1979

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    1 January 1979 The Peoples Republic of China and the United States of America formally establish diplomatic ties.  Three hours later, Coca Cola announces its intention to reenter the Chinese market.

    China officially adopts the Pinyin method of transliterating Chinese into the Latin alphabet.

    The Republic of Guinea changes its name to the Peoples Revolutionary Republic of Guinea.

    The Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul is created from part of Mato Grosso.

    2 January 1979 A draft constitution for “Zimbabwe Rhodesia” is published in advance of a referendum among whites.

    3 January 1979 Basque separatists kill the military governor of Madrid.

    Spain and the Vatican sign agreements ending the Concordat of 1953.  The status of Roman Catholicism in the country is brought in line with the new constitution.

    4 January 1979 A civilian government under Shapur Bakhtiar is sworn in in Iran.

    In Reggio Calabria, 28 defendants are sentenced to a total of 207 years in the first successful major prosecution of the Calabrian mafia.

    The funeral for the military governor of Madrid turns into a fascist rally against the government.

    The State of Ohio agrees to the settlement of a suit over the killings at Kent State University in 1970.  They will pay $600,000 to the parents of four students killed and to nine students injured, as well as $75,000 for legal and other expenses.  Governor James Rhodes and 27 National Guardsmen who are defendants in the case sign a statement that the killings “should not have occurred.”  The statement does not contain an apology.

    5 January 1979 The Malaysian government refuses to accept any more boat people from Vietnam.

    Work stoppages in Iran slowly come to an end.

    6 January 1979 100,000 people demonstrate in Qom, Iran against the Bakhtiar government.

    7 January 1979 Phnom Penh is captured by Vietnamese forces along with a Cambodian group, the Cambodian National United Front for National Salvation.

    Jersey Hours for voice and three harpsichords by Ulysses Kay to words of Dorr is performed for the first time, in Teaneck, New Jersey on the composer’s 62nd birthday.

    8 January 1979 The Vietnamese-backed forces in Cambodia proclaim the government of the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea.  Heng Samrin is named President.

    John Wayne Gacy is indicted in a Chicago court with the murder of seven young men.  He says he killed 32 after having sex with them.

    Argentina and Chile agree in Montevideo to refrain from force to settle their dispute over the Beagle Channel.  They will ask Pope John Paul II for mediation.

    On Tourne, a ballet by Bohuslav Martinu (†19), is performed for the first time, in Brno, 52 years after it was composed.

    9 January 1979 Leftist gunmen kill Spanish Supreme Court Justice Miguel Cruz Cunca on a Madrid street.

    Luis Medrano Flores, Secretary-General of the Council of Trade Union Unification, is killed by Nicaraguan government troops while he is handing out leaflets in Managua.

    10 January 1979 10,000 people march in Managua to mark the first anniversary of the murder of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro.

    XXV Opera Snatches for trumpet by William Schuman (68) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    11 January 1979 Eleven people are killed in rioting in Shiraz, Iran.

    12 January 1979 Second Sonata for violin and piano by William Bolcom (40) is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress, Washington, the composer at the keyboard.

    13 January 1979 Vietnamese forces are reported to have taken Sisophon and Siem Reap.

    A nine-member regency council is formed to carry out the duties of the Shah of Iran after he leaves the country.  100,000 people demonstrate peacefully in Teheran against the government.

    Three Arab terrorists who attempt to take over a hotel in the Israeli town of Maalot are killed by Israeli soldiers.

    Jubilatio for four percussionists by Sofia Gubaidulina (47) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    15 January 1979 Pol Pot’s forces retake Kompong Som from the Vietnamese.

    The Ninety-sixth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington.  The ruling Democratic Party controls both houses.

    16 January 1979 Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran leaves his country in general revolt against his rule.  He flies to Egypt.

    Concerto for contrabassoon and orchestra by Gunther Schuller (53) is performed for the first time, at the Kennedy Center in Washington.  On the same program is the premiere of the Symphony no.36 for flute and orchestra by Alan Hovhaness (67).

    17 January 1979 Undisciplined troops run amok in Ahwaz, Iran and attack anti-government protesters.  Unofficial reports put the death toll between ten and 100.

    Voters in Greenland approve home rule by a margin of 2-1.

    18 January 1979 Riots occur in Ahwaz and Dizful, Iran.  At least 23 people are killed and 80 injured.

    Arab terrorists explode a bomb in a Jerusalem marketplace, injuring 21 people.

    Vietnamese forces retake Kompong Som from the Khmer Rouge.

    Reflections of Emily for treble voices, piano, harp, and percussion by Peter Mennin (55) to words of Dickinson is performed for the first time, in New York.

    19 January 1979 Hong Kong authorities temporarily accept 3,383 boat people from Vietnam.

    Israeli forces strike at terrorist camps in Lebanon, killing 40.

    A million people demonstrate in Teheran against the government of Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar and for the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

    In a winter full of labor disputes, British truck drivers end a strike after winning 17-20% wage increases.

    20 January 1979 The String Quartets 4, 5, and 6 by George Rochberg (60) are performed for the first time, at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

    21 Variations for piano by Ralph Shapey (57) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.

    22 January 1979 Public employees in Britain stage a 24-hour strike over low pay.  This is followed by several local strikes by various public professions.

    Ali Hassan Salameh (Abu Hassan), chief of security for Al Fatah, is killed by a car bomb in Beirut.  He is believed responsible for the Arab attack on the Olympics in 1972.  His four bodyguards and five other people are also killed.

    23 January 1979 Steve Wozniak receives a US patent for a “microcomputer for use with video display,” essentially the first practical personal computer.

    26 January 1979 100,000 anti-government protesters demonstrate in Teheran.  They are fired on by troops who kill at least 20.

    Serenade for Guitar with Optional Percussion by Lou Harrison (61) is performed for the first time, in Schenectady, New York.

    27 January 1979 Concerto for violin and orchestra no.3 by Alfred Schnittke (44) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    28 January 1979 The Chinese Central Committee ends the discrimination against children of landlords.

    Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaopeng lands in Washington to begin a nine-day visit.  It is the first official visit to the United States of a high-ranking official from the Peoples Republic.

    Thousands of people once again take to the streets in Teheran.  They throw stones at troops who open fire, killing at least 40 and injuring 400.

    30 January 1979 White voters in Rhodesia approve a new constitution calling for limited majority rule.

    The United States government orders the evacuation of all dependents and non-essential diplomatic personnel.  They urge Americans in Iran to leave the country.

    TASS reports that three people convicted of a 1977 Moscow subway bombing have been executed.

    31 January 1979 The government of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti resigns five days after the Communists withdrew support.

    ...the serpent-snapping eye for trumpet, percussion, piano, and four-track tape by Roger Reynolds (44) is performed for the first time, at the University of California at San Diego.

    1 February 1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years of exile.  He says he will arrest Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar if he refuses to resign.

    2 February 1979 Popular music entertainer John Simon Ritche, aka Sid Vicious, is found dead in New York from an apparent overdose of heroin.  He was free on bail, having been charged with stabbing his girlfriend to death.

    3 February 1979 Two UN soldiers are killed and two wounded by Palestinian guerrillas near Qana, Lebanon.  All were from Fiji.  A UN helicopter sent to evacuate the wounded crashes, killing the four Norwegians aboard.

    Waltz for Evelyn Hinrichsen for piano by Lou Harrison (61) is performed for the first time, at The Kitchen, New York.

    5 February 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini names Mehdi Bazargan to head a provisional government of Iran in opposition to Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar.

    Passacaglia ungherese for harpsichord by György Ligeti (55) is performed for the first time, in Lund, Sweden.

    8 February 1979 A million Iranians demonstrate in Teheran demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar.

    The price of gold reaches a record $254 per ounce in reaction to the situation in Iran.

    The United States ends military aid to Nicaragua indefinitely, reduces economic aid, and reduces its diplomatic staff in the country.

    9 February 1979 Troops loyal to the Bakhtiar government attack air force cadets demonstrating at Dashan Tadeh Air Base in Teheran.

    10 February 1979 Thousands of pro-Khomeini demonstrators take to the streets in Teheran in support of the air force cadets.  They erect barricades and demand the resignation of the government.

    President Muhammad Zia ul-Haq of Pakistan enacts the Hudood Ordinances.  It enforces punishments for the crime of extramarital sexual relations.  Women are guilty of this offense, even if raped, unless four men in good standing testify to the rape.

    A Solo Requiem for soprano and two pianos by Milton Babbitt (62) to words of Shakespeare, Hopkins, Meredith, Stramm, and Dryden is performed for the first time, in New York.

    11 February 1979 In fighting between rival Iranian factions over the last three days, 500 people are killed.  The Iranian army announces its neutrality and withdraws to its barracks, prompting the resignation of Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar.  Mehdi Bazargan becomes Prime Minister at the head of a provisional government.

    12 February 1979 Pakistan and the USSR are the first countries to recognize the new government of Iran.

    Rhodesian guerrillas shoot down a civilian airliner shortly after takeoff from Kariba.

    13 February 1979 Fast Fantasy for cello and piano by Charles Wuorinen (40) is performed for the first time, in a recording session for Finnish Radio, Helsinki.

    14 February 1979 Moslem extremists in Afghanistan kidnap United States ambassador Adolph Dubs.  When Afghan troops storm the building where he is being held, several kidnappers and the ambassador are killed in the gunfire.

    Leftist guerrillas in Iran invade the United States embassy in Teheran and hold 100 people hostage.  After a few hours, they are freed by followers of Ayatollah Khomeini.

    A federal court in Washington finds three Cuban exiles guilty in the 1976 murder of Orlando Letellier, former Chilean ambassador to the US.

    16 February 1979 Iranian radio reports the execution of General Nematollah Nassiri, head of the Shah’s secret police, as well as three other generals.

    Medley (Campfire on the ice) for piano by Ross Lee Finney (72) is performed for the first time, in Heeren Hall of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.

    17 February 1979 200,000-300,000 Chinese troops invade Vietnam in retaliation for alleged Vietnamese border violations which cost the lives of 300 Chinese, so the Beijing government claims.  The attack occurs over most of the 775 km border between the two countries.

    20 February 1979 Vietnam admits the loss of Lao Cai to Chinese forces.

    Eleven members of the Protestant paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force are sentenced to a total of 42 terms of life in prison for the terrorist killings of Catholics.  They are colloquially known as the Shankill Butchers.

    22 February 1979 Vietnam announces that Chinese forces have advanced 25 km into their country.

    St. Lucia, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister John Compton, is proclaimed independent of Great Britain in ceremonies in Castries.

    Over 48 hours, over 100 Sandinista bombs explode within Managua.

    23 February 1979 50,000 people attend a rally in Teheran of the leftist Peoples Fedayeen.

    The Greek government imposes a price freeze in an attempt to stop inflation.

    Less Than Two for two pianos, percussion, and tape by Roger Reynolds (44) is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress, Washington.

    24 February 1979 The New York Times publishes memoranda it obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showing the plans of the Nixon Administration to exert control over the Public Broadcasting System.

    Lulu, an opera by Alban Berg (†43) to his own words after Wedekin, is performed completely for the first time, at the Paris Opéra, under the baton of Pierre Boulez (53).  It was completed by Friedrich Cerha.

    25 February 1979 Tanzanian forces capture Masaka, Uganda, 125 km from Kampala.

    26 February 1979 Chinese forces advance as far as 65 km inside Vietnam.

    28 February 1979 Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan threatens resignation if Ayatollah Khomeini’s Revolutionary Council continues to interfere with his government.

    The white minority parliament of Rhodesia adjourns for the last time.

    L’Autunno for five wind players by Hans Werner Henze (52) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.

    1 March 1979 Western sources in Bangkok announce that Chinese forces have captured Lang Son, Vietnam, a provincial capital.

    The Peoples Republic of China and the United States of America exchange ambassadors.

    Parliamentary elections in Spain leave the major parties virtually unchanged.

    Six people, including a former Italian defense minister and a former air force chief of staff, are convicted of receiving $1,600,000 in bribes from Lockheed.  Five others are acquitted.

    Voters in Wales vote 4-1 against devolution of power to the province.  In Scotland, a bare majority votes in favor of dissolution, but approval by 40% of the total electorate is necessary for approval.  Over one-third of Scottish voters fail to show up at the polls.

    Palintropos for piano and orchestra by John Tavener (35) is performed for the first time, in Birmingham Town Hall.

    Sweeney Todd, with music by Stephen Sondheim, opens in New York.

    2 March 1979 Theatre of the Absurd for live actor, taped actors, electronic tapes, wind quintet, and piano by William Bolcom (40) to his own words is performed for the first time, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

    3 March 1979 Palimpsest for eleven players by Iannis Xenakis (56) is performed for the first time, in Aquila, Italy.

    Accelerazioni for flute and computer by John Melby (37) is performed for the first time, in Chicago.

    4 March 1979 Voyager scientist Stephen P. Synnott discovers a new moon of Jupiter, Metis.

    Street Song for piano by TJ Anderson (50) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.

    5 March 1979 The Chinese army begins to withdraw from Vietnam.

    A US Navy task force is dispatched to the waters off Yemen to provide logistical support to Saudi Arabia should they decide to intervene in the fighting between North and South Yemen.

    American space probe Voyager I passes within 275,000 km of Jupiter.  Voyager scientist Stephen P. Synnott discovers a new moon of Jupiter:  Thebe.

    The US Supreme Court rules that state laws requiring divorced men to provide alimony, but not divorced women, are unconstitutional.

    6 March 1979 In an attempt to end the flood of boat people, the United Nations brokers a deal with Vietnam to allow for the orderly emigration of Vietnamese citizens to nations which will accept them.

    Over a million local-authority employees vote to end their strike and accept a pay settlement.

    7 March 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini announces that women who work in government offices “must be clothed according to religious standards.”

    Voyager 1 scientists announce the discovery of a ring around Jupiter.

    Two Insect Pieces for oboe and piano by Benjamin Britten (†2) are performed for the first time, at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, 44 years after they were composed.

    8 March 1979 Thousands of Iranian women begin five days of marches in Teheran protesting new restrictions on them imposed by the Islamic government.

    US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cairo in an attempt to cement a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.  Syrian President Hafez al-Assad denounces Egyptian President Sadat for having “stabbed the Arabs in the back.”

    Voyager I discovers volcanoes on the Jupiterian moon Io.

    Jakob Lenz, a Kammeroper by Wolfgang Rihm (26) to words of Fröhling after Büchner, is performed for the first time, in the Staatstheater, Hamburg.

    10 March 1979 After three days of talks with President Sadat, US President Jimmy Carter flies to Jerusalem.

    11 March 1979 Monologue:  The Dissembler for baritone and chamber ensemble by Ernst Krenek (78) to words of the composer and various other authors is performed for the first time, in Baltimore.

    12 March 1979 Pakistan withdraws from the Baghdad Pact (CENTO).

    Yasir Arafat tells a crowd in Beirut that the PLO will “burn everything” to stop peace between Egypt and Israel.

    Luis Herrera Campins replaces Carlos Andrés Pérez as president of Venezuela.

    13 March 1979 Eleven generals are executed in Teheran by the Revolutionary Council.

    The European Monetary System officially goes into effect.  Only Great Britain has opted out of the system.

    The West German federal prosecutor’s office reports that East German agents have infiltrated the opposition Christian Democratic Union.  Some secretaries of high-ranking members of the party have defected or been arrested.

    14 March 1979 The Israeli cabinet unanimously approves a peace agreement with Egypt.  President Carter returns to Washington having successfully brokered peace between the two antagonists.

    William Schuman (68) delivers the Charles C. Moskowitz Memorial Lecture at New York University’s School of Business and Public Administration on the subject of Economic Pressures and the Future of the Arts.

    15 March 1979 Chinese forces complete their withdrawal from Vietnam.  In the month long war, 70,000 people have been killed.

    The Egyptian cabinet approves the peace agreement with Israel.

    Turkey withdraws from the Baghdad Pact (CENTO).

    Léonide Massine dies in Cologne at the age of 82.

    João Baptista de Oliveira Figuerredo replaces Ernesto Geisel as President of the military government of Brazil.

    16 March 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini orders a halt to executions after 60 former members of the government and military have been killed.

    An orchestral suite from the ballet Salomé by Peter Maxwell Davies (44) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.

    17 March 1979 Orpheus, a ballet by Hans Werner Henze (52) to a scenario by Bond, is performed for the first time, in the Württembergische Staatsoper, Stuttgart.  The composer considers it a “brilliant success.”

    18 March 1979 Kurds revolt against the new Iranian government.  In fighting lasting over several days, 100 people are killed.

    19 March 1979 The center-right National Coalition Party makes impressive gains in parliamentary elections in Finland.

    22 March 1979 The Israeli Knesset approves the peace treaty with Egypt.

    Richard Sykes, British ambassador to the Netherlands, is shot to death outside his residence in The Hague by members of the IRA.

    Miss Havisham’s Fire, an opera by Dominick Argento (51) to words of Olon-Scrymgeour after Dickens, is performed for the first time, in State Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York.  Reviews vary widely but the work will fail.  See 3 June 2001.

    23 March 1979 Kurdish regions of Iran quiet when the government says it will consider their demands seriously.

    Arab terrorists explode a bomb in the main square of Jerusalem killing one and injuring 14.

    A federal court in Washington sentences two Cuban exiles to life in prison for the murder of former Chilean foreign minister Orlando Letellier and his aide in 1976.

    24 March 1979 String Quartet no.1 by Sofia Gubaidulina (47) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.

    25 March 1979 The Iranian government grants Kurds limited autonomy.

    Maddalena, an incomplete opera by Sergey Prokofiev (†26) after Lieven, orchestrated by Downes, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC originating in London 68 years after it was composed.

    26 March 1979 Yasir Arafat tells a news conference in Beirut that he will “finish off” US interests in the Middle East and “chop off the hands” of Carter, Begin, and Sadat.

    Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad issue a joint statement denouncing the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.

    President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign a formal peace treaty in Washington, ending 31 years of war.

    27 March 1979 OPEC raises the base price for oil by 9% and allows for surcharges.

    In croce for cello and organ by Sofia Gubaidulina (47) is performed for the first time, in Kazan.

    28 March 1979 The government of British Prime Minister James Callaghan loses a vote of confidence by one vote.  Queen Elizabeth dissolves Parliament and calls new elections.

    A combination of mechanical and human errors creates a major nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania.  Radioactive gases escape into the atmosphere for the next 13 days.  Radioactive water is released into the Susquehanna River.  Local authorities are not informed until three hours after the event.

    The first version of Chorale from a Toy Shop for flute, oboe/clarinet, clarinet/english horn, horn, trombone, and trombone/tuba by Harrison Birtwistle (44) is performed for the first time, in All Saints Church, Lewes.  See 19 May 1978.

    29 March 1979 North and South Yemen agree to a plan for unification.

    Dr. James Lyon of the University of California at San Diego reveals that the FBI kept a surveillance file on Bertolt Brecht from 1943 until his death in 1956.  Despite tapped phones, opened letters, and intercepted telegrams, the FBI could not substantiate Brecht’s alleged Communist activities.

    30 March 1979 Airey Neave, MP is killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb explodes in his car outside the House of Commons, London.

    Ilie Verdet replaces Manea Manescu as Prime Minister of Romania.

    The Irish government cuts the links between its currency and the British pound in order to meet the requirements of the new European Monetary System.

    Governor Richard Thornburgh of Pennsylvania closes 23 schools around Three Mile Island and calls on small children and pregnant women to be evacuated.

    The Immurement of Antigone for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by John Tavener (35) to words of McLarnon is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.

    31 March 1979 Vietnamese forces begin a new offensive against the Khmer Rouge in northwest Cambodia.

    A boat carrying 227 refugees from Vietnam capsizes off Malaysia.  104 people are killed.

    Results from a referendum in Iran show 97% of voters in favor of an Islamic Republic over a monarchy.

    Meeting in Baghdad, the Arab League votes to end all economic and diplomatic ties with Egypt because of its peace treaty with Israel.

    The eleven-day-old government of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti loses a confidence vote and resigns.

    1 April 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini declares an Islamic Republic in Iran.

    The last British troops leave Malta.  This ends 179 years of British military presence on the island.

    2 April 1979 Menachem Begin becomes the first Prime Minister of Israel to visit Cairo.

    3 April 1979 China informs the USSR that it will let the 30-year 1950 friendship treaty between the two countries expire next year.

    Wilfried Martens of the Christian Peoples Party replaces Paul van den Boeynants as Prime Minister of Belgium after a six-month government crisis.

    Eugene Ormandy announces he will retire as music director for the Philadelphia Orchestra at the end of next season after 44 years in that post.

    4 April 1979 Australia bans whaling within 322 km of its shores.

    Former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is hanged in Rawalpindi by the dictator President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq.

    5 April 1979 US President Carter orders the decontrol of domestic oil prices.  He proposes a windfall profits tax on oil corporations.  The tax will help pay for developing alternative energy sources.

    6 April 1979 A factory at La Seyne-sur-Mer near Toulon is heavily damaged by explosions, probably set by Israeli agents.  The factory produces equipment for nuclear reactors for Iraq.

    The US ceases economic and military aid to Pakistan because it is building a uranium enrichment plant capable of producing nuclear weapons.

    Two songs for voice and piano by Leonard Bernstein (60) are performed for the first time, in Buffalo as part of the musical Mad Woman of Central Park West:  My New Friends to words of the composer, and Up! Up! Up! to words of Comden and Green.

    7 April 1978 Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman announces the end of martial law, imposed in 1975.

    Executions of former officials resume in Iran, beginning with former Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveida.

    Sandinista forces take control of Esteli, Condega, El Sauce, and Ocotal, Nicaragua.

    8 April 1979 An Adagietto for orchestra from Paradise Lost by Krzysztof Penderecki (45) is performed for the first time, in Osaka.  See 29 November 1978.

    The Klickitat Ride for chorus and/or instruments and caller by Pauline Oliveros (46) is performed for the first time, in Vancouver.

    9 April 1979 ...agm... for 16 voices and three instrumental ensembles by Harrison Birtwistle (44) to words of Sappho is performed for the first time, in Paris conducted by Pierre Boulez (54).

    The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces that the nuclear crisis around Three Mile Island is over, even though radiation is still escaping from the plant.

    10 April 1979 Georgi Ivanov becomes the first Bulgarian in space, aboard a Soviet spacecraft.

    The Azores is made an autonomous region of Portugal.

    The Egyptian Parliament ratifies the peace treaty with Israel.

    Arab terrorists explode a bomb in a Tel Aviv market.  One person is killed, 36 injured.  Israeli planes respond by bombing terrorist base camps in southern Lebanon.

    11 April 1979 Ugandan rebels backed by Tanzanian troops overthrow the government of President Idi Amin Dada as they occupy Kampala.

    Three Songs for tenor and piano by Charles Wuorinen (40) to words of Britton is performed for the first time, in the studios of WFMT, New York the composer at the piano.

    12 April 1979 A tariff reduction agreement sponsored by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is initialed in Geneva.  It would reduce tariffs by one-third.

    13 April 1979 By this date, 119 former members of the government of the Shah of Iran have been executed, including former Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveida and several other ministers.

    Yusufu Lule takes office as provisional President of Uganda.

    Rhodesian commandos destroy the home of guerrilla leader Joshua Nkomo in Lusaka, killing ten of his guards.

    The process to shut down the no.2 reactor at Three Mile Island begins.  As it proceeds, radioactive iodine-131 continues to escape from the plant.

    14 April 1979 Requiem for cello by Peter Sculthorpe (49) is performed for the first time, in Clubbe Hall, Mittagong, New South Wales.

    Nicaraguan government troops recapture Esteli from leftist guerrillas.

    15 April 1979 Quintet for Winds by John Harbison (40) is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.

    16 April 1979 When Israeli and Belgian security forces prevent them from reaching an El Al plane, Arab terrorists explode a bomb in an arrival lounge at Brussels airport.  Five Belgians are injured.  They then fire into a restaurant, injuring seven more people.  Two are captured, two escape.

    17 April 1979 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expels Egypt and places an embargo on oil shipments to it.

    18 April 1979 Over the last week, 110 people have been killed and 325 injured in rioting between Hindus and Moslems in Jamshedpur, Bihar.

    Schoolchildren demonstrate in Bangui, Central African Empire, against requirements that they wear school uniforms.  Many are arrested and about 100 die in prison, either through suffocation in cramped cells or beatings by police.

    20 April 1979 The Palace of the Senators, currently used as the city hall of Rome, is damaged by a bomb explosion.  No one is injured.

    Concertino for piano, winds and timpani by George Perle (63) is performed for the first time, in Chicago, conducted by Ralph Shapey.

    21 April 1979 Over the next five days, about 50,000-80,000 Cambodians cross the border into Thailand.  They are civilians and soldiers of the Khmer Rouge government fleeing a Vietnamese offensive in western Cambodia.

    22 April 1979 Five days of fighting begin across the Israel-Lebanon border when Arab terrorists attack the Israeli town of Nahariya, killing a civilian and his four-year-old daughter.

    Tanzanian troops capture Jinja, Uganda with little resistance.  They are warmly welcomed by the citizenry.

    Miracles for boys chorus and orchestra by Gian Carlo Menotti (67) to children’s poems is performed for the first time, in Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

    23 April 1979 Major General Mohammed Wali Qaraneh, former Iranian armed forces chief of staff, is shot to death near his home in Teheran.  Although the killers are not known, there is evidence that he was killed in retaliation for his role in putting down Kurdish nationalists.  He is the first ally of Ayatollah Khomeini to be assassinated.

    Slow Fires of Autumn:  Ukiyo-E II for flute and harp by George Rochberg (60) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.

    24 April 1979 Multi-racial elections are held in Rhodesia for the first time.  The United African National Council of Bishop Abel Muzorewa wins a majority of seats.

    26 April 1979 César Chávez, president of the United Farm Workers, announces a nationwide US boycott of iceberg lettuce in support of a strike by his members against lettuce growers.

    27 April 1979 Mangrove for orchestra by Peter Sculthorpe (49) is performed for the first time, in the Sydney Opera House.

    At Kennedy Airport in New York, the United States hands over two Soviet spies in exchange for five dissidents, Alyeksandr Ginzburg, Valentin Moroz, Gyorgy Vins, Mark Dymshits, and Edvard Kuznetsov.

    Three Mile Island reactor no.2 reaches shutdown condition.

    Blue’s Blue, an ethnomusicological reconstruction by Mauricio Kagel (47), is performed for the first time, in the Städtischer Saalbau, Witten.

    A Ring of Emeralds for chorus and piano by Leslie Bassett (56) to various Irish texts is performed for the first time, in Cork.

    28 April 1979 Four Little Pieces for piano duet by Peter Sculthorpe are performed for the first time, at the Sydney Opera House, on the eve of the composer’s 50th birthday.

    Scherzetto for cello and piano by Frank Bridge (†38) is performed for the first time, in Snape Maltings, 77 years after it was composed, during the centennial of the composer’s birth.

    String Quartet Set by Lou Harrison (61) is performed for the first time, at the University of Toronto.

    Quoq for flute by Robert Erickson (62) is performed for the first time, at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia.

    29 April 1979 Thailand reports that most of the Cambodians that crossed the border a week ago have been returned to Cambodia.

    Play Me Something for piano by TJ Anderson (50) is performed for the first time, in Weston, Massachusetts.

    El Relicario de los Animale for 20 instruments and singer by Pauline Oliveros (46) is performed for the first time, at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia.

    30 April 1979 The freighter Ashdod becomes the first Israeli vessel to traverse the Suez Canal.

    The UN Security Council votes 12-0-3 to condemn the Rhodesian elections.

    Salomo for alto flute by Isang Yun (61) is performed for the first time, in Kiel.

    Full Moon in March, an opera by John Harbison (40) to his own words after Yeats, is performed for the first time, in Sanders Theatre of Harvard University.

    Quintets for orchestra by Lukas Foss (56) is performed for the first time, in Severance Hall, Cleveland the composer conducting.

    1 May 1979 The autonomous Republic of the Marshall Islands is created in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

    Ayatollah Morteza Motahari, a leading member of Iran’s Revolutionary Council, is shot and killed by an anti-clerical Islamic group.

    Home rule goes into effect in Greenland.

    3 May 1979 Red Brigade terrorists blow up the headquarters of the Italian Christian Democratic Party in Rome, killing one person and injuring two.

    National elections in Great Britain result in a gain of 62 seats and a majority by the Conservative Party.

    Déplacements for amplified guitar and computer generated tape by Tod Machover (25) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.

    4 May 1979 Leftist guerrillas occupy the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, El Salvador as well as the embassies of Costa Rica and France.

    Margaret Hilda Thatcher replaces Leonard James Callahan as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

    Chip and His Dog, an opera for children by Gian Carlo Menotti (67) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in War Memorial Hall, University of Guelph, Ontario.

