Wayne Gretzky tied Gordie Howe’s NHL record of 801 goals.

Steven Spielberg won his first Oscars. They were for best picture and best director for “Schindler’s List.”

Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields honoring John Lennon.

U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced to the U.S. Olympic Team that they would not participate in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow as a boycott against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, CA, closed.

The Beatles’ first appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

An earthquake hit Tokyo killing about 107,000.

The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France.

Barack Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 3 day tour.

Stephen Harper wins the leadership of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada, becoming the party’s first leader..

In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.

Joan Jett & Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” goes #1 for 7 weeks.

Quebec, National Assembly approves wording of referendum question on Sovereignty Association.

Hydro Quebec workers on James Bay project riot; destroy millions of dollars of equipment; project closes down.

Dachau the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.

American fast food restaurant chain “KFC” [Kentucky Fried Chicken] is founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in North Corbin, Kentucky.

Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

The Sherlock Holmes Adventure, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” began.