States embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (63 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former shah back to Iran to stand trial.
- November 5 - The radio news program Morning Edition premieres on National Public Radio.
- November 6 - At Montevideo , Uruguay the International Olympic Committee adopts a resolution where Taiwan Olympic and sports team participate with the name Chinese Taipei in future Olympics Games and international sports tournaments and championships .
- November 12 - Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran
- November 14 - Iran hostage crisis: US President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and US banks in response to the hostage crisis
- November 16 - Bucharest Metro Line 1 is opened, in Bucharest, Romania (from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea stations, 8.63 km)
- November 17 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
- November 20 - A group of around 200 militant Muslims occupied Mecca's Grand Mosque. They were driven out by French commandos (allowed into the city under these special circumstances despite their being non-Muslims) after bloody fighting that left 250 people were killed and 600 wounded.
- November 20 - Group of Sunni muslims barricade themselves into the Holy Mosque of Mecca. They hold out until December 4
- November 21 - After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that the Americans had occupied the Great Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)
- November 23 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten
- November 28 - The Mount Erebus disaster: an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes into Mount Erebus on a sightseeing trip, killing all 257 people on board.

December


- December 5 - Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. Successor Charles Haughey.
- December 21 - Ceasefire for Rhodesia signed at London
- December 24 - Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
- December 24 - The launch of the first European Ariane rocket.
- December 26 - In Rhodesia, 96 Patriotic Front guerillas enter the capital Salisbury to monitor a ceasefire that begins in December 28
- December 27 - The Soviet Union seizes control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.

Unknown dates


- The World Health Organization declares the world free of naturally occurring smallpox.
- UNICEF declares 1979 the "International Year of the Child."
- VisiCalc becomes the first spreadsheet program.
- Guardian Angels civilian patrol group forms in New York City.
- Sprengel Museum opens in Hanover, Germany.
- Windsor Tower was built in Madrid, Spain.
- The first usenet experiments were conducted by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis of Duke University.

Births


- January 15 - Mary Pierce, American tennis player
- January 16 - Aaliyah, American singer (d. 2001)
- January 20 - Rob Bourdon, American drummer (Linkin Park)
- January 21 - Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player
- January 24 - Tatyana Ali, American actress
- January 29 - Sui Feifei, Chinese basketball player
- February 9 - Mena Suvari, American actress
- February 9 - Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress and model
- February 11 - Brandy Norwood, American singer
- February 16 - Valentino Rossi, Italian race car driver
- February 21 - Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer
- March 9 - Melina Perez, American professional wrestler
- March 11 - Benji Madden and Joel Madden, twins from Good Charlotte
- March 12 - Pete Doherty, English singer and guitarist (The Libertines and Babyshambles)
- March 30 - Norah Jones, American musician
- April 4 - Heath Ledger, Australian actor
- April 3 - Daniel Lane, British music journalist (Kerrang!)
- April 8 - Alexi Laiho, Finnish guitarist (Children of Bodom)
- April 10 - Rachel Corrie, American activist (d. 2003)
- April 10 - Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese artist
- April 10 - Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer
- April 12 - Claire Danes, American actress
- April 18 - Michael Bradley, American basketball player
- April 19 - Kate Hudson, American actress
- April 19 - Antoaneta Stefanova, Bulgarian chess player
- April 28 - Jorge Garcia, American actor
- May 2 - Roman Lyashenko, Russian hockey player (d. 2003)
- May 24 - Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- May 25 - Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
- May 26 - Ashley Massaro, American professional wrestler and model
- June 5 - Pete Wentz, American bassist and lyricist (Fall Out Boy)
- June 13 - Nila Håkedal, Norwegian beach volleyball player
- June 23 - LaDainian Tomlinson, American football player
- June 24 - Craig Shergold, British cancer patient
- June 28 - Randy McMichael, American football player
- June 29 - Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch swimmer
- July 3 - Ludivine Sagnier, French model and actress
- July 5 - Amélie Mauresmo, French tennis player
- July 9 - Enav Itamar, Israeli Writer
- July 21 - David Carr, American football player
- July 26 - Johnson Beharry, British war hero
- August 10 - Joanna Garcia, American actress
- August 13 - Taizo Sugimura, Japanese politician
- August 16 - Sarah Balabagan, Filipina prisoner and singer
- August 26 - Jamal Lewis, American football player
- August 28 - Robert Hoyzer, German football referee
- September 13 - Bjørn-Arild Berthelsen, Norwegian Salvation Army soldier
- September 13 - Ivan Miljković, Serbian volleybal player, considered as the best attacker in the world, Olympic Champion in 2000 (with the team of Jugoslavia)
- September 15 - Amy Davidson, American actress
- September 28 - Bam Margera, American skater
- October 1 - Rudi Johnson, American football player
- October 14 - Stacy Keibler, American professional wrestler
- October 17 - Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish race car driver
- October 30 - Yukie Nakama, Japanese actress
- November 6 - Lamar Odom, American basketball player
- November 7 - Jon Peter Lewis, American singer and songwriter
- November 13 - Ron Artest, American basketball player
- December 12 - Nate Clements, American football player
- December 14 - Michael Owen, English footballer
- December 15 - Adam Brody, American actor
- December 17 - William Green, American football player
- December 23 - Summer Altice, American model and actress
- December 27 - Carson Palmer, American football player

