Events Date 1979 December | History by KabAstro

Dec 1 44th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 25-18 in Birmingham

Australia vs. West Indies

Dec 1 Australia's World Series Cricket men return to the fold in the drawn 1st Test v West Indies in Brisbane; ex-WSC players Bruce Laird (92), Greg Chappell (74) & David Hookes (33no) provide the scoring on Day 1 in home side's 229/5

Dec 2 Crowds attack US embassy in Tripoli, Libya
Dec 2 Foots Walker becomes 1st Cleveland Cavalier to score a triple-double
Dec 2 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Dec 3 11 members of the audience trampled to death during a stampede to claim unreserved seats for a concert by The Who at The Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 3 45th Heisman Trophy Award: Charles White, Southern California (RB)
Dec 3 Christies auctions a thimble for a record $18,400
Dec 3 Iran accepts constitution
Dec 3 Shadow Traffic begins broadcasting in the New York City metropolitan area.
Dec 4 Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 7, Bingo Smith

Chappell, Hughes Rescue Australia

Dec 5 Ex-World Series Cricket combatants Greg Chappell (124) and Kim Hughes (130no) return to rescue Australia on last day of the drawn 1st Test v West Indies in Brisbane

Jack Lynch Resigns

Dec 5 Ireland premier Jack Lynch resigns

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Dec 7 "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" first movie of the series premieres directed by Robert Wise, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy

Dec 10 Piet Dankert appointed as chairman of European Parliament
Dec 11 Geoff Boycott scores cricket century in a limited-over international
Dec 12 Gold hits record $462.50 an ounce
Dec 12 President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam
Dec 13 Revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Oklahoma!" opens at Palace Theater, NYC; runs for 301 performances
Dec 13 Saudi Arabia raises marker crude price to $24 per barrel
Dec 13 Strikes against price increases in Gdańsk, Poland
Dec 14 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Bowie on SNL

Dec 15 British rocker David Bowie performs three songs on American television program Saturday Night Live - "The Man Who Sold the World", "TVC-15" and "Boys Keep Swinging"

Trivial Pursuit Developed

Dec 15 Chris Haney and Scott Abbott develop the board game Trivial Pursuit

Co-creator of Trivial Pursuit Chris Haney

Deposed Shah Leaves US

Dec 15 Deposed Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi leaves US for Panama

Dec 15 World Court in Hague rules Iran should release all US hostages

An American Christmas Carol

Dec 16 "An American Christmas Carol" directed by Eric Till starring Henry Winkler premieres in the US

Dec 16 4 British Army soldiers are killed by a PIRA landmine near Dungannon, County Tyrone. Another British Army soldier was killed by a PIRA landmine near Forkill, County Armagh
Dec 16 68th Davis Cup: USA beats Italy in San Francisco (5-0)
Dec 16 Dallas QB Roger Staubach throws 3 TDs and 336 yards in his last NFL regular season game with the Cowboys, a 35-34 win over Washington Redskins at Texas Stadium
Dec 16 Libya raises crude oil prices, joining four other OPEC nations, which has a dramatic effect on the United States
Dec 17 Budweiser rocket car reaches 1190 kph (record for wheeled vehicle, disputed due to measurement methodology used)
Dec 18 Stuntman Stanley Barrett unofficially breaks the land speed record and the sound barrier in his three-wheeled vehicle the Budweiser Rocket (739.666 mph or Mach 1.01). The speed was never officially recorded and the attempt remains controversial.

"Kramer vs Kramer"

Dec 19 "Kramer vs Kramer" directed by Robert Benton and starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep is released (Best Picture 1980)

Dec 20 Garry Sherman and Peter Udell's musical "Comin' Uptown", based on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", and starring Gregory Hines, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 45 performances
Dec 20 Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Behn Wilson scores with 4:08 remaining in regulation to earn a 1-1 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins and equal NHL record for longest undefeated streak of 28 games; go on to break record and extend to 35 games
Dec 21 Garry Unger’s NHL record for consecutive games ends at 914, as his Atlanta Flames lose 5-1 to the St Louis Blues and he is benched by coach Al MacNeil; record eventually broken by Doug Jarvis (964)
Dec 21 New constitution for Zimbabwe agreed
Dec 21 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Dec 23 NY Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks
Dec 23 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Dec 24 1st Ariane rocket launched
Dec 25 9th Fiesta Bowl: #10 Pittsburgh beats Arizona, 16-10
Dec 25 Ballon d'Or: Hamburg's English forward Kevin Keegan wins his 2nd consecutive trophy as best football player in Europe; beats Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Ajax sweeper Ruud Krol
Dec 25 Soviet forces invade Afghanistan to prop up the Communist government, beginning a disastrous and failed ten-year war
Dec 26 Soviet Special forces take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Dec 27 After invading Afghanistan two days earlier Soviet forces pull off a coup in Kabul, killing President Hafizullah Amin
Dec 27 Los Angeles left wing Charlie Simmer scores in a Kings' 3-0 shutout of the Quebec Nordiques to extend his modern day NHL goal-scoring streak to 13 straight games (ends next game)
Dec 27 Red Army beats NY Rangers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden