December 1979 - The Who, Lee Iacocca

No One Wants to Escape December 1979!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in December 1979 was 'Escape (The Pina Colada Song)' by Rupert Holmes.

December 1 - The Movie Channel, a premium cable channel, begins broadcasting movies 24/7.

December 3 - Eleven fans are killed during a stampede for seats before The Who concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.

December 6 – The world premiere for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

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December 7 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-born astronomer and astrophysicist, dies. (b. 1900)

December 9 – Fulton J. Sheen, Roman Catholic bishop and venerable, dies. (b. 1895)

December 10 – Ann Dvorak, actress, dies. (b. 1912)

December 14 - 1941, Chapter Two and The Jerk movies premiere.

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December 15 – Ethel Lackie, Olympic swimmer, dies. (b. 1907)

December 17 - House Calls tv series premieres on CBS.

December 19 - Being There, Kramer vs. Kramer and Roller Boogie movies premiere.

December 20 - All That Jazz movie premieres.  Originally, Bob Fosse thought of playing the lead himself, then Richard Dreyfuss was cast as the lead, but ultimately Roy Scheider played the role of  the womanizing, drug-using choreographer/director.

December 21 - The Black Hole, C.H.O.M.P.S., The Electric Horseman and Scavenger Hunt movies premiere.

December 21 – Chrysler receives government loan guarantees upon the request of CEO Lee Iacocca.

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December 22 – Darryl F. Zanuck, film producer, dies. (b. 1902)

December 23 - Peggy Guggenheim, art collector , dies.(b. 1898)

December 25 - Joan Blondell, actress, dies. (b. 1906)

December 27 - Knots Landing tv series premieres on CBS.

December 30 – Richard Rodgers, composer, dies. (b. 1902)

1979 Chrysler Cordoba:

Batman comic for December:

Hulk Rub n' Play (released 1979):

Sears Wish Book catalog for 1979:

Honey Nut Cheerios was a new product introduced in 1979:

Playboy playmate of the month, Candice Collins, and Playgirl man for December, Grahame White:

Albums debuting in December (album / artist):
London Calling / The Clash
September Morn / Neil Diamond
Adventures in Utopia / Utopia
Score / Carol Lloyd

Nielsen top shows for the week ending December 23rd:  1 Three's Company ABC; 2 Dallas (Thursday) CBS; 3 Dallas (Friday) CBS; 4 Taxi ABC; 5 M*A*S*H CBS; 6 60 Minutes CBS; 7

Dukes of Hazzard CBS; 8 NFL Monday Night Football ABC; 9 Alice CBS; 10 House Calls CBS; 11 Jeffersons CBS; 12 Trapper John, M.D. CBS; 13 One Day at a Time CBS; 14 Little House on the Prairie NBC; 15 Different Strokes NBC.

'Triple' by Ken Follett is at the top of the New York Times Fiction Best Seller list.

People magazine for December 24th:

Rolling Stone magazine for December:

Soap Opera Digest for December:

Garfield comic strip from December 1979:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in December 1979, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com

December 1978 - Superman

Please, No Flowers...It's December 1978!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in December 1978 was 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.

December 3 – The Southern Crescent passenger train derails at Shipman, Virginia, killing 6, injuring 60.

December 4 – Dianne Feinstein succeeds the murdered George Moscone, becoming San Francisco's first woman mayor.

December 8 - The Brink's Job, The Deer Hunter and Force 10 from Navarone movies premiere.

December 9 - The Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) plays its first game between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does.  The league, the first for professional women's basketball, played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. 

December 10 – Ed Wood, American filmmaker, actor, writer, producer and director, dies. (born 1924)

December 15 – Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first major American city to go into default since the Great Depression, under Mayor Dennis Kucinich.

December 15 - Oliver's Story and Superman movies premiere.

December 20 - Every Which Way but Loose movie premieres.

December 22 – Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy is arrested.

December 22 - California Suite, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Moment by Moment movies premiere.

December 28 – Harry Winston, diamond dealer, dies. (born 1896)

December 31 - Ice Castles movie premieres.  For the Regional Championships competition scenes, real U.S. Figure Skating Association judges and music coordinators played themselves.

1978 Ford F-250:

Ghost Rider comic for December:

Luke Skywalker doll (released 1978):

New product introduced in 1978, Whatchamacallit candy bar.

Sears 1978 Christmas catalog:

Playboy playmate of the month, Janet Quist, and Playgirl man for December, Vaya Warren:

Better Homes and Gardens magazine for December:

Dynamite magazine for December:

Starlog magazine for December:

Albums released in December 1978 (album / artist):
Minute by Minute / The Doobie Brothers
Directstep / Herbie Hancock
Back to Earth / Cat Stevens
Here, My Dear / Marvin Gaye
Destiny / The Jacksons

Nielsen top ten shows for the week ending December 24: 1 Laverne and Shirley; 2 Happy Days; 3 M-A-S-H; 4 One Day At a Time; 5 Mork and Mindy; 6 (tie) Charlie Brown's Christmas and Night Before Christmas; 8 What's Happening!; 9 Barney Miller; 10 Fantasy Island.

