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1978

1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar).

Events

January

• January 1 - The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law.
  
  
• January 1 - Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay - 213 dead.
  
  
• January 4 - Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet.
  
  
• January 6 - The Hungarian Holy Crown (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) returned to Hungary from the United States where it was held after World War II.
  
  
• January 7 - Emilio Palma is born in Antarctica, making his birth the southernmost in history.
  
  
• January 10 - Assassination of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, who had criticized the Nicaraguan government. Riots erupt against Somoza's government.
  
  
• January 18 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
  
  
• January 19 - Federal Appeals Court Judge William H. Webster appointed as Director of the FBI.
  
  
• January 22 - Ethiopia announces the ambassador of West Germany as Persona non grata.
  
  
• January 23 - Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays that are thought to damage earth's protective ozone layer.
  
  
• January 24 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns in Earth atmosphere and its debris is scattered over Canadian Northwest Territories
  
  
• January 28 - Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento", is arrested
  
  
• January 30 - Blizzards in the USA kill 90.
  
  

  February

  
  
  
• February 1 - Film director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
  
  
• February 8 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time.
  
  
• February 11 - 16 Unification Church couples wed in New York City.
  
  
• February 11 - Military mobilization in Somalia due to an apparent Ethiopian attack.
  
  
• February 11 - The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
  
  
• February 13 - Hilton bombing: A bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two garbagemen, a policeman and several others. Many believe that ASIO was responsible.
  
  
• February 15 - Rhodesia's prime minister Ian Smith and three black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule.
  
  
• February 15 - Serial killer Ted Bundy is captured in Florida.
  
  
• February 16 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
  
  
• February 21 - Electrical workers in Mexico City find an Aztec monolith in the middle of the city.
  
  

  March

  
  
  
• March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland but are recovered 11 weeks later near Lake Geneva.
  
  
• March 1 - Broadway play ''Timbuktu'' opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.
  
  
• March 3 - Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting with the aid Cuban soldiers against Somalian troops in Ogaden.
  
  
• March 3 - Rhodesia attacks Zambia.
  
  
• March 3 - ''New York Post'' publishes an article about David Rorvik's book ''The Cloning of Man'' about a supposed cloning of a human being
  
  
• March 6 - US porn publisher Larry Flynt is shot and paralysed
  
  
• March 11 - Palestinian terrorists on the Tel Aviv Haifa highway kill 34 Israelis.
  
  
• March 15 - The United States Senate approves the Panama Canal neutrality treaty; votes to turn the canal over to Panama by the year 2000 on April 18.
  
  
• March 16 - Israeli forces invade Lebanon.
  
  
• March 16 - Former Italian premier Aldo Moro is kidnapped by Red Brigades, who kill five bodyguards; he is found dead on May 9.
  
  
• March 17 - The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz runs aground on the coast of Brittany.
  
  
• March 18 - Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is sentenced to death by hanging for ordering the assassination of a political opponent.
  
  
• March 22 - Karl Wallenda of the Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  
  
• March 24 - The tanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two off Brittany spilling 50,000 metric tons of crude oil.
  
  
• March 28 - The US Supreme Court hands down 5-3 decision in ''Stump v. Sparkman'', 435 U.S. 349, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
  
  

  April

  
  
  
• April 1 - Dick Smith of ''Dick Smith Foods'' tows a fake iceberg to Sydney Harbour.
  
  
• April 8 - Regular broadcasts of proceedings in British Parliament start.
  
  
• April 16 - In Cologne, 15,000 former members of the resistance movement demonstrate against National Socialism.
  
  
• April 18 - The US Senate votes 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31 1999.
  
  
• April 27 - President of Afghanistan, Daud Khan is killed during a military coup - Mohammed Takain succeeds him.
  
  
• April 30 - The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is proclamed, under pro-communist leader Nur Mohammed Taraki.
  
  

  May

  
  
  
• May 4 - – Communist activist Henri Curiel is murdered in Paris.
  
