On this day

October 29, 1979

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from October 29, 1979

Libyan Government Plans to Build 23‐Story Tower on East 48th Street

By Kathleen Teltsch

Libyan Govt, prospering from soaring oil prices, plans to construct 23-story headquarters in mid-Manhattan to provide offices and residences for its UN delegation and consulate staff; joins other foreign countries that are acquiring or building their own quarters in city; Mansur Rashid Kikhia, Libya's chief delegate to UN, comments; rendering of proposed building (M)

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Ghana Aims to Revive Cocoa

By Pranay B. Gupte; Special to The New York Times

Ghana, faced with sharp decline in vital cocoa production and vigorous competition from Ivory Coast and Brazil, is making attempt to overhaul its cocoa industry and regain its position as world's prime exporter of cocoa; Ghana Cocoa Board head A Kwame Pianim comments on plans to restructure industry; board is soon to be replaced by new Cocoa Council; Comdr Kwabena Ado, head of earlier board, allegedly siphoned off millions of dollars into personal bank accounts abroad; Ado has fled country; new Ghana Pres Hilla Limann says that overhauling of cocoa industry will be immediate priority; Pianim por; illus of cocoa plantation; graph shows world-wide cocoa production from '71 to '79 (M)

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Inmate, Held 42 Years, Scorns His Pardon

By Matthew L. Wald; Special to The New York Times

Kaminski, Peter (Deputy Sheriff): Article on John A Palm, who has served 42 years in Connecticut state prison for '36 fatal shooting of Deputy Sheriff Peter Kaminski, scorning his pardon on ground that it would not serve as vindication; says he is innocent of crime and wants an unconditional pardon; portrait (M)

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of October 24, 1979, covering October 29, 1979.

  1. 1
    Album cover for In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin

    In Through The Out Door

    Led Zeppelin

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    8
  2. 2
    Album cover for The Long Run by Eagles

    The Long Run

    Eagles

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    2
  3. 3
    Album cover for Midnight Magic by Commodores

    Midnight Magic

    Commodores

    Last week
    4
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    11
  4. 4
    Album cover for Cornerstone by Styx

    Cornerstone

    Styx

    Last week
    10
    Peak
    4
    Weeks
    3
  5. 5
    Album cover for Head Games by Foreigner

    Head Games

    Foreigner

    Last week
    6
    Peak
    5
    Weeks
    5

Notable Births

Ignasi Giménez Renom

1979Ignasi Giménez Renom, Catalan lawyer and politician[†]

Ignasi Giménez Renom was the mayor of Castellar del Vallès from 2007 and president of the Consell Comarcal del Vallès Occidental from 2015 until his resignation from the position in December 2024.

Andrew-Lee Potts

1979Andrew-Lee Potts, English actor, director, and producer[†]

Andrew-Lee Potts is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as the quirky Connor Temple on ITV's British science fiction programme Primeval and Space's Canadian spinoff Primeval: New World. He also starred as the Hatter on the SyFy mini-series Alice and was a series regular on the long-running programme Ideal. Since 2006, Potts has written and directed short films through his production house, Keychain Productions. In 2008, he directed a documentary about the filming of Primeval called Through the Anomaly.

Historical Context for October 29, 1979

In 1979, the world population was approximately 4,368,539,528 people[†]