March 2 » In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
April 29 » A landslide kills 70 people in Frank, in the District of Alberta, Canada.
June 11 » A group of Serbian officers stormed the royal palace and assassinated King Alexander Obrenović and his wife, Queen Draga.
June 16 » The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
September 27 » The Wreck of the Old 97, an American rail disaster that became the subject of a popular ballad.
December 30 » A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois kills at least 605.
Day of death January 3, 1979
The temperature on January 3, 1979 was between -17.7 °C and -2.5 °C and averaged -7.5 °C. There was -0.1 mm of rain. There was 0.2 hours of sunshine (3%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 1 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the south-southwest. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
July 3 » U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
September 1 » The American space probe Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 kilometres (13,000mi).
October 1 » Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States.
October 6 » Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House.
November 15 » A package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Charles Olson, "Olson's Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/olsons-tree/P14077.php : accessed January 7, 2026), "William Lygon, 8th Earl of Beauchamp, Viscount Elmley (1903-1979)".
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