    6 May 1979 Parliamentary elections in Austria result in an increased majority for the ruling Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.

    A Thanksgiving to God, for His House, an anthem for chorus by Dominick Argento (51) to words of Herrick, is performed for the first time, at Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis.

    7 May 1979 The new majority-black parliament convenes in Salisbury, Rhodesia.

    Erik Satie’s (†53) first published works, Valse-ballet and Fantaisie-valse for piano, are performed publicly for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.  Also premiered is his fanfare for two trumpets Sonnerie pour réveiller lo bon gros Roi des Singes (lequel ne dort toujours que d’un oeil), composed in 1921. See 17 March 1887.

    8 May 1979 A crowd outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador, demonstrating support for the guerrillas inside, is fired upon by government troops.  23 people are killed.

    Chor der Steine for computer by John Melby (37) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

    9 May 1979 8,000 more Cambodians cross into Thailand over the next two days.

    Executions of members of the former Iranian government reach 200.

    The United States and the USSR announce the completion of a draft Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

    Uspud, a ballet chrétien by Erik Satie (†54) to a story by Contamine de Latour and Satie, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris 87 years after it was composed.  See 17 March 1887.

    10 May 1979 The Federated States of Micronesia is granted autonomy by the United States.

    Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now is shown for the first time, in Cannes.

    Kwazulu Summer Landscape for tape by Kevin Volans (29) is performed for the first time, in New York.

    11 May 1979 Leftist guerrillas take over the Venezuelan embassy in San Salvador.

    Michael Townley is sentenced to serve between 40 months and ten years in prison for his part in the murder of former Chilean foreign minister Orlando Letellier and his aide in 1976.  Townley testified against his former conspirators.

    The Crown of Ariadne for harp and percussion by R. Murray Schafer (45) is performed for the first time, in Toronto.

    Missa O pulchritudo in honorem sacratissimi cordis Jesus for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, chorus, and orchestra by Gian Carlo Menotti (67) is performed for the first time, in Uihlein Hall, Milwaukee.

    13 May 1979 Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, head of the Islamic revolutionary courts in Iran, calls for the killing of the Shah, his wife, sister, brother, and mother-in-law, all former prime ministers and several other officials.

    14 May 1979 Arab terrorists explode a bomb in Tiberias, Israel killing two people and injuring 32 others.

    The Chief Justice of Chile, Israel Borquez, denies an extradition request by the US for three Chilean army officers indicted in the murder of Orlando Letellier.

    Pléïades for six percussionists by Iannis Xenakis (56) is performed for the first time, in Strasbourg.  The movements are interspersed with the music of Giovanni Gabrieli (†356).

    Fromm Variations for piano by Ralph Shapey (58) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.

    18 May 1979 Israeli forces carry out an amphibious attack on a guerrilla base at Insariye, Lebanon.  Several guerrillas are killed and ammunition destroyed.

    Kerr-McGee Corp. is found liable in the death of Karen Silkwood in November 1974.  They are ordered to pay $505,000 in damages and $10,000,000 in punitive damages.  The case is appealed.

    As of a Dream for narrator, chorus, and orchestra by Norman Dello Joio (66) to words of Whitman is performed for the first time, in Midland, Michigan.

    20 May 1979 String Quartet no.4 by Michael Tippett (74) is performed for the first time, in the Bath Assembly Rooms.

    Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Nicaragua because of the Somoza government’s “horrendous genocide.”

    The Venezuelan ambassador and seven others escape from their captors holding them in the embassy in San Salvador.

    21 May 1979 Light and Dark for organ by Sofia Gubaidulina (47) is performed for the first time, in Leningrad.

    22 May 1979 Supporters of leftist guerrillas in the Venezuelan embassy in San Salvador are fired upon by government troops.  14 are killed, 20 injured.

    Dan White, a former San Francisco Supervisor, is convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.  About 5,000 homosexuals riot in protest to the lenient verdict.  He will be sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.

    Voters in Canada remove the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and install the Progressive Conservative Party of Joe Clark in a minority government.

    Concerto for amplified guitar and chamber orchestra by Tod Machover (25) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.  Also premiered are Machover’s Two Songs for soprano and chamber ensemble to words of Moss, and Yoku Mireba for flute, cello, and piano.

    23 May 1979 Arab terrorists explode a bomb at a bus stop in Petach Tikva, Israel which kills three people (including an 18-month-old girl) and injures 13 others.  Israeli forces respond by attacking guerrilla bases in Damur, Lebanon.

    In response to the killing of their followers by government troops yesterday, leftist guerrillas kill El Salvador’s Minister of Education, Carlos Antonio Herrera Rebollo and his driver in San Salvador.

    24 May 1979 The Salvadoran government declares a state of siege.  All constitutional rights are suspended.

    25 May 1979 Ayatollah Hasheimi Rafsanjani, an aide to Ayatollah Khomeini, is shot and wounded by persons unknown in Teheran.

    Israeli forces begin their withdrawal from the Sinai by handing over El Arish to the Egyptians.

    A Spanish general, two colonels and their driver are killed by Basque separatists on a Madrid street.

    Leftists peacefully end their occupation of the Municipal Cathedral in San Salvador.

    26 May 1979 Social Democrat Mauno Koivisto replaces Tasito Kalevi Sorsa as Prime Minister of Finland.

    Eight people are killed, 40 injured when a bomb explodes in a Madrid café.

    Hymns I-IV for cello and chamber orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (44) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    28 May 1979 In a ceremony in Athens, Greek officials sign the EEC treaty, to take effect 1 January 1981.

    29 May 1979 Sandinista forces invade southern Nicaragua from Costa Rica.

    30 May 1979 Four US newspapers are granted permission to open offices in Beijing.

    Swiss charge d’affaires Hugo Wey is shot to death in his car in San Salvador, probably by leftists attempting to kidnap him.

    31 May 1979 After two days of fighting between ethnic Arabs and government troops in Khurramshahr, Iran, 100-200 people are dead, 600 injured.

    A UN-brokered truce goes into effect in southern Lebanon.

    Bishop Abel Muzorewa takes power as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

    Corsican separatists explode 22 bombs in various locations throughout Paris.  No one is injured.

    1 June 1979 Sheik Hasham Hussendair, a Palestinian who supported the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, is stabbed to death in Gaza by Palestinian terrorists.

    Leftists end their occupation of the French and Venezuelan embassies in San Salvador in return for safe passage.

    Nine Beginnings for two pianos by Kevin Volans (29) is performed for the first time, at Beginner Studio, Cologne.  Also premiered is Volans’ Delay in Glass for two singers, Irish harp, two pianos, and tape.

    Music for a Large Ensemble by Steve Reich (42) is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.

    2 June 1979 Pope John Paul II makes a tumultuous return to Poland for a nine-day visit, on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Stanislas.

    Dramatic Fantasia for piano by Frank Bridge (†38) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London 73 years after it was composed, during the centennial of the composer’s birth.

    3 June 1979 Tanzanian forces complete their conquest of Uganda by taking Koboko.

    An anti-government uprising begins in León, Nicaragua.

    An oil well off the Yucatán Peninsula blows out creating a massive oil slick.

    The Italian Communist Party suffers a defeat in general elections, losing 27 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.  The Christian Democrats remain the largest party and will form the next coalition.

    Juana La Loca, an opera by Gian Carlo Menotti (67) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Civic Theatre, San Diego.

    4 June 1979 The Australian government bans oil drilling in the Great Barrier Reef until it can be shown that such drilling will not harm the reef.

    Pope John Paul II arrives in the shrine city of Czestochowa and will stay for three days.

    Iran refuses to accept a new ambassador from the US.

    President John Vorster of South Africa resigns after a report is released charging him with a cover-up of wrongdoing in the Department of Information.

    A general strike in Managua closes 80% of businesses in the city.  Sandinista forces take El Godoy airport in León.

    Charles Joseph Clark replaces Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada.  He is the youngest person to hold the office.

    5 June 1979 Songes for tape by Jean-Claude Risset (41) is performed for the first time, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

    Introduction to the British National Anthem for twelve trumpets by William Walton (77) is performed for the first time, in the Royal Festival Hall, London.  The work is performed tonight as Salute to Sir Robert Mayer on his 100th Birthday.

    Arise, Shine for chorus and organ by Ned Rorem (55) to words from the Bible is performed for the first time, in Trinity Church, Hartford.

    6 June 1979 Pope John Paul II visits Krakow, where he was archbishop.

    Representatives of Egypt and Israel agree to let their citizens travel freely between the two countries.

    President Anastasio Somoza declares a state of siege in Nicaragua.

    7 June 1979 The Iranian government nationalizes all 37 private banks in the country.  They seize all assets of the Shah’s family and supporters.

    Pope John Paul II visits his native village, and the death camp at Auschwitz.

    Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom hold the first direct elections for the European Parliament.

    US President Carter announces the trade sanctions on Zimbabwe-Rhodesia will not be lifted.

    9 June 1979 Urban warfare erupts in Managua.

    Beatus vir op.38 for baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Henryk Górecki (45) to words of the Psalms is performed for the first time, in Kraków, the composer conducting in the presence of Pope John Paul II.  The Pope commissioned the work when he was Archbishop of Kraków to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Stanislaw.

    Aureole for orchestra by Jacob Druckman (50) is performed for the first time, in New York conducted by the commissioner and dedicatee, Leonard Bernstein (60).

    10 June 1979 Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, and Luxembourg hold the first direct elections for the European Parliament.  In the newly expanded body, Socialists win the most seats, followed closely by Christian Democrats.

    Pope John Paul II ends his visit to Poland with a mass in Krakow.

    General José Cansino, Guatemalan army Chief of Staff, is shot to death by persons unknown, along with his driver and bodyguard as they drive through Guatemala City.

