1978
1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar).
Events
January
February
March
April-May
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 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 5 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds has his 3000th major league hit
May 8 - Norway opens a natural gas field in 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 - 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 - army stops the riot
May 17 – Charles Chaplin 's coffin is found ten miles from the cemetery it was stolen from
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 USA - trek took 69 days
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 - DC-10 crashes in O'Hare International Airport
May 26 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey , Resorts International , the first legal casino in the eastern United States , opens.
June
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. The new Pope, John Paul I , age 65, dies unexpectedly after 34 days in office on September 28 . He is succeeded by Cardinal Karol Wojtyła of Poland as John Paul II on October 16 .
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 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 - Shroud of Turin on public display for the first time in 45 years
September
October
November
December
Unknown dates
President of Mexican town of Coacalaco , José Ramon del Cuet , is forced to eat 12 pounds of bananas and then resign.
Hillside Strangler in Los Angeles.
Usu -volcano erupts in Japan
The Eagles ' 5-star record, Hotel California Grammy award
Fleetwood Mac 's 5-star record, Rumours Grammy award
Artificial insulin
David Rorvik claims he has participated in a creation of a human clone in his book In His Image
Abortion Italy Acorn Computers Ltd founded
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.
Year in topic
Births
January 1 - Alex Leigh , British model
January 4 - Dwight Freeney , American football player
January 9 - Chad Johnson , American football player
January 28 - Gianluigi Buffon , Italian football star
February 7 - Ashton Kutcher , actor
February 14 - Richard Hamilton , basketball player
February 20 - Jakki Degg , British model
March 14 - Pieter van den Hoogenband , Dutch swimmer
March 21 - Kevin Federline , American dancer
March 23 - Nicholle Tom , actress
April 5 - Franziska van Almsick , German swimmer
April 9 - Jorge Andrade , football player
April 9 - Rachel Stevens , singer
April 16 - Lara Dutta , Indian actress
May 1 - Matt Lovato , bass musician (Mest )
May 9 - Marwan al-Shehhi , citizen of the United Arab Emirates , hijacker and alleged terrorist
May 12 - Jason Biggs , actor
May 13 - Mike Bibby , basketball player
May 13 - Barry Zito , baseball pitcher
May 21 - Briana Banks , erotic actress
May 22 - Jordan , model
June 1 - Danielle Harris , voice actress
June 6 - Carl Barat , singer/guitarist (The Libertines )
June 19 - Dirk Nowitzki , German NBA star
June 22 - Champ Bailey , American football player
June 22 - Dan Wheldon , IRL race car driver
July 9 - Linda Park , actress
July 18 - Ben Sheets , baseball player
July 25 - Gerard Warren , American football player
August 1 - Edgerrin James , American football player
August 21 - Reuben Droughns , American football player
August 23 - Kobe Bryant , American basketball player
August 24 - Rafael Furcal , Major League Baseball All-Star
September 11 - Ed Reed , American football player
September 12 - Ruben Studdard , singer
September 20 - Jason Bay , Canadian baseball player
September 22 - Harry Kewell , Australian football player
September 29 - Kurt Nilsen , pop singer
October 13 - Jermaine O'Neal , basketball player
October 14 - Usher Raymond , R&B musician
October 20 - Virender Sehwag , Indian cricketer
October 21 - Joey Harrington , American football player
October 26 - Antonio Pierce , American Football linebacker
October 29 - Travis Henry , American football player
November 9 - Sisqó , R&B singer (Dru Hill ) and actor
November 17 - Reggie Wayne , American football player
November 25 - Shina Ringo , Japanese singer and musician
November 30 - Clay Aiken , singer
December 1 - Brad Delson , lead guitarist (Linkin Park )
December 2 - Nelly Furtado , singer and songwriter
December 8 - Vernon Wells , baseball player
December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe , soap actor
December 12 - Evren Genis , composer
December 23 - Andra Davis , American football player
December 23 - Víctor Martínez , Venezuelan baseball player
? - Kris Roe , guitarist and vocalist (The Ataris )
? - Princess Tamara Czartoryski-Borbon
Deaths
January 13 - Hubert H. Humphrey , U.S Vice President and Senator
January 13 - Joe McCarthy , baseball manager
January 14 - Kurt Gödel , American mathematician
January 14 - Harold Abrahams , British athlete
January 22 - Herbert Sutcliffe , English cricketer (b. 1894 )
January 23 - Jack Oakie , actor
January 23 - Terry Kath , musician (Chicago )
February 4 - Bergen Evans , television host
February 11 - James B Conant , headmaster of Harvard University .
February 27 - Vadim Salmanov , composer
March 18 - Leigh Brackett , science fiction author
March 19 - Gaston Julia , mathematician
March 21 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh , fifth President of Ireland
March 31 - Charles Best , medical scientist
April 21 - Sandy Denny , British vocalist
May 1 - Aram Khachaturian , Armenian composer
May 9 - Aldo Moro , former Prime Minister of Italy
May 14 - Robert Menzies , twelfth Prime Minister of Australia
May 22 - Joe Colombo , gangster
July 30 - Umberto Nobile , Italian aviator
August 2 - Carlos Chávez , composer
August 6 - Pope Paul VI ; heart attack
August 21 - Charles Eames , American architect and designer
August 22 - Jomo Kenyatta , Kenyan statesman
August 26 - Charles Boyer , actor
September 7 - Keith Moon , drummer of The Who (drug overdose)
September 9 - Jack Warner , Hollywood studio founder (b. 1892 )
September 10 - Ronnie Peterson , Swedish Formula One racer (racing accident)
September 11 - Georgi Markov , Bulgarian dissident (assassinated)
September 15 - Willy Messerschmitt , German aircraft engineer
September 19 - Carl Bridgewater , 13-year-old newspaper boy (shot)
September 23 - Lyman Bostock , Major League Baseball player, murdered (b. 1950 )
September 28 - Pope John Paul I
October 6 - Johnny O'Keefe , Australian rock and roll singer
October 10 - Ralph Metcalfe , American athlete
October 22 - Anastas Mikojan , Soviet politician
November 6 - Harry Bertoia , Italian artist and designer (b. 1915 )
November 15 - Margaret Mead , cultural anthropologist
December 8 - Golda Meir , former Prime Minister of Israel
December 10 - Ed Wood , American filmmaker (b. 1924 )
December 27 - Houari Boumédiènne , president of Algeria
? - Walter C. Alvarez
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