United States in 1979
You were born in 1979 — the year My Sharona was inescapable, the Walkman changed how humans listen to music, and gas lines stretched around the block.
💰 How much things cost in 1979
| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 0.86 USD/gallon | verified (U.S. EIA (Iranian Revolution oil shock)) |
| Cinema ticket | 2.47 USD | verified (NATO) |
| Coffee | ~0.40 USD | estimate |
| Ice cream | ~0.40 USD (scoop) | estimate |
Currency: USD
🎵 The music of 1979
The song of the year: The Knack – My Sharona (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 #1)
Other songs people listened to in 1979:
- Donna Summer – Bad Girls
- Rod Stewart – Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
- Peaches & Herb – Reunited
- Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
- Chic – Good Times
- The Knack – My Sharona
- Supertramp – The Logical Song
- Donna Summer – Hot Stuff
- Michael Jackson – Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
📺 TV, cinema and pop culture
Cartoons: Scooby-Doo / The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show (on ABC / CBS Saturday morning). Disco was dying, punk was rising, and Apocalypse Now was in theaters.
TV series: Dallas (CBS) — 'Who shot J.R.?' became the question of the entire summer.
At the cinema: Apocalypse Now (Coppola) — Vietnam as a psychedelic nightmare. The horror.
Person of the moment: J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) of Dallas — TV's greatest villain
The cult toy: Mattel Electronics handheld games (Football, Basketball). Those tiny red LED handheld games. The ancestors of every mobile game ever made.
👗 Fashion and snacks
Fashion: Post-disco: jeans getting tighter, leather jackets, punk influence arriving. New Wave starting.
Snacks: Doritos, Pop Rocks (banned rumor made everyone want them), Hostess, Reese's Pieces
📰 What happened in 1979
Event of the year: Iran hostage crisis begins (444 days). Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Disco Demolition Night in Chicago.
Sport: Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys 35-31. Terry Bradshaw throws for 318 yards.
💻 Technology and everyday life
Tech news: Sony Walkman introduced — personal music revolution. First commercial cellular telephone network launched in Japan.
The gadget to have: Sony Walkman (launched in Japan July 1979, hits USA late 1979)
How people communicated: Gas prices nearly doubled because of the Iran crisis. Lines at the gas station were hours long.
How people listened to music: Disco was dying, punk and new wave were arriving. The Walkman changed everything — music you could take anywhere.
The weekend: Alien came out. Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The '70s went out with a bang.
📵 What didn't exist yet in 1979
- personal computers widely
- cell phones (1983)
- internet
- Walkman (just launched in Japan)
- MTV (1981)
🎯 Guess the year — Every day a new mystery year from United States. You have 5 guesses: every miss reveals another clue.
More years from the 1970s
Main sources: EIA, Billboard, NATO