    Hymns and Variations for twelve amplified voices by John Cage (66) is performed for the first time, in the Beethovenhalle, Bonn.

    11 June 1979 In the last four days, Thailand has forced 30,000 Cambodian refugees back across the border.

    The price of gold reaches a record $282.35 an ounce.

    National Guard tanks attack the offices of La Prensa in Managua.  They then set the building alight.

    12 June 1979 Byron Allen pedals Gossamer Albatross from Folkestone, Great Britain to Cape Gris-Nez, France in two hours, 49 minutes, the first crossing of the English Channel in a human powered aircraft.

    Popular music entertainer Chuck Berry pleads guilty to income tax evasion in a federal court in Los Angeles.

    13 June 1979 A federal court awards $17,500,000 to the Sioux Nation of Indians to be paid by the United States.  The court rules that the constitutional rights of the Sioux were violated when the US took the Black Hills without their consent.  The award is the fair market value of the land.  With interest, the award reaches $105,000,000.

    14 June 1979 Basque separatist bombs explode at six targets in the Basque region.  Government and military buildings, and a sports complex are the targets.

    16 June 1979 Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, former head of state of Ghana, is executed for corruption.

    Kirkwall Shopping Songs for children’s chorus, recorders, percussion, and piano by Peter Maxwell Davies (44) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Papdale Primary School, Kirkwall, Orkney.

    Sandinista forces announce the creation of a five-member provisional government for Nicaragua.

    18 June 1979 In the Hofburg, Vienna, US President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

    A draft constitution for the Islamic Republic of Iran is announced.

    Sandinista rebels name a five-man junta to act as a provisional government.

    Solstice of Light for tenor, chorus, and organ by Peter Maxwell Davies (44) is performed for the first time, in St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney.

    19 June 1979 Marais Viljoen replaces Balthazar Vorster as President of South Africa.

    The Arab Monetary Fund bans all future deposits in Canadian banks because the new conservative government of Canada plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    Façade 2 for chamber ensemble and reciter by William Walton (77) to words of E. Sitwell, is performed for the first time, in Snape Maltings.

    20 June 1979 A reporter for the American Broadcasting Company is killed by Nicaraguan National Guardsmen.  After the deed is shown on US television, American public opinion sways against the Nicaraguan government.

    The Sandinistas take control of La Gateada, Rama, and Santo Tomás.

    Unfinished Symphony for strings by Frank Bridge (†38) is performed for the first time, in Snape Maltings during the centennial of the composer’s birth.  The work was left unfinished at his death and only a first movement exists.

    Apprehensions for voice, clarinet, and piano by Shulamit Ran (29) to words of Plath is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WFMT radio, Chicago.

    21 June 1979 Canada, Israel, and Sweden say they will take more Vietnamese boat people.

    US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance tells the OAS that President Somoza of Nicaragua must be replaced and an OAS force sent to restore order.

    Octet for two flutes/piccolos/clarinets/bass clarinets, two pianos, two violins, viola, and cello by Steve Reich (42) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Hessischer Rundfunk, originating in Frankfurt.

    Anemoessa for chorus and orchestra by Iannis Xenakis (57) is performed for the first time, in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

    22 June 1979 Former leader of the British Liberal Party, Jeremy Thorpe, is acquitted of murder in the death of Norman Scott.  Three other men, accused of conspiring with Thorpe, are also acquitted.

    Sandinista troops capture Diriamba.

    23 June 1979 Anti-government demonstrations in Kabul are fired on by Afghan government troops.  Over 100 people are killed.

    The OAS votes to call for the replacement of President Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua.

    24 June 1979 Sandinista troops capture Masaya.

    25 June 1979 Thailand temporarily suspends expulsions of Cambodian refugees until a UN conference on the issue can be held.

    The Iranian government nationalizes all twelve insurance companies operating in the country.

    A bomb goes off on a small bridge near Mons, Belgium in an attempt to kill NATO Supreme Commander General Alexander Haig.  Haig is uninjured.

    26 June 1979 Six high-ranking military officers are executed in Ghana for corruption.  Two are former heads of state, Fred Akuffo and Akwasi Afrifa.

    Brazil breaks diplomatic ties with Nicaragua.

    27 June 1979 Israeli war planes shoot down five Syrian fighters over southern Lebanon.  It is the first air combat between the two countries since 1974.

    Sandinista rebels withdraw from Managua.

    Liebeslieder:  Four songs with interludes for voice and piano by Hugo Weisgall (66) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WFMT Chicago.

    28 June 1979 In Tokyo, US President Carter announces that his country will double its quota of boat people allowed in to 14,000 per month.

    Meeting in Geneva, OPEC raises its base price for oil to $18 per barrel.

    The Greek Parliament ratifies the entry of the country into the European Community in January 1981.

    29 June 1979 Songs of Innocence for soprano and chamber ensemble by Ben Johnston (53) to words of Blake is performed for the first time.

    1 July 1979 The first model of the Walkman® is introduced by Sony in Tokyo.

    Karl Carstens replaces Walter Scheel as President of West Germany.

    2 July 1979 Basque terrorists stop a Paris to Madrid train in France and fire automatic weapons into it.  No one is injured.

    5 July 1979 The Iranian government announces the nationalization of all large industries still privately owned.

    6 July 1979 Sonata for oboe, harp, and viola by Isang Yun (61) is performed for the first time, in Saarbrücken.

    7 July 1979 Klangwölfe for violin and piano by Mauricio Kagel (47) is performed for the first time, in La Rochelle.

    8 July 1979 David C. Jewitt and G. Edward Danielson discover Adrastea, a moon of Jupiter, from photographs taken by Voyager 2.

    9 July 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini declares a broad amnesty for those members of the previous government still left alive.

    New laws enacted by the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile break up some labor unions and severely restrict those remaining.

    The Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Jupiter.

    10 July 1979 Arthur Fiedler dies in Brookline, Massachusetts at the age of 84.

    11 July 1979 The US space vehicle Skylab enters the atmosphere and breaks up, showering debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.  Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser tells US President Jimmy Carter that he will happily trade pieces of Skylab for higher import quotas for Australian beef.

    Meeting in London, the International Whaling Commission bans whaling in the Indian Ocean for ten years.  They also ban the use of factory ships in killing whales worldwide.

    12 July 1979 The Republic of Kiribati, under President Ieremia Tabai, is proclaimed independent of Great Britain in ceremonies in Tarawa.

    13 July 1979 Four Arab terrorists take over the Egyptian embassy in Ankara, killing two Turkish guards in the process.  They take 19 hostages.

    14 July 1979 Sonata for viola and piano by George Rochberg (61) is performed for the first time, in Provo, Utah.

    15 July 1979 Indian Prime Minister Moraji Desai resigns when 100 parliamentary members of his party quit in protest.

    The attack on the Egyptian embassy in Ankara ends when the four terrorists surrender to Turkish authorities, their demands unmet.

    In a nationally broadcast speech from Kansas City, President Carter attacks the “crisis of confidence” now facing the United States.  He lays out a major plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

    Two Soviet cosmonauts, Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin, break the old space endurance record on their 140th day in space.

    16 July 1979 President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr of Iraq resigns and names Saddam Hussein al-Majid al-Tikriti as his successor.

    17 July 1979 Simone Veil, affiliated with the Liberal grouping, is elected President of the first directly elected European Parliament in Strasbourg.

    An agreement is reached between the Spanish government and the main Basque party for limited home rule in the Basque country.

    President Anastasio Somoza Debayle of Nicaragua resigns and, with 45 followers, flees the country for Miami.  Power devolves upon Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños, Speaker of the lower house of Congress.  National Guard troops surrender to Sandinistas in Granada, Somoto, Ocotal, and Bosco.

    18 July 1979 The revolutionary junta flies from Costa Rica to León to take power.  Nicaraguan President Urcuyo flees the country.

    19 July 1979 A power sharing agreement is reached between the  Revolutionary Council of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian government of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan.

    Pierre Werner replaces Gaston Thorn as Prime Minister of Luxembourg.

    President António Ramalho Eanes of Portugal names Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo as interim Prime Minister until elections in the fall.

    After seven weeks of civil war and 10,000 deaths, Sandinista fighters enter Managua as National Guardsmen flee the country.  A Government of National Reconstruction assumes power in the capital.

    Two supertankers, one Greek, one Liberian, collide 29 km off Tobago dumping over 1,000,000 barrels of oil into the Caribbean.

    20 July 1979 The new British government announces its will sell substantial minority shares in British Airways.

    The Government of National Reconstruction installs itself as the provisional government of Nicaragua.

    21 July 1979 At the end of a two-day conference in Geneva, Vietnam promises to try to stop the flow of refugees from its shores.

    The total number of executions since the Islamic takeover in Iran reaches 350.

    22 July 1979 Concerto for organ and string orchestra op.230 by Ernst Krenek (78) is performed for the first time, in the Stiftskirche, Ossiach, Austria.

    23 July 1979 The US begins evacuating its diplomatic dependents from Kabul.

    Ayatollah Khomeini bans the broadcast of all music on radio and television.  He says it corrupts Iranian youth and is “no different from opium.”

    The new British government announces its will sell 50% of shares in British Aerospace.

    24 July 1979 The government of El Salvador lifts the state of siege imposed two months ago.

    25 July 1979 At a ceremony at Bir Nasseb, Israel hands back more of the Sinai to Egypt.

    Salvadoran rebels take over the Municipal Cathedral in San Salvador and the cathedral in San Miguel.  Troops surround the San Miguel Cathedral.

    26 July 1979 Zahir Mohsen, head of the PLO’s military operations, is shot dead in Cannes, France by persons unknown.

    27 July 1979 Three Donald Hall Songs for medium voice, flute, clarinet, horn, cello, and piano by William Bolcom (41) are performed for the first time, in Charlemont, Massachusetts, the composer at the piano.

    28 July 1979 Chaudhury Charan Singh replaces Moraji Desai as Prime Minister of India. 

    29 July 1979 Five bombs set by Basque separatists explode in two Madrid rail stations and the airport, killing five people and injuring 113.

    30 July 1979 Ted Bundy is sentenced to death in a Miami court for the murders of two women.  He is believed to have committed at least 30 murders.

    31 July 1979 The Nigerian government nationalizes all British Petroleum assets in the country after BP sells oil to South Africa.

    Three Organ Voluntaries by Peter Maxwell Davies (44) are performed for the first time, in Vestervig Kirke, Denmark.

    1 August 1979 Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo officially replaces Carlos da Mota Pinto as Prime Minister of Portugal.

    String Quartet no.2 by Charles Wuorinen (41) is performed for the first time, on the Grand Teton Music Festival Stage, Jackson, Wyoming.

    2 August 1979 Israeli forces move 14 km into Lebanon and attack a terrorist staging area near Katawba.  Ten people are killed.

    Atlantic Empress, one of the tankers involved in the 19 July collision, sinks while being towed 240 km east of Barbados.  Its cargo of 2,000,000 barrels of crude oil caused a slick 24 km long and five km wide.

    5 August 1979 Troops loyal to the Afghan government put down a mutiny by soldiers sympathetic to Islamic rebels.

    Francesco Cossiga replaces Giulio Andreotti as Prime Minister of Italy.

    In an agreement signed in Algiers with the Polisario Front, Mauritania renounces all claims to Western Sahara.  They will withdraw all of their military forces in the country.

    7 August 1979 Commonwealth heads of state meeting in Lusaka adopt a statement calling for democratic change in Zimbabwe Rhodesia, including a constitutional conference with all parties.

    Revolutionary guards occupy the offices of the Teheran daily Ayandegan.  Its staff will be tried for counterrevolutionary activities.

    Highly enriched uranium is released from a nuclear fuel plant near Erwin, Tennessee contaminating 1,000 people.

    8 August 1979 21 high ranking officials of the Iraqi government are executed by firing squad for alleged plots to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein.

    Chariots for orchestra by Ulysses Kay (62) is performed for the first time, in Saratoga Springs, New York the composer conducting.

    9 August 1979 Nymph and Satyr, a ballet by Howard Hanson (82), is performed for the first time, in Chautauqua, Tennessee.

    10 August 1979 Security forces raid the Buenos Aires offices of three human rights organizations and steal records and files on missing persons.

    Prologue, Visions, and Finale from Paradise Lost for six solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (45) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.  See 29 November 1978.

    11 August 1979 A flood in Morvi, India kills 5,000-15,000 people.

    Moroccan troops occupy southern Western Sahara, abandoned by Mauritania, and annex it to their other holdings in the province.

    12 August 1979 Three days of serious rioting erupts in Teheran between supporters and opponents of Ayatollah Khomeini.

    14 August 1979 The US Immigration and Naturalization Service directs its employees to stop denying entry to people they suspect are homosexuals.

    15 August 1979 US representative to the UN Andrew Young resigns after it is revealed that he had unauthorized contacts with the PLO last month.

    Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now is released in the United States.

    16 August 1979 The US Federal Reserve raises its discount rate to a record 10.5%.

    The US Justice Department drops its 36 charges against Park Tong Sun accused of influence peddling in Congress.  It is part of a plea bargain wherein Park testified against those he bribed.

    17 August 1979 Two works by Pauline Oliveros (47) are performed for the first time, in the Lenox Art Center, Lenox, Massachusetts:  Double X for quartet or octet of instruments, and Rock Piece for any number of performers.

    19 August 1979 Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin return to Earth after a record 175 days in space.

    20 August 1979 Prime Minister Charan Singh of India resigns when it becomes apparent he will not survive a confidence vote.

    The Iranian government closes 22 opposition newspapers.

    Winter’s Tale, an opera by John Harbison (40) to his own words after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.

    22 August 1979 President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy of India dissolves Parliament and orders new elections.

    23 August 1979 Alexander Godunov of the Bolshoy ballet theatre is granted asylum in the United States after he defects in New York.

    25 August 1979 Concerto for trumpet and chamber orchestra by Gunther Schuller (53) is performed for the first time, in Jefferson, New Hampshire conducted by the composer.

    27 August 1979 Earl Mountbatten of Burma, cousin to Queen Elizabeth, is killed when a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army explodes aboard his fishing boat off County Sligo, Ireland.  Three people accompanying Mountbatten are also killed and three injured.

    Forces of the Irish Republican Army ambush British troops at Warrenpoint, south of Belfast, killing 18 of them.

    On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of his death, the earthly remains of Bohuslav Martinu are reinterred in the town of his birth, Policka, Czechoslovakia, next to those of his wife.  Her remains were placed there on 8 December 1978, according to her wishes.  A large crowd attends the ceremony.

    Piccola serenata, a vocalise for voice and piano by Leonard Bernstein (61), is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.

    28 August 1979 President João Baptista de Figueiredo signs an amnesty for 5,000 people who fled the military dictatorship in Brazil since 1964 and are living abroad.

    29 August 1979 An international airlift of food, medicine and other supplies begins to Cambodia in an attempt to stop famine and disease in the country.

    Jonah for chorus, actors, children, flute, clarinet, organ, and percussion by R. Murray Schafer (46) is performed for the first time, in Maynooth, Ontario.

    30 August 1979 Hurricane David begins a week-long rampage through the eastern Caribbean and the east coast of the United States.  About 1,100 people die as a result, mostly in the Dominican Republic.

    1 September 1979 The American space probe Pioneer II flies within 20,000 km of Saturn.

    4 September 1979 Iranian government troops capture Mehabad, center of a Kurdish insurrection.

    Iran orders the Associated Press out of the country.

    6 September 1979 Leftist guerrillas kill José Javier Romero, brother of Salvadoran President  Carlos Humberto Romero, at his home 24 km north of San Salvador.

    The US government says it will pay $1,700,000 to James Thornwell, an Army veteran, because it gave him LSD in 1961 without his knowledge as part of a drug experiment.

    Les Yeux clos for piano by Toru Takemitsu (48) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall.

    8 September 1979 Conservative death squads ambush a truck taking students to a recreation area 128 km east of San Salvador.  Seven people are killed, seven injured.

    10 September 1979 An all-party peace conference on the future of Zimbabwe Rhodesia opens in London.

    President Agostinho Neto of Angloa dies in a Moscow hospital after surgery for pancreatic cancer.  Planning Minister José Eduardo dos Santos is appointed interim president.

    Government troops in El Salvador kill seven left-wing students.

    11 September 1979 Leftists end their occupation of the municipal cathedral in San Salvador after the government frees one of their comrades.

    12 September 1979 Amnesty International reports that 2,000 people have been killed over the last 16 months by security forces and conservative death squads.

    13 September 1979 Incidental music to Hauptmann’s play Schluck und Jau by Leos Janácek (†51) is performed for the first time, in Prague, 51 years after it was composed.

    14 September 1979 The price of gold reaches an unprecedented $345.80 an ounce.

    As 2,000 teachers and students demonstrate against the government in San Salvador, security forces open fire on them, killing three and injuring 21.

    Spiegelzeit for orchestra by Werner Egk (78) is performed for the first time, in Landau.

    15 September 1979 Polyphonic Tango for instrumental ensemble by Alfred Schnittke (44) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    Symphony no.3 by William Bolcom (41) is performed for the first time.

    16 September 1979 President Nur Mohammad Taraki of Afghanistan is replaced by Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin.  It is reported that the President was killed in a gun battle for power.  Hafizullah Amin also takes Nur Mohammad Taraki’s place as General Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (communist).

    On her 92nd birthday, Nadia Boulanger is visited by Leonard Bernstein (61) in her sick room at Fontainebleau.

    Parliamentary elections in Sweden see the Moderate Party up, the Center Party down but the non-Socialist coalition continuing in power.

    17 September 1979 The first digital telephone exchange in Great Britain goes into operation in Glenkindie, Scotland.

    Ballet dancers Leonid and Valentina Kozlov of the Bolshoy Ballet defect to the United States in Los Angeles.

    18 September 1979 Saint Lucia is admitted to the United Nations.

    Fanfare and Memorial for orchestra by Isang Yun (62) is performed for the first time, in Münster.

    20 September 1979 Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire is overthrown and replaced by former president David Dacko.  The name of the country is returned to Central African Republic.

    A leftist Jewish writer, Pierre Goldman, is shot to death by persons unknown in Paris.  Right-wing vigilantes are suspected.

    The United States gives up its claim to 14 islands in the central Pacific and recognizes the sovereignty of Kiribati.

    21 September 1979 Britain and France announce that they will discontinue building the Concorde.

    22 September 1979 Second Concerto for Orchestra by Robin Holloway (35) is performed for the first time, in Glasgow.

    23 September 1979 Basque separatists kill Brig. General Lorenzo Gonzales Valles, military governor of Guipuzcoa Province.

    200,000 people demonstrate against nuclear power in New York.

    24 September 1979 Hilla Limann is sworn in at the head of the first all-civilian government in Ghana for 13 years.

    Israeli warplanes shoot down four Syrian fighters over Beirut.

    25 September 1979 Vietnamese forces begin a new offensive against the Khmer Rouge in central Cambodia.

    After 29 months of imprisonment without charge, newspaper publisher Jacobo Timermann is put on a plane in Buenos Aires bound for Rome.

    Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber opens in New York.

    26 September 1979 Music for Wilderness Lake for twelve trombones and a small lake by R. Murray Schafer (46) is performed for the first time, at O’Grady Lake, Ontario.

