Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
–
Air India Flight 855, a
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
passenger jet, crashes off the coast of
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, killing 213.
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
*1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Turckh ...
–
Bülent Ecevit
Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in ...
, of
CHP, forms the new government of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
(42nd government).
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
– The
Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as
Stephen of Hungary
Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the f ...
Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
*
January 10
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
* 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
–
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal (23 September 1924 – 10 January 1978) was a Nicaraguan journalist and publisher. He was the editor of ''La Prensa'', the only significant opposition newspaper to the long rule of the Somoza family. He is a 19 ...
, a critic of the
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
n government, is assassinated; riots erupt against
Somoza's government.
*
January 18 – The
European Court of Human Rights finds the British government guilty of mistreating prisoners in
Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
–
Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany ''
persona non grata
In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution.
Diplomacy
Under Article 9 of the ...
''.
*
January 24
**
Soviet satellite
Kosmos 954
Kosmos 954 (russian: Космос 954) was a reconnaissance satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1977. A malfunction prevented safe separation of its onboard nuclear reactor; when the satellite reentered the Earth's atmosphere the follow ...
burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
.
**
Rose Dugdale
Bridget Rose Dugdale (born 1941), better known as Rose Dugdale, is a former debutante who rebelled against her wealthy upbringing, becoming a volunteer in the militant Irish republican organisation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). ...
and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison since the establishment of the
Republic of Ireland.
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
–
27 – The
Great Blizzard of 1978
The Great Blizzard of 1978 was an historic winter storm that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions of the United States as well as Southern Ontario in Canada from Wednesday, January 25 through Friday, January 27, 1978. It is often cited ...
strikes the
Ohio Valley and
Great Lakes, killing 70.
February
*
February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– Film director
Roman Polanski skips
bail and flees to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
with a 13-year-old girl.
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
* 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
* 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
* 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
–
7 – The
Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 hits the
New England region and the
New York metropolitan area, killing about 100, and causing over US$520 million in damage.
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
–
King Dragon operation in Arakan
Operation Dragon King ( my, နဂါးမင်း စစ်ဆင်ရေး), officially known as Operation Nagamin in English, was a military operation carried in 1978 out by the Tatmadaw and Ministry of Immigration and Population, immigr ...
: Burmese General
Ne Win
Ne Win ( my, နေဝင်း ; 10 July 1910, or 14 or 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma ...
targets Muslim minorities in the village of Sakkipara.
*
February 8 –
United States Senate proceedings are broadcast on
radio for the first time.
*
February 9 – The
Budd Company
The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products ...
unveils its first
SPV-2000
The Budd SPV-2000 is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar built by the Budd Company between 1978 and 1981 for use on North American commuter railroads. The design was a successor to Budd's popular Rail Diesel Car (RDC) but based on the b ...
self-propelled railcar in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
**
Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a
Boeing 737-200, crashes in
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary River (British Columbia), St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the ...
, killing 44 of the 50 people on board.
**
Somalia mobilizes its troops to deal with an apparent
Ethiopian attack.
** The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by
Aristotle,
William Shakespeare and
Charles Dickens.
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
–
Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing
The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred on 13 February 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in George Street, Sydney, Australia. At the time the hotel was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CH ...
: A bomb explodes outside the
Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing a policeman and two civilians, and injuring several other people.
*
February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
–
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
, one of only two remaining white-ruled African nations (the other being South Africa), announces that it will accept
multiracial democracy within 2 years.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
–
Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport
On 19 February 1978, Egyptian special forces raided Larnaca International Airport near Larnaca, Cyprus, in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking. Earlier, two assassins had killed prominent Egyptian newspaper editor Yusuf Sibai and then rounded ...
:
Egyptian Special Forces
El-Sa‘ka Forces ( ar, قوات الصاعقة, lit=Thunderbolt Forces, translit=Kuwat El Sa‘ka), is an Egyptian Military of Egypt, military commando force established by Major General Jalal Mahmoud Fahmy Al-Haridi. High fitness is required and ...
attempt to rescue several hostages in Larnaca, Cyprus; 20 Egyptian commandos are injured or killed.
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
– The
first Legislative Assembly election is held in
Arunachal Pradesh, India.
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– The first
global positioning satellite
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sys ...
, the
Rockwell International-built
Navstar 1, is launched by the United States.
March
*
March 1 –
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.
*
March 2 – ''
Soyuz 28'' (
Aleksei Gubarev
Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev (russian: Алексе́й Алекса́ндрович Гу́барев; 29 March 1931 – 21 February 2015) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on two space flights: Soyuz 17 and Soyuz 28.
Biography
Gubarev grad ...
,
Vladimír Remek) is launched on a rendezvous with ''
Salyut 6'', with the first cosmonaut from a country other than the USA or USSR (Czechoslovakian Vladimír Remek).
*
March 3
**
Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting with the aid of
Cuban soldiers, against
Somalian troops in the
Ogaden
Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...
.
**
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
attacks
Zambia.
** The ''
New York Post'' publishes an article about
David Rorvik
David Michael Rorvik (born 1944) is an American journalist and novelist who was the author of the 1978 book ''In his Image: The Cloning of a Man'' in which he claimed to have been part of a successful endeavor to create a clone of a human being. T ...
's book ''The Cloning of Man'', about a supposed
cloning of a human being.
*
March 8 – The first radio episode of ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', by
Douglas Adams, is transmitted on
BBC Radio 4.
*
March 10 – ''
Soyuz 28'' lands.
*
March 11 –
Coastal Road massacre:
Palestinian terrorists kill 34
Israelis.
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
–
Operation Litani
The 1978 South Lebanon conflict (codenamed Operation Litani by Israel) began after Israel invaded southern Lebanon up to the Litani River in March 1978, in response to the Coastal Road massacre near Tel Aviv by Lebanon-based Palestinian mil ...
:
Israeli forces invade
Lebanon.
*
March 15 –
Somalia and
Ethiopia sign a truce to end the
Ethio-Somali War
The Ogaden War, or the Ethio-Somali War (, am, የኢትዮጵያ ሶማሊያ ጦርነት, ye’ītiyop’iya somalīya t’orineti), was a military conflict fought between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 over the Ethiopi ...
.
*
March 16 – Former Italian Premier
Aldo Moro is kidnapped by the
Red Brigades; 5 bodyguards are killed.
*
March 17 – An oil tanker, ''
Amoco Cadiz'', runs aground on the coast of
Brittany.
*
March 18
**
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
Prime Minister of Pakistan, is sentenced to death by hanging, for ordering the assassination of a political opponent.
**
California Jam II
California Jam II (also known as Cal Jam II) was a music festival held in Ontario, California, at the Ontario Motor Speedway on March 18, 1978, and produced by Leonard Stogel, Sandy Feldman, and Don Branker. More than 350,000 people attended. The ...
is held at the
Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now In ...
in
Ontario, California, attracting more than 300,000 fans.
