The year 1979 · in the United States and the world
What happened in 1979
The cost of living, the songs at #1, the news and the people in charge in 1979, rebuilt from public records. Born that year? Your exact day has its own story.
Gallon of gas
90¢
$4.48 today
President
Jimmy Carter
Biggest #1
“My Sharona”
The Knack
$1 then is
$4.63
in today’s money
01 · Cost of living
How much things cost in 1979
U.S. average prices for 1979, next to the latest official figure (Sep 2026). By the Consumer Price Index, $1 in 1979 buys what $4.63 buys today.
GENERAL STORE
U.S. AVERAGE PRICES · 1979
GALLON OF GAS COSTS 5.0× WHAT IT DID
Yearly averages · wage and stamp on July 1
— = no official series for 1979 yet
Gas: drivers paid 90¢ for a gallon of regular in 1979. Filling a 15-gallon tank cost about $13.54, against roughly $67.23 now.
Housing: the median new home sold for $62,750, or about 10 years of full-time work at the minimum wage. Today the median is $393,300.
Mail: a first-class stamp cost 15¢. It is 78¢ now.
Stocks: the S&P 500 now stands about 74× its average level in 1979 (price only, before dividends and inflation).
Not yet tracked in 1979: loaf of white bread (official averages start in 1980), gallon of milk (official averages start in 1996), dozen eggs (official averages start in 1980), pound of coffee (official averages start in 1980). We leave these blank rather than guess.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average prices, Census Bureau and Department of Labor viaFRED; USPS rate history; S&P from Robert Shiller’s public data.
02 · On the radio
The #1 songs of 1979
24 songs reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979. The one that stayed longest:
“My Sharona”
The Knack · 6 weeks at #1 in 1979
Tap the cover for a 30-second preview
- Jan 6Too Much HeavenBee Gees2 wks
- Jan 20Le FreakChic3 wks
- Feb 10Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?Rod Stewart4 wks
- Mar 10I Will SurviveGloria Gaynor3 wks
- Mar 24TragedyBee Gees2 wks
- Apr 14What A Fool BelievesThe Doobie Brothers1 wk
- Apr 21Knock On WoodAmii Stewart1 wk
- Apr 28Heart Of GlassBlondie1 wk
- May 5ReunitedPeaches & Herb4 wks
- Jun 2Hot StuffDonna Summer3 wks
- Jun 9Love You Inside OutBee Gees1 wk
- Jun 30Ring My BellAnita Ward2 wks
- Jul 14Bad GirlsDonna Summer5 wks
- Aug 18Good TimesChic1 wk
- Aug 25My SharonaThe Knack6 wks
- Oct 6Sad EyesRobert John1 wk
- Oct 13Don't Stop 'til You Get EnoughMichael Jackson1 wk
- Oct 20RiseHerb Alpert2 wks
- Nov 3Pop MuzikM1 wk
- Nov 10Heartache TonightEagles1 wk
- Nov 17StillCommodores1 wk
- Nov 24No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer2 wks
- Dec 8BabeStyx2 wks
- Dec 22Escape (The Pina Colada Song)Rupert Holmes2 wks
Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1979; weeks count only those in 1979.Find the #1 song on your birthday →
Your day, not just your year
Born in 1979? Meet your day.
The weather in your city, the moon over it and the song on the radio the day you arrived in 1979.
See your exact day →The weather, the sky and the #1 song from that exact day, in your city
03 · The news
Major events of 1979
Moments from 1979 that are still remembered, in date order.
- Jan 16Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
- Feb 11The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
- Mar 19The American cable television network C-SPAN, covering government proceedings and public-affairs programming, was launched.
- May 4Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom.
- May 25During takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, an engine detached from American Airlines Flight 191, causing a crash that killed 273 people in the deadliest aviation accident in United States history.
- Jun 1The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.
- Jun 2Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
- Jul 12The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- Jul 12Rowdy fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago stormed the field during a Major League Baseball promotional event at which a crate of disco records was blown up.
- Sep 7The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for US$1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
- Oct 1Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States.
- Oct 6Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
- Nov 12Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
- Nov 20Armed insurgents attacked and took over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, declaring that one of their leaders was the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam.
Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.
04 · Who was in charge
The president and world leaders in 1979
U.S. President
Jimmy Carter
UK Prime Minister
James Callaghan → Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister of Canada
Pierre Trudeau → Joe Clark
President of France
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
German Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt
Prime Minister of Japan
Masayoshi Ōhira
Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev
Everyone who held the office at some point in 1979, from Wikidata.
05 · At the movies and on TV
Films and TV of 1979
Best Picture at the 1979 Oscars
The Deer Hunter
honouring films of 1978
The 1979 film that won next spring
Kramer vs. Kramer
Best Picture at the 1980 Oscars
American films released
- Apocalypse Now
- Alien
- Kramer vs. Kramer
- Moonraker (film)
- Manhattan
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
New on American TV
- The Dukes of Hazzard
- Salem's Lot
- Knots Landing
A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.
06 · Born in 1979
Famous people born in 1979
Anyone born in 1979 belongs to the Generation X (1965–1980).
Drew BreesAmerican football player · Jan 15
AaliyahAmerican singer and actress (died 2001) · Jan 16
Brandy NorwoodAmerican singer-songwriter, producer, and actress · Feb 11
Jennifer Love HewittAmerican actress and producer · Feb 21
Jordan PeeleAmerican actor, comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter · Feb 21
Oscar IsaacGuatemalan-American actor · Mar 9
Benji MaddenAmerican singer-songwriter and guitarist · Mar 11
Joel MaddenAmerican singer-songwriter and producer · Mar 11
Adam LevineAmerican singer-songwriter, guitarist, and television personality · Mar 18
Daniel CormierAmerican mixed martial artist · Mar 20
From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
Quick answers about 1979
How much was gas in 1979?
A gallon of regular unleaded gas cost 90¢ on average in 1979, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest national average is $4.48 (Sep 2026), about 5.0× as much.
What was the #1 song of 1979?
“My Sharona” by The Knack spent the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979: 6 weeks. 24 different songs reached #1 that year.
Who was president in 1979?
Jimmy Carter was President of the United States for all of 1979.
How much is $1 from 1979 worth today?
Prices have risen about 4.6× since 1979, so $1 then buys what about $4.63 buys today, by the Consumer Price Index (Sep 2026). A first-class stamp cost 15¢ in 1979.
Your day, not just your year
1979 was the year. Which day was yours?
Pick your birthday and city. We’ll rebuild that day: the weather outside, the sky overhead, the song on the radio and what a dollar bought.
See your exact day →The weather, the sky and the #1 song from that exact day, in your city