Deaths

January-March


- January 3 - Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
- January 5 - Charles Mingus, American musician (b. 1922)
- January 13 - Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)
- January 26 - Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
- February 2 - Sid Vicious, English musician (Sex Pistols) (drug overdose) (b. 1957)
- February 7 - Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)
- February 9 - Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- February 12 - Jean Renoir, French film director (b. 1894)
- February 14 - Reginald Maudling, British politician (b. 1917)
- February 23 - W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (b. 1900)
- February 28 - Mr. Ed, American talking horse (b. 1949)
- March 1 - Mustafa Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician (b. 1903)
- March 19 - Richard Beckinsale, British actor (b. 1947)
- March 28 - Emmett Kelly, American clown (b. 1898)
- March 29 - Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra, King of Malaysia (b. 1917)
- March 30 - Airey Neave, British politician (asassinated) (b. 1916)

April-September


- April 4 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, President and Prime Minister of Pakistan (executed) (b. 1928)
- April 4 - Edgar Buchanan, American actor (b. 1903)
- April 10 - Nino Rota, Italian composer (b. 1911)
- April 23 - Blair Peach, New Zealand-born anti-Nazi campaigner (killed by police) (b. 1946)
- May 2 - Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- May 11 - Barbara Hutton, American socialite (b. 1912)
- May 29 - Mary Pickford, Canadian actress and studio founder (b. 1892)
- June 1 - Werner Forssmann, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1904)
- June 11 - John Wayne, American actor (b. 1907)
- June 17 - Duffy Lewis, baseball player (b. 1888)
- June 19 - Paul Popenoe, American eugenicist (b. 1888)
- June 29 - Lowell George, American musician (Little Feat) (b. 1945)
- July 3 - Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
- July 8 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- July 8 - Robert B. Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- July 10 - Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (b. 1894)
- July 12 - Minnie Riperton, American singer (b. 1947)
- July 16 - Alfred Deller, English countertenor (b. 1912)
- July 22 - Nittatsu Hosoi, Japanese priest (b. 1902)
- July 29 - Bill Todman, American game show producer (b. 1916)
- August 2 - Thurman Munson, baseball player (b. 1947)
- August 3 - Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- August 6 - Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
- August 12 - Ernst Boris Chain, German-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
- August 27 - Earl Mountbatten, last British Viceroy of India (assassinated) (b. 1900)
- August 31 - Sally Rand, American dancer (b. 1904)
- September - Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III, King of Malaysia (b. 1907)
- September 8 - Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938)
- September 10 - Agostinho Neto, Angolan nationalist (b. 1922)
- September 28 - John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist (b. 1921)
- September 29 - Francisco Macias Nguema, first president of Equatorial Guinea

October-December


- October 6 - Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (b. 1911)
- October 10 - Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist (b. 1931)
- October 13 - Rebecca Clarke, English composer and violist (b. 1886)
- October 16 - Johan Borgen, Norwegian author (b. 1903)
- October 22 - Nadia Boulanger, French composer and composition teacher (b. 1887)
- October 26 - Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea (b. 1917)
- November 1 - Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States (b. 1896)
- November 29 - Zeppo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1901)
- December 3 - Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (b. 1905)
- December 23 - Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)
- December 27 - Hafizullah Amin, President of Afghanistan (b. 1929)