  
• May 5 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3000th major league hit.
  
  
• May 8 - Norway opens a natural gas field in the Polar Sea.
  
  
• May 9 - In Rome, the body of Aldo Moro, the Italian president of the Christian-Democrats, is found in a parked car.
  
  
• May 12-May 13 - Group of mercenaries lead by Bob Denard oust Ali Soilih in the Comoros - 10 local soldiers killed. Denard forms a new government
  
  
• May 12 - In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining centre of the province of Shaba. The government of Zaire asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
  
  
• May 15 - Students of the University of Teheran riot in Tabriz - an army stops the riot.
  
  
• May 17 - Charles Chaplin's coffin is found ten miles from the cemetery it was stolen from, near Lake Geneva.
  
  
• May 18 - Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov is sentenced for seven years hard labor for distributing counterrevolutionary material.
  
  
• May 18-May 19 - Belgian and French paratroopers fly to Zaire to aid the fight against the rebels.
  
  
• May 20 - Mavis Hutchinson, 53, becames the first woman to run across the USA - trek took 69 days.
  
  
• May 22 - Exiled leaders Ahmed Abdallah and Mohammed Ahmed return to the Comoros
  
  
• May 25 - A bomb explodes in the security section of Northwestern University - security guard is wounded. The first bomb of the Unabomber case.
  
  
• May 26 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Resorts International, the first legal casino in the eastern United States, opens.
  
  
• May 29 - Ali Soilih is found dead, allegedly shot when trying to escape
  
  

  June

  
  
  
• June 6 - Californians in referendum approve Proposition 13 for a nearly 60% slash in property tax revenues.
  
  
• June 9 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extends the priesthood and temple blessings to "all worthy males," ending a general policy of excluding blacks from priesthood and temples since 1849 (see Blacks and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
  
  
• June 12 - Serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam," is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
  
  
• June 15 - King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby.
  
  
• June 19 - Cricketer Ian Botham becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.
  
  
• June 19 - Comic Strip ''Garfield'' debuts in newspapers.
  
  
• June 21 - An outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and the British Army leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.
  
  
• June 22 - Discovery of Charon, a satellite of Pluto, announced.
  
  
• June 23 - Josip Broz Tito is named for Yugoslav president for life.
  
  
• June 24 - President of Yemen Arab Republic Ahmad al-Ghashmi is killed.
  
  
• June 25 - Argentina defeats Netherlands 3-1 after extra time to win the 1978 World Cup.
  
  
• June 26 - The bombing of Breton nationalists causes destruction in Versailles.
  
  
• June 28 - The Supreme Court of the United States, in the Bakke case, bars quota systems in college admissions but affirms constitutionality of programs giving advantage to minorities.
  
  
• June 30 - Ethiopia begin a massive offensive in Eritrea.
  
  

  July-August

  
  
  
• July 7 - The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.
  
  
• July 25 - First human birth, girl Louise Brown, from in vitro fertilization (the test tube baby).
  
  
• August 6 - Pope Paul VI dies at age of 80.
  
  
• August 7 - United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal.
  
  
• August 12 - Sino-Japanese relations: The Treaty of Peace and Friendship is signed between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
  
  
• August 15 - Foundation of Mirapuri - The City of Peace and Future Man in Europe, Italy.
  
  
• August 17 - ''Double Eagle II'' becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Preque Isle, Maine
  
  
• August 19 - Fire in Rex Cinema in Tehran - 477 dead.
  
  
• August 20 - Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al airline bus in London.
  
  
• August 20 - In Abadan, Iran, nearly 400 are killed when Muslim extremist arsonists set fire to a crowded theater.
  
  
• August 25 - The Shroud of Turin goes on public display for the first time in 45 years.
  
  
• August 25 - US Army sergeant Walter Robinson "walks" across the English Channel in 11 hours 30 minutes using homemade water shoes
  
  
• August 26 - Albino Cardinal Luciani succeeds Pope Paul VI as Pope John Paul I.
  
  

  September-October

  
  
  

Pope John Paul II, elected Pope on October 16, 1978

• September 1 - Dublin Institute of Technology is established.
  
  
• September 5 - Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland.
  
  
• September 8 - Riots in Teheran - Iranian army troops open fire - 122 dead, 4000 wounded.
  
  
• September 11 - The tip of an umbrella poisons Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov, probably on orders of Bulgarian intelligence. He dies four days later.
  
  
• September 17 - Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt
  
  
• September 19 - British Police launch a massive murder hunt when newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater is shot dead after disturbing a burglary.
  
  
• September 25 - PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a small private airplane and crashes in San Diego, California resulting in the death of 144.
  
  
• September 28 - Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy.
  
  
• October 1 - Vietnam attacks Cambodia.
  
  
• October 7 - Wranslide in NSW; the Wran government is re-elected with a increased majority.
  
  
• October 8 - Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
  
  
• October 10 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
  
  
• October 14 - Daniel arap Moi becomes president of Kenya.
  
  
• October 16 - Karol Wojtyła becomes Pope John Paul II.
  
  
• October 27 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.
  
  

  November-December

  
  
  
• November 3 - Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
  
  
• November 5 - Riots and demonstrations in Teheran - the British embassy is sacked.
  
  
• November 7 - Indira Gandhi re-elected to Indian parliament.
  
  
• November 17 - ''The Star Wars Holiday Special'' airs on CBS.
  
  
• November 18 - Jonestown mass suicide: In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his People's Temple in a mass murder-suicide; 913 die, including 276 children.
  
  
• November 19 - The first US Take Back the Night march occurs in San Francisco.
  
  
• November 20 - Military coup in Spain fails.
  
  
• November 27 - In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
  
  
• November 30 - Publication of ''The Times'' suspended - industrial relations problems until November 13 1979.
  
  
• December 4 - Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first woman mayor (she served until Friday, January 8, 1988).
  
  
• December 11 - Lufthansa heist - Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City's Kennedy airport.
  
  
• December 11 - Massive anti-Shah demonstration in Iran - 2 million demonstrators.
  
  
• December 13 - First Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation.
  
  
• December 15 - Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first major American city to go into default since the Great Depression, under the mayoral administration of Dennis Kucinich.
  
  
• December 25 - Vietnam launches a major offensive against the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.
  
  
• December 27 - The Spanish Constitution is approved in referendum officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.
  
  

  Unknown dates

  
  
  
• The Hillside Strangler, a stealthy serial killer, is on the prowl in Los Angeles.
  
  
• The Usu volcano erupts in Japan.
  
  
• Eagles' ''Hotel California'' was nominated for a Grammy award.
  
  
• Fleetwood Mac's ''Rumours'' was nominated for a Grammy award.
  
  
• Artificial insulin is invented.
  
  
• David Rorvik claims he has participated in a creation of a human clone in his book ''In His Image''.
  
  
• ''Abortion'' legalized in ''Italy'' for first time.
  
  
• Acorn Computers Ltd is founded.
  
  
• The Honda Prelude, the car which introduced the world to the VTEC engine and 4-wheel steering, begins production. It would continue for many years before it would be discontinued and replaced with the S2000 and Acura RSX.
  
  
• Remove Intoxicated Drivers established.
  
  
• Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems established to promote temperance.
  
