1979 United States Virgin Islands constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in the United States Virgin Islands on 6 March 1979. Federal law passed by the United States Congress authorized the Virgin Islands and Guam to pass constitutions and form governments. A Constitutional Council had subsequently been elected in the 1977 general elections. The Council wrote and then unanimously adopted a draft constitution which provided for an elected governor and treasurer, a 17-seat Legislature, a local justice system and protections for Virgin Islander culture.


1979 United States Virgin Islands constitutional referendum
The draft constitution was rejected by the voters in the referendum.


1979 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held in the fall of 1979, in three states and one territory.


1979 United States gubernatorial elections
Republicans gained one gubernatorial seat in this year with Dave Treen's victory in Louisiana, who as a result became the first Republican Governor of that state since Reconstruction. Treen led a field of six major candidates in the October 27 primary, and narrowly edged state senator Louis Lambert in the December 8 general election (or "runoff").


1979 United States gubernatorial elections
Democrats held control of the governor's mansions in Kentucky and Mississippi in the November 6 general elections.


1979 United States gubernatorial elections, Election results
A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.


1979 Uruguayan Primera División, Overview
It was contested by 13 teams, and Peñarol won the championship.


1979 Utah State Aggies football team
The 1979 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA). The Aggies were led by fourth-year head coach Bruce Snyder and played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. They finished the season with a record of seven wins, three losses and one tie (7–3–1, 4–0–1 PCAA).


1979 Utah Utes football team
The 1979 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Head coach Wayne Howard led the team to a 5–2 mark in the WAC and 6–6 overall.


1979 VFA season
The 1979 Victorian Football Association season was the 98th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 19th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Coburg Football Club, after it defeated Geelong West in the Grand Final on 23 September by eight points; it was Coburg's fourth Division 1 premiership, and its first since 1928, ending a 51-year Division 1 premiership drought. The Division 2 premiership was won by Camberwell; it was the first premiership in either division ever won by the club since its admission to the Association in 1926, 53 years earlier.


1979 VFA season, Division 1
The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the Junction Oval.


1979 VFA season, Division 2
The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system; all finals were played on Sundays at Toorak Park.


1979 VFA season, Notable events, NFL Night Series
The top two Association clubs from 1977 – Prahran and Preston – were invited to participate in the NFL Night Series, known this year as the Escort Cup. Neither club progressed to the night portion of the series, both eliminated in the first round by their SANFL opponents in a double-header played at Preston City Oval on Anzac Day:


1979 VFA season, Notable events, NFL Night Series
It was the final NFL Night series, as it was entirely superseded by the rival AFC Night Series in 1980, in which the Association clubs were not invited to compete.


1979 VFA season, Notable events, Interleague matches
The Association played an interleague representative match against Queensland for the third consecutive season; it was the Association's first home representative match on an Association ground since 1965. The team was coached by Mick Erwin (Prahran).


1979 VFA season, Notable events, Interleague matches
After having lost away matches against Queensland in both 1977 and 1978, the Association won this year's match easily. Queensland did not register its first score until the second quarter, by which stage the Association had already scored 9.13 (67), and the final margin was 154 points.


1979 VFL Grand Final
The 1979 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the   Carlton Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on  29 September 1979. It was the 83rd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1979 VFL season. The match, attended by 113,545 spectators, was won by Carlton by a margin of 5 points, marking that club's 12th premiership victory.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Background
This was the first Grand Final appearance by Carlton in six years since losing the 1973 VFL Grand Final. The last time the Blues had been premiers was when they won the 1972 VFL Grand Final against Richmond. Collingwood had last appeared in a Grand Final two years previously, when it was defeated by North Melbourne in the 1977 VFL Grand Final. The Magpies had last won a flag in 1958.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Background
At the conclusion of the home and away season, Carlton had finished first on the VFL ladder with 19 wins and 3 losses. Collingwood had finished third (behind North Melbourne) with 15 wins and 7 losses.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Background
In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, Collingwood lost to North Melbourne in the Qualifying Final by 39 points before beating Fitzroy in the First Semi-Final by 22 points to progress to the Preliminary Final. There they faced North Melbourne again, this time winning by 27 points to advance to the Grand Final. Carlton had a much easier finals run, defeating North Melbourne by 38 points in the Second Semi-Final to advance straight through to the Grand Final.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Background
In the week leading up to the Grand Final, Collingwood ruckman Peter Moore was awarded the Brownlow Medal.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
The game was played in rainy and muddy conditions. Collingwood planned to grind Carlton into the mud, and managed to take a 10-point lead into quarter time, keeping Carlton goalless. Twenty minutes into the second quarter, Collingwood had stretched their lead to 28 points. Carlton still hadn't scored a goal, and with the conditions only getting heavier, things were looking promising for the Magpies. Seemingly in desperation, Alex Jesaulenko moved himself out of the centre and brought in young pocket battleship Wayne Harmes.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
Suddenly, Carlton sparked into life, as goals to Harmes, Mark Maclure, Wayne Johnston and Jim Buckley saw the Blues grab the lead at half time by one point. Carlton capitalized on their momentum, scoring five goals to two and taking a 21-point lead at three quarter time. However, 18 minutes into the final quarter, the Blues' lead had been slashed to four points, with the Magpies having kicked the last three goals of the game.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
Then occurred one of the most memorable moments in VFL/AFL history. With Carlton kicking to the City End, Harmes gathered the ball on the half-forward flank and hurried a kick forward. The kick floated into the right forward pocket, with no player from either team in the vicinity. Harmes chased his own kick as the ball bounced towards the boundary line, and dived to punch the ball back into play before the ball went over the line.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
Harmes' punch directed the ball into the goal square, where Ken Sheldon, who was running forward at the time, was able to gather the ball and score a goal, giving Carlton a ten-point buffer. Many Collingwood fans maintain to this day that the ball was out of bounds before Harmes punched it back in. The incident was one of the first two recreated for the Toyota Memorable Moments series of advertisements.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
A successful left-foot snap by Collingwood centre half-forward Allan Edwards lifted the hopes of the Magpie army, but from the resultant bounce Carlton managed to move the ball forward where substitute Alex Marcou scored a point. Moments later, the siren sounded.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
The inaugural Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Harmes for being judged the best player afield, much to the chagrin of Collingwood supporters who were still ranting about that goal, as well as the fact that Harmes was a grand-nephew of Norm Smith. However, it was Harmes who helped spark the second-quarter comeback when all seemed lost for Carlton.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
Carlton's Alex Jesaulenko became the last ever player to captain-coach a team to victory in a Grand Final. During the final quarter he injured his ankle and had to leave the field on a stretcher.


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
Goals Carlton: Sheldon 3, Buckley 2, Maclure 2, Francis, Harmes, Jones, YoungGoals Collingwood: Davis 4, Brewer, Carlson, Edwards, Ireland, Kink, Ohlsen, Wearmouth


1979 VFL Grand Final, Match summary
Best Carlton: Harmes, Francis, Johnston, Buckley, Klomp, ArmstrongBest Collingwood: Picken, Morris, Byrne, Davis, Barham, Ohlsen


1979 VFL season
The 1979 Victorian Football League season was the 83rd season of the elite Australian rules football competition.


1979 VFL season, Night series
Collingwood defeated Hawthorn 12.8 (80) to 7.10 (52) in the final.


1979 VFL season, Premiership season, Round 3
Despite being formally a part of Round 3, the Carlton vs Essendon match was played as a stand-alone match on the Saturday before Round 1, and was therefore the opening match of the season.


1979 VFL season, Grand final
Carlton defeated Collingwood 11.16 (82) to 11.11 (77), in front of a crowd of 113,545 people at the MCG.


1979 Valencia City Council election
The 1979 Valencia City Council election, also the 1979 Valencia municipal election, was held on Tuesday, 3 April 1979, to elect the 1st City Council of the municipality of Valencia. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.


1979 Valencia City Council election, Electoral system
The City Council of Valencia (Valencian: Ajuntament de València, Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Valencia) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Valencia, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.


1979 Valencia City Council election, Electoral system
Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the municipality of Valencia and in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights. Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:


1979 Valencia City Council election, Electoral system
The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the eldest one would be elected.


1979 Valencia City Council election, Electoral system
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within fifteen days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one-thousandth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election—with a compulsory minimum of 500 signatures—disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.


1979 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
The 1979 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Commodores were led by head coach George MacIntyre in his first season and finished the season with a record of one win and ten losses (1–10 overall, 0–6 in the SEC).


1979 Venezuelan Primera División season
The 1979 season of the Venezuelan Primera División, the top category of Venezuelan football, was played by 12 teams. The national champions were Deportivo Táchira.


1979 Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1979 Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix, the first of 13 rounds of the F.I.M. 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, was held on 18 March at the San Carlos Circuit. British rider Barry Sheene, world champion in 1976 and 1977,  won the 500cc GP  by 18 seconds from Italian Virginio Ferrari to make it three successive Venezuelan GPs. Venezuelan racer Carlos Lavado won the 350cc class from Italian Walter Villa and Frenchman Patrick Fernandez.


1979 Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix
Villa won the 250cc event, ahead of South African rider Kork Ballington by 20 seconds, marking the final Grand Prix victory of Villa's motorcycle racing career. Spanish rider Ángel Nieto won the 125cc class from Frenchman Thierry Espié and Italian Maurizio Massimiani. Nieto would later win the 125cc season championship. Yamaha won two races, and Suzuki and Minarelli one each.


1979 Victorian state election
The 1979 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 5 May 1979, was for the 48th Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect 81 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council.


1979 Victorian state election
The incumbent Liberal government led by Rupert Hamer was returned with a significantly reduced majority.


1979 Victorian state election, Results, Legislative Assembly
Victorian state election, 5 May 1979Legislative Assembly << 1976–1982 >>


1979 Victorian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Victorian state election, 5 May 1979Legislative Council << 1976–1982 >>


1979 Villanova Wildcats football team
The 1979 Villanova Wildcats football team represented the Villanova University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The head coach was Dick Bedesem, coaching his fifth season with the Wildcats. The team played their home games at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pennsylvania.


1979 Vincentian general election
General elections were held in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on 5 December 1979. The result was a victory for the Saint Vincent Labour Party (SVLP), which won eleven of the thirteen seats. Voter turnout was 63.9%.


1979 Vincentian general election, Campaign
Fifty candidates contested the 13 seats from four parties. The SVLP led by Milton Cato, Prime Minister since 1974; the People's Political Party (PPP), the SVLP's traditional rival, headed by Ebenezer Joshua; the New Democratic Party, led by James Fitz-Allen Mitchell; and the United People's Movement of Ralph Gonsalves, which contested elections for the first time. All four groups presented a similar manifesto but ideologically the United People's Movement was oriented to the left much as the political groups which had recently come to power in Grenada and Saint Lucia. The SVLP (considered a moderate socialist party), the centrist New Democratic Party and the People's Political Party were oriented to the right.


1979 Vincentian general election, Results
On polling day, the SVLP obtained a clear victory as it captured 11 of the 13 seats. The other two seats went to New Democratic Party candidates although the NDP leader, James Mitchell, was himself defeated. Voter turnout was 63.9%, up only slightly from 63.2% in 1974.


1979 Virginia 500
The 1979 Virginia 500 was the 9th stock car race of the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. The race took place at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia on April 22, 1979 before a crowd of 35,500. Richard Petty, driving for his team Petty Enterprises would win the race by 4 seconds, leading 247 laps. Buddy Baker of Ranier-Lundy Racing and Darrell Waltrip of DiGard Motorsports would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.


1979 Virginia Cavaliers football team
The 1979 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cavaliers were led by fourth-year head coach Dick Bestwick and played their home games at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. They competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finishing in sixth.


1979 Virginia Senate election
The 1979 Virginia Senate elections were held on November 6, 1979, alongside the Virginia House of Delegates election. All 40 seats in the Senate of Virginia were up for election.


1979 Virginia Tech Gobblers football team
The 1979 Virginia Tech Gobblers football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Bill Dooley.


1979 Virginia Tech Gobblers football team, Players
The following players were members of the 1979 football team.


1979 Volta a Catalunya
The 1979 Volta a Catalunya was the 59th edition of the Volta a Catalunya cycle race and was held from 5 September to 12 September 1979. The race started and finished in Sitges. The race was won by Vicente Belda of the Transmallorca–Flavia team.


1979 Volvo International
The 1979 Volvo International was a men's professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in North Conway, New Hampshire in the United States and was part of the 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix. It was the 7th edition of the tournament and was held from July 30 through August 5, 1979. Harold Solomon won the singles title.


1979 Volvo International, Finals, Doubles
Ion Ţiriac /  Guillermo Vilas defeated  John Sadri /  Tim Wilkison 6–4, 7–6


1979 Volvo International – Doubles
Robin Drysdale and Van Winitsky were the defending champions but only Winitsky competed that year with Patricio Rodríguez.


1979 Volvo International – Doubles
Rodríguez and Winitsky lost in the first round to Colin Dowdeswell and Peter McNamara.


1979 Volvo International – Doubles
Ion Țiriac and Guillermo Vilas won in the final 6–4, 7–6 against John Sadri and Tim Wilkison.


1979 Volvo International – Doubles, Seeds
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


1979 Volvo International – Singles
Eddie Dibbs was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Harold Solomon.


1979 Volvo International – Singles
Solomon won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 7–6 against José Higueras.


1979 Volvo Tennis Cup
The 1979 Volvo Tennis Cup was a women's singles tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey in the United States. The event was part of the AA category of the 1979 Colgate Series. It was the second edition of the tournament and was held from 20 September through 26 September 1979. First-seeded Chris Evert won the singles title and earned $14,000 first-prize money.


1979 Volvo Tennis Cup, Finals, Doubles
Tracy Austin /  Betty Stöve defeated  Mima Jaušovec /  Regina Maršíková 7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–4


1979 Vuelta a España
The 34th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 24 April to 13 May 1979. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of 3,373 km (2,096 mi), and was won by Joop Zoetemelk of the Miko-Mercier cycling team. Zoetemelk won two of the three ITT's and Fons De Wolf won the other. De Wolf also won the points classification as well as five stages, but Zoetemelk won the race with a comfortable lead ahead of Spanish climbing specialist Francisco Galdós and Michel Pollentier. Felipe Yanez won the mountains classification.


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10
The 1979 Vuelta a España was the 34th edition of the Vuelta a España, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Vuelta began in Jerez de la Frontera, with a prologue individual time trial on 24 April, and Stage 10 occurred on 4 May with a stage to Zaragoza. The race finished in Madrid on 13 May.


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Prologue
24 April 1979 — Jerez de la Frontera to Jerez de la Frontera, 6.3 km (3.9 mi) (ITT)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 1
25 April 1979 — Jerez de la Frontera to Seville, 156 km (97 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 2
26 April 1979 — Seville to Córdoba, 188 km (117 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 3
27 April 1979 — Córdoba to Sierra Nevada, 190 km (120 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 4
28 April 1979 — Granada to Puerto Lumbreras, 222 km (138 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 5
29 April 1979 — Puerto Lumbreras to Murcia, 139 km (86 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 6
30 April 1979 — Murcia to Alcoy, 171 km (106 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 7
1 May 1979 — Alcoy to Sedaví, 173 km (107 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 8a
2 May 1979 — Sedaví to Benicàssim, 145 km (90 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 8b
2 May 1979 — Benicàssim to Benicàssim, 11.3 km (7.0 mi) (ITT)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 9
3 May 1979 — Benicàssim to Reus, 193 km (120 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 10
4 May 1979 — Reus to Zaragoza, 230 km (140 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19
The 1979 Vuelta a España was the 34th edition of the Vuelta a España, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Vuelta began in Jerez de la Frontera, with a prologue individual time trial on 24 April, and Stage 11 occurred on 5 May with a stage from Zaragoza. The race finished in Madrid on 13 May.


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 11
5 May 1979 — Zaragoza to Pamplona, 183 km (114 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 12
6 May 1979 — Pamplona to Logroño, 149 km (93 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 13
7 May 1979 — Haro to Peña Cabarga, 180 km (110 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 14
8 May 1979 — Torrelavega to Gijón, 178 km (111 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 15
9 May 1979 — Gijón to León, 156 km (97 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 16a
10 May 1979 — León to Valladolid, 134 km (83 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 16b
10 May 1979 — Valladolid to Valladolid, 22 km (14 mi) (ITT)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 17
11 May 1979 — Valladolid to Ávila, 204 km (127 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 18a
12 May 1979 — Ávila to Colmenar Viejo, 155 km (96 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 18b
12 May 1979 — Colmenar Viejo to Azuqueca de Henares, 104 km (65 mi)


1979 Vuelta a España, Stage 11 to Stage 19, Stage 19
13 May 1979 — Madrid to Madrid, 84 km (52 mi)


1979 WANFL Grand Final
The 1979 WANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the East Fremantle and South Fremantle Football Clubs, held at Subiaco Oval on 22 September 1979. It was the 49th annual Grand Final of the West Australian National Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1979 WANFL season. The match, attended by 52,781 spectators, the record crowd for a football match at Subiaco, was won by East Fremantle by a margin of 33 points, marking that club's 25th premiership victory.


1979 WANFL Grand Final, Build up
Throughout the 1979 season, Claremont was the strongest side in the league, winning the minor premiership and defeating both Fremantle clubs during the home and away season. When finals came around though, both East Fremantle and South Fremantle hit form. Souths defeated the minor premiers in the second semi final to advance directly to the Grand Final, whilst East narrowly (2pts) overcame East Perth in the first semi final before comfortably (4 goals) beating Claremont in the Preliminary Final. It was East Fremantle's second Grand Final appearance in three years and the first of South's three successive Grand Final appearances.


1979 WANFL Grand Final, Match summary
The match is often cited as one of the greatest Grand Finals of all time (in any State League). It was typified by two players in particular, Kevin Taylor of East Fremantle (who kicked seven goals from a midfield position and claimed the Simpson Medal) and Maurice Rioli of South Fremantle. The game was a see sawing affair in which both teams both took and gave away potential match winning leads. In the end it was East Fremantle who had more poise and went on to win the match.


