At A Glance

29 August 1979 at a glance

Day of the week
29 August 1979 was a Wednesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “My Sharona” by The Knack.
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 29 August is Virgo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 29 August 1979 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 29 August 1979 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 29 August

  • 1965 The Gemini V spacecraft returns to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1966 The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
  • 1975 El Tacnazo: Francisco Morales Bermúdez, Peruvian Prime Minister carries out a coup d'état in the city of Tacna, forcing the sitting President of Peru, Juan Velasco Alvarado, to resign and assuming his place as the new President.
  • 1982 Meitnerium, a synthetic chemical element with the atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany.
  • 1991 Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party.

Famous people born on August 29

  • Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actor (1958–2009)
  • Liam Payne, English singer-songwriter from One Direction (1993–2024)
  • Carla Gugino, American actress (born 1971)
  • Richard Attenborough, English actor, director, and producer (1923–2014)

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.

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

Browse by Year

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)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →