TO put things in context 40 years on, here’s 40 things that happened in 1979 – in chronological order.
January 1: European Currency System (ECU) starts, forerunner of the Euro.
January 5: National lorry drivers strike.
January 7: Pol Pot flees as Khmer Rouge defeated.
January 16: Shah of Iran and family flee to Egypt.
January 22: Public service workers strike.
February 2: Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols found dead from drug overdose.
February 9: Trevor Francis becomes Britain’s first £1 million footballer.
February 11: Ayatollah Khomeini takes charge in Iran.
February 14: St Valentine’s Day Concordat ends strife between unions and Labour government
February 15: Opinion poll puts Tories 20 points ahead of Labour.
March 1: The Scottish and Welsh devolution referendums.
March 8: First Compact Disc (CD) demonstrated by Philips.
March 22: UK ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir Richard Sykes, assassinated by the Provisional IRA.
March 28: James Callaghan government loses vote of no confidence.
March 30: Airey Neave killed by Irish National Liberation Army bomb.
March 31: Rangers win the Scottish League Cup, beating Aberdeen in the final.
April 1: Iran becomes an Islamic republic.
April 11: Idi Amin flees Kampala as Tanzanian troops capture city.
April 23: Blair Peach receives fatal injuries during Anti-Nazi League protest in London.
May 3: General Election – we all know who won that.
May 8: Former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe goes on trial charged with attempted murder.
May 12: Scottish Cup Final. Rangers beat Hibs after a replay.
May 21: Celtic dramatically win the Scottish Premier Division by beating Rangers in the last match of the season.
June 2: Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland.
READ MORE: 40 years on: Never forget how Scotland was cheated out of devolution
READ MORE: How devolution nearly happened due to Unionists’ fear of the SNP
June 7: First directly elected European Parliament election. Winnie Ewing wins SNP’s only seat.
June 22: Jeremy Thorpe found not guilty.
July 21: Sandinistas take power in Nicaragua.
August 9: Nudist beach opens in Brighton.
August 10: Michael Jackson releases Off The Wall album. It sells by the millions.
August 27: Lord Mountbatten and two others killed by IRA bomb on their boat. On the same day 18 British soldiers die in ambush at Warrenpoint.
September 1: The Pioneer 11 spacecraft is the first to pass Saturn.
September 2: Body of 12th victim of the Yorkshire Ripper is found.
September 16: Two families flee East Germany in a balloon.
October 2: Pope John Paul II starts visit to the US.
October 23: All foreign exchange controls abolished by the Government.
October 27: St Vincent and the Grenadines gain independence from the UK.
November 4: Iran hostage crisis begins with students invading US Embassy.
November 11: Last episode of first series of To The Manor Born gets 23 million viewers – a British record for a recorded programme.
November 15: Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures Sir Anthony Blunt is unmasked as a traitor by Margaret Thatcher.
December 5: Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland, replaced by Charles Haughey.
December 9: The eradication of smallpox is announced,
December 20: Housing Bill giving council tenants the right to buy their homes is published.
December 24: The Soviets invade Afghanistan.
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