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
• 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

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Gianluigi Buffon

• January 13 – Tinga, Brazilian footballer
• January 25 – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 6th President of Ukraine
• January 28 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
• January 30 – Daniel Lindström, Swedish singer

February

• February 7 – Ashton Kutcher, American actor

March

Didier Drogba

• March 7 – Azis, Bulgarian singer
• March 11 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
• March 21 – Kevin Federline, American doofus

April

• April 4 - Sam Moran, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
• April 6 – Myleene Klass, English musician
• April 30 – Tom Fulp, Newgrounds creater

May

• May 22 – Katie Price, English model and singer

June

Miroslav Klose

Frank Lampard

• 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

• July 19 – Chiara Zanni, Canadian actress

August

Kobe Bryant

• August 22 – Jeff Stinco, Canadian musician
• August 23 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (d. 2020)

September

• September 25 – Rafał Wiechecki, Polish politician
• September 28 – Bushido, German singer
• September 30 – Candice Michelle, American model and wrestler

October

• 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

• November 25 – Ringo Shiina, Japanese singer

December

• December 2 – Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer
• December 2 – Chris Wolstenholme, English musician
• December 18 – Katie Holmes, American actress

Deaths

January

Hubert Humphrey

Kurt Gödel

• January 1 – Nicolae Simatoc, Romanian football player (b. 1920)
• January 5 – Sally Eilers, American actress (b. 1908)
• January 8 – André François-Poncet, French politician (b. 1887)
• January 13 – Hubert Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
• January 14 – Kurt Gödel, Czech mathematician (b. 1906)
• January 28 – Greta Johansson, Swedish diver (b. 1895)

February

• February 2 – Wendy Barrie, English actress (b. 1912)
• February 9 – Hans Stuck, German racing driver (b. 1900)

March

• March 21 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, 5th President of Ireland (b. 1911)

April

Philibert Tsiranana

• April 16 – Philibert Tsiranana, 1st President of Madagascar (b. 1912)

May

Aram Khachaturian

Aldo Moro

Robert Menzies

Tetsu Katayama

József Bozsik

• May 1 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (b. 1903)
• May 2 – Vong Savang, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Laos (b. 1931)
• May 9 – Aldo Moro, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
• May 13 – Sisavang Vatthana, 3rd Prime Minister of The Kingdom of Laos (b. 1907)
• May 14 – Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
• May 17 – Armin T. Wegner, German writer (b. 1886)
• May 24 – Cyrille Adoula, 4th Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1921)
• May 30 – Tetsu Katayama, 46th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1887)
• May 31 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)

June

Santiago Bernabéu Yeste

• June 2 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer (b. 1895)
• June 12 – Guo Moruo, Chinese politician (b. 1892)
• June 24 – Ahmad al-Ghashmi, President of North Yemen (b. 1941)

July

• July 26 – Mary Blair, American artist (b. 1911)

August

Pope Paul VI

Jomo Kenyatta

Charles Boyer

• August 6 – Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
• August 6 – Edward Durrell Stone, American architect (b. 1902)
• August 22 – Jomo Kenyatta, 1st President of Kenya (b. 1894)
• August 26 – Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
• August 26 – José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer (b. 1916)

September

Keith Moon

Pope John Paul I

• September 7 - Keith Moon, English drummer (b. 1946)
• September 28 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)

October

Jacques Brel

Giovanni Gronchi

• October 9 – Jacques Brel, Belgian musician (b. 1929)
• October 17 – Giovanni Gronchi, 3rd President of Italy (b. 1887)

November

Margaret Mead

• November 15 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
• November 19 – Jim Jones, American cult leader (b. 1931)

December

Golda Meir

Houari Boumédiène

• December 3 – Golda Meir, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)
• December 10 – Ed Wood, American screenwriter (b. 1924)
• December 11 – Raúl Alberto Lastiri, 39th President of Argentina (b. 1915)
• December 27 – Houari Boumédiène, 2nd President of Algeria (b. 1932)

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