1979 WANFL Grand Final, Attendance
The official game attendance of 52,781 was the record for the largest turn out to an Australian rules football game in Western Australia until 2018.


1979 WANFL season
The 1979 WANFL season was the 95th season of the West Australian National Football League in its various incarnations, and the last of forty-nine (including three under-age wartime seasons) under that moniker.


1979 WANFL season
The season set many records for high scoring due to the still-ongoing drying of Perth's climate and the new “interchange’ rule. The all-time record aggregate score of 60.18 (378) was set in the third last round between Swan Districts and Subiaco and has never been approached since. However, the overall average score of 112.52 points per team per game was not nearly so high as in the following few years under the ‘WAFL’ moniker.


1979 WANFL season
A major highlight of the 1979 season was the all-time record attendance for local West Australian football of 52,781 in the Grand Final, beating narrowly the previous record of 52,322 set in the 1975 decider.


1979 WANFL season
The 1979 season was a critical turning point in the fortunes of many WANFL clubs. Perth, who had been a powerhouse ever since the end of World War II, winning six premierships and playing in the finals during twenty-four of the preceding thirty-two seasons, underwent a long-term decline that has seen the play in the finals since only in 1986, 1991 and 1997, and take the wooden spoon on seven occasions as opposed to none between 1936 and 1980.


1979 WANFL season
With the loss of a number of veterans and major coaching problems which culminated in the resignation of newcomer Percy Johnson for former premiership mentor Graham Campbell, West Perth, also a power club of the WANFL during the third-of-a-century before 1979, declined to their worst record since 1939 with only four wins. The Cardinals (latterly the Falcons) were to remain battlers until the middle 1990s when they moved to Arena Joondalup. On the other hand, the 1979 season saw Claremont and Swan Districts begin revivals after years near the bottom of the ladder that would see them dominate the competition during the 1980s.


1979 WANFL season, Home-and-away season, Round 5
With skipper Stan Nowotny and the Narkle brothers killing Subiaco (who had lost their last four matches by 446 points) and their reserves winning equally easily, Swan Districts confirm they would be much more formidable than in 1978 and 1977.


1979 WANFL season, Home-and-away season, Round 10 (Foundation Day)
High-scoring Foundation Day derby sees inaccurate Bulldogs come from behind to win with 11.7 (73) to 5.4 (34) last quarter and acquire premiership favouritism in front of a record Fremantle Oval attendance – despite East Fremantle being seriously affected by injuries.


1979 WANFL season, Home-and-away season, Round 16
1976 leading goalkicker Norm Uncle returns after a long period of disappointment to kick nine goals three behinds as Claremont, after losing Moss and Jimmy Krakouer, run over Old Easts in the second half.


1979 WANFL season, Home-and-away season, Round 17
Subiaco record upset win with 8.8 (56) to 1.1 (7) opening quarter, and hold on despite kicking 5.11 (41) in the third.


1979 WANFL season, Finals, First semi-final
East Fremantle coach Bradley Smith makes a number of surprise moves that overhaul his former club in Cable’s last senior match.


1979 WANFL season, Finals, Second semi-final
Noel Carter makes an unexpected comeback from injury, and with Michael beating Moss, South Fremantle make a surprising rebound from their Swan Districts loss, leaving Claremont as the team with injury worries.


1979 WBF World Championships
The 1979 WBF World Championships took place in June 1979 in Hangzhou, China. It was one of the two editions of the world championships organised by the WBF, which was a rival body of the Badminton World Federation.


1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 20th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 6 and March 11, 1979. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Minnesota and North Dakota were invited to participate in the 1979 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Though not official designations, Minnesota is considered as the East Regional Champion† and North Dakota as the West Regional Champion‡.


1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds were matched in two-game series where the school that scored the higher number of goals was declared the winner. After the first round the remaining teams were reseeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to their final conference standings and advanced to the second round. In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds competed in an additional two-game, total goal series with the winners of each being declared as co-conference champions.


1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format, Conference Standings
Note: GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against


1979 WCT Tournament of Champions
The 1979 WCT Tournament of Champions was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Cerromar Beach Hotel in Dorado, Puerto Rico. It was a six men round-robin tournament followed by a final between the two best performing players. The event was part of the 1979 World Championship Tennis (WCT) tour, which in turn was part of the 1979 Grand Prix circuit, but was classified as a special event and as such did not count towards the Grand Prix rankings. It was the third edition of the tournament and was held from February 19 through February 25, 1979. Jimmy Connors won the singles title and the accompanying $100,000 first prize money.


1979 WCT Tournament of Champions – Singles
Björn Borg was the defending champion, but did not compete this year.


1979 WCT Tournament of Champions – Singles
Jimmy Connors won the title by defeating Vitas Gerulaitis 6–5, 6–0, 6–4 in the final.


1979 WCT Tournament of Champions – Singles
Connors did not lose a single match in the entire tournament, despite being played in a round-robin system.


1979 WCT World Doubles
The 1979 WCT World Doubles, also known by its sponsored name Braniff Airways World Doubles Championship, was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at Olympia in London, England that was part of the 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix. It was the tour finals for the doubles season of the WCT Tour section. The tournament was held from January 3 through January 7, 1979.


1979 WCT World Doubles, Final, Doubles
Peter Fleming /  John McEnroe defeated  Ilie Năstase /  Sherwood Stewart 3–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–1


1979 WTA German Open
The 1979 WTA German Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in West Berlin, West Germany that was part of the 1979 Colgate Series and was held from 21 May through 27 May 1979. It was the 11th edition of the tournament and the first women's only edition. Caroline Stoll won the singles title and earned $20,000 first-prize money.


1979 WTA German Open, Finals, Doubles
Rosie Casals /  Wendy Turnbull defeated  Evonne Goolagong /  Kerry Reid 6–2, 7–5


1979 WTA Tour
The 1979 WTA Tour consisted of a number of tennis tournaments for female tennis players. It was composed of the newly streamlined version of the Avon Championships (which was now an 11-week tour of the USA) and the Colgate Series. The year 1979 also saw the creation of the first official ranking system and these rankings were used to determine acceptance into the tournaments.


1979 WTA Tour, Schedule
This is a calendar of all events which were part of either the Avon Championships circuit or the Colgate Series in the year 1979, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. Also included are the Grand Slam tournaments, the 1979 Avon Championships, the 1979 Federation Cup and a number of events not affiliated with either tour.


1979 WTA Tour, Rankings
Below are the 1979 WTA year-end rankings (December 31, 1979) in both singles and doubles competition:


1979 WTA Tour, Colgate Series, Points system
The tournaments of the Colgate Series were divided into four groups – AAAA, AAA, AA and A – based on prize money. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. The points allocation – with doubles points listed in brackets – was:


1979 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team
The 1979 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team was an American football team that represented Wake Forest University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its second season under head coach John Mackovic, the team compiled an 8–4 record, finished in fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and lost to LSU in the 1979 Tangerine Bowl.


1979 Walker Cup
The 1979 Walker Cup, the 27th Walker Cup Match, was played on 30 and 31 May 1979, at Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The event was won by the United States 15½ to 8½.


1979 Walker Cup
The United States had an 8½  to 7½ lead after the second day foursomes. In the final round of 8 singles, Great Britain and Ireland had just one win, by Allan Brodie, while the United States won the other 7 matches for a convincing win.


1979 Walker Cup, Format
The format for play on Wednesday and Thursday was the same. There were four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. In all, 24 matches were played.


1979 Walker Cup, Format
Each of the 24 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole extra holes were not played. Rather, each side earned ½ a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 12½ points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.


1979 Walker Cup, Teams
Ten players for the United States and Great Britain & Ireland participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion
The 1979 explosion at PKO Bank Polski's Rotunda office in Warsaw took place on February 15, 1979, at 12:37 p.m. As a result, 49 people died and 135 were injured. Officially, the tragedy was caused by a gas explosion, but in the course of time much speculation appeared, and Varsovians talked among themselves that the building had been blown up by a bomb. Furthermore, to many the explosion served as a harbinger of future changes in Poland.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, Introduction
The winter of 1978/1979 was very harsh in Poland, and due to the extreme temperatures and heavy snowfall it was dubbed "the winter of the century". Transport in the country came to a standstill, in poorly heated apartments in Warsaw the temperature at night dropped to 7 degrees Celsius, public mood was at a very low level, and the Warsaw poet Tomasz Jastrun, who kept a diary at that time, said: "People were expecting changes. They were convinced that the current situation had to come to an end, and something would happen. Before the change, people said, there would be signs. One of these signs was the Rotunda explosion". Satirist Michał Ogórek has said that the explosion was a reflection of the gloomy, chaotic and cold period in Polish history.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, The explosion
February 15, 1979, was a cold, cloudy day. At 12:37 p.m., the bank's branch at the Rotunda, located in the strict city centre at the intersection of Marszałkowska Street and Aleje Jerozolimskie, was full of people. The explosion took place twenty minutes before the end of the first shift. At that time, there were 170 PKO employees and around 300 customers in the building. Suddenly, as witnesses later stated, the Rotunda floated in the air like a soap bubble, and then broke into pieces. All the glass walls were shattered, and hundreds of pieces of glass fell onto the sidewalks. Inside the building, floors collapsed into the basement. The explosion was so loud that it was heard by thousands of Varsovians.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, The explosion
70% of the Rotunda was destroyed and emergency crews immediately began searching for people buried under the rubble. The last living person was found three hours after the explosion, but some 2,000 workers continued the search for as long as seven days afterward. The construction of the building, which was made of reinforced concrete, literally fell inwards, creating a giant crater. Among the survivors were two female employees of the bank's safe. The safe itself, located in the basement, was intact.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, Search and rescue operation
The central location of the Rotunda in the city made an immediate search and rescue operation possible. Altogether 2,000 people participated in it, commanded by Edward Gierski of the Warsaw Fire Department. Day after day, new bodies were recovered from the ruins. On February 17, four victims were found, on February 19, two. Apart from the firefighters and ambulances crews, passers-by also helped. Blood was donated in a temporary medical office, located at the nearby Hotel Forum (currently Novotel Warszawa Centrum).


