July 1979

July 1, 1979 (Sunday)

• Sweden outlawed corporal punishment in the home. Sweden became the world's first nation to explicitly ban corporal punishment through an amendment to the Parenthood and Guardianship Code which stated: "Children are entitled to care, security and a good upbringing. Children are to be treated with respect for their person and individuality and may not be subjected to corporal punishment or any other humiliating treatment.".
• The Sony Walkman, a pocket-sized cassette tape player, went on sale for the first time in Japan and would become a bestselling item in the 1980s
• Elections were held in Mexico and the Institutional Revolutionary Party won 296 of the 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
• Elections were held in Bolivia for a new president, with nominees from eight political parties receiving votes. Three former Bolivian presidents received more votes than the remaining five candidates, with Hernán Siles Zuazo finishing first, Víctor Paz Estenssoro was second and Hugo Banzer third. Since no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote the Bolivian constitution provided for the Congress to select the winner. Elections were also held for the Chamber of Deputies and for the Bolivian Senate, with the MNRA party of Paz Estenssoro electing a majority of 16 of the 27 Senators, and 48 of the 117 deputies.
• Republic Airlines was formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways.
• CITIC Group, a worldwide conglomerate and financial and investment service, founded by Rong Yiren in China.
• Born: Forrest Griffin, American retired mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion; in Columbus, Ohio

  July 2, 1979 (Monday)

• The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin was released to the general public, with deliveries to banks throughout the United States. Reaction to the coin was unfavorable because its diameter was only slightly larger than that of an American quarter.
• In elections for the legislature in Saint Lucia, the Saint Lucia Labour Party, led by Allan Louisy, won 12 of the 17 seats and the United Workers Party won the other five. Louisy replaced Sir John Compton as Prime Minister.
• Ignatius IV of Antioch became the new Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church.
• The "CIA invert" one dollar postage stamp was issued.
• Died: Carlyle Smith Beals, 80, Canadian astronomer

  July 3, 1979 (Tuesday)

• U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan, with $500,000 of "non-lethal assistance" by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to the Mujahideen.
• All 49 people on the Indian ore carrier MV Kairali disappeared, along with the ship, when the vessel apparently sank after its last transmission to the Kerala Shipping Company. The ship had departed Margao at the Goa state three days earlier with a load of iron ore and was on its way to Djibouti in northeast Africa and was traversing the Indian Ocean when it was last heard from.
• The Bundestag, the lower house of the parliament of West Germany, voted, 255 to 222 to abolish the statute of limitations for war crimes committed during World War II, rather than to allow it to expire on December 31. Fiercely debated in the lower house, the bill was already expected to pass in the upper house, the Bundesrat, without difficulty.
• Born: Ludivine Sagnier, French film actress and model; in La Celle-Saint-Cloud
• Died:
• *Louis Durey, 91, French classical music composer
• *Alam Lohar, 51, Pakistani folk singer, was killed in an auto accident when a truck crashed into him while he was driving.

  July 4, 1979 (Wednesday)

• The AutoZone chain of automotive parts and accessories was founded with the opening of its first location, a store in Forrest City, Arkansas. Originally called "Auto Shack", the company, which now has more than 6,000 franchises, would change its name to AutoZone after being sued for trademark infringement by the Tandy Corporation, owner of the Radio Shack chain of electronic stores.
• The house arrest of Ahmed Ben Bella, the first President of Algeria, was partially lifted after more than 14 years in conjunction with the 17th anniversary of Algeria's independence. Ben Bella had been confined to a house in the city of M'Sila after being deposed on June 14, 1965.
• Died:
• *Mendy Rudolph, 53, American professional basketball referee from 1973 to 1975, and inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame, died of a heart attack.
• *Theodora Kroeber, 82, American anthropologist

  July 5, 1979 (Thursday)

• The millennial anniversary of the founding of the parliament of the world's oldest continuously operated parliament, the High Court of Tynwald, was celebrated on the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II came to the island's capital, Douglas, to open the Tynwald Day ceremonies. The millennial date appeared to have been picked arbitrarily, with no evidence of the founding of Tynwald in the year 979 nor of an assembly earlier than the 15th century.
• Japan banned the importation of whale meat from any nation that was not a member of the International Whaling Commission.
• Angola's President Agostinho Neto issued a decree requiring all Angolan citizens 18 or older to serve in the military for three years.
• Born:
• *Amélie Mauresmo, Swiss-born French professional tennis player, former ATP No. 1 for five weeks in 2005, and winner of the Australian Open and Wimbledon' in Geneva
• *Shane Filan, Irish singer and songwriter; in Sligo
• Died: Rachel Sherwood, 45, American poet, was killed in an automobile accident.

  July 6, 1979 (Friday)

• Ahmad Shah Massoud launched the first insurrection in Afghanistan against the Soviet-backed communist government, attempting to start an insurrection in the Panjshir Province.
• Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, who had defected to the U.S. in 1975, won the women's singles tennis title at Wimbledon, defeating Chris Evert of the U.S. in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4.
• Born:
• *Nic Cester, Australian singer and musician, in Melbourne
• *Kevin Hart, American comedian, in Philadelphia
• Died:
• *Elizabeth Ryan, 87, American-born British professional tennis player who won 19 doubles titles in Grand Slam events, and three singles titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Ms. Ryan was at Wimbledon to watch the final of the men's doubles, and collapsed after walking to the women's restroom.
• *Van McCoy, 39, American songwriter known for The Hustle, died from a heart attack
• *Dr. Luisa Guidotti Mistrali, 47, Italian physician and Roman Catholic missionary, was shot to death by police in Zimbabwe Rhodesia when she turned her car as she was approaching a roadblock.

  July 7, 1979 (Saturday)

• The 'Agreement on Trade Relations' was signed which established reciprocal Most-Favored-Nation status between the United States and China.
• The first round of parliamentary elections in Nigeria was conducted for the 95-member Nigerian Senate and the 449 member Nigerian House of Representatives, with runoff elections held on July 14 for any seats where no candidate obtained a majority. The elections were the first since 1964 and the first under the new constitution for the transition to civilian rule. The National Party of Nigeria, led by Shehu Shagari won a plurality of seats in both houses, though far short of a majority and entered into a coalition government with the third-place Nigerian People's Party. Shagari was elected President of Nigeria on August 11.
• Björn Borg of Sweden defeated Roscoe Tanner of the U.S. for Borg's fourth consecutive men's singles title in tennis at Wimbledon, winning in the 10th game of the fifth set, 6–7, 6–1, 3–6, 6-3 and 6–4.
• Born:
• *Douglas Hondo, Zimbabwean cricket bowler and national team member; in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Rhodesia
• *Amanda Françozo, Brazilian television host; in Ibaté, São Paulo
• *Pat Barry, American mixed martial artist and kickboxer; in New Orleans
• Died: Ian Mackintosh, 38, British novelist and naval officer, disappeared along with two other people while on a flight over the Gulf of Alaska. The airplane, a Rallye 235-G was approaching its destination of Kodiak after taking off from Anchorage. Neither wreckage of the plane, nor its occupants, was ever found.

  July 8, 1979 (Sunday)

• The People's Republic of China gave permission for foreign investment for the first time since the 1949 Communist revolution, promulgating a 15-article code that would provide rules for foreign corporations to invest capital as part of joint ventures and for the companies to keep their profits.
• A crowd of 10,000 spectators at the Elstree stadium at Hertfordshire, near London, witnessed the death of motorcycle stunt rider Robin Winter-Smith as he was attempting to jump over a row of Rolls-Royce automobiles. Winter-Smith, a 27-year-old Englishman, had gotten over all 28 of the Rolls-Royces after attaining a speed of at takeoff from a ramp, but his motorcycle struck the edge of the landing ramp, throwing him into the scaffolding.
• Died:
• *Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, 73, Japanese physicist and 1965 Nobel laureate known for the Schwinger–Tomonaga equation
• *Michael Wilding, 66, English stage, film and television actor
• *Robert Burns Woodward, 62, American organic chemist and 1965 Nobel laureate for whom the Woodward–Hoffmann rules and the Woodward cis-hydroxylation chemical reaction are named

  July 9, 1979 (Monday)

• The U.S. interplanetary probe Voyager 2 made its closest approach to the planet Jupiter at 22:29 UTC at a range of. It transmitted new data on the planet's clouds, its newly discovered four moons, and ring system as well as 17,000 new pictures.
• The second round of the presidential election in Ghana took place as a runoff between the two highest receiver of votes in the June 18 primary. Hilla Limann of the People's National Party won 62 percent of the vote over Victor Owusu of the Popular Front Party.
• In Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed a general amnesty for "all people who committed offenses under the past regime" during the reign of the Shah of Iran, with the exception of persons involved in murder or torture.
• A car bomb destroyed a Renault owned by Nazi hunters Serge Klarsfeld and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. The Klarsfelds were not in or near the car when the explosion took place, and there was no second incident. An anonymous claim of responsibility was made by individuals who said they were with ODESSA, a group founded after World War II by former SS officers to assist fellow Nazis in escaping from Germany.
• Born: Gary Chaw, Malaysian singer-songwriter and star in Taiwan; as Chaw Pak Haw in Kota Belud, Sabah