1978

**1978** (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday in the Gregorian calendar.

## 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
    - Tuvalu gains independence from the United Kingdom
- 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

### January

- January 13 – Tinga, Brazilian footballer
- January 14 - Abdelaziz Ahanfouf, German-Moroccan 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 1 – Belal Jadallah, Palestinian journalist
- May 22 – Katie Price, English model and singer

### June

- June 9 – Matthew Bellamy, English singer
- June 9 – Miroslav Klose, Polish-German footballer
- June 11 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor
- June 19 – Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player
- June 20 – Frank Lampard, English footballer
- June 21 – Gervase Markham, British computer programmer and blogger (d. 2018)
- 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

### 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)

## 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