*
March 22 –
Karl Wallenda of
The Flying Wallendas
The Flying Wallendas is a circus act and group of daredevil stunt performers who perform highwire acts without a safety net. They were first known as ''The Great Wallendas'', but the current name was coined by the press in the 1940s and has st ...
dies, after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
*
March 26 – The
control tower
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...
and some other facilities of
New Tokyo International Airport, which were scheduled to open on March 31, are illegally occupied and damaged in a terrorist attack by
New Left
The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...
activists, forcing a rescheduling of its opening date to May 20.
*
March 28
**
San Francisco's City Council signs the United States's most comprehensive
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
bill.
** ''
Stump v. Sparkman'' (435 U.S. 349): The
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
hands down a 5–3 decision, in a controversial case involving involuntary
sterilization and
judicial immunity.
April
*
April 1
**
New Zealand National Airways Corporation (the domestic airline of New Zealand) is merged with New Zealand's international airline,
Air New Zealand.
**
Dick Smith of
Dick Smith Foods
Dick Smith Foods was a food brand created by Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith to provide Australian owned and produced alternatives to products from foreign-owned food companies. Generally, the brand focused on producing local alternatives to ...
tows a fake
iceberg
An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...
to
Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
.
** The Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, is converted to the
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
, mottoeng = ''Light of the Nation''
, type = Public coeducational research higher education institution
, established = October 19, 1904
, closed =
, religious_affiliation = ...
.
*
April 2 – ''
Dallas'' debuts on
CBS, and gives birth to the modern day primetime soap opera.
*
April 3 – The
50th Academy Awards
The 50th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1977 and took place on April 3, 1978, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 7:00 p.m. PST ...
are held at the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in
Los Angeles, with ''
Annie Hall'' winning
Best Picture.
*
April 7 – U.S. President
Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the
neutron bomb, a weapon that kills people with radiation, but leaves buildings relatively intact.
*
April 9 –
Somali military officers
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...
stage an unsuccessful coup against the government of
Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...
; security forces thwart the attempt within hours, and several conspirators are arrested.
*
April 14 –
1978 Tbilisi Demonstrations
On 14 April 1978, demonstrations in Tbilisi, capital of the Georgian SSR, took place in response to an attempt by the Soviet government to change the constitutional status of languages in Georgia. After a new Soviet Constitution was adopted in Octo ...
: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against an attempt by
Soviet authorities to change the constitutional status of the
Georgian language
Georgian (, , ) is the most widely-spoken Kartvelian language, and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its p ...
.
*
April 18 – The U.S. Senate votes, 68–32, to turn the
Panama Canal over to
Panamanian control on December 31,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
.
*
April 20 – A Soviet air defense plane shoots down
Korean Air Lines Flight 902
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (KAL 902) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage. On 20 April 1978, the Soviet air defense shot down the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 707, near Murmansk, Soviet Union, afte ...
; the plane makes an emergency landing on a frozen lake.
*
April 22
** Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta win the
Eurovision Song Contest 1978 for
Israel with their song ''A-Ba-Ni-Bi''.
** The
One Love Peace Concert is held at National Heroes Stadium in
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...
.
Bob Marley unites two opposing political leaders at this concert, bringing peace to the civil war-ridden streets of the city.
*
April 25 –
St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
becomes the second U.S. city to repeal its gay rights ordinance, after
Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...
's successful 1977 anti-gay campaign in
Miami-Dade County, Florida.
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
**
Afghanistan's president
Daoud Khan
Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup d ...
is killed, and his family murdered, during a Marxist military coup d'état;
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Nur Muhammad Taraki (; 14 July 1917 – 9 October 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secret ...
succeeds him, beginning the
Afghan war
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
*Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...
which has not ended yet.
**
Willow Island disaster
The Willow Island disaster was the collapse of a cooling tower under construction at the Pleasants Power Station at Willow Island, West Virginia, on April 27, 1978. 51 construction workers were killed. It is thought to be the deadliest constr ...
– In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers are killed when a
cooling tower under construction collapses at the
Pleasants Power Station
Pleasants Power Station is a 1.3-gigawatt (1,300 MW) coal power plant located near Belmont, West Virginia in Pleasants County, West Virginia. The plant is owned by Energy Harbor and began operations in 1979. The power plant was the site of th ...
in
Willow Island, West Virginia
Willow Island is an unincorporated community in Pleasants County, West Virginia, United States. Willow Island is located on the Ohio River at the junction of West Virginia Route 2 and County Highway 10, west-southwest of Belmont. Willow Island h ...
.
*
April 30 – The Marxist "
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992.
The PDPA came to power ...
" is proclaimed, under pro-communist leader
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Nur Muhammad Taraki (; 14 July 1917 – 9 October 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secret ...
.
May
*
May 4
** The
Battle of Cassinga
The Battle of Cassinga also known as the Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) military camp at the town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978. Cond ...
occurs in southern
Angola.
**
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
activist
Henri Curiel is murdered in Paris.
*
May 5 –
Pete Rose of the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
gets his 3,000th major league hit.
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
** Norway opens a
natural gas field, in the
Polar Sea
Polar may refer to:
Geography
Polar may refer to:
* Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates
*Polar climate, the cli ...
.
**
Reinhold Messner (Italy) and
Peter Habeler (Austria) make the first ascent of Mount Everest, without supplemental oxygen.
*
May 9 – In Rome, the corpse of former Italian prime minister
Aldo Moro, is found in a red
Renault 4
The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle" in French), is a small economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1994. Although the Renault 4 was marketed as a short station wagon, its minimal rear overhang ...
.
*
May 12 – In
Zaire, rebels occupy the city of
Kolwezi, the mining centre of the province of
Shaba. The Zairean government asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
*
May 12–
13 – A group of
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
, led by
Bob Denard
Robert Denard (born Gilbert Bourgeaud; 7 April 1929 – 13 October 2007) was a French soldier of fortune and mercenary. He served as the Military Leader of The Comoros twice with him first serving from 13 May 1978 to 15 December 1989 and again ...
, oust
Ali Soilih in the
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
; ten local soldiers are killed. Denard forms a new government.
*
May 15 – Students of the
University of Tehran riot in
Tabriz; the army stops the riot.
*
May 17 –
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
's coffin is found some from the cemetery from which it was stolen, near Lake Geneva.
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
** Soviet dissident
Yuri Orlov is sentenced to 7 years' hard labor, for distributing 'counterrevolutionary material'.
**
Sarajevo is selected to host the
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...
, and Los Angeles is selected to host the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
.
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
–
19 – Belgian and French paratroopers fly to Zaire, to aid the fight against the rebels.
*
May 19–
20 –
French Foreign Legion paratroopers land in
Kolwezi,
Zaire, to rescue Europeans in the middle of a civil war.
*
May 20 –
Mavis Hutchinson, 53, becomes the first woman to run across the U.S.; her trek took 69 days.
*
May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 11 ...
– Exiled leaders
Ahmed Abdallah
Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane ( ar, أحمد عبد الله عبد الرحمن, , 12 June 1919 – 26 November 1989) was a Comorian politician. He was a member of the French Senate from 1959 to 1973, and President of the Comoros from 25 Octobe ...
and
Muhammad Ahmad return to the
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
.
*
May 25
** First
Unabomber attack: A bomb explodes in the security section of
Northwestern University, wounding a security guard.
