At A Glance

8 December 1979 at a glance

Day of the week
8 December 1979 was a Saturday.
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 8 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 8 December 1979 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 8 December 1979 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 8 December

  • 1971 Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi.
  • 1974 A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
  • 1985 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia, is established.
  • 1987 Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House.
  • 1991 The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Famous people born on December 8

  • Raheem Sterling, English footballer (born 1994)
  • Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise (1542–1587)
  • Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter (1966–2023)
  • Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and actress (born 1982)

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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