Fictional


- June 13 - Pamela Voorhees, serial killer, mother of Jason Voorhees (b. 1930)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Sheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg
- Chemistry - Herbert C. Brown, Georg Wittig
- Medicine - Allan M. Cormack, Godfrey N. Hounsfield
- Literature - Odysseas Elytis
- Peace - Mother Teresa
- Economics - Theodore Schultz, Arthur Lewis

Templeton Prize


- Rev. Nikkyo Niwano Category:1979 als:1979 ko:1979년 ja:1979年 simple:1979 th:พ.ศ. 2522

1979 (song)

"1979" is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the second single from their third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The song was written by Billy Corgan and nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. "1979" was a definite new direction for the band, featuring for the first time loops and samples. It was so popular that it spawned a second single CD with remixes of the song called "The 1979 Mixes". The most frequently asked question about the song is, What is the 'ooh-ahh-ahh' sound at the end of every phrase? Flood and Billy were tracking the song, and Corgan started humming the 'oohs' like a melody line. Then he sang them to tape, they sampled the pertinent ones, electronically manipulated them, and looped them against the drum beat. The cover of the single features the band at a roller disco. The music video for "1979" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video in 1996. It stars actors Larry Capelli and Giuseppe Andrews.

Single tracklist

#"1979" (Corgan) #"Ugly" (Corgan) #"Believe" (Iha) #"Cherry" (Corgan)

1979 Mixes single tracklist

# 1979 (Vocal Mix) # 1979 (Instrumental Mix) # 1979 (Moby Mix) # 1979 (Cement Mix) Tracks 1, 2 and 4 by Roli Mosimann. Track 3 by Moby.

The Aeroplane Flies High single tracklist

#"1979" (Corgan) #"Ugly" (Corgan) #"Believe" (Iha) #"Cherry" (Corgan) #"The Boy" (Iha) #"Set the Ray to Jerry" (Corgan) Category:Smashing Pumpkins songs Category:1995 songs Category:1996 singles

1979 energy crisis

The 1979 (or second) oil crisis occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. In the wake of protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979, allowing Ayatollah Khomeini to gain control. The protests shattered the Iranian oil sector. While the new regime resumed oil exports, it was inconsistent and at a lower volume, forcing up prices. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations increased production to offset the decline, and the total loss in production was just about 4%. However, a widespread panic resulted, driving the price far higher than would be expected under normal circumstances. In the United States, the Carter administration instituted price controls. This resulted in long lines appearing at the gas stations as they had six years earlier. As the average vehicle of the time consumed between 2-3 liters of gas an hour while idling, it was estimated at the time that Americans wasted up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day idling their engines in the lines at gas stations. During the period, many people believed the oil shortages were artificially created by the oil companies to drive up prices, rather than created by natural factors beyond any human control or influence. Further, while in a market economy, shortages would be expected to drive up prices, causing a contraction in demand, of themselves they would be unlikely to result in lines at the gas pump but for artificial regulations and price controls. Many politicians proposed gas rationing, such as the Governor of Maryland, who proposed odd-even rationing (only people with an odd-numbered license plate could purchase gas on an odd-numbered day). This did not last long. President Jimmy Carter made symbolic efforts to encourage energy conservation, such as urging citizens not to turn up their thermostats, and installing solar power panels on the roof of the White House and a wood stove in the living quarters. However, his successor Ronald Reagan ordered the solar panels removed and the wood stove was dismantled. Carter made a speech arguing the oil crisis was "the moral equivalent of war." More importantly, Carter, as part of his administration's efforts at deregulation, proposed removing price controls that had been imposed in the administration of Richard Nixon during the 1973 energy crisis. Congress agreed to remove price controls in phases; they were finally dismantled in 1981 under Ronald Reagan. In 1980, following Saddam Hussein's Iraqi invasion of Iran, oil production in Iran nearly stopped, and Iraq's oil production was severely cut as well. Yet oil lines did not reappear in the United States other than a few isolated incidents.

See also


- Iran hostage crisis Category:1979 Category:Energy crises

January

January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. January begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Capricorn and ends in the sign of Aquarius. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Sagittarius and ends in the constellation of Capricornus. January is named for Janus, the Roman god of doors and gateways. The original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months (304 days). The Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. Circa 700 BCE Romulus' successor, King Numa Pompilius, added the months of January and February allowing the calendar to equal a standard lunar year (364 days). A Roman superstition against even numbers resulted in the addition of one day thus equalling 365 days. Although March was originally the first month, January usurped that position because that was when consuls were usually chosen. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. Historical names for January include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month) and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth (winter / cold month). In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Mutsuki (睦月). The second day of the month is known as Hatsuyume (初夢) and the 7th day as Nanakusa (七草). In Finnish, the month is called tammikuu, meaning "month of the oak". Finnish The first Monday in January is known as Handsel Monday in Scotland and northern England. In England, the agricultural year began with Plough Sunday on the Sunday after Epiphany. The Coming of age day in Japan is the second Monday of January, for those becoming 20 years old in the new calendar year. It is a national holiday. The day has existed since 1948, but fell on January 15 until 1999, when it was moved by the Japanese government in an attempt to lift the economy by making more holidays consecutive. In the pagan wheel of the year, January ends at or near to Imbolc in the northern hemisphere and Lughnasadh in the southern hemisphere.

See also


- Historical anniversaries Category:Months ko:1월 ms:Januari ja:1月 simple:January th:มกราคม

United Nations Secretary-General

The United Nations Secretary-General is the head of the Secretariat, one of the principal divisions of the United Nations. According to the United Nations Charter, the Secretary-General is to be appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. It is widely considered the most influential role in the United Nations.

Current Office Holder

Security Council The current Secretary-General is Kofi Annan. His appointment began on January 1, 1997, and his second term began on January 1, 2002. "I am a cheerleader, I am a promoter, I am a salesman, I am a debt collector, I am a father confessor and there are other aspects I still have to discover," Annan has said in describing his job.

Role

The Secretary-General is described by the Charter as the "chief administrative officer" of the organization. Originally some felt that the role of the Secretary-General should be purely administrative. It was Trygve Lie, the first Secretary-General, who asserted that it was his role to speak out and act as leader and mediator. Every Secretary-General since has spoken out on global issues and used his good offices to mediate disputes. This is in keeping with the original vision of US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who held office just before the creation of the UN and who has much influence on its shaping, that the organization should be headed by a "world moderator."

Term and Selection

The Secretary-General is appointed to a five year term. UN Secretaries-General normally spend two terms in office; however, sometimes, they will serve only one. By convention, the position of UN Secretary-General rotates by geographic region, but since Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt served only one term, a successor from Africa, Kofi Annan of Ghana, was chosen. When Annan had finished his first term, the member states were so impressed with his performance that he was appointed for a second term despite the fact that the next Secretary-General should have been from Asia. There has not yet been a Secretary-General from North America or Oceania. Most Secretaries-General are compromise candidates from middle powers and with little prior fame. While high profile candidates are frequently touted for the job, these are almost always rejected as unpalatable to some. For instance for the first Secretary-General such figures as Charles de Gaulle, Dwight Eisenhower and Anthony Eden were considered, but were rejected in favour of the uncontroversial Norwegian Trygve Lie. As a result of international politics and mechanicisms of political compromise, there are many similarities between the process and ideals for selecting the Secretary-General and those of selecting leading figures in other international organizations, including the election of Popes in the Roman Catholic Church. The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Secretary-General's selection is therefore subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. S/he is not directly elected by the citizens in direct voting.

Reported possible candidates

Rumours have recently surfaced that former U.S. President Bill Clinton and current Chilean President Ricardo Lagos have set their sights on becoming Secretary-General. Also a possible candidate is Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, the current President of Latvia, who would be the first female Secretary-General. However, it is generally considered to be Asia's turn to fill the post and Clinton has denied he has aspirations to hold the job. No announcement has been made, but behind the scenes China is already pushing the candidacy of Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who also seems to have U.S. support. Jayanta Dhanapala of Sri Lanka is also considered a strong candidate. Dhanapala is well reputed in UN circles especially for his contribution to disarmament issues. Another possible candidate is Aleksander Kwaśniewski.