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, Search and rescue operation
The Zodiak restaurant offered hot meals to the rescuers, hundreds of liters of blood were collected, and witnesses remember terrifying scenes, such as a woman in a blue dress, without an arm. Crowds gathered around the Rotunda, and the place of the explosion was cordoned off by the police. Documents and bills were flying in the air, and the building looked as if it had been bombed.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, Search and rescue operation
A reporter from "Express Wieczorny" was on the spot within a few minutes, and the newspaper covered the explosion widely. One of its articles stated: At night we meet workers of several building companies, such as Mostostal, Betonstal, Instal, Elektromontaż, as well as boys from Ochotnicze Hufce Pracy and trucks from Betonstal and Transbud. Several trucks haul away debris and parts of the construction non-stop. Leonard Grunerd from Mostostal has worked here four nights in a row. As he says, the first night was the most difficult one, with temperature of minus 20 degrees. "People were cold, we were saved by hot meals and hot beverages from the Zodiak Restaurant – says Grunerd".


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, The cause of the explosion
Immediately after the explosion, numerous rumors and wild speculation appeared. Warsaw newspapers wrote about the incident, but people, accustomed to Communist propaganda, did not believe in any official explanations. Most common was the rumor about a bomb, planted by the main cashier of the bank, who had embezzled large sums of money and caused the explosion to destroy all evidence. A similar rumor stated that the bomb was planted by cronies of a high-ranking Communist party official, who had stolen hundreds of thousands of zlotys.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, The cause of the explosion
Another rumor stated that the explosion was caused by robbers, who tried to get to the underground safe from a rail tunnel. They planted a bomb to open the wall of the safe, but miscalculated its power. Satirist Michał Ogórek says that people were also talking among themselves that the incident was part of an inner-party conspiracy, aimed at Edward Gierek and his cabinet. Danuta Szmit-Zawierucha, author of several books about Warsaw, confirms this speculation: "People said that the Rotunda had been blown up by the Communists themselves". One final rumor stated that the explosion was caused by a mysterious anti-Communist organization, which wanted to blow up the building at midnight, when it was empty, but messed up the timing.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, The cause of the explosion
The real cause of the explosion was a gas leak from a damaged pipe located underneath the sidewalk. The gas got into an underground telephone connection and gathered in the basement of the Rotunda. Frozen water and snow clogged all the air vents, and in those circumstances, one spark or the turning on of a light in the basement, was enough to ignite the powerful explosion. The Rotunda itself did not have a gas connection. The low temperature caused the odorant to condense, and nobody was warned of a leak.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, The cause of the explosion
Several people, however, still do not believe in this explanation. Edward Gierski, who commanded the search and rescue operation, also has doubts: "Despite all official reports and photos of damaged valves, I am still not sure if the explosion was caused by leakage in a gas pipe. I saw the foundation of the building, which was one meter thick. It broke in half, and it is difficult for me to believe that an underground gas explosion would have caused such destruction".


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, Victims and aftermath
A list of victims was published in all the Warsaw newspapers, and condolences were sent by Edward Gierek and Leonid Brezhnev. Every year on the anniversary of the explosion, the management of PKO Bank Polski organizes a special celebration, which is attended by families of the victims, Warsaw authorities and the bank's managers. Furthermore, there is a commemorative plaque, placed in the northern wall of the complex.


1979 Warsaw gas explosion, Victims and aftermath
The Rotunda was 70% destroyed, and the decision to rebuild it was announced by newspapers as early as February 17. The government of Poland regarded it as a priority, so every day, hundreds of workers cleaned the site and then started construction. Originally, re-opening was scheduled for July 22, 1979, which in Communist times was a national holiday. The project was overseen by a co-designer of the original Rotunda, architect Piotr Zajlich, who introduced several changes in construction, including with the wiring and the usage of offices. The Rotunda was officially reopened in late October 1979, but most of the survivors of the explosion chose not to return to work in that location. Families of the victims received financial compensation in the amount equal to the then-price of a Fiat 126.


1979 Washington Huskies football team
The 1979 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its fifth season under head coach Don James, the team compiled a 9–3 record, finished in second place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and outscored its opponents 321 to 154.


1979 Washington Huskies football team
The two conference losses were to Arizona State and USC; Arizona State later vacated its wins due to ineligible players. Washington won the Apple Cup over Washington State for a sixth consecutive year, and the Sun Bowl over favored Texas.


1979 Washington Huskies football team
Defensive back Mark Lee was selected as the team's most valuable player. Phil Foreman, Doug Martin, Antowaine Richardson, and Joe Steele were the team captains.


1979 Washington Huskies football team, NFL Draft selections
Eight University of Washington Huskies were selected in the 1980 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds with 333 selections.


1979 Washington Redskins season
The 1979 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 48th season in the National Football League. The team improved on their 8–8 record from 1978 and finishing 10–6.


1979 Washington Redskins season
While the Redskins were able to improve their record, however, they were eliminated from playoff contention on the final week of the season when facing the Dallas Cowboys with the NFC East title on the line, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach led a last-minute comeback to defeat Washington 35–34 to win the division, following a dropped go-ahead touchdown by Redskins wideout Devon Hawk on 4th down; which combined with the Chicago Bears defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 42–6, resulted in the Redskins losing a points tiebreaker for the final wild-card slot.


1979 Washington Redskins season
The Redskins hosted the Packers in Week 14. It was Washington's penultimate game at RFK in 1979. As they left RFK 17 years later and moved to a new stadium in Landover, it was also the two teams' final meeting at Washington for 25 years.


1979 Washington Star International
The 1979 Washington Star International was a men's tennis tournament and was played on outdoor clay courts. The event was part of the 1979 Grand Prix circuit. It was the 11th edition of the tournament and was held at Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. from July 16 through July 22, 1979. First-seeded Guillermo Vilas won the singles title, his third at the event after 1975 and 1977.


1979 Washington Star International, Finals, Doubles
Marty Riessen /  Sherwood Stewart defeated  Brian Gottfried /  Raúl Ramírez 2–6, 6–3, 6–4


1979 Washington State Cougars football team
The 1979 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Jim Walden, the Cougars compiled a 3–8 record (2–6 in Pac-10, ninth), and were outscored 366 to 241.


1979 Washington State Cougars football team
The team's statistical leaders included Steve Grant with 1,565 passing yards, Tali Ena with 844 rushing yards, and Jim Whatley with 513 receiving yards.


1979 Washington State Cougars football team
Martin Stadium's seating capacity was increased over the summer (track removed, field lowered) and hosted its first game of the season in mid-October for homecoming. The 17–14 upset of UCLA was the Cougars' first win over the Bruins since 1958.


1979 Washington State Cougars football team
The traditional Battle of the Palouse game with neighbor Idaho went on hiatus beginning with this season (the Vandals had moved down to Division I-AA in 1978); it was played in 1982 and 1989. When Idaho rejoined Division I-A, there was a ten-year resumption (1998–2007).


1979 Washington State Cougars football team, Season summary, UCLA
Mike Snow blocked two field goals and deflected a pass in the end zone as Washington State upset UCLA in front of a record home crowd. Brian Sickler capped an 84-yard fourth quarter drive with a one-yard plunge as the Cougars completed a rally from a 14–7 halftime deficit.


1979 Washington State Cougars football team, Season summary, UCLA
no one ever talks about Don McCall's contribution in that 1979 WSU vs UCLA football game. It is worth noting McCall recorded 2 interceptions, 7 tackles and a fumble recovery. Only Saying. Just for the record it was a great victory for Cougars everywhere.


1979 Wells Fargo Open
The 1979 Wells Fargo Open was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California in the United States that was part of the Colgate Series of the 1979 WTA Tour. It was the second edition of the tournament and was held from July 30 through August 5, 1979. First-seeded Tracy Austin won the singles title and earned $14,000 first-prize money.