Garfield comic strip from December 1978:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in December 1978, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com

December 1977 - Evansville, Bakersfield Dust Storm

Your Eyes are Brown...It's December 1977!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in December 1977 was 'Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue' by Crystal Gayle.

December 13 – A charter plane carrying the University of Evansville basketball team to Nashville, TN, crashes.  Twenty-nine people die in the crash, including 14 members of the team and head coach, Bob Watson.

December 19–21 – The Great Bakersfield Dust Storm hits the Southern San Joaquin Valley, in California resulting in 3 deaths and $40 million in damages.

December 19 – Nellie Tayloe Ross, 13th Governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927 and director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953 and first female state governor in the U.S. dies. (b. 1876)

December 25 – Charlie Chaplin, actor, dies. (b. 1889)

Batman comic for December:

1977 Dodge Tradesman:

Sears Christmas catalog for 1977:

Star Wars Land Speeder toy (released 1977):

Playboy playmate of the month, Ashley Cox, and Playgirl man for December, Mark Gartman:

Nielsen top 10 shows for the week ending December 18th: 1 Laverne and Shirley; 2 Happy Days; 3 Three's Company; 4 Eight Is Enough; 5 Six Million Dollar Man; 6 Alice; 7 Soap; 8 (tie) All in the Family and Charlie Brown Christmas; 10 The Tiny Tree.

Albums release in December  (album / artist):

Draw the Line / Aerosmith

Taken by Force / Scorpions

The Belle Album / Al Green

Running on Empty / Jackson Browne

ABBA: The Album / ABBA

Blue Lights in the Basement / Roberta Flack

Don Juan's Reckless Daughter / Joni Mitchell

Harper's Bazaar for December:

Country Music magazine for December:

 Movie Life magazine for December:

Soap Opera Serials magazine for December:

Peanuts comic strip from December 1977:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in December 1977, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com

November 1979 - Iran, Pat Summerall

No Heartaches in November 1979!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in November 1979 was 'Heartache Tonight' by the Eagles.

November 1 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests.

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November 1 – Mamie Eisenhower, 34th First Lady of the United States, dies. (b. 1896)

November 2 – Assata Shakur (ne' Joanne Chesimard), a former member of Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, is liberated from a Clinton, New Jersey prison and soon shuttled off to Cuba.

November 2 - Quadrophenia and Running movies premiere.

November 3 – In Greensboro, North Carolina, five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot to death and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis, during a "Death to the Klan" rally.

November 4 – Iran hostage crisis begins: 3,000 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial.

November 5 – Al Capp, cartoonist, dies. (b. 1909)

November 7 – U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy announces that he will challenge President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination.

November 7 - The Rose movie premieres.

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November 8 - Nightline (debuting as The Iran Crisis–America Held Hostage) debuts on ABC.

November 9 – Nuclear false alarm: the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert was cancelled.

November 12 – Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran.

November 14 – Iran hostage crisis: U.S. President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis.

November 17 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and African American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

November 21 – After false radio reports from the Ayatollah Khomeini that Americans had occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set afire, killing 4.

November 21 - Mountain Family Robinson movie premieres.

November 23 – Judee Sill, singer and songwriter, dies. (b. 1944)

November 25 - Pat Summerall calls his first NFL telecast (Minnesota Vikings–Tampa Bay Buccaneers) with John Madden.

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November 28 - Young Maverick debuts on CBS.

November 30 – Zeppo Marx, actor and comedian, dies. (b. 1901)

1979 Mercury Bobcat:

Creepy comic for November:

Rocket Tubes playset (released 1979):

Dustbuster was a new product introduced in 1979:

Playboy playmate of the month, Sylvie Garant, and Playgirl man for November, Greg Scott:

Albums released in November (album / artist):
Freedom at Point Zero / Jefferson Starship
Machine Gun Etiquette / The Damned
Night in the Ruts / Aerosmith
Setting Sons / The Jam
The Wall / Pink Floyd

Nielsen top shows for the week ending November 18th:  1 60 Minutes CBS; 2 Alice CBS; 3 The Jeffersons CBS; 4 Three's Company ABC; 5 Dallas CBS; 6 Archie Bunker's Place CBS; 7 Taxi ABC; 8 Happy Days ABC; 9 Trapper John, M.D. CBS; 10 Silver Streak CBS; 11 Eight Is Enough ABC; 12

MASH CBS; 13 Laverne and Shirley ABC; 14 Charlie's Angels ABC; 15 Little House on the Prairie NBC.

'The Establishment' by Howard Fast is at the top of the New York Times Fiction Best Seller list.  Set in 1948, this novel is about an author and foreign correspondent starting a new life after WW II with her husband and son.  After her husband leaves on a secret mission, she's thrust into Congressional confrontations, jail, and eventually tragedy.

National Lampoon for November:

New Yorker magazine for November 26th:

Newsweek magazine for November 19th:

Garfield comic strip from November 1979:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in November 1979, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com