** In a rematch of the previous season, the
Montreal Canadiens again defeat the
Boston Bruins, this time four games to two, to win the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
.
*
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire take ...
– In
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. , Resorts International, the first legal
casino in the eastern United States, opens.
*
May 28 –
Indianapolis 500:
Al Unser wins his third race, and the first for car owner
Jim Hall.
*
May 29 –
Ali Soilih is found dead in the
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
, allegedly shot when trying to escape.
June
*
June 1 – The
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by t ...
starts in
Argentina.
*
June 10 –
Affirmed holds off
Alydar to win the
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
and becomes the last horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown of Horse Racing until
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
.
*
June 15 – King
Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby, who takes the name
Queen Noor
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
.
*
June 19
** England cricketer
Ian Botham
Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser.
Hailed as one ...
becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.
** ''Garfield's'' first comic strip, originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, goes into nationwide Print syndication, syndication.
* June 20 – The 6.2 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake, Thessaloniki earthquake shakes Northern Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). Fifty people were killed.
* June 21
** A shootout between Provisional IRA members and the British Army in Northern Ireland leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.
** 1978 Iranian Chinook shootdown: Iranian helicopters stray into Soviet airspace and are shot down.
* June 22 – Charon (moon), Charon, a satellite of Pluto, is discovered.
* June 24 – The Gay & Lesbian Solidarity March is held in Sydney, Australia to mark the 9th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots (which later becomes the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras; later incorporating a festival).
* June 25
** Argentina national football team, Argentina defeats Netherlands national football team, the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time to win the
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by t ...
.
** The Rainbow flag (LGBT), rainbow flag of the LGBT movement flies for the first time (in its original form) at the San Francisco Pride, San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
* June 26 – A bombing by Breton nationalists causes destruction in the Palace of Versailles.
* June 30 –
Ethiopia begins a massive offensive in Eritrea.
July
* July 3 – The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Amazon Co-operation Treaty (ACT) is signed.
* July 7 – The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.
* July 11 – At least 217 tourists die in an Los Alfaques disaster, explosion of a tanker-truck at a campsite in Costa Daurada, Spain.
* July 24 – In Acapulco, Mexico, Margaret Gardiner (beauty queen), Margaret Gardiner of South Africa is crowned Miss Universe.
* July 25
** Cerro Maravilla murders: Two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists are killed in a police ambush.
** Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, is born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK.
August
* August 12 – The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China is concluded.
* August 17 – ''Double Eagle II'' becomes the first balloon to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean, flying from Presque Isle, Maine, to Miserey, France.
* August 22 – Sandinistas seize the Nicaraguan National Palace.
* August 26 – Pope John Paul I succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope.
September
* September 5 – Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin the peace process at Camp David, Maryland.
* September 7 – In London, UK, a poison-filled pellet, supposedly injected using an umbrella, fatally poisons Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov; he dies four days later.
* September 8 – Iranian Army troops open fire on rioters in Tehran, killing 122, wounding 4,000.
* September 12 – The Declaration of Alma Ata is signed and released in the Capital City of Kazakh, USSR. Known as the core document on Primary Health Care Practices and Equity in Healthcare, it paved the way for the modern-day State-sponsored Healthcare System.
* September 16
** General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq officially assumes the post of President of Pakistan.
** The 7.4 1978 Tabas earthquake, Tabas earthquake affects the city of Tabas, Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 15,000 people were killed.
* September 17 – The Camp David Accords are signed between Israel and Egypt.
* September 19
** Police in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England launch a massive murder hunt, when 13-year-old newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater is shot dead after disturbing a burglary.
** The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.
* September 20 – General Rahimuddin Khan assumes the post of Martial Law Governor of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan.
* September 23 – California Angels outfielder Lyman Bostock is shot to death at age 27 while visiting friends in Gary, Indiana during an Angels' road trip in Chicago, Illinois.
* September 24
** PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a small private airplane and crashes in San Diego, California; 144 are killed.
** Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Otello'' makes its first appearance on ''Live from the Met'', in a complete production of the opera starring Jon Vickers. This is the first complete television broadcast of the opera in the U.S. since the historic 1948 one.
* September 27 – The last Forest Brothers, Forest Brother Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla movement fighter is discovered and killed in Estonia.
* September 28 – Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy.
* September 30 – Finnair Flight 405 aircraft is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland.
* September – The African National Congress attempts to kill about 500 of its own cadres by poisoning their food because an infiltrated enemy agent cannot be identified.
October
* October 1
** Vietnam attacks Cambodia.
** Tuvalu becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
* October 7 – ''Wranslide'' in New South Wales: the Neville Wran, Wran government is re-elected with an increased majority.
* October 8 – Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.6 mph (511.13 km/h) at Blowering Dam, Australia.
* October 9 – P. W. Botha, P.W. Botha succeeds B. J. Vorster, John Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa.
* October 10
** Daniel arap Moi becomes president of Kenya.
** B. J. Vorster, John Vorster becomes State President of South Africa.
[A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961–1994](_blank)
Archontology.org; accessed April 14, 2017.
** A massive short circuit in Seasat's electrical system ends the satellite's scientific mission.
** United States President
Jimmy Carter signs a bill that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
* October 13 – The Soviet Union launches a major Russification campaign throughout all union republics.
* October 14 – U.S. President
Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law which allows homebrewing of beer in the United States.
* October 16 – Pope John Paul II succeeds Pope John Paul I as the 264th pope, resulting in the first Year of Three Popes since 1605. He is the first Polish pope in history, and the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523).
* October 18 – Thorbjörn Fälldin steps down as Prime Minister of Sweden, and is succeeded by Ola Ullsten, the Leader of the liberal People's Party ("''Folkpartiet''").
* October 20 – The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held as a protest march and commemoration of the Stonewall riots.
* October 21 – Australian civilian pilot Disappearance of Frederick Valentich, Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 Skylane over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
* October 27 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin win the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.
* October 31 – The South African Railways sets a still unbeaten Land speed record for rail vehicles, world rail speed record on Cape gauge.
November
* November 2: 8:00 pm – The
Republic of Ireland's second television channel RTÉ Two, RTÉ 2 goes on air (renamed Network 2, 1988; RTÉ Network Two, 1995; N2, 1997; and RTÉ Two in 2004).
* November 3 – Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
* November 7 – Indira Gandhi is re-elected to the Indian parliament.
* November 18 – Jonestown incident: In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder–suicide that claims 918 lives in all, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Leo Ryan, Congressman Leo J. Ryan is assassinated by members of Peoples Temple shortly beforehand.
* November 24 – China starts an experimental "household responsibility system", in Anhui, Anhui Province.
* November 26 – Two British commercial divers, Michael Ward and Tony Prangley, die of hypothermia and drowning in the East Shetland Basin after their diving bell Star Canopus diving accident, plunges to the seabed at a depth of over .
December
* December 4 – Dianne Feinstein succeeds the murdered George Moscone, to become the first woman mayor of
San Francisco; she will remain in office until January 8, 1988.
* December 6 – The Spanish Constitution of 1978, Spanish Constitution officially restores the country's democratic government.
* December 11
** Lufthansa heist: Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
** Two million demonstrate against the Shah in Iran.
* December 16
** Train 87 from Nanjing to Xining collides with train 368 from Xi'an to Xuzhou near Yangzhuang railway station in China, killing 106, injuring 218.
** ''The Mystery of Mamo'' is released in cinemas in Japan.
* December 19 – Former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi is arrested and jailed for a week for breach of privilege and contempt of parliament.
* December 22
** The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
** Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was subsequently convicted of the murder of 33 young men and boys committed between 1972 and 1978, is arrested.
**
Argentina begins Operation Soberanía against Chile, but Argentinian forces quickly withdraw.
* December 25 – Vietnam launches a major offensive against the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.
* December 27 – The Spanish Constitution of 1978, Constitution of Spain is approved in a referendum, officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.
Date unknown
* Synthetic insulin is developed.
* Romanian painter Doina Bumbea is abducted by the North Korean government.
* Abortion is legalized in Italy for the first time.
* In Seoul, South Korea, construction begins on Seoul Subway Line 2.
* Ford Motor Company, Ford initiates a recall for the Ford Pinto, Pinto because of a public outcry resulting from deaths associated with gas tank explosions.
* Rolnicka Praha children's choir is founded in Prague, Czech Republic.
* The New York International Bible Society's New International Version of the complete Bible translated into modern American English is published.
* The ''Space Invaders'' arcade video game is released by Taito.
Births
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Philip Mulryne, Northern Irish footballer
* January 2 – Karina Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American dancer
* January 3
** Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model, clothing designer and actress
** Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
* January 4 – Karine Ruby, French snowboarder (d. 2009)
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
*1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Duchy of Burgundy, Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
*1675 – Battle of Turckh ...
** Franck Montagny, French Formula One driver
** January Jones, American actress
* January 7 – Emilio Palma, Argentine citizen, first human born in Antarctica
* January 9
** Chad Johnson, American football player
** AJ McLean, American singer
** Gennaro Gattuso, Italian football player
*
January 10
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
* 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
– Kanako Mitsuhashi, Japanese voice actress
* January 11 – Emile Heskey, English footballer
* January 12 – Hannah Gadsby, Australian comedian
* January 13
** Ashmit Patel, Indian actor
** Mohit Sharma (soldier), Mohit Sharma Indian Army Officer
* January 14 – Shawn Crawford, American sprinter
* January 15
** Eddie Cahill, American actor
** Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
* January 17 – Ricky Wilson (singer), Ricky Wilson, British vocalist (Kaiser Chiefs)
*
January 18
** Thor Hushovd, Norwegian cyclist
** Katja Kipping, German politician
* January 20 – Omar Sy, French actor and comedian
*
January 24
** Mark Hildreth (actor), Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor and voice actor
** Nami Miyahara, Japanese voice actress and singer
** Kristen Schaal, American actress, comedian, and writer
*
January 25
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
* 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty ...
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian politician and comedian, President of Ukraine
* January 28
** Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
** Jamie Carragher, English footballer
** Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer (d. 2020)
** Sheamus, Irish wrestler
** Vanessa Villela, Mexican actress
February
* February 2
** Nelson Chamisa, Zimbabwean politician
** Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and coach
* February 3 – Amal Clooney, British-Lebanese barrister, activist and author
* February 4 – Aleksey Rozin, Russian actor
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
* 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
* 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
* 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
** Brian Russell, American football player
** Samuel Sánchez, Spanish road bicycle racer
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
1601–1900
* 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
** Danny Buderus, Australian rugby league player
** Olena Zelenska, Ukrainian first lady and former model
** Yael Naim, Israeli-French singer and songwriter
* February 7
** Ashton Kutcher, American actor
** Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Nigerian actress, singer, philanthropist and former model
* February 10
** Isabella Eklöf, Swedish screenwriter and film director
** Don Omar, Puerto Rican singer and actor
* February 12
** Gethin Jones, Welsh television presenter
** Silver Meikar, Estonian politician
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
– Niklas Bäckström, Finnish hockey player
* February 14
** Richard Hamilton (basketball), Richard Hamilton, American basketball player
** Danai Gurira, American actress and playwright
** Darius Songaila, Lithuanian basketball player
* February 16
** John Tartaglia, American actor
** Tia Hellebaut, Belgian athlete
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
** Kenyatta Wright, American football player
** Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper
* February 20
** Julia Jentsch, German actress
** Ken Takeuchi, Japanese voice actor
* February 21
** Kim Ha-neul, South Korean actress
** Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistani-American actor and comedian
** Miki Sakai, Japanese actress
* February 22 – Jenny Frost, English singer
* February 23 – Dan Snyder (ice hockey), Dan Snyder, Canadian hockey player (d. 2003)
