At A Glance

21 April 1979 at a glance

Day of the week
21 April 1979 was a Saturday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Knock on Wood” by Amii Stewart.
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 21 April is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 21 April 1979 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for April is Diamond.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 21 April 1979 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 21 April

  • 1972 Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke fly Apollo 16's Apollo Lunar Module to the Moon's surface, the fifth NASA Apollo Program crewed lunar landing.
  • 1977 Annie opens on Broadway.
  • 1982 Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
  • 1985 The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.
  • 1989 Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

Famous people born on April 21

  • Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms (1926–2022)
  • Andie MacDowell, American model, actress, and producer (born 1958)
  • James McAvoy, Scottish actor (born 1979)
  • Glen Hansard, Irish singer-songwriter (1970–2026)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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.
More events of 1979 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

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

Keri Russell23 March 1976ActressView their day →Tupac Shakur16 June 1971Rapper & actorView their day →Zoe Saldaña19 June 1978ActressView their day →Christopher Nolan30 July 1970FilmmakerView their day →Jon Bernthal20 September 1976ActorView their day →Jason Sudeikis18 September 1975Actor & comedianView their day →Milo Ventimiglia8 July 1977ActorView their day →Sarah Paulson17 December 1974ActressView their day →

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

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