  

  Births

  
  
  

January-May

• January 1 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress
  
  
• January 3 - Alex Leigh, British model
  
  
• January 4 - Dwight Freeney, American football player
  
  
• January 9 - Chad Johnson, American football player
  
  
• January 14 - Shawn Crawford, American runner
  
  
• January 28 - Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
  
  
• February 7 - Ashton Kutcher, American actor
  
  
• February 14 - Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
  
  
• February 15 - Tuan Le, American poker player
  
  
• February 20 - Jakki Degg, British model
  
  
• February 20 - Julia Jentsch, German actress
  
  
• February 23 - Dan Snyder, Canadian hockey player (d. 2003)
  
  
• February 24 - Janine Machin, English radio presenter
  
  
• March 1 - Jensen Ackles, American actor
  
  
• March 14 - Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
  
  
• March 21 - Kevin Federline, American dancer
  
  
• March 22 - Josh Heupel, American football player
  
  
• March 23 - Nicholle Tom, American actress
  
  
• April 5 - Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
  
  
• April 9 - Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer
  
  
• April 9 - Rachel Stevens, English singer
  
  
• April 16 - Lara Dutta, Indian actress
  
  
• May 1 - Matt Lovato, American bassist (Mest)
  
  
• May 9 - Marwan al-Shehhi, United Arab Emirates hijacker (d. 2001)
  
  
• May 12 - Jason Biggs, American actor
  
  
• May 13 - Mike Bibby, American basketball player
  
  
• May 13 - Barry Zito, baseball player
  
  
• May 21 - Briana Banks, German actress
  
  
• May 22 - Jordan, English model
  
  

  June-September

  
  
  
• June 1 - Danielle Harris, American voice actress
  
  
• June 6 - Carl Barat, English singer and guitarist (The Libertines)
  
  
• June 8 - Maria Menounos, American actress, journalist, and televison presenter
  
  
• June 10 - Shane West, American actor
  
  
• June 19 - Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player
  
  
• June 22 - Champ Bailey, American football player
  
  
• June 22 - Dan Wheldon, English race car driver
  
  
• July 9 - Linda Park, Korean-born actress
  
  
• July 18 - Ben Sheets, baseball player
  
  
• July 21 - Francine Dee, import car model
  
  
• July 25 - Gerard Warren, American football player
  
  
• August 1 - Edgerrin James, American football player
  
  
• August 9 - Audrey Tautou, French actress
  
  
• August 19 - Callum Blue, English actor
  
  
• August 21 - Reuben Droughns, American football player
  
  
• August 23 - Kobe Bryant, American basketball player
  
  
• August 24 - Rafael Furcal, Dominican Major League Baseball player
  
  
• August 27 - Mase, American rapper
  
  
• September 7 - Nora Greenwald, American professional wrestler
  
  
• September 11 - Ed Reed, American football player
  
  
• September 12 - Ruben Studdard, American singer
  
  
• September 20 - Jason Bay, Canadian Major League Baseball player
  
  
• September 22 - Harry Kewell, Australian footballer
  
  
• September 24 - Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer
  
  
• September 25 - Jodie Kidd, English model
  
  
• September 29 - Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian singer
  
  
• September 30 - Candice Michelle, American professional wrestler and model
  
  

  October-December

  
  
  
• October 2 - Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
  
  
• October 13 - Jermaine O'Neal, American basketball player
  
  
• October 14 - Usher Raymond, American musician
  
  
• October 20 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
  
  
• October 21 - Joey Harrington, American football player
  
  
• October 25 - Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer
  
  
• October 26 - Antonio Pierce, American football player
  
  
• October 27 - Vanessa-Mae, Singaporean musician
  
  
• October 29 - Travis Henry, American football player
  
  
• November 1 - Manju Warriar, Indian actress
  
  
• November 6 - Taryn Manning, American actress
  
  
• November 9 - Sisqó, American actor and singer (Dru Hill)
  
  
• November 10 - Eve, American rapper
  
  
• November 17 - Reggie Wayne, American football player
  
  
• November 24 - Katherine Heigl, American actress
  
  
• November 25 - Shina Ringo, Japanese singer and musician
  
  
• November 30 - Clay Aiken, American singer
  
  
• December 1 - Brad Delson, American guitarist (Linkin Park)
  
