1979
News
- Tens of thousands of public-workers strike in the beginning of what becomes known as the Winter of Discontent.
- Over 1,000 schools close due to the heating oil shortage caused by the lorry drivers’ strike.
- Margaret Thatcher opens the new Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, the largest indoor shopping centre in Britain, after its final phase is completed six years after development of the huge complex first began.
Entertainment
- Thorpe Park at Chertsey in Surrey is opened; it becomes one of the top three most popular theme parks in the country.
- Last episode of the first series of the sitcom To the Manor Born on BBC1 receives 23.95 million viewers, the all-time highest figure for a recorded programme in the UK.
Music
- Sid Vicious, the former Sex Pistols guitarist, is found dead in New York after apparently suffocating on his own vomit because of a heroin overdose. 21-year-old London-born Vicious is on bail for the second-degree murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, who was found stabbed to death in a hotel room last year.
- Eric Clapton marries Patti Boyd, ex-wife of Clapton’s friend George Harrison.
- In the Eurovision Song Contest, UK representatives Black Lace finish seventh.
- Cliff Richard achieves his tenth UK number-one with “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, his first chart-topper in over 11 years.
Number #1 Hits of 1979
| Artist | Title |
| The Village People | Y.M.C.A. |
| Ian Dury & The Blockheads | Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick |
| Blondie | Heart Of Glass |
| The Bee Gees | Tragedy |
| Gloria Gaynor | I Will Survive |
| Art Garfunkel | Bright Eyes |
| Blondie | Sunday Girl |
| Anita Ward | Ring My Bell |
| Tubeway Army | Are Friends Electric? |
| The Boomtown Rats | I Don’t Like Mondays |
| Cliff Richard | We Don’t Talk Anymore |
| Gary Numan | Cars |
| The Police | Message In A Bottle |
| The Buggles | Video Killed The Radio Star |
| Lena Martell | One Day At A Time |
| Dr. Hook | When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman |
| The Police | Walking On The Moon |
| Pink Floyd | Another Brick In The Wall |
Sport
- Trevor Francis signs for Nottingham Forest in British football’s first £1 million deal.
- Nottingham Forest beat Southampton 3–2 at Wembley Stadium to win the Football League Cup for the second year running.
- Liverpool win the Football League First Division title for the 12th time.
- Wolverhampton Wanderers set a new national transfer record by paying just under £1,500,000 for Aston Villa and Scotland striker Andy Gray.
