| 1978-11-27
In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
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| 1978-08-26
Sigmund Jähn becomes first German cosmonaut on board of the Soyuz 31 spacecraft.
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| 1978-04-07
Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter.
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| 1978-11-27
The Kurdish party PKK was founded in the city of Riha (Urfa) in Turkish Kurdistan.
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| 1978-12-05
The Soviet Union signs a "friendship treaty" with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
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| 1978-10-01
The Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party is founded.
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| 1978-12-16
Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks.
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| 1978-09-17
The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
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| 1978-04-28
President of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, is overthrown and assassinated in a coup led by pro-communist rebels.
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| 1978-02-08
Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
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| 1978-10-16
Pope John Paul II is elected after the October 1978 Papal conclave.
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| 1978-03-14
The Israeli Defense Force invades and occupies southern Lebanon, in Operation Litani.
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| 1978-05-28
Second round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta. The election is won by incumbent Sangoulé Lamizana.
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| 1978-06-15
King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
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| 1978-06-09
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men.
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| 1978-08-12
Japan and the People's Republic of China sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
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| 1978-02-17
The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.
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| 1978-11-03
Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
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| 1978-01-18
The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
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| 1978-08-13
150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the Second Phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
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| 1978-11-15
A chartered Douglas DC-8 crashes near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 183.
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| 1978-02-06
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 4" an hour.
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| 1978-06-12
David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" killer in New York City, is sentenced to 365 years in prison for six killings.
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| 1978-03-23
The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
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| 1978-09-07
British Prime Minister James Callaghan announces that he will not call a general election for October, considered to be a major political blunder (see Winter of Discontent, United Kingdom general election, 1979)
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| 1978-07-25
Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born.
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| 1978-07-25
The Cerro Maravilla incident occurs.
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| 1978-12-27
Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.
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| 1978-11-18
Jonestown incident: In Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.
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| 1978-07-06
The Taunton sleeping car fire occurs in Taunton, Somerset killing twelve people.
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| 1978-04-01
The Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, becomes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
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| 1978-02-19
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 open combat.
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| 1978-09-07
While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from in a specially-designed umbrella.
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| 1978-07-01
The Northern Territory in Australia is granted Self-Government.
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| 1978-09-25
PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727-214, collides in mid-air with a Cessna 172 and crashes in San Diego, California, resulting in the deaths of 144 people.
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| 1978-07-07
The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.
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| 1978-03-28
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.
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| 1978-06-13
Israeli Defense Forces withdraw from Lebanon.
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| 1978-10-21
Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
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| 1978-06-26
Air Canada Flight 189 to Toronto overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of 107 passengers on board perish.
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| 1978-07-10
World News Tonight premieres on ABC.
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| 1978-02-13
Hilton bombing: a bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.
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| 1978-07-11
Los Alfaques Disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
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| 1978-03-16
Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped and is later killed by his captors.
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| 1978-06-22
Charon, a satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto, is discovered by American astronomer James Christy.
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| 1978-07-30
The 730 (transport), Okinawa changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
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| 1978-12-18
Dominica joins the United Nations.
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| 1978-05-08
First ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
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| 1978-03-19
UN Security Council Resolution 425 is passed, calling upon Israel immediately to cease its military action and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory (Operation Litani), and establishing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
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| 1978-04-27
Former United States President Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
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| 1978-02-16
The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
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| 1978-08-17
Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
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| 1978-09-05
Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace process at Camp David, Maryland.
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| 1978-01-26
The Great Blizzard of 1978, a rare severe blizzard with the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the US, strikes the Ohio – Great Lakes region with heavy snow and winds up to 100 mph (161 km/h).
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| 1978-10-08
Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia.
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| 1978-05-01
Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
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| 1978-09-16
An earthquake measuring 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people.
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| 1978-06-19
Garfield appears in his first comic strip.
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| 1978-12-10
Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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| 1978-12-06
Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum.
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| 1978-03-22
Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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| 1978-06-28
The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke bars quota systems in college admissions.
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| 1978-01-19
The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America would continue until 2003.
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| 1978-08-07
U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal.
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| 1978-08-26
Papal conclave, 1978 (August): Pope John Paul I is elected to the Papacy.
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| 1978-03-11
Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Al Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.
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| 1978-10-01
Tuvalu gains independence from the United Kingdom.
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| 1978-01-01
The Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands becomes effective.
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| 1978-03-16
Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.
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| 1978-04-20
Korean Air Flight 902 is shot down by Soviets.
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| 1978-04-14
1978 Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
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| 1978-09-19
The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.
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| 1978-12-04
Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California's first female mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).
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| 1978-05-03
The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (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.
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| 1978-01-06
The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
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| 1978-01-01
Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 crashes into the sea, due to instrument failure and pilot disorientation, off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
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| 1978-09-18
Leaders of Israel and Egypt reach a settlement for the Middle East at Camp David.
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| 1978-06-01
The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed.
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| 1978-08-22
The Frente Sandinista de Liberacion or FSLN occupies national palace in Nicaragua.
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| 1978-08-10
Three members of the Ulrich family were killed in an Accident. This accident lead to the famous Ford Pinto litigation.
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| 1978-02-11
Censorship: the People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.
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| 1978-12-04
Michael Jackson starts recording his album Off the wall.
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| 1978-03-08
The first radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is transmitted on BBC Radio 4.
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| 1978-11-12
As Bishop of Rome Pope John Paul II takes possession of his Cathedral Church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
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| 1978-01-24
Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor onboard, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
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| 1978-07-10
President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d'état.
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| 1978-12-22
The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
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| 1978-06-11
Altaf Hussain founds the students' political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
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| 1978-02-01
Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
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| 1978-08-31
William and Emily Harris, founders of the Symbionese Liberation Army, plead guilty to the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.
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| 1978-05-12
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 U.S.A., France and Belgium to restore order.
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| 1978-12-15
U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and cut off all relations with Taiwan
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| 1978-03-02
Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
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| 1978-03-05
The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
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