At A Glance

20 December 1979 at a glance

Day of the week
20 December 1979 was a Thursday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Babe” by Styx.
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 20 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 December 1979 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 December 1979 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 20 December

  • 1960 Vietnam War: The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, popularly known as the Viet Cong, is formally established in Tân Lập village, present day Tây Ninh province.
  • 1977 With the approval of the State Council, China's two largest newspapers, the People's Daily and the Guangming Daily, publish in full for the first time the Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme.
  • 1985 Pope John Paul II announces the creation of World Youth Day.
  • 1988 War on drugs: The United Nations agrees upon and promulgates the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, one of three major drug control treaties currently in force.
  • 1989 The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.

Famous people born on December 20

  • Kylian Mbappé, French footballer (born 1998)
  • Jonah Hill, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1983)
  • JoJo, American singer and actress (born 1990)
  • Prince George, Duke of Kent, Duke of Kent (1902–1942)

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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