What Happened on January 1, 1979

• 45th Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma beats #6 Nebraska, 31-24
• 45th Sugar Bowl: #2 Alabama beats #1 Penn State, 14-7
• 65th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #5 Michigan, 17-10

• International Year of the Child begins
• John Y. Brown attends his first game as owner of the Boston Celtics NBA franchise after trading the Buffalo Braves to previous Celtics owner, Irving H. Levin
• Jura, 26th canton of Switzerland, established
• US & China (Peoples Republic) begin diplomatic relations

• Brody Dalle [Bree Robinson], Australian punk rock singer (The Distillers), born in Melbourne, Australia
• Koichi Domoto, Japanese J-Pop singer-songwriter (KinKi Kids - "Glass no Shōnen / Glass Boy"), born in Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan

Holidays: New Year's Day (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States)

• #1 Song: Too Much Heaven - Bee Gees
• #1 Song: Y.M.C.A. - Village People