* February 24 – Gary (rapper), Gary, South Korean musician, entertainer
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician, Mayor of Tbilisi
* February 28
** Jeanne Cherhal, French singer-songwriter
** Yasir Hameed, Pakistani cricketer
** Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier
March
*
March 1
** Jensen Ackles, American actor
** Donovan Patton, American actor and television host
** Sakura Nogawa, Japanese voice actress
*
March 2
** Tomáš Kaberle, Czech hockey player
** Sebastian Janikowski, American football player
*
March 3 – Tanishaa Mukerji, Indian actress
* March 4 – Denis Dallan, Italian rugby union footballer
* March 6
** Sage Rosenfels, American football player
** Mike Jackson (Oklahoma politician), Mike Jackson, American politician
* March 7
** Mike Reese (Pennsylvania politician), Mike Reese, American politician (d. 2021)
** Azis, Bulgarian singer
*
March 10 – Benjamin Burnley, American musician
*
March 11
** Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
** Ha Jung-woo, South Korean actor and director
* March 12
** Neal Obermeyer, American editorial cartoonist
** Claudio Sanchez, American writer and musician
* March 13
** Tom Danielson, American cyclist
** Kenny Watson (American football), Kenny Watson, American football player
*
March 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
* 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
** Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
** Carl Johan Bergman, Swedish biathlete
** Moon Hee-joon, Korean singer
*
March 15 – Flavio Furtado, Cape Verdean boxer
*
March 16
** Matthew Montgomery (actor), Matthew Montgomery, American actor
** Brooke Burns, American fashion model and actress
*
March 17 – Patrick Seitz, American voice actor
*
March 18
** Antonio Margarito, Mexican-American boxer
** Fernandão (footballer, born 1978), Fernandão, Brazilian footballer
* March 21
** Rani Mukerji, Indian actress
** Mohammad Rezaei (wrestler, born 1978), Mohammad Rezaei, Iranian wrestler
*
March 22
**Josh Heupel, American football player and coach
**Vanessa Senior, Venezuelan comedian and actress.
* March 23
** Simon Gärdenfors, Swedish cartoonist and radio host
** Nicholle Tom, American actress
** Perez Hilton, American actor and blogger
* March 29 – Igor Rakočević, Serbian basketball player
* March 30 – Simon Webbe, English singer
April
*
April 2 – Nick Berg, American businessman (d. 2004)
*
April 3
** Matthew Goode, English actor
** John Smit, South African rugby union player
* April 4 – Sam Moran, Australian singer
* April 5
** Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
** Arnaud Tournant, French track cyclist
** Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
* April 6
** Tim Hasselbeck, American football player
** Myleene Klass, English singer, pianist, and model
** Martín Méndez, Uruguayan musician and songwriter
** Lauren Ridloff, African-American actress
*
April 7
** Duncan James, English singer
** Adrienne Haan, German-Luxembourgish actress, singer, writer and producer
*
April 9
** Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer
** Takashi Ohara, Japanese voice actor
** Rachel Stevens, English singer
* April 10 – Rokhaya Diallo, French writer and filmmaker
* April 12
** Guy Berryman, Scottish musician
** Cheeming Boey, Malaysian artist
** Riley Smith, American actor
* April 13
** Kyle Howard, American television and movie actor
** Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer
* April 15
** Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican singer and songwriter
** Chris Stapleton, American country singer and guitarist
* April 16
** Lara Dutta, Indian actress and beauty queen
** Matthew Lloyd, Australian rules footballer
* April 17
** Juan Guillermo Castillo, Uruguayan goalkeeper
** Jason White (rugby union), Jason White, Scottish rugby union player
* April 19 – James Franco, American actor
*
April 20
** Matthew Wilkas, American actor, playwright and reality television personality
** Matt Austin (actor), Matt Austin, Canadian actor
** Alessandro Rigotti, Italian voice actor
* April 21 – Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish drummer
*
April 22
** Esteban Tuero, Argentine Formula One driver
** Manu Intiraymi, American actor
* April 23 – Princess Tamara Czartoryski-Borbon, Tamara Czartoryski-Borbon, Spanish athlete
*
April 25 – Duncan Kibet, Kenyan long-distance runner
* April 26
** Stana Katic, Canadian-American actress
** Shinnosuke Tachibana, Japanese voice actor
* April 28
** Robert Oliveri, American former actor
** Roman Karmen, Soviet war camera-man and film director
* April 29
** Bob and Mike Bryan, American doubles tennis team
** Tyler Labine, Canadian actor
May
*
May 4 – Daisuke Ono, Japanese voice actor
* May 6
** Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
** Aleksandr Fyodorov (bodybuilder), Aleksandr Fyodorov, Russian bodybuilder
* May 10 – Kenan Thompson, African-American actor and comedian
* May 11
** Laetitia Casta, French supermodel and actress
** Judy Ann Santos, Filipino actress
*
May 12
** Hossein Rezazadeh, Iranian weightlifter
** Jason Biggs, American actor
** Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer, writer, and fashion designer
** Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian actress
*
May 15
** Dwayne De Rosario, Canadian footballer
** Caroline Dhavernas, French-Canadian actress
** Krzysztof Ignaczak, Polish volleyball player
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
*
May 19 – Marcus Bent, English footballer ***
*
May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 11 ...
** Katie Price (Jordan), English model and television personality
** Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
*
May 25 – Adam Gontier, Canadian singer
*
May 28
** Jake Johnson, American actor and comedian
** Tomohiko Ito (footballer), Tomohiko Ito, Japanese footballer
*
May 29 – Pelle Almqvist, Swedish singer-songwriter
* May 30 – Lyoto Machida, Brazilian mixed martial artist
* May 31 – Sara Duterte, 15th Vice President of the Philippines
June
*
June 1 – Antonietta Di Martino, Italian high-jumper
* June 2
** Nikki Cox, American actress
** Justin Long, American actor
* June 4 – Simone Maludrottu, Italian boxer
* June 5 – Nick Kroll, American actor and comedian
* June 6
** Konstantīns Konstantinovs, Latvian powerlifter (d. 2018)
** Mariana Popova, Bulgarian singer
* June 7 – Bill Hader, American actor and comedian
* June 8
** Maria Menounos, American actress, journalist, and television presenter
** Eun Ji-won, South Korean rapper and singer
* June 9
** Michaela Conlin, American actress
** Miroslav Klose, German footballer
** Matt Bellamy, British musician and singer
*
June 10
** Han Hee-won, South Korean golfer
** DJ Qualls, American actor, producer, and model
** Shane West, American actor
* June 11 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor
* June 13 – Faizal Yusof, Malaysian actor (d. 2011)
* June 14 – Nikola Vujčić, Croatian basketball player and general manager (basketball), team manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv
*
June 15
** Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
* June 16 – Daniel Brühl, German actor
*
June 19
** Mía Maestro, Argentine actress
** Dirk Nowitzki, German basketball player
** Zoe Saldana, American actress
* June 20 – Frank Lampard, English footballer
* June 21
** Erica Durance, Canadian actress
** Jean-Pascal Lacoste, French singer, actor and television host
** Ignacio Corleto, Argentine rugby union player
* June 22
** Tim Driesen, Belgian actor and singer-songwriter
** Dan Wheldon, English racing driver (d. 2011)
* June 23
** Gladys Reyes, Filipino actress
** Frédéric Leclercq, French musician
* June 24
** Emppu Vuorinen, Finnish musician
** Juan Román Riquelme, Argentine footballer
** Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese footballer
* June 25
** Aramis Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
** Aftab Shivdasani, Indian actor
* June 26
** Daniel Constantin (politician), Daniel Constantin, Romanian politician
** Cristian Lucchetti, Argentine footballer
* June 28 – Ha Ji-won, South Korean actress and singer
* June 29
** Luke Kirby, Canadian actor
** Nicole Scherzinger, American singer
** Steve Savidan, French footballer
July
* July 1