1979 Wells Fargo Open, Finals, Doubles
Rosie Casals /  Martina Navratilova defeated  Ann Kiyomura /  Betty-Ann Stuart 3–6, 6–4, 6–2


1979 Welsh devolution referendum
The Welsh referendum of 1979 was a post-legislative referendum held on 1 March 1979 (Saint David's Day) to decide whether there was sufficient support for a Welsh Assembly among the Welsh electorate. The referendum was held under the terms of the Wales Act 1978 drawn up to implement proposals made by the Kilbrandon Report  published in 1973.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum
The plans were defeated by a majority of 4:1 (20.3% for and 79.7% against) with only 12% of the Welsh electorate voting in favour of establishing an assembly. A second referendum to create a devolved assembly for Wales was held in 1997, which led to the enactment of the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the creation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Background
Both the Scotland Act and the Wales Act contained a requirement that at least 40% of all voters back the plan. It had been passed as an amendment by Islington South MP George Cunningham with the backing of Bedwellty MP Neil Kinnock.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Background
Kinnock, the future leader of the Labour Party, called himself a "unionist". His stated view was that "between the mid-sixteenth century and the mid-eighteenth century Wales had practically no history at all, and even before that it was the history of rural brigands who have been ennobled by being called princes". He was one of six south Wales Labour MPs who opposed their own Government's plans, along with Leo Abse (Pontypool), Donald Anderson (Swansea East), Ioan Evans (Aberdare), Fred Evans (Caerphilly), and Ifor Davies (Gower).


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Background
The government of Jim Callaghan did not have an overall majority in the House of Commons, and was therefore vulnerable to opposition from within its own ranks. The Labour party was split on home rule for Wales with a vocal minority opposed. They considered devolution as a danger to the unity of the UK and a concession to Welsh nationalism in the wake of by-election victories by Plaid Cymru.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Background
The Labour Party committed itself to devolution after coming to power in the February 1974 General Election. It followed the findings of a Royal Commission on the Constitution under Lord Kilbrandon. Set up in 1969 in the wake of pressure to address growing support for independence in Scotland and Wales it delivered a split report in 1973. The Royal Commission recommended legislative and executive devolution to Scotland and Wales, with a minority supporting advisory Regional Councils for England. This plan was rejected as too bureaucratic and ill-advised in economic terms. New plans were brought forward by Harold Wilson's government in 1975 and 1976 which confined devolution to Scotland and Wales.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Background
The Scotland and Wales Bill had a difficult passage through Parliament and the government, lacking a majority to pass the plan, withdrew the legislation and introduced separate Bills for Scotland and Wales. Hostile Labour MPs from the north of England, Wales and Scotland combined to insist that Assemblies could only be passed if directly endorsed by voters in a post-legislative referendum.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, The Welsh Assembly proposed in the Wales Act 1978
Secretary of State for WalesRt Hon Simon Hart MP (C)


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, The Welsh Assembly proposed in the Wales Act 1978, Structure
Had the Wales Act 1978 entered force, it would have created a Welsh Assembly without primary legislative or tax raising powers. The proposed assembly would have had 72 members elected by the first past the post system with each Westminster constituency returning either two or three assembly members. It would have met at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, The Welsh Assembly proposed in the Wales Act 1978, Structure
It was planned that assembly would have operated under the committee system where subject committees would be formed with representation of all groups in the assembly. An Executive Committee would have been formed composed of the chairs of the various subject committees and other members selected by the assembly. A Chairman of the Executive Committee would have been selected who would also serve as Leader of the Assembly.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, The Welsh Assembly proposed in the Wales Act 1978, Powers
The assembly would have had the ability to pass secondary legislation with responsibility for primary legislation remaining with the UK Parliament at Westminster. It would have taken over the powers and functions of the Secretary of State for Wales.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Aftermath
The referendums in Scotland and Wales coincided with a period of unpopularity for the Government during the period known as the winter of discontent.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Aftermath
Proposals for a more powerful Assembly in Scotland attracted the support of a majority of those who voted (1,230,937 for, 1,153,502 against) (see 1979 Scottish devolution referendum), but it amounted to just 32.5% of the total electorate, lower than the 40% threshold required.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Aftermath
The results sealed the fate of the minority Labour government, and as a direct result of the defeat of the referendums in Wales and Scotland the Scottish National Party (SNP) withdrew its support for the government, though Plaid Cymru supported the government in exchange for political concessions.


1979 Welsh devolution referendum, Aftermath
In the House of Commons on 28 March 1979, the Labour government was defeated on a motion of no confidence by one vote, only the second time in the 20th century that a government was brought down in this way. Labour's defeat in the 1979 General Election to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party precipitated a civil war within its own ranks, and the party was to be out of office for eighteen years.


1979 West Dorset District Council election
The 1979 West Dorset District Council election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect councillors to West Dorset District Council in England. It took place on the same day as the general election and other district council elections in the United Kingdom. This was the third election to the district council, the election saw terms of councillors extended from three to four years.


1979 West Dorset District Council election
The 1979 election saw the Independent councillors maintain their majority control on the Council.


1979 West German presidential election
An indirect presidential election (officially the 7th Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 23 May 1979. Deeming his reelection to be unlikely, incumbent Walter Scheel elected not to seek a second term. The two candidates to replace him were the President of the Bundestag Karl Carstens, nominated by the Christian Democratic Union and Carstens' immediate predecessor Annemarie Renger, nominated by the Social Democratic Party. Carstens won the election on the first ballot.


1979 West German presidential election, Composition of the Federal Convention
The President is elected by the Federal Convention consisting of all the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of delegates representing the states. These are divided proportionally by population to each state, and each state's delegation is divided among the political parties represented in its parliament so as to reflect the partisan proportions in the parliament.


1979 West German presidential election, Composition of the Federal Convention
Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012


1979 West Texas State Buffaloes football team
The 1979 West Texas State Buffaloes football team was an American football team that represented West Texas State University (now known as West Texas A&M University) as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Bill Yung, the team compiled a 3–8 record (1–5 in the MVC).


1979 West Virginia Mountaineers football team
The 1979 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Mountaineers' 87th overall season and they competed as a Division I-A Independent. The team was led by head coach Frank Cignetti Sr., in his fourth year, and played their final season of home games at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. They finished the season with a record of five wins and six losses (5–6 overall).


1979 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team
The 1979 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season.


1979 Western Michigan Broncos football team
The 1979 Western Michigan Broncos football team represented Western Michigan University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth season under head coach Elliot Uzelac, the Broncos compiled a 6–5 record (5–4 against MAC opponents), finished in third place in the MAC, and outscored their opponents, 186 to 120. The team played its home games at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan.


1979 Western Michigan Broncos football team
The team's statistical leaders included Albert Little with 342 passing yards, Larry Caper with 844 rushing yards, and Tim Clysdale with 207 receiving yards. Tight end Tom Henry and defensive tackle Matt Murphy were the team captains. Murphy also received the team's most outstanding player award.


1979 Western Samoan general election
General elections were held in Western Samoa on 24 February 1979. Voting was restricted to matai and citizens of European origin ("individual voters"), with the Matai electing 45 MPs and Europeans two. Although all candidates ran as independents, an opposition bloc had emerged following the 1976 election of Tupuola Efi as Prime Minister in Parliament.


1979 Western Samoan general election, Background
Prior to the elections, around 1,500 matai had their titles removed by the registrar of the Land and Titles Court. However, after intervention of head of state Malietoa Tanumafili II, the titles were restored.


1979 Western Samoan general election, Background
Around a week before the elections, the Department of the Prime Minister  issued a statement stating that three MPs had been meeting with an American firm the government considered to be dishonest. The three MPs, Tofilau Eti Alesana, Fa'aso'otauloa Pualagi and Sala Suivai, later revealed themselves and claimed the issue was being used against them.


1979 Western Samoan general election, Results
Of the 47 elected members, 26 were new to the Legislative Assembly. Incumbents losing their seats included Minister of Education Lilomaiava Niko. Alesana, Pualagi and Suivai were all re-elected.


1979 Western Samoan general election, Aftermath
Although candidates who had pledged to elect Va'ai Kolone as Prime Minister won a majority of seats, Tupuola Efi was re-elected as Prime Minister on 28 March, defeating Kolone by 24 votes to 23. The same voting pattern occurred in the elections for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, with Tuuu Faletoese elected Speaker with 24 votes to the 23 received by Leota Ale and Aeau Taulupoo defeating Toleafoa Talitimu by the same margin for the deputy speakership. The opposition members formed the Human Rights Protection Party with Kolone as its leader.


1979 Western Samoan general election, Aftermath
In May Chief Justice Bryan Nicholson annulled the results in four constituencies due to bribery, with the four members – George Lober, Le Tagaloa Pita, Letiu Tamatoa (Minister of Economic Development) and Muliagatele Vena – losing their seats. Three of them (Lober, Tamatoa and) Vena were supporters of Efi. By-elections were held on 18 August, in which Lober and Tamatoa were re-elected, Vena lost his seat to Pule Lameko, but Pita was defeated by Efi supporter Mapuilesua Pelenato, giving Efi his 24–23 majority back. Following the loss of his majority, Efi avoided a potential vote of no confidence by not calling a parliamentary session until November.


1979 Wexford Senior Hurling Championship
The 1979 Wexford Senior Hurling Championship was the 69th staging of the Wexford Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Wexford County Board in 1889.


