What happened in 1978
111 entries recorded for 1978, listed by date. That was 48 years ago.
1978 at a glance
- Years ago
- 48 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1970s
- Generation born
- Generation X
- Entries here
- 111
- Breakdown
- 105 historical events · 5 births · 1 deaths
January
- January 1
Air India Flight 855
Air India Flight 855 (aircraft pictured) crashed into the Arabian Sea seconds after take-off, killing all 213 people.
- January 2
President of Pakistan
On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.
- January 7
Iran and Red and Black Colonization
An article entitled "Iran and Red and Black Colonization" was published in the newspaper Ettela'at attacking Ruhollah Khomeini, then in exile in Iraq.
- January 9
Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution: Protests took place in Qom after an article insulting Ruhollah Khomeini was published.
- January 13
Food and Drug Administration
United States Food and Drug Administration requires all blood donations to be labeled "paid" or "volunteer" donors.
- January 14
Logic
Austrian logician Kurt Gödel, who suffered from an obsessive fear of being poisoned, died of starvation after his wife was hospitalized and unable to cook for him.
- January 18
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom's government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
- January 19
Volkswagen Beetle
The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.
- January 24
Soviet Union
Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
- January 24
Nuclear power
The Soviet nuclear-powered satellite Kosmos 954 burned up during atmospheric reentry, scattering radioactive debris across Canada's Northwest Territories.
- January 31
Holy Crown of Hungary
The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
February
- February 6
Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978
The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor'easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of four inches an hour.
- February 9
Budd Company
The Budd Company unveils its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- February 13
Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing
Hilton bombing: A bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.
- February 16
Bulletin board system
The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).
- February 17
The Troubles
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out a bombing of a restaurant near Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing twelve people and injuring thirty others.
- February 19
Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport
Egyptian forces raid Larnaca International Airport in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking, without authorisation from the Republic of Cyprus authorities. The Cypriot National Guard and Police forces kill 15 Egyptian commandos and destroy the Egyptian C-130 transport plane in o
- February 24
Yuba County Five
Five men disappeared after attending a college basketball game in Chico, California; the bodies of four of them were discovered months later.
March
- March 2
Czechoslovakia
Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Soviet or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
- March 2
Astronaut
As a cosmonaut on Soyuz 28, Czechoslovak military pilot Vladimír Remek (pictured) became the first person from outside the Soviet Union or the United States to go into space.
- March 5
Landsat 3
The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
- March 8
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a science fiction radio series that was later adapted into novels, a television series, and other formats.
- March 9
Suharto
President Soeharto inaugurates Jagorawi Toll Road, the first toll highway in Indonesia, connecting Jakarta, Bogor and Ciawi, West Java.
- March 11
Coastal road massacre
After hijacking a bus north of Tel Aviv, Israel, members of the Palestine Liberation Organization faction Fatah engaged in a shootout with police, resulting in the deaths of 38 civilians and most of the perpetrators.
- March 14
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Litani, a seven-day campaign to invade and occupy southern Lebanon.
- March 15
Somalia
Somalia and Ethiopia sign a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.
- March 16
Aldo Moro
Former Prime Minister of Italy Aldo Moro was kidnapped in Rome by Mario Moretti and the Red Brigades.
- March 28
Supreme Court of the United States
The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
April
- April 14
1978 Georgian demonstrations
Thousands of Georgians demonstrated in Tbilisi against an attempt by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
- April 17
Mir Akbar Khyber
Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking the Saur Revolution in Afghanistan.
- April 18
Ba Chúc massacre
The Ba Chúc massacre begins, which precipitates the Cambodian–Vietnamese War the same year.
- April 20
Korean Air Lines Flight 902
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 was shot down after violating Soviet airspace and was forced to make an emergency landing.
- April 20
Carl Greenidge
Carl Greenidge, English cricketer
- April 22
Paul Malakwen Kosgei
Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
- April 27
Saur Revolution
The Saur Revolution begins in Afghanistan, ending the following morning with the murder of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
- April 27
John Ehrlichman
John Ehrlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, is released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Arizona, after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
- April 27
Willow Island disaster
Willow Island disaster: In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers are killed when a cooling tower under construction collapses at the Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia.
- April 28
President of Afghanistan
The President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Daoud Khan, is overthrown and assassinated in a coup led by pro-communist rebels.
May
- May 3
Email
The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as "spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
- May 4
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
- May 8
Mount Everest
The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
- May 12
Zaire
In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga); the local government asks the US, France and Belgium to restore order.
- May 23
Tupolev Tu-144
A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near the Russian town of Yegoryevsk, killing two.
- May 25
Ted Kaczynski
The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.
June
- June 1
Patent Cooperation Treaty
The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed.
- June 7
Ronald George Wreyford Norrish
Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897)
- June 7
Adrienne Frantz
Adrienne Frantz, American actress
- June 8
Maria Menounos
Maria Menounos, American television personality, professional wrestler, author, and actress
- June 9
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.
- June 11
Altaf Hussain (Pakistani politician)
Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
- June 12
David Berkowitz
American serial killer David Berkowitz, popularly known as the "Son of Sam", was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for each of six killings.
- June 15
Hussein of Jordan
King Hussein of Jordan married American Lisa Halaby, who became known as Queen Noor of Jordan (pictured).
- June 19
Garfield
Garfield's first comic strip, originally published locally as Jon in 1976, goes into nationwide syndication.
- June 21
Tim Rice
The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at the Prince Edward Theatre, London.
- June 22
Charon (moon)
Charon, the first of Pluto's satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy.
- June 24
Ahmad al-Ghashmi
Ahmad al-Ghashmi, the president of the Yemen Arab Republic, is killed when a bomb exploded in a suitcase carried by a South Yemeni envoy.