** Hillary Tuck, American actress
** Aleki Lutui, Tongan rugby player
** Liu Kwok Man, Chinese footballer
** Mark Hunter (rower), Mark Hunter, British rower
* July 2
** Ganesh (actor), Ganesh, Indian actor and television presenter
** Diana Gurtskaya, Georgian singer
** Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician and 18th Prime Minister of Estonia
* July 3
** Jesse Leach, America vocalist
** Mizuki Noguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
* July 4 – Becki Newton, American actress
* July 5
** Andreas Baum, German politician
** Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Indian actor and film producer
* July 6
** Daphne Iking, Malaysian television personality and actress
** Danil Khalimov, Kazakh Greco-Roman wrestler
** Tia Mowry, Tia and Tamera Mowry, African-American actresses
** Kevin Senio, New Zealand rugby union footballer
* July 7
** Chris Andersen, American basketball player
** DJ Manian, German music producer and DJ
** Marino Franchitti, British racing driver
** Mark Sloan (wrestler), Mark Sloan, British professional wrestler
* July 8
** Rachael Lillis, American voice actress
** Erin Morgenstern, American artist and author
** Garth Mulroy, South African golfer
* July 9
** Kyle Davis (actor), Kyle Davis, American actor
** Dmitri Dyuzhev, Russian actor and singer
** Mark Medlock, German singer
** Linda Park, Korean-born actress
* July 10
** Ray Kay, Norwegian director and photographer
** Jesse Lacey, American singer-songwriter
* July 11
** Kris Law, Malaysian actor
** Kim Kang-woo, South Korean actor
** Dustin Demri-Burns, English actor, comedian, writer
** Mattias Gustafsson, Swedish handball player
* July 12
** Topher Grace, American actor
** Michelle Rodriguez, American actress
* July 13
** Gary David, Filipino professional basketball player
** Jessica Barth, American actress
* July 15
** Matt Mitrione, American mixed martial artist
** Greg Sestero, French-American actor and model
* July 16 – Ahmede Hussain, Bangladeshi writer
* July 17
** Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear, American musician
** Justine Triet, French actress
* July 18
** Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player
** Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
** Virginia Raggi, Italian lawyer, politician
** Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
** Vladimir Tintor (actor), Vladimir Tintor, Serbian film actor
* July 19 – Atsushi Harada, Japanese actor
* July 20
** Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey player
** Tamsyn Manou, Australian athlete
* July 21
** Josh Hartnett, American actor
** Kyoko Iwasaki, Japanese swimmer
* July 22
** A. J. Cook, Canadian actress
** Ryan Eigenmann, Filipino actor
** Kyōko Hasegawa, Japanese model and actress
* July 23
** Stuart Elliott (footballer, born 1978), Stuart Elliott, Northern Irish footballer
** Stefanie Sun, Singapore singer
* July 25
** Louise Brown, British citizen, first human born through in vitro fertilisation
** Gerard Warren, American football player
* July 26
** Jehad Muntasser, Libyan footballer
** Eve Myles, Welsh actress
* July 28 – Hitomi Yaida, Japanese singer
* July 31
** Zac Brown Band, Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
** Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
** Justin Wilson (racing driver), Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015)
* July – Caucher Birkar, born Fereydoun Derakhshani, Kurdish-born mathematician
August
* August 3
** Mariusz Jop, Polish footballer
** Shanelle Workman, American actress
* August 4 – Kurt Busch, American race car driver
* August 5
** Carolina Duer, Argentine boxer
** Harel Levy, Israeli tennis player
* August 6
** Marisa Miller, American supermodel
** Freeway (rapper), Freeway, American rapper
** Peng Cheng-min, Taiwanese baseball player
** Iñaki Rueda, Spanish racing strategist
* August 7
** Alexandre Aja, French director
** Vanness Wu, Taiwanese singer
* August 8
** Countess Vaughn, American actress
** Natsuko Kuwatani, Japanese voice actress
* August 9 – Daniela Denby-Ashe, English actress
* August 10 – Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Indonesian politician and former military officer
* August 15
** Jennie Eisenhower, American actress
** Kerri Walsh Jennings, American beach volleyball player
* August 17
** Vibeke Stene, Norwegian rock singer
** Jelena Karleuša, Serbian pop singer
* August 18 – Andy Samberg, American actor and comedian
* August 20 – Noah Bean, American actor
* August 21
** Reuben Droughns, American football player
** Alan Lee (footballer), Alan Lee, Irish footballer
* August 22
** Vitaliy Balytskyi, Ukrainian football player and manager (d. 2018)
** James Corden, British comedian and television personality
* August 23
** Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (d. 2020)
** Julian Casablancas, American singer-songwriter and musician
* August 24 – Rafael Furcal, Dominican baseball player
* August 25 – Kel Mitchell, American actor, stand-up comedian, musician, singer, and rapper
* August 26 – Amanda Schull, American actress
* August 27 – Suranne Jones, English actress
* August 28
** Kelly Overton (actress), Kelly Overton, American actress
** Rachel Kimsey, American actress
** Sam Wills, New Zealand comic
* August 29 – Danielle Hampton, Canadian actress
* August 31
** Ido Pariente, Israeli mixed martial artist
** Jennifer Ramírez Rivero, Venezuelan model and businesswoman (d. 2018)
September
* September 1 – Max Vieri, Italian Australian footballer
* September 3 – Tinkara Kovač, Slovenian singer and musician
* September 4
** Wes Bentley, American actor
** Frederik Veuchelen, Belgian cyclist
* September 6
** Mathew Horne, English actor
** Homare Sawa, Japanese footballer
* September 7 – Devon Sawa, Canadian actor
* September 9 – Gina Gogean, Romania artistic gymnast
* September 11
** Ed Reed, American football player
** Ben Lee, Australian singer
** Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk, Norwegian handball player
* September 12
** Ruben Studdard, American singer
** Ben McKenzie, American actor
* September 13
** Megan Henning, American actress
** Swizz Beatz, American record producer and rapper
* September 14
** Ben Cohen (rugby union), Ben Cohen, English rugby union player
** Ron DeSantis, American politician, 46th Governor of Florida
** Carmen Kass, Estonian supermodel
* September 15
** Eiður Guðjohnsen, Icelandic football player
** David Sneddon, Scottish singer-songwriter
* September 18 – Billy Eichner, American actor and comedian
* September 20
** Jason Bay, Canadian baseball player
** Patrizio Buanne, Italian singer
** Sarit Hadad, Israeli pop singer
* September 21
** Doug Howlett, New Zealand rugby union player
** Josh Thomson, American mixed martial artist
* September 22 – Harry Kewell, Australian footballer
* September 23
** Anthony Mackie, American actor
** Worm Miller, American screenwriter, director and actor
** Keri Lynn Pratt, American actress
* September 24 – Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer
* September 25
** Jodie Kidd, English model
** Rossif Sutherland, Canadian actor
* September 27 – Ani Lorak, Ukrainian singer
* September 28
**Dane Boedigheimer, American Internet personality
**Pastora Soler, Spanish singer
* September 29 – Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian singer
* September 30 – Candice Michelle, American professional wrestler and model
October
* October 1 – Katie Aselton, American actress
* October 2 – Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer
* October 3
** Jake Shears, American singer and songwriter
** Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian footballer
** Gerald Asamoah, German footballer
** Ricardo Rocha (footballer, born 1978), Ricardo Rocha, Portuguese footballer
** Christian Coulson, English actor
** Shannyn Sossamon, American actress
* October 4
** Dana Davis, American actress
** Mark Day (actor), Mark Day, Canadian actor
** Phillip Glasser, American actor and producer
** Kei Horie, Japanese actor
* October 5
** Shane Ryan (Dublin Gaelic footballer), Shane Ryan, Irish Gaelic footballer
** James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, American musician
** Morgan Webb, television personality
* October 7 – Omar Benson Miller, American actor
* October 9 – Nicky Byrne, Irish musician (Westlife)
