At A Glance

17 June 1979 at a glance

Day of the week
17 June 1979 was a Sunday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.
Top Film of 1979
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1979 was Moonraker.
Bestselling Novel of 1979
“The Matarese Circle” by Robert Ludlum was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1979.
Top-Rated TV Show
“60 Minutes” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1979–80 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 June is Gemini.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 June 1979 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for June is Pearl.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 June 1979 was Last Quarter.

On this day: 17 June

  • 1967 Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
  • 1972 Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process.
  • 1985 Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist.
  • 1991 Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
  • 1992 A "joint understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. president George Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).

Famous people born on June 17

  • Elena Rybakina, Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player (born 1999)
  • Will Forte, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (born 1970)
  • Thomas Haden Church, American actor (born 1960)
  • Odessa A'zion, American actress (born 2000)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1979 in the United States

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

  • February 20 – This Old House premieres on PBS.
  • March 29 – America's most serious nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.
  • April 1 – Nickelodeon debuts on cable television, playing children's television shows 24 hours a day. Pinwheel, which first premiered on the channel C-3 in 1977, was one of the first shows to be broadcast on the channel.

Life in the US in 1979

President

Jimmy Carter

Gas (per gallon)

$0.86

Loaf of Bread

$0.43

Average House

$62,900

Weekly Wage

$250

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

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

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

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