1978

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1940s  1950s  1960s  – 1970s –  1980s  1990s  2000s
Years:	1975 1976 1977 – 1978 – 1979 1980 1981

1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1978th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 978th year of the 2nd millennium, the 78th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1970s decade.

Events

• January 14 – The Sex Pistols played their final show (until a 1996 reunion) at San Francisco's Winterland
• March 1 - The Princesses series by Universal Studios.
• April 22 – The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live. The duo of Jake & Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) are introduced by Paul Shaffer (as Don Kirschner) and perform "Hey Bartender"
• April 26 – Ringo Starr's, Ringo, a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper airs on American television. Starr's fellow former Beatle George Harrison provides the narration
• May 8 – Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler are the first humans on the Mount Everest without oxygen tanks
• July 25 – First human birth from in vitro fertilization
• August 6 – Pope Paul VI dies at the age of 80. Albino Luciani become the new pope, Pope John Paul I
• August 17 – Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
• August 26 – The first Canada Jam Festival is held in Ontario, featuring sets by the Doobie Brothers, the Commodores, Kansas, Dave Mason, and the Atlanta Rhythm Section
• September 28 – Pope John Paul I dies after 34 days in office
• October 1 – Vietnam attacks Cambodia
• October 16 – Karol Wojtyła elected pope, and calls himself Pope John Paul II
• November 18 – Jim Jones and his followers commit suicide
• November 27 – San Francisco politician Dan White assassinates Harvey Milk and George Moscone
• December 21 - John Wayne Gacy is arrested for the killings of 33 boys and young men.
• Garfield, a comic strip, debuts
• Space Invaders is created by the Taito Corporation

Births

• January 13 – Tinga, Brazilian footballer
• January 28 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
• January 30 – Daniel Lindström, Swedish singer
• February 7 – Ashton Kutcher, American actor
• March 11 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
• March 21 – Kevin Federline, American doofus
• April 4 - Sam Moran, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
• April 6 – Myleene Klass, English musician
• April 30 – Tom Fulp, Newgrounds creater
• May 22 – Katie Price, English model and singer
• June 9 – Matthew Bellamy, English singer
• June 9 – Miroslav Klose, Polish footballer
• June 11 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor
• June 19 – Dirk Nowitzki,
• June 21 – Frank Lampard, English footballer
• June 29 – Nicole Scherzinger, American singer and actress
• July 19 – Chiara Zanni, Canadian actress
• August 22 – Jeff Stinco, Canadian Musician- Simple Plan
• August 23 – Kobe Bryant, NBA star (d. 2020)
• September 25 – Rafał Wiechecki, Polish politician
• September 28 – Bushido, German singer
• September 30 – Candice Michelle, American model and wrestler
• October 2 – Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
• October 6 – Carolina Gynning, Swedish model
• October 5 – Gerald Asamoah, German footballer
• October 7 – Alesha Dixon, English singer
• October 26 - CM Punk, American professional wrestler
• November 25 – Ringo Shiina, Japanese singer
• December 2 – Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer
• December 2 – Chris Wolstenholme, English musician
• December 18 – Katie Holmes, American actress
• Alison Balsom, English musician
• Miri Ben-Ari, Israeli violinist

Deaths

• January 14 – Kurt Gödel, Czech mathematician (b. 1906)
• March 21 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, 5th President of Ireland (b. 1911)
• May 14 – Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
• May 17 – Armin T. Wegner, German writer (b. 1886)
• August 6 – Pope Paul IV, heart attack (b. 1897)
• September 7 - Keith Moon, English drummer (The Who) (b. 1946)
• September 28 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
• November 19 – Jim Jones, American cult leader (b. 1931)

Movies released

• Convoy
• F.I.S.T.
• The Deer Hunter
• Grease
• Halloween
• Jaws II
• Midnight Express
• The Last Waltz
• The Lord of the Rings, animated movie by Ralph Bakshi
• Superman, starring Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve

Nobel Prizes

• Nobel Prize in 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, Polnish writer and journalist
• Peace – Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin
• Economics – Herbert Simon