* October 10 – QBoy, UK-based rapper, producer, DJ, writer and presenter
* October 14
** Paul Hunter, English snooker player (d. 2006)
** Usher (musician), Usher, American singer and actor, is born.
* October 17 – Pablo Iglesias Turrión, Spanish politician
* October 20
** Tomohiko Itō (director), Tomohiko Ito, Japanese anime director
** Michael Johns (singer), Michael Johns, Australian singer (d. 2014)
** Kira (German singer), Kira, German singer
** Dionne Quan, American voice actress
** Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
* October 21 – Joey Harrington, American football player
* October 24 – Carlos Edwards, Trinidadian footballer
* October 25
** Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer
** Zachary Knighton, American actor
** David T. Little, American composer and drummer
* October 26 – CM Punk, American professional wrestler
* October 27
** David Walton (actor), David Walton, American actor
** Vanessa-Mae, Singaporean violinist
* October 28
** Justin Guarini, American singer
** Gwendoline Christie, English actress and model
* October 29 – Travis Henry, American football player
* October 30 – Matthew Morrison, American actor and singer
November
* November 1
** Jessica Valenti, American blogger and writer
** Manju Warrier, Indian actress
** Mary Kate Schellhardt, American actress
* November 3 – Tim McIlrath, American singer
* November 4 – Shaun Berrigan, Australian rugby league player
* November 5
** Bubba Watson, American golfer
** Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist (d. 2011)
* November 6
** Nicole Dubuc, American actress and writer
** Taryn Manning, American actress
** Sandrine Blancke, Belgian actress
* November 7
** Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
** Mark Read (singer), Mark Read, English singer (A1 (band), A1)
* November 8
** Moses Michael Levi Barrow (born Jamal Michael Barrow), better known by his stage name Shyne, Belizean rapper and politician
** Ali Karimi, Iranian football player
* November 9 – Sisqó, American actor and singer
* November 10
** Nadine Angerer, German footballer
** Kyla Cole, Czech model
** Diplo, American DJ and music producer
** Eve (rapper), Eve, African-American rapper
** Akemi Kanda, Japanese voice actress
** Drew McConnell, English musician
* November 12 – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Pakistani journalist, activist and filmmaker
* November 13 – Hsu Wei Lun, Taiwanese actress (d. 2007)
* November 14
** Bobby Allen (ice hockey), Bobby Allen, American ice hockey player
** Xavier Nady, American baseball player
* November 17
** Rachel McAdams, Canadian actress
** Reggie Wayne, American football player
* November 18
** Daniel Chong, American animator
** Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
** Aldo Montano (fencer born 1978), Aldo Montano, Italian fencer
* November 19
** Chad Doreck, American actor
** Matt Dusk, Canadian musician and singer
* November 22 – Karen O, American singer-songwriter and musician
* November 23 – Destin Daniel Cretton, American film director
* November 24 – Katherine Heigl, American actress
* November 25 – Shiina Ringo, Japanese singer and musician
* November 26 – Jun Fukuyama, Japanese voice actor
* November 27 – Mike Skinner (musician), Mike Skinner, English musician
* November 28 – Aimee Garcia, American actress
* November 29 – Lauren German, American actress
* November 30
** Clay Aiken, American singer-songwriter and author
** Gael García Bernal, Mexican actor
** Robert Kirkman, American comic book writer
December
* December 1 – Stefan Kapičić, Serbian actor
* December 2
** Nelly Furtado, Portuguese-Canadian singer and songwriter
** Alo Kõrve, Estonian actor
* December 4 – Lars Bystøl, Norwegian ski jumper
* December 5
** Neil Druckmann, Israeli-American video game writer and programmer, founder of Naughty Dog
** Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
* December 7
** Shiri Appleby, American actress
** Kristofer Hivju, Norwegian actor
* December 8
** Chung-Ming Wang, Taiwan Wikipedian, politician, environmentalist and gay rights activist.
** Ian Somerhalder, American actor
* December 9 – Gastón Gaudio, Argentine tennis player
* December 10 – Summer Phoenix, American actress
* December 12 – Monica Bîrlădeanu, Romanian actress
* December 17
** Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor, architect, producer and entrepreneur
** Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and politician
* December 18
** Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player
** Josh Dallas, American actor
** Katie Holmes, American actress
* December 19 – Patrick Casey (writer), Patrick Casey, American screenwriter and actor
* December 20
** Geremi, Cameroon footballer
** Jacqueline Saburido, Venezuelan-American social activist (d. 2019)
**Waleed al-Shehri, 9/11 terrorist (d. 2001)
* December 21 – Shaun Morgan, South African musician and singer-songwriter
* December 22
** Edo Maajka, Bosnian rapper
** Emmanuel Olisadebe, Polish-Nigerian footballer
** Joanne Kelly, Canadian actress
* December 23
** Víctor Martínez (baseball), Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan baseball player
** Estella Warren, Canadian swimmer, model, and actress
* December 24 – Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer
* December 25
** Paula Seling, Romanian singer and radio DJ
** Jeremy Strong (actor), Jeremy Strong, American actor
* December 26 – Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player
* December 28 – John Legend, African-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
* December 29
** Alexis Amore, Peruvian actress, dancer, and model
** Angelo Taylor, American athlete
* December 30
** Tyrese Gibson, African-American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, model, and screenwriter
** Zbigniew Robert Promiński, Inferno, Polish musician
* December 31 – Yulia Barsukova, Russian rhythmic gymnast
Date unknown
*Hind Shoufani, poet, director, and producer, born in Beirut, Lebanon
Deaths
January
*
January 6
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...
– Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
* January 13 – Hubert Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
* January 14 – Kurt Gödel, Austrian-American logician, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1906)
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
– Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (b. 1894)
* January 23
** Terry Kath, American rock musician (Chicago (band), Chicago) (b. 1946)
** Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
* January 26 – Leo Genn, English actor and barrister (b. 1905)
* January 29 – Tim McCoy, American actor (b. 1891)
* January 30 – Marie-Louise Damien, French actress (b. 1889)
February
*
February 9 – Warren King (cartoonist), Warren King, American cartoonist (b. 1916)
* February 10 – Redento Maria Gauci, Maltese Carmelite bishop (b. 1920)
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– James B. Conant, American chemist (b. 1893)
*
February 15
Events Pre-1600
* 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus
* 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia.
* 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
– Ilka Chase, American actress (b. 1905)
* February 17 – Artemiy Artsikhovsky, Soviet archaeologist and historian (b. 1902)
* February 18 – Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
– Pankaj Mullick, Bengali composer and singer (b. 1904)
* February 24 – Alma Thomas, African American painter (b. 1891)
* February 28 – Philip Ahn, Korean-born American actor (b. 1905)
March
*
March 1 – Paul Scott (novelist), Paul Scott, English writer (b. 1920)
* March 13 – John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)
*
March 17
** Eddie Aikau, American lifeguard and surfer (b. 1946)
** Giacomo Violardo, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1898)
* March 19 – Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893)
* March 21 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, Irish barrister, judge and 5th President of Ireland (b. 1911)
*
March 22 – Isidro Ayora, 22nd President of Ecuador (b. 1879)
* March 24 – André Lallemand, French astronomer (b. 1904)
* March 31 – Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905)
April
* April 8 – Lon L. Fuller, American legal philosopher (b. 1902)
*
April 9 – Vivian McGrath, Australian tennis player (b. 1916)
* April 13 – Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian suffragist and women's rights activist (b. 1900)
* April 16
** Lucius D. Clay, American military governor of Germany after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(b. 1897)
** Philibert Tsiranana, Malagasy leader and politician, 1st President of Madagascar (b. 1912)
*
April 18 – Katherine Schmidt, American artist (b. 1899)
* April 21 – Sandy Denny, British singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
** Ralston Crawford, American abstract painter, lithographer, and photographer (b. 1906)
** John Doeg, American tennis player (b. 1908)
May
* May 1 – Aram Khachaturian, Soviet-Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1903)
* May 6 – Ethelda Bleibtrey, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1902)
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
– Duncan Grant, Scottish painter (b. 1885)
*
May 9 –
Aldo Moro, Italian Christian Democratic politician and statesman, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (assassinated) (b. 1916)
* May 13 – Alby Roberts, New Zealander cricketer (b. 1909)
*
May 15 – Robert Menzies, Sir Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
* May 16 – William Steinberg, German-American conductor (b. 1899)
*
May 17 – Armin T. Wegner, German human rights activist (b. 1886)
*
May 18
Events Pre-1600
* 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
* 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 4 ...