    The Magic Art:  An Instrumental Masque Drawn from the Works of Henry Purcell for chamber orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (41) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul the composer conducting.

    27 September 1979 Charges of murder against Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, are dropped in Oakland, California after two hung juries.

    28 September 1979 With most of its members having withdrawn, the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) is dissolved.

    In an Autumn Garden for gagaku instruments by Toru Takemitsu (48) is performed for the first time, in the National Theatre, Tokyo.  See 30 October 1973.

    29 September 1979 The Cultural Revolution of the 1960s is denounced by Party officials in Beijing.

    Ivan Alyeksandrovich Vyshnegradsky dies in Paris, aged 86 years, four months, and 13 days.

    30 September 1979 Four leaders of El Salvador’s peasants are killed by the military at a roadblock near San Salvador.

    1 October 1979 Panama takes formal possession of the Canal Zone from the United States.

    Alhaji Shehu Shagari replaces Olusegun Obasanjo as President of Nigeria at the head of the first civilian government since 1966.

    The Chilean Supreme Court orders the release of three army officers wanted in the US for the murders of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt.

    Pope John Paul II begins a weeklong tour of the United States with stops in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago, and Washington.

    Thérèse, an opera by John Tavener (35) to words of McLarnon, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden.

    After a series of strokes, Roy Harris dies of atherosclerotic coronary vascular disease in Santa Monica, California, aged 81 years, seven months, and 19 days.

    2 October 1979 L. Bruce Laingen is appointed the new US ambassador to Iran.  The post has been vacant since June.

    3 October 1979 The US government announces that the USSR is authorized to buy up to 25,000,000 metric tons of wheat and corn over the next twelve months.

    Henry V, an overture for brass band by Ralph Vaughan Williams (†21), is performed for the first time, at the University of Miami, 66 years after it was composed.

    4 October 1979 A mass grave containing the bodies of 18 people killed by the military shortly after their 1973 coup is found in Yumbel, Chile.

    5 October 1979 With cold weather coming on, Nadia Boulanger (92) is transported by ambulance from Fontainebleau to her apartment in Paris.

    6 October 1979 Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev announces that the USSR will withdraw up to 20,000 troops from East Germany next year.

    In a rare Saturday night announcement, the US Federal Reserve raises the discount lending rate to 12%, its highest ever.  Member banks are required to have an 8% reserve.

    Elizabeth Bishop dies in Boston at the age of 68.

    10 October 1979 Greek Interlude for flute and piano by John Tavener (35) is performed for the first time, in Little Missenden Parish Church.

    11 October 1979 Thorbjörn Falldin replaces Ola Ullsten as Prime Minister of Sweden.

    12 October 1979 Troops from Zimbabwe Rhodesia cut the main rail link between Zambia and Tanzania.

    13 October 1979 The United Nations and the ICRC begin a massive effort to relieve starvation in Cambodia.

    14 October 1979 Detto I for organ and percussion by Sofia Gubaidulina (47) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    15 October 1979 Lower ranking officers overthrow the Salvadoran government of President General Carlos Humberto Romero.  He flies to Guatemala.

    Benedikt Gröndal replaces Olafur Johannesson as Prime Minister of Iceland.

    16 October 1979 Pakistani President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq announces an indefinite postponement of promised elections.

    The government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey resigns after losing majorities in both houses of Parliament.

    The British government stops talking to the Patriotic Front guerrillas because they refuse to give an answer on a draft constitution for Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

    A military junta is installed to run El Salvador following the coup of yesterday.  They immediately impose a state of siege.

    Concerto for cello and orchestra by Donald Martino (48) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati.

    17 October 1979 Pierre Bernac dies in Villeneuve-les-Avignon at the age of 80 after a series of heart attacks.

    A federal judge rules that President Carter can not end the Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan without the consent of Congress.

    US President Carter signs legislation creating a cabinet level Department of Education.

    Vox Humana?, a cantata for loudspeaker, women's voices, and orchestra by Mauricio Kagel (47), is performed for the first time, in Jerusalem.  Also premiered is “Michaels Jugend” no.49, a scene from Karlheinz Stockhausen's (51) opera Donnerstag aus Licht.

    18 October 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini orders an immediate halt to all executions.

    Der Gesetz der Quadrille op.41 for middle voice and piano by Alexander Goehr (47) to words of Kafka is performed for the first time, in Norwich.

    19 October 1979 Dance, a multi-media performance piece by Philip Glass (42) to a choreography by Childs, is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.

    20 October 1979 Kurdish rebels take control of Mehabad in heavy fighting with Iranian troops.

    Roaratorio, an Irish Circus on Finnegan's Wake by John Cage (67) to words of Joyce, is performed for the first time, in the Sternensaal, Donaueschingen.  Today, Cage is awarded the Karl-Sczuka-Preis for radio art.

    Three works for chorus by Frank Bridge (†38) are performed for the first time, at the London College of Music:  The Bee to words of Tennyson, composed 1913, Hilli-ho! Hilli-ho! to words of Thomas Moore, composed in 1909, and O weary hearts to words of Longfellow composed in 1909.  This is the centennial year of the composer’s birth.

    22 October 1979 Early morning.  Juliette Nadia Boulanger dies at Fontainebleau, aged 92 years, one month, and six days.

    Kenneth Bianchi pleads guilty to five murders in the Los Angeles area in a series of killings by the “Hillside Strangler.”  He is sentenced to five concurrent life terms.

    Roaratorio, an Irish Circus on Finnegan's Wake by John Cage (67) to words of Joyce, is broadcast for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne.

    Hour of the Soul for percussion, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra by Sofia Gubaidulina (47) to words of Tsvyetayeva is performed for the first time, in Paris.  See 26 May 1988.

    Flutings for flute and optional percussion by Leon Kirchner (60), is performed for the first time, at New England Conservatory, Boston.

    23 October 1979 Six Czechoslovakian dissidents are convicted in a Prague court of “subversion of the state.”  Peter Uhl is sentenced to five years in prison, Vaclav Havel four-and-a-half years, Vaclav Benda four years, Jiri Dienstbier and Otta Bednarova three years each, and Dana Nemcova a two year suspended sentence.

    Elections for the Danish Folketing see modest gains for socialist parties, although the Communists are wiped out.

    24 October 1979 General Cinema Corp. admits that it stopped showing Monty Python’s Life of Brian in Columbia, South Carolina because Senator Strom Thurmond objected to it.

    Leftists seize government buildings in San Salvador taking 30 people, including three government ministers, hostage.

    25 October 1979 Corsican separatists explode five bombs in Paris, causing damage but no casualties.

    Voters in Catalonia and the Basque Region approve home rule schemes worked out by the Spanish government and Basque politicians.

    La Dixième Symphonie, hommage à Beethoven, by Pierre Henry (51) is performed for the first time, in Bonn.

    26 October 1979 South Korean dictator President Park Chung Hee, his chief bodyguard and advisor Cha Chi Chul, and five other bodyguards are shot to death by Kim Jae Kyu, head of Korea’s Central Intelligence Agency, and other agents at the headquarters of the KCIA in Seoul.  Prime Minister Choi Kyu Hah is appointed acting President.

    The earthly remains of Juliette Nadia Boulanger are laid to rest in Montmartre.

    27 October 1979 St. Vincent and the Grenadines, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Robert Milton Cato, is declared independent of Great Britain, in ceremonies at Kingstown.

    29 October 1979 A judge in Valdosta, Georgia orders an injunction on showing the movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian in a suit brought by religious groups.  He will lift it tomorrow.

    Percussion Duo for mallet instruments and piano by Charles Wuorinen (41) is performed for the first time, at the Center for New Music, University of Iowa, Iowa City.

    30 October 1979 The body of French Labor Minister Robert Boulin is found floating in a pond in the Rambouillet forest, the victim of a suicide.  He was recently accused in the press of unethical real estate dealings.

    300 leftists attack the US embassy in San Salvador but are repulsed by Salvadoran troops and US Marines using tear gas.

    Output for tape by Gottfried Michael Koenig (53) is performed for the first time, in Essen-Werden.

    Lied ohne Namen for two bassoons by Igor Stravinsky (†8) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 61 years after it was composed.

    The Nantucket Songs for voice and piano by Ned Rorem (56) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, in the Library of Congress, Washington the composer at the keyboard.

    31 October 1979 An autobiography by Dmitri Shostakovich (†4) called Testimony is published in the West.  Smuggled out of the Soviet Union, its veracity is (and still is) a matter of fierce debate.

    1 November 1979 The Liberian freighter Mimosa rams the Liberian tanker Burmah Agate eight km south of Galveston.  Both ships burst into flame, spilling 250,000 barrels of oil into the sea.

    Afternoon:  a Cakewalk-Rag Suite for clarinet, violin, and piano by William Bolcom (41) is performed for the first time, in City Center, New York.

    2 November 1979 Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus is performed for the first time, at the National Theatre in London.

    Octet for two violins, viola, cello, bass, clarinet, horn, and bassoon by Gunther Schuller (53) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.

    3 November 1979 At an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally in Greensboro, North Carolina five demonstrators are shot to death by Klan members and eight others are injured.

    4 November 1979 500 armed Iranians invade the United States embassy in Teheran taking approximately 90 hostages, including 65 Americans.  The invaders demand the return of the former Shah of Iran for trial.

    Con Luigi Dallapiccola (†4) for percussion, four pick-ups, three ring modulators, and loudspeakers by Luigi Nono (55) is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

    5 November 1979 The South Korean National Assembly meets for the first time since the killing of President Park but can not conduct business because 70 opposition members refuse to participate.

    Iranians occupying the US embassy in Teheran release all Iranian employees of the embassy.

