The Gilbert Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom as the Independent and Sovereign Republic of Kiribati (“Kiribati” is the Gilbertese rendition of “Gilberts”), under 29 year old President Ieremia Tabai. Following this, the United States gives up its claims to 14 islands of the Line and Phoenix chains in the 1979 Treaty of Tarawa.
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Following the deaths in quick succession of Supreme Leaders Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko, the Politburo appointed its youngest member, Mikhail Gorbachev, as the new General Secretary.
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