– Selwyn Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, English politician (b. 1904)
*
May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
* 11 ...
** Joseph Colombo, American gangster (b. 1923)
** Aubrey Fitch, American admiral (b. 1883)
*
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire take ...
– Tamara Karsavina, Soviet ballerina (b. 1885)
* May 27 – Jorge Icaza Coronel, Jorge Icyaza, Ecuadorean novelist (b. 1906)
* May 31
** József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
** José Gonzalvo, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1920)
June
* June 2 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Santiago Bernabéu, Spanish footballer, player and president of Real Madrid C.F. (b. 1906)
* June 4 – Jorge de Sena, Portuguese novelist and poet (b. 1919)
* June 7 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
* June 12 – Guo Moruo, Chinese archaeologist, historian, poet, politician, and writer (b. 1892)
* June 17 – Robert B. Williams (actor), Robert Williams, American actor (b. 1904)
* June 20 – Mark Robson (film director), Mark Robson, Canadian film director (b. 1913)
* June 24 – Ahmad al-Ghashmi, 4th President of the Yemen Arab Republic (b. 1935)
* June 27 – Josette Day, French actress (b. 1914)
* June 28 – Clifford Dupont, 1st President of Rhodesia (b. 1905)
* June 29 – Bob Crane, American actor, drummer, radio host, and disc jockey (b. 1928)
July
* July 1 – Kurt Student, Luftwaffe general and commander of the German airborne forces during World War II. (b. 1890)
* July 3 – James Daly (actor), James Daly, American actor (b. 1918)
* July 7 – Francisco Mendes, Guinea-Bissau politician, 1st Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
* July 10 – Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, 31st Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1934)
* July 14 – Gaston Ragueneau, French athlete (b. 1881)
* July 16 – Howard Estabrook, American actor (b. 1884)
* July 17 – Thayer David, American actor (b. 1927)
* July 27 – Willem van Otterloo, Dutch conductor, cellist and composer (b. 1907)
* July 30 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator and explorer (b. 1885)
* July 31 – Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1902)
August
* August 1 – W. E. Butler, British occultist (b. 1898)
* August 6
** Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
** Edward Durell Stone, American architect (b. 1902)
* August 19 – Emilio Núñez Portuondo, Cuban diplomat and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Cuba (b. 1898)
* August 22 – Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan activist, politician and statesman, 1st Prime Minister of Kenya and 1st President of Kenya (b. 1894)
* August 23 – Agustín Isunza, Mexican actor (b. 1900)
* August 24 – Louis Prima, Italian-born American singer and actor (b. 1910)
* August 25
** Olivier Hussenot, French actor (b. 1913)
** George E. Jonas, American philanthropist (b. 1897)
* August 26
** Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899)
** José Manuel Moreno, Argentine football player (b. 1916)
* August 28
** Kofi Abrefa Busia, Ghanese nationalist leader, 2nd Prime Minister of Ghana (b. 1913)
** Robert Shaw (actor), Robert Shaw, British actor (b. 1927)
September
* September 3 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (b. 1906)
* September 4 – Leonora Cohen, British suffragette and trade unionist (b. 1873)
* September 6 – Adolf Dassler – Founder of Adidas (b. 1900)
* September 7 – Keith Moon, English rock drummer (The Who) (b. 1946)
* September 8 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (b. 1901)
* September 9
** Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (b. 1892)
** Jack L. Warner, Canadian-American film producer (b. 1892)
* September 11
** Mike Gazella, American baseball player (b. 1895)
** Valerian Gracias, Indian Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal (b. 1911)
** Georgi Markov, Bulgarian playwright and writer (b. 1929)
** Ronnie Peterson, Swedish Formula One driver (b. 1944)
* September 12 – Frank Ferguson, American actor (b. 1899)
* September 15 – Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer and manufacturer (b. 1898)
* September 21 – Peter Vogel (actor), Peter Vogel, German film actor (b. 1937)
* September 23 – Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (b. 1950)
* September 24 – Hasso von Manteuffel, German army general (b. 1897)
* September 27 – Sergei Aslamazyan, Soviet composer (b. 1897)
* September 28 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
* September 30 – Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (b. 1903)
October
* October 4 – Roy L. Dennis, American teenager who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (b. 1961)
* October 8 – Karl Swenson, American actor (b. 1908)
* October 9 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer (b. 1929)
* October 10
** Ralph Metcalfe, American Olympic athlete (b. 1910)
** Hermes Lima, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Brazil (b. 1902)
* October 11 – Ruthven Todd, Scottish poet, artist, and novelist (b. 1914)
* October 12 – Nancy Spungen, American groupie and girlfriend of Sid Vicious (b. 1958)
* October 15 – W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (b. 1918)
* October 16 – Dan Dailey, American actor (b. 1915)
* October 19 – Gig Young, American actor (b. 1913)
* October 21 – Anastas Mikoyan, Russian revolutionary and Soviet statesman (b. 1895)
* October 23 – Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia (b. 1896)
* October 28 – Geoffrey Unsworth, British cinematographer (b. 1914)
November
* November 4 – Arshad al-Umari, 15th Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1888)
* November 8 – Norman Rockwell, American artist (b. 1894)
* November 10 – Theo Lingen, German actor (b. 1903)
* November 15 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
* November 18
** Leo Ryan, American politician (b. 1925)
** Jim Jones, American cult leader (b. 1931)
* November 20 – Giorgio de Chirico, Italian painter (b. 1888)
* November 24 – Warren Weaver, American scientist and mathematician (b. 1894)
* November 27 – George Moscone, American politician and then-mayor of
San Francisco
* November 27 – Harvey Milk, American politician and activist (b. 1930)
December
* December 3 – William Grant Still, American composer (b. 1895)
* December 7 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist and avian palaeontologist (b. 1886)
* December 8 – Golda Meir, Israeli teacher, politician and stateswoman, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)
* December 10
** Emilio Portes Gil, Acting president of Mexico, 1928-1930 (b. 1890)
** Ed Wood, American filmmaker, actor and author (b. 1924)
* December 11 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist (b. 1901)
* December 12 – Fay Compton, English actress (b. 1894)
* December 14 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish diplomat, writer, historian, and pacifist (b. 1886)
* December 17 – Don Ellis, American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader (b. 1934)
* December 27
** Chris Bell (American musician), Chris Bell, American musician (b. 1951)
** Houari Boumédiènne, 2nd President of Algeria (b. 1932)
* December 31 – Nicolau dos Reis Lobato, East Timorese politician, acting President of East Timor (b. 1946)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias, Robert Woodrow Wilson
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Peter D. Mitchell
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Isaac Bashevis Singer
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Anwar Sadat, Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Herbert A. Simon
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1978
1978,