Date in year · 1979 · The 1970s

September 20, 1979

On September 20, 1979, a French-supported coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I. The year's #1 song was "My Sharona" by The Knack. Ruth Beitia, Iván Alonso, Malcolm Christie would arrive in the same year.

Events

1

Births

1

Deaths

1

Year

1979

1970s

Around 1979

The year in brief

1979 (MCMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1979th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 979th year of the 2nd millennium, the 79th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1970s decade.

Read the full year of 1979 →

What happened

On September 20, 1979

  1. 1979 A French-supported coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.

    1979 French military operation in the Central African Republic

    Operation Caban, also known as the 1979 Central African coup d’état, was a bloodless military operation by the French intelligence service SDECE in September 1979 to depose Emperor Bokassa I, reinstate the exiled former president David Dacko, and rename the Central African Empire back to Central African Republic.

Arrivals

Born on September 20, 1979

Crystle Stewart 1979– American model and beauty pageant titleholder

Farewells

Died on September 20, 1979

Ludvík Svoboda President of Czechoslovakia from 1968 to 1975

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1979

The class of 1979

Others born in 1979

Ruth Beitia 1979– Spanish high jumper
Iván Alonso 1979– Uruguayan footballer
Malcolm Christie 1979– English footballer
Sebastien Grainger 1979– Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Michel Riesen 1979– Swiss ice hockey player
Claire Danes 1979– American actress

Step through

Nearby

Keep going

More to explore