Timeline June 1979

Events in June 1979 12

• 1897 – 1979 Jack Haley (1897-1979) American vaudevillian and actor, the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.
• 1907 – 1979 John Wayne (1907-1979) Died 11 June 1979, aged 72 American actor John Wayne, star of dozens of Western and war films including Stagecoach and True Grit, died of stomach cancer in Los Angeles. He had won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1970 and remained one of Hollywood's most enduring symbols of American masculinity. He died on 11 June 1979.
• 1979 French Open 1979 Men: Björn Borg · Women: Chris Evert Lloyd
• 1979 Joni Mitchell releases Mingus Jazz collaboration A collaboration with Charles Mingus, who dies before release.
• 1979 Pope John Paul II makes first papal visit to Poland A homecoming that emboldens the anti-communist opposition John Paul II, the first Polish pope, visited his communist-ruled homeland from 2 to 10 June 1979, drawing crowds of millions. The trip is widely credited with galvanizing the opposition movement that produced the Solidarity trade union the following year. It marked a turning point in the erosion of Communist Party authority in Eastern Europe.
• 1979 Communiqué Second album — June 5, 1979 Communiqué was released on June 5, 1979, recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett. It reached number 5 in the UK and number 11 in the US. The last album to feature David Knopfler.
• 1979 Jack Haley dies in Los Angeles Jack Haley dies aged 81.
• 1979 First direct elections to the European Parliament Voters across nine countries elect MEPs directly Citizens of the nine European Communities member states went to the polls between 7 and 10 June 1979 to directly elect the European Parliament for the first time. Previously its members had been appointed by national legislatures. Simone Veil of France was elected the Parliament's first directly chosen president.
• 1979 SALT II Treaty signed Carter and Brezhnev cap strategic arms US President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT II treaty in Vienna on 18 June 1979, limiting strategic nuclear delivery systems on both sides. The US Senate never ratified it after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan later that year, but both superpowers largely observed its limits informally. It was the second major arms-control agreement of the detente era.
• 1979 Neil Young releases Rust Never Sleeps Hey Hey, My My One acoustic side, one electric — a link between 60s rock and punk.
• 1979 Moonraker — Roger Moore Bond goes to space — the franchise's most extreme concession to the Star Wars era. Hugo Drax plans to destroy humanity from an orbital station. Jaws returns and unexpectedly falls in love. The film is extravagant, frequently absurd and a massive commercial success. Budget: $34 million. Box office: $210.3 million.
• 1979 The Eagle's first combat victory Israeli Air Force over Lebanon Israeli F-15s shoot down Syrian MiG-21s over southern Lebanon, the first air-to-air kills for the Eagle.