1979 Wexford Senior Hurling Championship
The final went to two replays, culminating on 18 November 1979 at Bellefield Road, between Rathnure and Faythe Harriers, in what was their first meeting in a final in 14 years. Rathnure won the match by 0-09 to 0-08 to claim their 11th  championship title overall and their first title in two years.


1979 Whitbread Awards
The Whitbread Awards (1971–2005), called Costa Book Awards since 2006, are literary awards in the United Kingdom, awarded both for high literary merit but also for works considered enjoyable reading. This page gives details of the awards given in the year 1979.


1979 Wichita State Shockers football team
The 1979 Wichita State Shockers football team was an American football team that represented  Wichita State as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Willie Jeffries, the team compiled a 1–10 record.


1979 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Wigan Council were held on 3 May 1979, with one third of the council up for vote as well as an extra vacancy in Ward 22. The election seen Labour strengthening their grip, with six gains - mostly in the wards they lost seats in at the 1975 election - and one loss. All but one of the gains were from the Conservatives, with the other being from the Liberal's sole seat in Ward 14. A Liberal gain in Ward 15 from Labour kept them represented on the council. Owing to general election on the same day, turnout was significantly up, to 75.7% and all wards were contested - a continuation of the feat started last election.


1979 Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the Council after the elections:


1979 Wightman Cup
The 1979 Wightman Cup was the 51st edition of the annual women's team tennis competition between the United States and Great Britain. It was held in West Palm Beach, Florida in the United States.


1979 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships
The 1979 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships was the 11th edition of the global wildwater canoeing competition, Wildwater Canoeing World Championships, organised by the International Canoe Federation.


1979 William & Mary Tribe football team
The 1979 William & Mary Tribe football team represented the College of William & Mary as an independent during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Jim Root in his eighth and final year as head coach, William & Mary finished the season with a record of 4–7.


1979 Wimbledon Championships
The 1979 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 25 June until 7 July. It was the 93rd staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1979.


1979 Wimbledon Championships
This edition was the first to introduce the tiebreak with the scores at 6–6 instead of 8–8.


1979 Wimbledon Championships, Prize money
The total prize money for 1979 championships was £277,066. The winner of the men's title earned £20,000 while the women's singles champion earned £18,000.


1979 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Men's Singles
Björn Borg defeated  Roscoe Tanner, 6–7(4–7), 6–1, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4


1979 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Men's Doubles
Peter Fleming /  John McEnroe defeated  Brian Gottfried /  Raúl Ramírez, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2


1979 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Women's Doubles
Billie Jean King /  Martina Navratilova defeated  Betty Stöve /  Wendy Turnbull, 5–7, 6–3, 6–2


1979 Wimbledon Championships, Champions, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
Bob Hewitt /  Greer Stevens defeated  Frew McMillan /  Betty Stöve, 7–5, 7–6(9–7)


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles
Ramesh Krishnan defeated Dave Siegler in the final, 6–0, 6–2 to win the Boys' Singles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Boys' Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Girls' Singles
Mary-Lou Piatek defeated Alycia Moulton in the final, 6–1, 6–3 to win the Girls' Singles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Girls' Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles
Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Peter Fleming and John McEnroe.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles
Fleming and McEnroe defeated Brian Gottfried and Raúl Ramírez in the final 4–6, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 to win the Gentlemen's Doubles title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
Three-time defending champion Björn Borg successfully defended his title, defeating Roscoe Tanner in the final, 6–7(4–7), 6–1, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 to win the Gentlemen's Singles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Qualifying
Players who neither had high enough rankings nor received wild cards to enter the main draw of the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships participated in a qualifying tournament held one week before the event. Several players withdrew from the main draw after qualifying had commenced, leading to the highest ranked players who lost in the final qualifying round to be entered into the main draw as lucky losers.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles
Bob Hewitt and Greer Stevens defeated the defending champions Betty Stöve and Frew McMillan in the final, 7–5, 7–6(9–7) to win the Mixed Doubles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles
Kerry Reid and Wendy Turnbull were the defending champions, but decided not to play together. Reid teamed up with Anne Smith and lost in third round to Françoise Dürr and Virginia Wade, while Turnbull teamed up with Betty Stöve.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles
Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova defeated Stöve and Turnbull in the final, 5–7, 6–3, 6–2 to win the Ladies' Doubles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships. It was the 10th Wimbledon title, 15th Grand Slam title for King, and the 2nd Wimbledon title, 5th Grand Slam title for Navratilova, in their respective doubles careers.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles
First-seeded Martina Navratilova successfully defended her title, defeating Chris Evert-Lloyd in a repeat of the previous year's final, 6–4, 6–4 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
Both Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Billie Jean King were given protected seedings above their actual rankings, as they were returning from almost year-long injury absences.


1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles Qualifying
Players who neither had high enough rankings nor received wild cards to enter the main draw of the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships participated in a qualifying tournament held one week before the event.


1979 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season
The 1979 Winnipeg Blue Bombers finished in 4th place in the Western Conference with a 4–12 record and failed to make the playoffs.


1979 Winston Western 500
The 1979 Winston Western 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on January 14, 1979, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. Buying a souvenir program at this race was relatively inexpensive for the era at $2 USD per copy ($7.13 when adjusted for inflation).


1979 Winston Western 500
By the following season, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.


1979 Winston Western 500, Summary
This race was Williamson's Cup Series debut. He died in a racing accident the following year during the running of a Grand American series race. This race was the final caution-free race in NASCAR road course history; bringing the idea of a "perfect game" to an end. The final oval course race that went the entire distance without a single caution flag would be the 2002 EA Sports 500; which was won by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc..


1979 Winston Western 500, Summary
During the 1970s, Riverside International Raceway had its configurations modernized in order to create the fast-paced racing that the public started to demand for after engine technology picked up during the 1960s. NASCAR would develop a liking for mile and a half tracks by the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season; with Sonoma and Watkins Glen serving as the sole road course tracks.


1979 Winston Western 500, Summary
There were 35 American-born male drivers on the grid; Terry Labonte received the last-place finish due to an engine issue on lap 7 out of 119. Darrell Waltrip defeated David Pearson by 3.27 seconds in front of 68,000 live audience members. Waltrip would get his first-ever Cup road course victory; going on to win five times in total at Riverside.


1979 Winston Western 500, Summary
Drivers who failed to qualify were Gary Matthews (#51), Ed Hale (#20), Steve Pfeifer (#0), John Krebs (#91) and Rick McCray (#08).


1979 Winston Western 500, Summary
Although there were no cautions in this "perfect game," there were still 13 lead changes and the race lasted two hours and fifty-three minutes. While Pearson would clinch the pole position with an average speed of 113.659 miles per hour (182.916 km/h), the average speed of the race was 107.820 miles per hour (173.519 km/h). The other drivers in the top ten were: Cale Yarborough, Bill Schmitt, Donnie Allison, Joe Millikan, Buddy Baker, Jim Thirkettle, Tim Williamson, and Harry Gant.


1979 Winston Western 500, Summary
This was Richard Petty's first race after he had some serious stomach surgery during the offseason. There was concern he might not be able to go the distance this soon after that treatment and his former teammate Hershel McGriff was lined up as the possible relief driver. McGriff was supposed to run this race in James Hylton's #48 Chevrolet but he moved over to standby duty with Hylton racing his car himself. Petty expected to go the distance in the cool Southern California winter weather, but the #43 blew a motor and put him on the sidelines on lap 14.


1979 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 1979 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 1979 to elect members of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This election was held on the same day as other local elections.


1979 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election, Notes
• italics denote the sitting councillor • bold denotes the winning candidate


1979 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 1979 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season.


1979 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election
Following the elections the Labour Party had overall control of Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council.


1979 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election
The Wolverhampton Association of Ratepayers became known simply as Ratepayers in the 1979 local elections.


1979 Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council election
The composition of the council prior to the election was:


1979 Women's British Open Squash Championship
The 1979 Women's British Open Squash Championships was held at the Wembley Squash Centre in London from 23 February - 2 March 1979. The event was won by Barbara Wall who defeated Sue Cogswell in the final.


1979 Women's British Open Squash Championship, Seeds
Margaret Zachariah (9/16)  Valerie Bridgens (9/16)  S Wright (9/16)  Sue Paton (9/16)   Teresa Lawes (9/16)  Barbara Diggens (9/16)  Jayne Ashton (9/16)  Pam Buckingham (née Guy) (9/16)


1979 Women's College World Series
The 1979 AIAW Women's College World Series (WCWS) was held in Omaha, Nebraska on May 24–27. Sixteen fastpitch softball teams emerged from regional tournaments to meet in the national collegiate softball championship.


1979 Women's College World Series, Teams
Texas Woman's University, newly named the Pioneers in February after years as the Tessies, won its first national championship behind the pitching of Kathy Arendsen, emerging from the losers' bracket to defeat defending champion UCLA with a pair of 1–0 wins in the final. On the final day, Arendsen pitched all 21 innings in three games. UCLA pitchers had posted shutouts in all of its games until the finals, a streak of nine games over two WCWS.


1979 Women's European Volleyball Championship
The 1979 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the eleventh edition of the event, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted in several cities in France from 5 to 13 October 1979, with the final round held in Lyon.


1979 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Format
The tournament was played in two different stages. In the first stage, the twelve participants were divided into three groups of four teams each. In the second stage, two groups were formed, one containing the winners and runners-up from all first stage groups (six teams in total) to contest the tournament title. A second group was formed by the remaining six teams which played for position places (7th to 12th). All groups in both stages played a single round-robin format.


1979 Women's Junior World Handball Championship
The 1979 Women's Junior World Handball Championship was the 2nd edition of the tournament and took place in Yugoslavia from 13 to 23 October.


1979 Women's Junior World Handball Championship
The title was won by the Soviet Union who finished on top after winning four of their five games with East Germany finishing in second place.


1979 Women's Nordic Football Championship
1979 Women's Nordic Football Championship was the sixth edition of the Women's Nordic Football Championship tournament. It was held from 5 July to 8 July in Oslo, Fredrikstad and Setskog in Norway.


1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship
The 1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship was the women's edition of the 1979 World Open, which serves as the individual world championship for squash players. The event took place in Sheffield in England during 6–12 March 1979. Heather McKay won the World Open title, defeating Sue Cogswell in the final.


1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship, Draw and results, Notes
This tournament was officially the first World Open but there was a significant unofficial invitation event held in 1976.


1979 Women's World Team Squash Championships
The 1979 Women's World Team Squash Championships were held in England and took place from March 15 until March 20, 1979.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado
On the evening of Tuesday, August 7, 1979, at least three tornadoes touched down in southwestern Ontario, devastating scores of farms and homes in the Woodstock area. The southern end of that city suffered some of the most intense destruction along with several other nearby towns in Oxford County. Two people died, 142 were injured, and hundreds of homes suffered significant damage. Overall monetary losses totaled an approximate $100 million in 1979 Canadian dollars.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Meteorological synopsis
A relatively cool and dry airmass was being pushed in from the north by means of a cold front, into warm and unstable air from the southern United States. Severe weather had already affected northeastern Ontario the evening before with this same cold front. During the late morning of the 7th the front had stalled across the Bruce Peninsula, where newer convection produced a couple of weak F1 tornadoes near the towns of Wiarton and Tara. It has been speculated that a large outflow boundary associated with these particular storms may have interacted with the lake breeze fronts, thus resulting in the Woodstock and Stratford tornadic supercells later that day.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Meteorological synopsis
The Ontario Storm Prediction Centre in Toronto issued a severe thunderstorm watch for southwestern Ontario at 3:40pm. The first thunderstorms of the afternoon began forming over Lake Huron before coming ashore in southern Bruce County (Toll, 1980). Storm motion was primarily to the southeast, and as these storms quickly began to intensify, reports of large hail began to pour in. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 6:15pm for Oxford, Perth County and Waterloo Region (Toll, 1980). A broken line of intense thunderstorms propagated toward Highway 401 with the two most intense storms located near Stratford and Embro. At this point, a tornado touchdown was mere minutes away as they began to morph into the powerful supercell variety, possibly a result of convergence along the Lake Erie and Lake Huron breeze fronts.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
At 6:18pm, the supercell thunderstorm located near Stratford spawned a tornado a couple of kilometres south of that town. Moving to the southeast at approximately 60 km/h, it quickly became stronger and as it passed north of Hickson some twenty minutes later, its path had widened to 1 kilometre as the tornado attained F4 intensity. Farm homes and outbuildings along the path were leveled by the tornado. The path began to curve towards the east-northeast thereafter as the tornado began to weaken (Newark, 1979). It dissipated approximately four kilometres east of Bright at 6:56pm, after some 30 kilometres on the ground.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
At around 6:52 pm, a separate supercell thunderstorm northeast of Embro dropped a tornado near the village of Golspie. As it approached the city of Woodstock within the next ten minutes, the tornado quickly widened to over half a kilometre and took on the appearance as a dark stovepipe or wedge tornado, not unlike those witnessed in the Midwestern United States (Grazulis, 1991). As many as 300 structures sustained damage in a four-kilometre track from Ingersoll Road through Sixth Avenue to Parkinson Road and approaching Highway 401.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
A church and a school near the intersection of Highway 401 and Norwich Avenue were both destroyed (Toll, 1980). Trees that remained standing were partially debarked and, in a few instances, straw and other small objects were found embedded into the trunks. Among some of the other oddities were a pond in Southside Park that was reportedly sucked dry by the tornado, and a fourteen-foot aluminum boat carried for almost a kilometre. Crossing Highway 401 it blew a tractor-trailer rig into the centre median, badly injuring the driver (Toll, 1980).


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
After the tornado left Woodstock, it is suspected that the tornado grew to its maximum size. As it passed over the town of Oxford Centre (a hamlet of 250 at the time) the damage path width had reached 1 kilometre. Within two minutes, thirty homes were destroyed, along with the local church and community centre in Oxford Centre (Toll, 1980). The towns of New Durham and Vanessa met a similar fate shortly thereafter, at 7:19 and 7:37pm respectively.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
A partially filled, forty-foot silo constructed of concrete six inches thick, toppled over on a farm somewhere between Oxford Centre and New Durham. The two deaths were in the New Durham area. A 51-year-old man was killed instantly after being thrown some 200 feet from his two-ton vehicle, and a woman died after being hit with flying glass (Toll, 1980). At this point, the funnel had been on the ground for over twenty minutes and was easily over a mile wide. During this stretch of the tornado's path, two vehicles on two separate farms were tossed nearly a kilometre.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
In addition to the powerful tornado at hand, hail the size of tennis balls fell north of its track, destroying entire tobacco fields on dozens of farms (Newark, 1979). Eyewitnesses also reported that the tornado was preceded by intense and nearly constant lightning unlike any they had seen before (Toll, 1980).


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes
Plowing southeastward, the tornado damaged several more homes in the north end of Waterford at 8:00pm before dissipating southeast of that town, after nearly 60 kilometres on the ground. As this tornado was at its maximum intensity somewhere between Oxford Centre and Vanessa, eyewitnesses reported seeing a satellite tornado, which accompanied the main circulation (Toll, 1980). On the ground for twenty kilometres, this satellite vortex was comparatively weaker (probably of F0 or F1 intensity) and paralleled the Woodstock tornado track as it moved southeast. All thunderstorm activity in southwestern Ontario ended by 9:30pm as the cold front moved south of Lake Erie.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Aftermath
Following the two violent tornadoes which hit Oxford County and surrounding area, over a thousand people were left homeless, 350 homes were rendered uninhabitable, and two people were dead in addition to 142 injuries. Farmsteads over a century old were completely wiped off the map in some instances. Given the immense amount of damage at hand, the number of people affected, and the relative lack of effective weather warnings, it is remarkable that so few were killed. In yet another remarkable twist, all manner of debris carried by the Woodstock tornado began appearing near the shores of Lake Erie (Toll, 1980). Canceled cheques, dollar bills, photographs, pieces of insulation, and even plywood were among some of the items discovered.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Aftermath
The city of Woodstock was enduring a recession during the late 1970s and this tornado strained the already reduced municipal budget. Assistance manifested itself in a variety of ways during the following weeks and months. People made homeless found short-term residence with neighbours whose homes were less damaged. Ambulances from all over the region (Kitchener, Tillsonburg, London, St. Thomas, and Simcoe) converged on the towns and farms hit hardest by the tornadoes. Local Mennonites also played a significant role in the rebuilding process, with hundreds working tirelessly each day to repair the farming communities of Oxford Centre, New Durham, and Vanessa.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Aftermath
The local government and those of surrounding counties sent thousands of dollars in relief. The city of Toronto donated $50,000 with Brant County sending $25,000 and the town of Stratford giving $10,000 (Toll, 1980). Businesses also set up food and clothing drives for those who lost their homes. Local radio stations set up a 10-hour radio segment called Operation Rebuild which raised almost half a million dollars, a relatively large amount of money for the time. The London Free Press distributed a booklet immortalizing the disaster, aptly titled Tornado. Over 50,000 copies were sold for $2.00 each. The Government of Ontario also granted $9 million in relief funds by the end of the year (Toll, 1980).


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Comparison to other Ontario tornadoes
The Stratford and Woodstock tornadoes were both rated on the Fujita scale as F4 tornadoes, the second-highest rating. Up until that time, an F4 tornado had not been recorded in southern Ontario since the May 1953 Sarnia Tornado. Following these 1979 tornadoes, there was another violent tornado outbreak in Barrie and Grand Valley six years later. As of 2015 there hasn't been an F4 or higher storm that has struck southern Ontario. Comparing the 1953, 1979, and 1985 tornadoes, the Woodstock event was at least as damaging as the Sarnia one. In both instances, photographs display typical F4 damage to frame homes and farm outbuildings, where only piles of rubble remained.


