This Day In 1970's History: Wednesday February 14, 1979
- The American Embassy was attacked in Teheran by armed urban guerrillas who trapped Ambassador William Sullivan and his staff inside for more than two hours. They were freed by forces of Ayatollah Khomeini led by a deputy prime minister of Iran's provisional revolutionary government. Two Iranians were reported killed and two United States Marines were wounded. The assault underscored the problems of Ayatollah Khomeini's forces in trying to restore order. Rival groups waged pitched battles elsewhere in the capital.
Reacting to the attack, officials in Washington said they planned to begin evacuating most of the remaining 7,000 Americans in Iran when the Teheran airport is reopened. That is expected to occur on Saturday. [New York Times]
- An American Ambassador was slain. Adolph Dubs, the envoy to Afghanistan, was fatally shot after being abducted by a group of Afghans described as right-wing Moslem terrorists. It was not certain whether he was killed by his abductors, as they had threatened, or was shot by government security personnel who stormed the hotel in Kabul where he was being held.
A night of crisis for the Carter administration was created by the kidnapping and killing of the American Ambassador in Afghanistan and the assault on the Embassy in Iran. The events came close to postponing President Carter's trip to Mexico. Top leaders worked for many hours in crisis centers around Washington. [New York Times]
- Four of Nelson Rockefeller's children said they believed that on the night their father died of a heart attack "all the people who tried to help acted responsibly." But, in what they termed a final comment on the matter, they did not respond to questions raised by conflicting accounts of the circumstances of his death. [New York Times]
- Clear-channel radio station owners are seeking to defeat threatened government curtailment of their powerful, far-reaching AM broadcast signals. WSM, the long established Nashville station that broadcasts Grand Ole Opry, has taken the lead among the stations in the battle to keep their large night audiences. [New York Times]
- A promising archeological discovery was made in southwest Florida. A deep lake that formed a natural time capsule thousands of years ago has yielded evidence that gives scientists hope they have found one of the most important sites for studies of ancient man, animals and climate in North America. At the site are bones of animals 12,000 years old, many plants, artifacts and a 5,000-year-old burial site. [New York Times]
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