Facts and Events That Happened in This Year
USSR invades Afghanistan.
Smallpox is officially declared eradicated.
Ayatollah Khomeini takes office.
Pink Floyd released their eleventh studio album titled The Wall.
Mob burns down US embassy in Pakistan.
Iran hostage crisis begins after U.S. embassy in Tehran is stormed.
The Guinness World Records awarded Paul McCartney the best-selling singer-songwriter of all time.
The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida received its 100-millionth visitor.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to humanitarian Mother Teresa.
Up to 125,000 people marched in the first LGBT civil rights march in Washington, D.C.
Douglas Adam's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" hits the Bookstores.
The world's strongest storm ever was recorded.
Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House in Washington, D.C.
John Paul II became the first pope to visit the Republic of Ireland.
Elton John collapsed on stage when performing at the Hollywood Universal Amphitheater.
Anti-nuclear protests in New York City, 200,000 showed up, including Jane Fonda.
An unidentified double flash of light was detected over the Indian Ocean south of Africa.
Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new president.
Pioneer 11 makes its closest approach to Saturn.
A rainbow lasting three hours was recorded over the Gwynedd coast in Wales.
Iraqi president, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns.
The Skylab, America's first space station, was destroyed as it entered Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
NASA's Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter, continuing its journey towards Saturn.
Sony's iconic Walkman first went on sale in Japan.
Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali retired for the third time.
Leonid Brezhnev and Jimmy Carter sign SALT II.
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit a communist country.
NASA's UK-6 was launched into space.
Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles, signed the first US gay rights bill.
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) ends 90 years of white rule.
American Airlines flight 191 crashes shortly after takeoff.
Etan Patz disappears.
Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver, was released.
Violent clashes follow the lenient sentencing for Harvey Milk's murderer.
Elton John and his entourage flew into Moscow, making him the first western pop star to tour the USSR.
The rockumentary film featuring The Who titled 'Kids Are All Right' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed.
Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister.
A swamp rabbit attacked President Jimmy Carter while he was fishing in Plains, Georgia.
The world record for the longest table tennis doubles marathon was broken with a time of 101 hours.
Uganda's dictator Idi Amin is overthrown.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is executed.
Sixty-six people died in Sverdlovsk, USSR, when a bio-warfare lab accidentally released airborne anthrax.
A nuclear disaster occurred at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, US.
US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that police can't stop cars just to check the driver and their registration.
The Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty is signed.
The world's first fully-functional space shuttle, Columbia, was delivered to the JFK Space Center.
Factory Plane Crash in China.
Many volcanoes were discovered on one of planet Jupiter's moons called Io.
Philips demonstrated the compact disc publicly for the first time.
