At A Glance

20 May 1979 at a glance

Day of the week
20 May 1979 was a Sunday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Sunday Girl” by Blondie.
Top Film of 1979
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1979 was Moonraker.
Star sign
The star sign for 20 May is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 May 1979 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 May 1979 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 20 May

  • 1969 The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
  • 1980 In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, with 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
  • 1983 First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by a team of French scientists including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Jean-Claude Chermann, and Luc Montagnier.
  • 1985 Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
  • 1990 The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.

Famous people born on 20 May

  • Enes Kanter Freedom, Turkish basketball player (born 1992)
  • Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author (born 1964)
  • Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (born 1946)
  • Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer (born 1968)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1979 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1979 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 22 February – Saint Lucia becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
  • 3 May – 1979 general election.
  • 7 June – European Parliament election, the first direct election to the European Parliament; the turnout in Britain is low at 32%. The Conservatives have the most MEPs at 60, while Labour only have 17.
More events of 1979 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in 1979

Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

38p

Loaf of Bread

27p

Average House

£19,925

Weekly Wage

£101.00

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Matthew Rhys8 November 1974ActorView their day →Hannah Waddingham28 July 1974ActressView their day →Andy Burnham7 January 1970PoliticianView their day →Christopher Nolan30 July 1970FilmmakerView their day →Lucy Davis17 February 1973ActressView their day →Tom Hardy15 September 1977ActorView their day →Christian Bale30 January 1974ActorView their day →Kelly Macdonald23 February 1976ActressView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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