Cost of Living 1979

How Much things cost in 1979
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 11.2%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 838
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 15.25%
Average Cost of new house $58,100.00
Average Income per year $17,500.00
Average Monthly Rent $280.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 86 cents
Sony Walkman $200.00
Chess Challenger Computer Chess Game $199.49
Pachinko Pinball Machine $199.49
Jox Trainers $14.99
Girls Denim Overalls $24.00
Atari Video Computer System $199.00
JVC VHS Video Recorder System $54.99
Mens Blazer, Vest and Slacks $39.99
King Size Bean Bag Chair $19.99
Toyota Corolla $3,698.00
Mercury Couger XR7 $6,430.00




 

Normandy's Best Athletes:

Sheila Stewart and Bernard Knox


 

The ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) television network is launched on cable television at 7pm Eastern Time on September 7th, 1979. The network was created by Bill and Scott Rasmussen along with Ed Eagan as a channel dedicated to true sports fans. History of Sports Home


ESPN launched with the airing of a live episode of their signature program Sports Center, anchored at the time by George Grande and Lee Leonard.

Within a year the network became a 24/7 television service and within a few more years it gained rights to broadcast games for the NBA. ESPN was soon purchased by ABC in 1984 and it blossomed into the powerhouse network it has become today, a popular source for sports news and exclusive sports events.

American football

• Sugar Bowl (1978 season)
  • Alabama Crimson Tide won 14-7 over the Penn State Nittany Lions to claim AP Poll national championship
• January 21 – Super Bowl XIII – Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 35-31.

Baseball

• January 23 – Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the BBWAA election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
• July 12 – Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers
• August 2 – death of Thurman Munson, New York Yankees catcher, in an air crash
• World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh. The Pirates become the only team in sports history to come back from a three games to one deficit in a championship series twice, having also achieved the comeback in the 1925 World Series.

Basketball

• NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
  • Michigan St. wins 75-64 over Indiana St.
• NBA Finals –
  • Seattle SuperSonics, coached by Lenny Wilkens, won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Bullets for the only finals win in Seattle SuperSonics history.

Boxing

• September 28 in Las Vegas, Larry Holmes retains his World Heavyweight title with an 11th-round TKO of Earnie Shavers.
• November 30 in Las Vegas, dual world championship undercard: Vito Antuofermo retains his world Middleweight title with a 15-round draw (tie) against Marvin Hagler, and Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first world title, beating WBC world Welterweight champion Wilfred Benítez by knockout in round 15.

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament – Fuzzy Zoeller defeats Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, the first time the Masters used a sudden-death format.
• U.S. Open – Hale Irwin
• British Open – Seve Ballesteros becomes the first golfer from Continental Europe to win a major since Arnaud Massy of France won this event in 1907.
• PGA Championship – David Graham
• PGA Tour money leader – Tom Watson – $462,636
• Ryder Cup – United States won 17-11 over Europe in the first Ryder Cup to feature a side representing all of Europe.

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – Jay Sigel
• U.S. Amateur – Mark O'Meara

Women's professional

• LPGA Championship – Donna Caponi
• U.S. Women's Open – Jerilyn Britz
• Classique Peter Jackson Classic – Amy Alcott
• LPGA Tour money leader – Nancy Lopez – $197,489

Ice hockey

• Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders
• Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the New York Rangers
• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
  • Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Sweden
• Réal Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques became the second NHL player to score a hat trick in his debut NHL game.
• Avco World Trophy – Winnipeg Jets won 4 games to 2 over the Edmonton Oilers

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – Guillermo Vilas
  2. French Open – Björn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Björn Borg
  4. US Open – John McEnroe
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – Barbara Jordan
  2. French Open – Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships – July 7 – Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open – Tracy Austin, youngest US Open Champion at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 28 days defeating 4-time defending champion Chris Evert 6-4, 6-3 in the final after defeating 2nd seeded Martina Navratilova in the semifinal making Evert lose for the first time in 32 matches.
• Davis Cup – United States wins 5-0 over Italy in world tennis.

 

MUSIC OF 1979 BILLBOARD TOP TEN

1. My Sharona - The Knack 

2. Bad Girls - Donna Summer

3. Le Freak - Chic

4. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart

5. Reunited - Peaches and Herb

6. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

7. Hot Stuff - Donna Summer

8. Y.M.C.A. - Village People

9. Ring My Bell - Anita Ward

10. Sad Eyes - Robert John


 

THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES OF 1979

The Walkman Invented

September 1 – The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km.

1979 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein

Artificial heart