istoryworld
Events relating to america
Shining Path and Tupac Amaru emerge as left-wing guerrilla groups in Peru
Czech-born US tennis player Martina Navratilova wins the first of nine singles titles at Wimbledon
Sandinista guerrillas make a surprise attack on the National Palace in Nicaragua, taking more than 1000 people hostage
Anwar el-Sadat and Menachem Begin sign an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty at Camp David in the USA
The first flight by a solar-powered piloted aircraft is achieved when Larry Mauro's Solar Riser is able to climb to about 40 feet and glide for half a mile
Francis Ford Coppola directs Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now
Partial meltdown of a US nuclear power station at Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, spreads radioactive steam over a large surrounding area
The emergency measures underpinning military rule are repealed in Brazil, and an amnesty restores political rights
A Sandinista junta, headed by Daniel Ortega, takes power in Nicaragua – bringing to an end four decades of brutal rule by the Somoza dynasty
Daniel Ortega leads the Sandinistas to electoral victory in Nicaragua
Opponents of the Sandinistas flee from Nicaragua into Honduras, where they become known as the Contras
20-year-old US tennis player John McEnroe wins the singles title in the US Open for the first of four times
The small firm of Microsoft wins the contract to provide the operating system of the IBM personal computer
The USA ends all aid to Nicaragua and provides funds to train and equip the Contras in neighbouring Honduras
Archbishop Oscar Romero, an exponent of liberation theology, is killed as he celebrates Mass in San Salvador
A US helicopter mission fails disastrously in its attempt to rescue the embassy hostages in Tehran
US author Sam Shepard's play True West has its premiere in New York
The song O Canada, exacty a century old, is officially adopted as the country's national anthem
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms secures new aspects of Canada's national identity
US basketball champion Magic Johnson begins 12 years with the Los Angeles Lakers
Martin Scorsese directs Robert de Niro in Raging Bull
US choreographer Mark Morris founds his own company, the Mark Morris Dance Group, based in New York
Republican Ronald Reagan wins the US presidential election against the incumbent Jimmy Carter
Beatle John Lennon is murdered by a psychopath on the steps of his and Yoko Ono's apartment block in New York
Iran releases the US embassy hostages immediately after the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency
