Black Friday (1978)
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Black Friday occurred September 8, 1978 (17 Shahrivar 1357 AP) in Iran. The country had long been convulsed with protests against the rule of the Muhammad Reza Shah. The Shah thus declared martial law. This was ignored, however. On September 8, Tehran erupted with mass protests. Despite the largely peaceful nature of the protests the military used all available force to break up the demonstrations. This included the use of tanks and helicopter gunships. Many hundreds, mostly students, were killed.
The event utterly destroyed any moderate support the Shah had in Iran. An even larger round of protests followed the massacre, one that shut down the oil industry, which was essential to the regime's survival.
The events were an important part of the lead up to the Iranian Revolution that saw the destruction of the Shah's regime less than a year later.