1979 Woodstock, Ontario, tornado, Comparison to other Ontario tornadoes
While it is unlikely that the 1979 storm was as powerful as the 1946 Windsor-Tecumseh, Ontario tornado (where it has been speculated that F5 damage took place), the most glaring difference was that of path width. Whereas the damage paths of the 1946, 1953, and 1985 tornadoes remained under one kilometre, the Woodstock one was more massive in size. In some cases its width approached one mile, likely making it one of the largest tornadoes documented in Canada alongside the July 1987 Edmonton Tornado. Environment Canada places the 1979 Woodstock tornado as the eleventh worst in the country's history.


1979 World 600
The 1979 World 600, the 20th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that was held on May 27, 1979, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.


1979 World 600
Before the performance, a skydiver was brought in to bring thrills to the audience; he would parachute into one of the turns. There was also an invocation service followed by the national anthem.


1979 World 600, Race report
Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt would fight it out on the closing laps of this race; Richard Petty would make a comeback and lose to Darrell Waltrip by six seconds.


1979 World 600, Race report
Dick Brooks had terminal damage to his vehicle on lap 10. Blackie Wangerin would spin his vehicle out on lap 29 but would ultimately finish the race. Bill Elliott blew his engine on lap 36. Connie Saylor ended up crashing his vehicle on lap 114 while Bobby Fisher's race would end on lap 136. Glenn Jarrett spun his vehicle out on lap 167. Bobby Allison's had engine problems on lap 186 but he would finish the race.


1979 World 600, Race report
While Earnhardt led 122 laps, Waltrip would mount an incredible racing strategy; leading at the most opportune times in the race. While Bobby Allison had engine problems, Tighe Scott had a tie rod issue on lap 372. Ron Hutcherson and Chuck Bown would fail to start the race due to various issues with their vehicle. There were 41 drivers on the starting grid. The duration of this race was 263 minutes with an audience of 136,000 in attendance for what would become a race loaded with lead changes. Chevrolet vehicles dominated the starting grid.


1979 World 600, Race report
Winnings for this event ranged from the winner's portion of $55,400 ($195,157 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place of $1,165 ($4,104 when adjusted for inflation). from a grand total of $321,780 ($1,133,533 when adjusted for inflation).


1979 World 600, Race report
On May 16, 18-year-old Kyle Petty crashed twice during private tests. Two Dodges were badly damaged and his father Richard withdrew him from the race because he was not ready.


1979 World Allround Speed Skating Championships
The World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Men took place on 11 and 12 February in Oslo at the Bislett Stadium ice rink.


1979 World Allround Speed Skating Championships
It was for the third time that Eric Heiden became the world champion and he equaled the performances of the Norwegians Oscar Mathisen and Hjalmar Andersen and the Netherlander Ard Schenk.


1979 World Allround Speed Skating Championships for women
The 40th edition of the World Allround Speed Skating Championships 1979 took place on 3 and 4 February at De Uithof ice rink in The Hague, The Netherlands:


1979 World Archery Championships
The 1979 World Archery Championships was the 30th edition of the World Archery Championships. The event was held in Berlin, Germany in July 1979 and was organised by World Archery Federation (FITA). The 1979 event marked the first Championship gold medals for South Korea, in the women's team and individual events, have since dominated World Archery Federation events until the present day.


1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 20th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Fort Worth, United States, in 1979. In November 1977 the 55th FIG Congress, held in Rome, changed the cycle of world championships: since 1979 they were to be held each two years, and the pre-Olympic ones were to be qualifications for the Olympic tournament. The first 12 teams in the team competition of the 1979 World Championships were invited to participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics.


1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
These were the first World Championships in artistic gymnastics to be held outside of Europe, and the first that China competed at since 1962 following a 1978 vote in which the International Gymnastics Federation voted to accept the People's Republic of China as a member.


1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Men, Team final
The Soviet Union's first-place finish made them the first team since 1960 to beat Japan at an Olympics or World Championships. The United States' bronze medal was their first team medal and best result yet.


1979 World Challenge Cup
The 1979 World Challenge Cup was the first snooker tournament to have a team format of 6 nations with 3 players which was held between 20 and 27 October 1979 at the Haden Hill Leisure Centre in Birmingham, England.


1979 World Championship Tennis Finals
The 1979 World Championship Tennis Finals was a tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 9th edition of the WCT Finals and was part of the 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix. It was played at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas in the United States and was held from May 1 through May 6, 1979.


1979 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles
Vitas Gerulaitis was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Björn Borg.


1979 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles
John McEnroe won in the final 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–6 against Borg.


1979 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


1979 World Cup (men's golf)
The 1979 World Cup took place 8–11 November at the Glyfada Golf Club, 13 kilometres south of the city center of Athens, Greece, located in the Athens Riviera. It was the 27th World Cup event. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event with 46 notified teams. Each team consisted of two players from a country.


1979 World Cup (men's golf)
The South Africa team was invited to the event and their team of Hugh Baiocchi and Dale Hayes took part in practice and pro-am competition, but was informed by the Greece government shortly before the beginning of competition, they were not allowed to start. The combined score of each team determined the team results. The United States team of John Mahaffey and Hale Irwin won by ten strokes over the Scotland team of Ken Brown and Sandy Lyle.


1979 World Cup (men's golf)
The individual competition for the International Trophy was won by Irwin two strokes ahead of Bernhard Langer, West Germany and Lyle, Scotland.


1979 World Cup (men's golf), Teams
Note: Sayed Cherif was representing Sweden, having played for Egypt in previous World Cup events.


1979 World Cup (men's golf), Scores
Dassù of Italy was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard.


1979 World Fencing Championships
The 1979 World Fencing Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia.


1979 World Figure Skating Championships
The 1979 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Vienna, Austria from March 13 to 18. At the event, sanctioned by the International Skating Union, medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance.


1979 World Figure Skating Championships
The ISU Representative was John R. Shoemaker and the ISU Technical Delegate was Josef Dědič.


1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Results, Ladies
*: better placed due to the majority of the better placings


1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Results, Ice dance
* better placed due to the majority of the better placings


1979 World Indoor Bowls Championship
The 1979 W.D. & H.O. Wills World Indoor Bowls Championship  was held at the Coatbridge indoor bowling club, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, from 10 to 14 January 1979.


1979 World Indoor Bowls Championship
The championship was a men's singles event in which David Bryant won his first title defeating Jim Donnelly 21-14 after a final that lasted 23 ends. The event was organised by the Monklands District Council with two round robin groups of five players. It was sponsored by W.D. & H.O. Wills.


1979 World Judo Championships
The 1979 World Judo Championships were the 10th edition of the Men's World Judo Championships, and were held in Paris, France from 6–9 December, 1979. The last tournament in 1977 had been cancelled.


1979 World Junior Curling Championships
The 1979 World Junior Curling Championships were held from March 11 to 17 at the Moose Jaw Civic Centre in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The tournament only consisted of a men's event.


1979 World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The 1979 World Junior Figure Skating Championships were held on March 27 – April 4, 1979 in Augsburg, West Germany. Sanctioned by the International Skating Union, it was the fourth edition of an annual competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of world junior champion. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
The 1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1979 WJHC) was the third edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held from 27 December 1978 until 3 January 1979. The tournament was held in Karlstad and Karlskoga, Sweden. The Soviet Union won its third consecutive gold medal, while Czechoslovakia won the silver, and Sweden the bronze.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pool A
The 1979 tournament divided participants into two divisions of four teams, each playing three games. The top two teams in each division advanced to the championship round, while the bottom two were placed in the consolation round. Each division played another round robin. The top three teams in the championship round won the gold, silver and bronze medals. In the consolation round, the results between teams that faced each other in the preliminary round carried over.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pool A, Final standings
This is the aggregate standings, ordered according to final placing. The four teams in the championship round were ranked one through four, while the four teams in the consolation round were ranked five through eight regardless of overall record.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pool A, Final standings
Norway was relegated to Pool B for the 1980 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pool A, Consolation round
Results from any games played during the preliminary round were carried forward to the consolation round.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pool B
A second tier of the World Junior Championship was contested in Caen, France, from 5 to 9 March 1979. Two groups of four played round robins, followed by placement games where 1st played 1st, etc.. This is the first year a B pool was contested for the under 20s.


1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Pool B, Final round, 1st place game
Switzerland was promoted to Pool A for the 1980 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.


1979 World Juniors Track Cycling Championships
The 1979 UCI Juniors Track World Championships were the fifth annual Junior World Championship for track cycling held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in August 1979. It was the second championship to be held outside Europe, the second to be held in the Americas, and the first to be held in the southern hemisphere.


1979 World Juniors Track Cycling Championships
The Championships had five events for men only, Sprint, Points race, Individual pursuit, Team pursuit and 1 kilometre time trial. With two golds and a bronze, Fredy Schmidtke had the most successful single games for a cyclist to date, while future Tour de France legend Greg LeMond won his first major medal for the United States.


1979 World Masters Athletics Championships
The third World Masters Athletics Championships were held in Hannover, Germany, from July 27 - August 2, 1979. The World Masters Athletics Championships serve the division of the sport of athletics for people over 35 years of age, referred to as masters athletics.


1979 World Masters Athletics Championships
A full range of track and field events were held, along with a cross country race and a marathon.


1979 World Netball Championships
The 1979 World Netball Championships was the fifth edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, featuring 19 teams.