Proposed Abolition

In the early 1960s, Soviet ruler Nikita Khrushchev led an effort to abolish the Secretary-General position. The numerical superiority of the Western powers meant that the Secretary-General would come from one of them, and would typically be sympathetic towards the West. Khrushchev advanced a proposal to replace the Secretary-General with a three-person leading council (a "troika"): one member from the West, one from the Communist states, and one from the Non-Aligned powers. This idea failed because the neutral powers failed to back the Soviet proposal.

Secretaries-General

:Sir Gladwyn Jebb (United Kingdom), acting, 1945–1946. # Trygve Lie (Norway), February 1946 to his resignation in November 1952. # Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden), April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), September 1961. # U Thant (Burma), November 1961 – December 1971. # Kurt Waldheim (Austria) 1972 to the Chinese veto of his third term in 1981. # Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Peru) 1982 – 1991 # Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt), January 1992 to the American veto of his second term in December 1996. # Kofi Annan (Ghana), January 1997 to present.

See also


- UN General Assembly
- UN Security Council
- UN Economic and Social Council
- UN Trusteeship Council
- UN Secretariat
- International Court of Justice
- United Nations System
- Mundialization
- Presidentialism

External links


- [http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/index.shtml U.N. Secretary-General webpage]
  - [http://www.un.org/News/ossg/srsg/table.htm Special and Personal Representatives and Envoys of the Secretary-General]
  - [http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/pages/elect-the-sg.htm How is the Secretary-General appointed?] Secretary-general Category:United Nations Secretariat
- Secretary-general ko:UN 사무총장 ja:国際連合事務総長 th:เลขาธิการสหประชาชาติ

January 1

January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other than January 1. This day was adopted as the first day of the Julian year by all Western European countries except England between about 1450 and 1600. The Gregorian calendar as promulgated in 1582 did not specify that January 1 was to be either New Year's Day or the first day of its numbered year. Although England began its numbered year on March 25 (Lady Day or Annunciation Day), between the 13th century and 1752, January 1 was called New Year's Day, and was, with Christmas and occasionally Twelfth Night, a holiday when gifts were exchanged. 364 days (365 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events


- 45 BC - The Julian calendar first takes effect.
- 404 - Last known gladiator competition in Rome takes place.
- 630 - Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.
- 990 - Kievan Rus' adopts the Julian calendar.
- 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
- 1600 - Scotland begins using the Julian calendar.
- 1651 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland
- 1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between New York and Boston.
- 1700 - Russia begins using the Julian calendar.
- 1707 - John V is crowned King of Portugal
- 1738 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
- 1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
- 1797 - Albany replaces New York City as the capital on New York.
- 1801 - Legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form United Kingdom.
- 1801 - The first known asteroid, 1 Ceres, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
- 1804 - French rule ends in Haiti.
- 1808 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned.
- 1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.
- 1855 - London, Ontario is incorporated as a city.
- 1861 - Porfirio Diaz conquers Mexico City.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect.
- 1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
- 1880 - Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1887 - Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India in Delhi.
- 1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States.
- 1893 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
- 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, was officially opened to traffic.
- 1898 - New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25th by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
- 1899 - Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
- 1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
- 1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes first Prime Minister.
- 1901 - The first official Mummers Parade is held.
- 1902 - The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California.
- 1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year.
- 1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
- 1912 - The Republic of China is established.
- 1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
- 1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a U.S. federal prison.
- 1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
- 1935 - Bucknell University wins the first Orange Bowl 26-0 over the University of Miami.
- 1937 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua.
- 1937 - The first Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas.
- 1939 - The Vienna New Year's Concert is first held.
- 1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
- 1948 - British railways are nationalised to form British Rail.
- 1948 - After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
- 1948 - Enrico De Nicola formally becomes President of the Italian Republic, but refuses to be a candidate for the first constitutional election the following May.
- 1949 - UN Cease-fire orders to operate in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
- 1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1958 - The European Community is established.
- 1959 - Fulgencio Batista, President of the Republic of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces.
- 1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1962 - Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
- 1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
- 1969 - Marien Ngouabi formally becomes the President of the Republic of Congo.
- 1970 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.
- 1971 - Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
- 1973 - The Kingdom of Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.
- 1976 - NBC introduces its new logo: an abstract N, similar to the Nebraska Educational Television Network logo.
- 1978 - Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the sea off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
- 1979 - Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.
- 1981 - The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.
- 1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government; it is not yet independent from the United States of America.
- 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
- 1984 - AT&T is broken up into twenty-two independent units.
- 1984 - The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
- 1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
- 1986 - Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1986 - Spain and Portugal are admitted into the European Community.
- 1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States of America.
- 1993 - Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
- 1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
- 1993 - Pakistan is elected member of the 15-nation UN Security Council.
- 1994 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.
- 1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
- 1995 - The World Trade Organization comes into effect.
- 1995 - The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland are admitted into the European Union.
- 1995 - The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
- 1996 - Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1997 - The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
- 1998 - Smoking is banned in all bars and restaurants in the State of California.
- 1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.
- 2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
- 2002 - The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
- 2002 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
- 2003 - Luís Inácio Lula da Silva becomes president of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
- 2004 - Pervez Musharraf receives a vote of confidence to continue as the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from Parliament and the provincial assemblies.

