Title: 1978 Content: 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was . == 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 === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 === * April 16 – Philibert Tsiranana, 1st President of Madagascar (b. 1912) === May === * 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 === * 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 === * 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 === * September 7 - Keith Moon, English drummer (b. 1946) * September 28 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912) === October === * October 9 – Jacques Brel, Belgian musician (b. 1929) * October 17 – Giovanni Gronchi, 3rd President of Italy (b. 1887) === November === * November 15 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901) * November 19 – Jim Jones, American cult leader (b. 1931) === December === * 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