  
• December 2 - Nelly Furtado, Canadian-born singer and songwriter
  
  
• December 8 - Ian Somerhalder, American actor
  
  
• December 8 - Vernon Wells, baseball player
  
  
• December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
  
  
• December 18 - Katie Holmes, American actress
  
  
• December 23 - Andra Davis, American football player
  
  
• December 23 - Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
  
  
• December 23 - Estella Warren, Canadian swimmer, model, and actress
  
  
• December 29 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian actress, dancer, and model
  
  

  Unknown dates

  
  
  
• Kris Roe, American guitarist and singer (The Ataris)
  
  
• Princess Tamara Czartoryski-Borbon, Spanish athlete
  
  

  Deaths

  
  
  

January-June

• January 13 - Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S Vice President and Senator (b. 1911)
  
  
• January 13 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager (b. 1887)
  
  
• January 14 - Harold Abrahams, English athlete (b. 1899)
  
  
• January 14 - Kurt Gödel, Austrian-born mathematician (b. 1906)
  
  
• January 22 - Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (b. 1894)
  
  
• January 23 - Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago) (b. 1946)
  
  
• January 23 - Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
  
  
• February 11 - James B Conant, American chemist and headmaster of Harvard University (b. 1893)
  
  
• February 11 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
  
  
• February 27 - Vadim Salmanov, Russian composer (b. 1912)
  
  
• March 18 - Leigh Brackett, American author (b. 1915)
  
  
• March 19 - Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893)
  
  
• March 21 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, fifth President of Ireland (b. 1911)
  
  
• March 31 - Charles Best, American-born medical scientist (b. 1899)
  
  
• April 21 - Sandy Denny, English singer (b. 1947)
  
  
• May 1 - Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
  
  
• May 9 - Aldo Moro, former Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
  
  
• May 14 - Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
  
  
• May 22 - Joe Colombo, American gangster (b. 1914)
  
  
• June 7 - Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
  
  

  July-December

  
  
  
• July 30 - Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator (b. 1885)
  
  
• August 2 - Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)
  
  
• August 6 - Pope Paul VI (heart attack) (b. 1897)
  
  
• August 21 - Charles Eames, American architect and designer (b. 1907)
  
  
• August 22 - Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman
  
  
• August 26 - Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
  
  
• September 7 - Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (drug overdose) (b. 1947)
  
  
• September 9 - Jack Warner, Canadian film studio founder (b. 1892)
  
  
• September 10 - Ronnie Peterson, Swedish race car driver (racing accident) (b. 1944)
  
  
• September 11 - Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident (assassinated) (b. 1929)
  
  
• September 15 - Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft engineer (b. 1898)
  
  
• September 23 - Lyman Bostock, baseball player (murdered) (b. 1950)
  
  
• September 26 - Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
  
  
• September 28 - Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
  
  
• October 6 - Johnny O'Keefe, Australian singer (b. 1935)
  
  
• October 10 - Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b. 1910)
  
  
• November 6 - Harry Bertoia, Italian artist and designer (b. 1915)
  
  
• November 15 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
  
  
• December 8 - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)
  
  
• December 10 - Ed Wood, American filmmaker (b. 1924)
  
  
• December 11 - Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
  
  
• December 27 - Houari Boumédiènne, President of Algeria (b. 1932)
  
  

  Unknown dates

  
  
  
• Walter C. Alvarez, American physician (b. 1884)
  
  
• Pankaj Mullick, Bengali composer and singer (b. 1904)
  
  
• Mark A. Shaw, American temperance movement leader and Prohibition Party candidate for vice-president in 1964 (b. ?)
  
  

  Nobel Prizes

  
  
  
• Physics - Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias, Robert Woodrow Wilson
  
  
• Chemistry - Peter D. Mitchell
  
  
• Medicine - Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith
  
  
• Literature -Isaac Bashevis Singer
  
  
• Peace - Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin
  
  
• Economics - Herbert Simon== Fields Medalists==
  
  
• Pierre Deligne, Charles Fefferman, Grigory Margulis, Daniel Quillen==Templeton Prize==
  
  
• Professor Thomas F. Torrance
  
  

  Heads of state in 1978

  
  
  
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