1979
- The body of Tammy Vincent is found in Tiburon
- The White Night riots (pictured) erupt in San Francisco
- Dianne Feinstein (pictured) is elected mayor of San Francisco
- The Gilroy Garlic Festival is founded
- Huey Lewis and the News is formed in San Francisco
- Experimental music group Negativland is formed in Concord
- Data storage company Seagate Technology is founded in Cupertino
- David Carpenter commits his first trailside killings in the Bay Area
- An earthquake strikes with an epicenter near Coyote Lake in Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara County]]