Births


- 766 - Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (d. 818)
- 1431 - Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
- 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici, Italian statesman (d. 1492)
- 1484 - Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (d. 1531)
- 1516 - Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1551)
- 1557 - Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
- 1600 - Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (d. 1649)
- 1614 - John Wilkins, English Bishop of Chester (d. 1672)
- 1618 - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter (d. 1682)
- 1638 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (d. 1685)
- 1648 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (d. 1724)
- 1655 - Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)
- 1684 - Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1748)
- 1704 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)
- 1711 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
- 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1780)
- 1735 - Paul Revere, American silversmith and patriot (d. 1818)
- 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1801)
- 1752 - Betsy Ross, American seamstress (d. 1836)
- 1774 - André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (d. 1860)
- 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Italian artist (b. 1712)
- 1823 - Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1849)
- 1833 - Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)
- 1839 - Ouida, English writer (d. 1908)
- 1854 - Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (d. 1941)
- 1860 - George Washington Carver, American educator, inventor, and botanist (d. 1943)
- 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin, French initiator of the modern Olympic Games (d. 1937)
- 1864 - Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)
- 1873 - Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist (d. 1952)
- 1874 - Gustave Whitehead, German-American inventor (d. 1927)
- 1876 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (d. 1933)
- 1879 - E. M. Forster, English novelist (d. 1970)
- 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (d. 1966)
- 1892 - Artur Rodzinski, Croatian conductor (d. 1958)
- 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian mathematician (d. 1974)
- 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 1972)
- 1900 - Xavier Cugat, Catalan-Cuban musician, bandleader (d. 1990)
- 1902 - Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)
- 1904 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d. 1982)
- 1906 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (d. 1974)
- 1909 - Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona and Presidential candidate (d. 1998)
- 1911 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
- 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist (d. 1981)
- 1917 - Albert Mol, Dutch actor (d. 2004)
- 1919 - J. D. Salinger, American novelist
- 1920 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
- 1921 - Isma'il Raji' al-Faruqi, Palestinian-born philosopher and comparative religion scholar (d. 1986)
- 1922 - Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)
- 1925 - Stymie Beard, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1927 - Vernon L. Smith, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 - Doak Walker, American football star (d 1998)
- 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1933 - Frederick Lowy, Canadian medical educator, ethicist, and university president
- 1933 - Joe Orton, English writer (d. 1967)
- 1940 - Frank Langella American actor
- 1942 - Martin Frost, American politician
- 1942 - Country Joe McDonald, American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
- 1942 - Gennadi Sarafanov, cosmonaut
- 1943 - Don Novello, American actor, comedian, and writer
- 1945 - Jacky Ickx, Belgian race car driver
- 1946 - Rivelino, Brazilian football player
- 1953 - Greg Carmichael, British guitarist
- 1957 - Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
- 1958 - Grandmaster Flash, West Indian-born singer
- 1959 - Azali Assoumani, Comorese president
- 1961 - Mark Wingett, British actor
- 1964 - Dede