Editing 1979 (section)

=== December ===
{{main|December 1979}}
* [[December 3]]
** [[The Who concert disaster]]: Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before [[The Who]] rock concert at the [[Riverfront Coliseum]] in [[Cincinnati]].
** The [[United States dollar]] [[exchange rate]] with the [[Deutsche Mark]] falls to 1.7079 DM, the all-time low so far; this record is not broken until November 5, [[1987]].
** Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
* [[December 4]] – The Hastie fire in [[Kingston upon Hull]], England, leads to the deaths of 3 boys and begins the hunt for [[Bruce George Peter Lee]], the UK's most prolific killer.
* [[December 5]] – [[Jack Lynch]] resigns as [[Taoiseach]] of Ireland; he is succeeded by [[Charles Haughey]].
* [[December 6]] – The world premiere of ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' is held at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in Washington, D.C.
* [[December 12]]
** The [[NATO Double-Track Decision]]: is the decision of NATO from December 12, 1979, to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles combined with the threat that in case of disagreement NATO would deploy more middle-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe, following the so-called "[[Euromissile Crisis]]". 
** The 8.2 {{M|w|link=y}} [[1979 Tumaco earthquake|Tumaco earthquake]] shakes [[Colombia]] and [[Ecuador]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of IX (''Violent''), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
** [[Coup d'état of December Twelfth]]: [[South Korean Army]] Major General [[Chun Doo-hwan]] orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General [[Jeong Seung-hwa]] without authorization from President [[Choi Kyu-hah]], alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President [[Park Chung Hee]].
** The unrecognised state of [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]] returns to British control and resumes using the name [[Southern Rhodesia]].
* [[December 13]] – The Canadian [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] minority government of Prime Minister [[Joe Clark]], falls in a non-confidence motion.
* [[December 15]] – The directorial debut of [[Hayao Miyazaki]], ''[[The Castle of Cagliostro]]'' based on the [[manga]] series ''[[Lupin III]]'' is released in Japan.
* [[December 21]] – A [[ceasefire]] for [[Rhodesia]] is signed at London.
* [[December 23]] – The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the [[Klein Matterhorn]], opens.
* [[December 24]]
** The [[Soviet Union]] covertly launches its [[Soviet–Afghan War|invasion of Afghanistan]] – 3 days later, [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|PDPA]] general secretary [[Hafizullah Amin]] is executed in [[Operation Storm-333]] and [[Babrak Karmal]] replaces him, beginning the war.
** The first European [[Ariane 1|Ariane]] rocket is launched.
* [[December 26]] – In [[Rhodesia]], 96 Patriotic Front guerrillas enter the capital [[Harare|Salisbury]] to monitor a ceasefire that begins [[December 28]].