- June 25
Argentina national football team
Hosts Argentina defeat the Netherlands by a score of 3–1 in the final to win their first ever FIFA World Cup.
- June 25
Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)
The rainbow flag (original version pictured) representing gay pride was first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade.
- June 25
Aramis Ramírez
Aramis Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
- June 26
Air Canada Flight 189
Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 passengers on board perish.
- June 28
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the U.S. Supreme Court barred quota systems in college admissions but held that affirmative-action programs advantaging minorities were constitutional.
- June 28
Supreme Court of the United States
The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, bars quota systems in college admissions.
July
- July 10
Moktar Ould Daddah
Moktar Ould Daddah, the first president of Mauritania, was ousted in a coup d'état led by Mustafa Ould Salek.
- July 11
Los Alfaques disaster
Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain, killing 216 tourists.
- July 25
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican police shoot two nationalists in the Cerro Maravilla murders.
- July 25
Louise Brown
Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
- July 30
730 (transport)
The 730: Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
August
- August 7
Jimmy Carter
U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently.
- August 13
Palestinians
One hundred fifty Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
- August 17
Double Eagle II
Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
- August 19
Cinema Rex fire
In Iran, the Cinema Rex fire causes more than 300 deaths.
- August 22
Nicaraguan Revolution
Nicaraguan Revolution: The FSLN seizes the National Congress of Nicaragua, along with over a thousand hostages.
- August 22
District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment
The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment is passed by the U.S. Congress, although it is never ratified by a sufficient number of states.
- August 26
August 1978 conclave
A conclave elected Albino Luciani as Pope John Paul I, succeeding Paul VI.
September
- September 3
Rhodesian Bush War
During the Rhodesian Bush War a group of ZIPRA guerrillas shot down civilian Vickers Viscount aircraft (Air Rhodesia Flight 825) with a Soviet-made SAM Strela-2; of 56 passengers and crew 38 people died in crash, 10 were massacred by the guerrillas at the site.
- September 5
Camp David Accords
Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace discussions at Camp David, Maryland.
- September 7
Georgi Markov
While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Gullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially designed umbrella.
- September 8
Black Friday (1978)
Black Friday, a massacre by soldiers against protesters in Tehran, results in 88 deaths, it marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy in Iran.
- September 11
1978 smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom
British medical photographer Janet Parker became the last recorded person to die from smallpox, leading to a debate on whether the virus should be preserved.
- September 15
Caesars Superdome
At the Superdome in New Orleans, Muhammad Ali outpoints Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times.
- September 17
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
- September 19
Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.
- September 25
San Diego International Airport
While on approach to San Diego International Airport, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collided with a Cessna 172, killing all 137 people on board both aircraft, along with 7 more on the ground.
- September 25
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182
PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides in mid-air with a Cessna 172 and crashes in San Diego, killing all 135 aboard Flight 182, both occupants of the Cessna, as well as seven people on the ground.
- September 26
Air Caribbean Flight 309
Air Caribbean Flight 309 crashes in Residencial Las Casas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing six.
- September 28
Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the first year of three popes since 1605.
- September 30
Finnair Flight 405
Finnair Flight 405 is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland.
October
- October 1
Flag of Tuvalu
Tuvalu adopted its national flag the day the country gained independence.
- October 5
Eddie Villanueva
Brother Eddie Villanueva and 15 others from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines begin the Jesus Is Lord Church.
- October 7
Aeroflot Flight 1080
Aeroflot Flight 1080 crashes after takeoff from Koltsovo International Airport, killing 38.
- October 8
Ken Warby
Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 275.97 knots at Blowering Dam, Australia.
- October 12
James Scott (boxer)
While in prison for murder, boxer James Scott defeated Eddie "The Flame" Gregory, a leading light heavyweight.
- October 16
October 1978 conclave
Cardinal Karol Wojtyła is elected to the papacy as Pope John Paul II, he becomes the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.
- October 18
Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics
Based on the world's first children's art museum, the Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics opened in Yerevan.
- October 21
Disappearance of Frederick Valentich
Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
November
- November 3
Dominica
Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- November 14
France
France conducts the Aphrodite nuclear test as 25th in the group of 29 1975–78 French nuclear tests.
- November 18
Jonestown
In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children.
- November 18
Jim Jones
Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple to mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.
- November 18
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States.
- November 22
Serpent labret with articulated tongue
The serpent labret with articulated tongue (pictured articulating between positions), "perhaps the finest Aztec gold ornament to survive the crucibles of the sixteenth century", was sold at Sotheby's.
- November 23
1978 Sri Lanka cyclone
Cyclone kills about 1,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka.
- November 27
San Francisco
In San Francisco, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
- November 27
Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is founded in the Turkish village of Fis.
December
- December 4
Assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk
Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco's first female mayor.
- December 6
Constitution of Spain
Spain ratifies the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum.
- December 15
Jimmy Carter
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- December 23
Alitalia Flight 4128
Alitalia Flight 4128 crashes into the Tyrrhenian Sea while on approach to Falcone Borsellino Airport in Palermo, Italy, killing 108.
- December 26
Dakar Rally
The inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally begins.
- December 27
Spanish transition to democracy
Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of fascist dictatorship.
- December 28
United Airlines Flight 173
United Airlines Flight 173 crashes in a residential neighborhood near Portland International Airport, killing 10 people.
Questions about 1978
What happened in 1978?
This site records 111 entries for 1978, including Air India Flight 855 on January 1. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1978?
48 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1978 turns 48 this year.
Which century is 1978 in?
1978 falls in the 20th century, in the 1970s.
Which generation was born in 1978?
Generation X (1965–1980). The latch-key generation; first to grow up with personal computers.
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