    6 November 1979 The government of Iranian Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan resigns after Ayatollah Khomeini and his advisors support the takeover of the American embassy.  An Islamic Revolutionary Council takes over.

    Leftists leave two government buildings in San Salvador and release their hostages, including three government ministers, after their demands are met.

    7 November 1979 Der Tribun, a radio play by Mauricio Kagel (47), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne.  See 1 August 1981.

    8 November 1979 Erste Abgesangsszene for voice and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (27) is performed for the first time, in Kassel.

    9 November 1979 The UN Security Council votes unanimously to call on Iran to return the US hostages immediately.

    10 November 1979 The Sixth All-Union Congress of the Composers Union meets in the Kremlin.  Union head Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov denounces the playing of “avant-garde” Soviet composers in the west under the guise of Soviet music.  He mentions seven “non-conformists” by name.  Among them is Sofia Gubaidulina (48).  It will bring her into personal and professional disrepute.

    Amazon II for chamber orchestra by Joan Tower (41) is performed for the first time, in Kingston, New York.

    A second version of Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis op.8 for chorus and piano by Vincent Persichetti (64) is performed for the first time, at Ithaca College.

    11 November 1979 Psalm 39 for baritone and guitar by Charles Wuorinen (41) is performed for the first time, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington.

    12 November 1979 Süleyman Demirel replaces Mustafa Bülent Ecevit as Prime Minister of Turkey.

    US President Carter suspends all oil purchases from Iran.

    Mexico closes its embassy in Teheran and removes all staff.

    13 November 1979 Perpetuum for tape and multimedia by Pierre Henry (51) is performed for the first time, in Bordeaux.

    14 November 1979 US President Carter freezes all Iranian assets in his country and in US firms overseas.

    15 November 1979 Patriotic Front guerrillas accept a British plan to return Rhodesia to British rule as a transition to full democracy.

    Mt. Sinai and the area around it are returned to Egyptian control by Israel.

    Symphony no.3 for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (27) to words of Nietzsche and Rimbaud is performed for the first time, in Berlin.

    Light for chamber orchestra and computer electronics by Tod Machover (25) is performed for the first time, in Metz.

    18 November 1979 100,000 conservatives rally in Madrid to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

    Celestial Mechanics (Makrokosmos IV) for amplified piano four hands by George Crumb (50) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.  See 12 June 1980.

    Variations on a Theme by Paganini for violin and orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (66) is performed for the first time, in Miami.  This is an orchestration of his 1941 piece for solo violin.

    19 November 1979 Arab terrorists explode bombs on two buses in Jerusalem.  Eleven people are injured.

    20 November 1979 Over the last two days, 13 female and black hostages in the American embassy in Teheran are freed.  They fly to a US air base in Wiesbaden, West Germany.

    About 300 Islamic extremists take over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, apparently attempting to overthrow the Saudi Arabian government.

    President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia puts his army on a war footing in the face of continuous raids by Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

    21 November 1979 After Iran disseminated false information throughout the Moslem world that the United States was behind the attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, a Pakistani mob attacks the American embassy in Islamabad, killing four people and setting the building afire.  90 members of the embassy staff are rescued off the roof by Pakistani helicopters.  United States missions are damaged in four other cities in Pakistan and demonstrations are held against American interests in Bangladesh, India, and Turkey.

    22 November 1979 The hostage takers in Iran free five non-US citizens from the embassy.

    23 November 1979 About 1,000 people attempt to storm the US and Soviet consulates in Calcutta but are held back by police using tear gas and clubs.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abolhasan Bani-Sadr says his country will not pay any of its foreign debts.

    Thomas McMahon is found guilty in a Dublin court in the murder of Earl Mountbatten.  He is sentenced to life in prison.  Francis McGirl is acquitted.

    24 November 1979 After four days of fighting, Saudi Arabian security forces gain control of almost the entire Grand Mosque in Mecca.

    28 November 1979 15 armed men kidnap Archibald Garner Dunn, South Africa’s ambassador to El Salvador, as he leaves the embassy.

    30 November 1979 The French National Assembly votes to make permanent a provisional law legalizing abortions.

    The US reduces economic aid, military ties, and diplomatic relations with Chile over Chile’s refusal to extradite three military officers in connection with the 1976 murder of Orlando Letellier.

    Chamber Symphony by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (40) is performed for the first time, in Boston.

    2 December 1979 A mob sacks the United States embassy in Tripoli, Libya.  No one is hurt.

    Parliamentary elections in Portugal result in a defeat for the ruling Socialist Party.  They lose 33 seats.  The Democratic Alliance, a coalition of right-wing parties, takes the most seats.

    3 December 1979 Two days of voting in Iran is reported to have resulted in approval for a new Islamic constitution.

    Puerto Rican nationalists attack a bus carrying sailors to a United States Navy installation near San Juan.  Two people are killed, ten injured.

    Eleven people are killed and dozens injured during a stampede at a popular music concert in Cincinnati.

    Humoresk for organ and orchestra by William Bolcom (41) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.

    4 December 1979 Saudi Arabian troops complete the recapture of the Grand Mosque in Mecca from Moslem extremists opposed to the Saudi regime.  At least 130 people were killed and 200 injured in the 15 days of fighting.

    The UN Security Council votes unanimously to demand that Iran release the remaining US hostages.

    5 December 1979 Japanese general elections see the Liberal Democrats continuing as the largest party in the House of Representatives, but short of a majority.

    6 December 1979 Libyan troops surround the PLO offices in Tripoli.  The head of the PLO mission is expelled from the country.

    7 December 1979 Shariar Mustapha Chafik, the nephew of the former Shah of Iran, is killed in Paris by agents of the Iranian government.

    The Anglican Church of South Africa votes to ignore the government’s apartheid policies.

    Howard Hanson (83) is elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

    10 December 1979 Concerto for piano and strings by Alfred Schnittke (45) is performed for the first time, in Leningrad.

    An “anti-terrorism” march by 10,000 people in San Salvador is attacked by leftists with clubs and Molotov Cocktails.  Seven people are killed.

    11 December 1979 Charles James Haughey replaces John Mary Lynch as Prime Minister of Ireland.

    The government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia votes to dissolve in preparation for the arrival of Lord Soames tomorrow.

    Extreme leftists enter a business school in Turin.  They round up 200 students and faculty and shoot ten of them in the legs.  After haranguing the students, they depart.

    Bilude for piano and tape by Pierre Schaeffer (69) is performed for the first time, at Musée Guimet, Paris.

    Earthrise for taped narration, alto, tenor, chorus, and orchestra by Ross Lee Finney (72) to words of Thomas and Teilhard de Chardin, is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    12 December 1979 Rebel South Korean troops capture martial law administrator General Chung Seung Hwa and 16 other senior officers at the Defense Ministry in Seoul.  Several people are killed in the gun battle.  The rebels support Lt. General Chun Doo Hwan who takes control of the army.

    Rhodesia officially returns to colonial status under Great Britain as a prelude to majority rule.  Lord Soames arrives in Salisbury as the new British governor.  Great Britain lifts all sanctions against the country.

    NATO decides to deploy 572 medium range nuclear missiles by 1983.

    US President Carter orders most Iranian diplomats to leave the country.

    Babylon the Great is Fallen op.40 for chorus and orchestra by Alexander Goehr (47) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.

    13 December 1979 The Canadian government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in a confidence motion.  They will resign tomorrow.

    The Supreme Court of Canada rules that parts of Quebec’s Bill 101, which makes French the official language of the province, are unconstitutional.

    Sonata for cello and piano op.49 by Alberto Ginastera (63) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.

    14 December 1979 Four Americans, one military, three civilians, are shot to death by Marxist terrorists outside a NATO base near Istanbul.

    The National Assembly of Quebec returns English to official status.

    15 December 1979 The former Shah of Iran departs Texas for Panama where he will take up residence, in hope of ending the hostage crisis.

    The International Court of Justice rules unanimously that Iran must free the US hostages it holds.

    16 December 1979 The United States lifts sanctions against Rhodesia.

    17 December 1979 New anti-terrorism measures go into effect in Italy.

    18 December 1979 Salvadoran troops attack striking workers at two ranches and a slaughterhouse.  35 people are killed.

    19 December 1979 500 people march in San Salvador to protest the killings of yesterday.  Troops fire into them, injuring five.

    Hal Ashby’s film Being There is released in the United States.

    20 December 1979 Seven men are sentenced to death in a South Korean military court for the killing of President Park and five bodyguards.

    In memoriam for orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (45) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    Incidental music to Brecht’s play Turandot by Alfred Schnittke is performed for the first time, in Taganka Theatre, Moscow.

    21 December 1979 All Rhodesian factions sign a peace agreement in London.  The UN Security Council votes to end all sanctions against the country.

    The US Congress approves $3,500,000,000 to bail out Chrysler Corp.

    23 December 1979 A 1,300-person Commonwealth peacekeeping force begins arriving in Rhodesia.

    24 December 1979 The first launch by the European Space Agency, Ariane 1, takes place at the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana.

    25 December 1979 The USSR sends 5,000 troops to Kabul, Afghanistan in an effort to save the government from rival factions.

    27 December 1979 A new Afghan government led by Babrak Karmal is installed following gun battles with rebels and the death of President Hafizullah Amin.  Karmal becomes General Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (communist).

    Leftist guerrillas explode a bomb at a US bank in San Salvador.  Two people are killed.

    28 December 1979 15,000 Soviet troops enter Afghanistan to shore up the government of Babrak Karmal.

    Dedication to Igor Stravinsky (†8), Sergey Prokofiev (†26) and Dmitri Shostakovich (†4) for piano six-hands by Alfred Schnittke (45) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.

    31 December 1979 The price of gold on the London bullion exchange ends the year at $524 an ounce.

    ©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger

    23 January 2012


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