1979

• alien was released and went on to reinvent the sci-fi horror genre.
• mother teresa won the nobel peace prize.
• 21 year old paul shirley of australia, sucked a lifesaver for 4 hrs 40 mins.
• the sugar hill gang released the first commercial rap hit, "rapper's delight," bringing rap off the new york streets and into the popular music scene.
• religious leader ayatollah khomeini made a triumphant return to iran after 14 years in exile.
• president carter was attacked by a rabbit on a canoe trip in plains ga.
• iranian militants seized the us embassy in teheran.
• the soviets invaded afghanistan.
• someone in stamford, texas paid the highest price for a pig- a whopping $42,500.
• margaret thatcher became the new prime minister of the UK.
• rocker tom petty filed for bankruptcy.
• vietnam and vietnam-backed cambodian insurgents announced the fall of the cambodian capital phnom penh and the collapse of the pol pot regime.
• sex pistols' bass player sid vicious died of a heroin overdose in new york.
• pakistan's former prime minister, zulfikar ali bhutto, was hanged in spite of international calls for clemency.
• elton john becomes the 1st pop star to perform in israel.
• the chicago blizzard started on friday night january 12 and lasted until 2 a.m. sunday january 14.
• longest doubles ping-pong match is played. it lasts over 101 hours.
• gulf + western paid $3.2 million for a single periodical ad in time.
• due to equipment failure and operator error, a partial nuclear core meltdown of the tmi’s unit 2 reactor, the worst nuclear plant emergency in united states history, occurred.
• pink floyd premiered their live version of "the wall" in los angeles.
• world's worst oil spillage occurred in the gulf of mexico.
• sri lanka beat india by 47 runs in cricket world cup upset.
• dancin' fool by frank zappa hit #45.
• muhammad ali retired as boxing champ.
• soviet cosmonauts vladimir lyakov & valery ryumin returned to earth aboard soyuz 34 after a record 175 days in space.
• snow fell in the sahara.
  
  no wonder i came into the world, kicking and screaming.