List of events
Events from the year 1978 in the United States .
February 5–7: Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978
April 2 – The CBS soap opera Dallas is launched. It is set to be aired later this year in several countries, including the United Kingdom by the BBC .[ 5]
April 3 – The 50th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Bob Hope for the final time, is held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles . Woody Allen 's Annie Hall wins Best Picture , with Allen winning Best Director . George Lucas ' Star Wars wins six awards, while Fred Zinnemann 's Julia and Herbert Ross ' The Turning Point both receive eleven nominations each.
April 7 – President Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the neutron bomb – a weapon which kills people with radiation but leaves buildings relatively intact.
April 10 – The Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania is dedicated, having begun production of the Rabbit, the North American version of the Volkswagen Golf , the previous week.[ 6] Volkswagen thus becomes the second non-American automobile manufacturer (after Rolls-Royce in 1921–1931) to open a plant in the United States.[ 7] (The plant closes in 1988.)[ 8]
April 18 – The U.S. Senate votes 68–32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.
April 25 – St. Paul, Minnesota becomes the second U.S. city to repeal its gay rights ordinance after Anita Bryant 's successful 1977 anti-gay campaign in Dade County, Florida .
April 27 – Willow Island disaster – 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 in Willow Island, West Virginia .[ 9] [ 10]
April 28 – WAC abolished; women integrated into regular Army .
September 17: Camp David Accords
October 2 – The New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox 5–4 at Fenway Park to clinch the AL East after being 14 games out of first place only two months earlier. The Yankees would eventually go on to defeat the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers and win the World Series .
October 4 – Pier 39 opens on Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco , as a tourist attraction.
October 10 – President Jimmy Carter signs a bill that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar .
October 14 – President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law which allows homebrewing of beer in the United States.
October 17 – The New York Yankees clinch their 22nd World Series championship, defeating the Dodgers 7–2 in Los Angeles and winning the Series 4 games to 2.
October 25 – John Carpenter 's low-budget slasher film , Halloween , starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence , is released.
October 27 – President Jimmy Carter signs the Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment Act , adjusting the government's economic goals to include full employment , growth in production, price stability , and balance of trade and budget .
December 3 – The Southern Crescent passenger train derails at Shipman, Virginia , killing six and injuring 60.[ 15]
December 4 – Dianne Feinstein succeeds the murdered George Moscone as San Francisco, California 's first woman mayor (she serves until January 8, 1988).
December 11 – Lufthansa heist : Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City 's Kennedy airport .
December 13 – The first Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation.
December 15
December 22 – Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy , who is subsequently convicted of the murder of 33 young men, is arrested.
December 28 – United Airlines Flight 173 during a flight leg from Denver, Colorado , to Portland, Oregon , makes a forced emergency landing in a suburban neighborhood in Portland after running out of fuel, killing 10 of 189 people on board.[ 16]
Karina Smirnoff
January Jones
Brent Smith
Jeremy Camp
Josh Thompson
Kristen Schaal
Liz Carey
January 2 – Karina Smirnoff , Ukrainian-born dancer
January 3
January 5
January 6
January 7 – Kevin Mench , baseball player
January 9
January 10
January 11
January 12
January 13
January 14
January 15 – Eddie Cahill , actor
January 18
January 19
January 20 – Joy Giovanni , wrestler, model, and actress
January 21
January 23
January 24 – Kristen Schaal , actress, comedian, and writer
January 25
January 26
January 27
January 28 – Big Freedia , musician
January 29
January 30 – Donald Barrett , drummer
January 31
Kelly Sullivan
Ashton Kutcher
Danai Gurira
Jay Hernandez
Darren Soto
Adam Kinzinger
Jensen Ackles
Nick Zano
Benjamin Burnley
Kevin Federline
Perez Hilton
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 4 – Nate Ackerman , British-born mathematician and wrestler
March 6
March 7 – Mike Reese , politician (d. 2021)
March 8 – Nick Zano , actor
March 9
March 10 – Benjamin Burnley , singer and frontman for Breaking Benjamin
March 12
March 13
March 14 – Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte , Azerbaijani-born writer, lecturer, philanthropist, and activist
March 15 – Marshal Dutton , singer/songwriter, guitarist, and frontman for Hinder
March 16
March 17
March 18
March 19 – Jason Barrett , politician
March 20
March 21
March 22 – Josh Heupel , football player
March 23
March 24 – Amir Arison , actor
March 27 – Dee Brown , baseball player
March 28 – Case Brittain , attorney and politician
March 29
March 30 – Josh Bard , baseball player
March 31 – Sonia Chang-Díaz , politician
Lauren Ridloff
Austin Aries
Chris Stapleton
James Franco
Stana Katic
Pablo Schreiber
April 1
April 2
April 3 – Mehrsa Baradaran , Iranian-born law professor
April 4 – Jason Ellison , baseball player
April 5
April 6
April 12
April 13
April 15
April 16 – Duane Betts , singer/songwriter and guitarist for The Allman Betts Band
April 17
April 18
April 19
April 20
April 21
April 22
DJ Drama , DJ, record executive, and music promoter
Manu Intiraymi, actor
April 23 – Ian Brennan , screenwriter, director and actor
April 24
April 25 – Ben Bridwell , singer/songwriter and frontman for Band of Horses
April 26
April 27 – Jim James , guitarist and frontman for My Morning Jacket
April 28 – Robert Oliveri , actor
April 29 – Bob and Mike Bryan , tennis team and twin brothers
April 30 – Kim Black , Olympic swimmer
James Badge Dale
Kenan Thompson
Malin Akerman
Jason Biggs
David Krumholtz
Greg Steube
Ginnifer Goodwin
Jake Johnson
Nikki Cox
Justin Long
Robin Lord Taylor
Nick Kroll
DJ Qualls
Joshua Jackson
Zoe Saldana
Rampage Jackson
Charlamagne tha God
Nicole Scherzinger
June 1
June 2
June 4
June 5 – Nick Kroll , actor and comedian
June 6
June 7
June 8 – Maria Menounos , actress, journalist, and television presenter
June 9
June 10
June 11 – Joshua Jackson , Canadian-born actor
June 12
June 13
June 14
June 18
June 19
June 20
June 21 – Michelle Au , anesthesiologist and politician
June 22 – Champ Bailey , football player
June 23
June 24
June 25
June 26
June 27
June 28 – Courtney Burton , boxer
June 29
June 30
Tia Mowry
Tamera Mowry
Jesse Watters
Topher Grace
Michelle Rodriguez
Josh Hartnett
Nikema Williams
Zac Brown
July 1
July 2 – Kathryn Sophia Belle , philosopher and professor
July 3
July 4
July 6
July 7
July 8
July 9
July 10 – Jesse Lacey , singer/songwriter
July 12
July 13 – Jessica Barth , actress
July 14 – Mike Burns , baseball player
July 15
July 16 – Brian Bianchini , model and actor (d. 2004)
July 17
July 18
July 19
July 20
July 21
July 22
July 23 – Lauren Groff , fiction writer
July 24 – Michael Boireau , football player
July 25
July 26 – Major Applewhite , football player and coach
July 27
July 28 – Julian Peterson , football player
July 29 – Mike Adams , baseball player
July 30
July 31
Kurt Busch
Andy Samberg
Kobe Bryant
Kel Mitchell
Kelly Overton
Wes Bentley
Ben McKenzie
Ron DeSantis
Anthony Mackie
Brad Arnold
Candice Michelle
September 2 – Courtland Bullard , football player
September 4
September 6
September 7 – Sarah E. Buxton , politician
September 8 – Steve Barnett , politician
September 9
September 10 – Russ Buller , pole vaulter
September 11 – Ed Reed , football player
September 12
September 13
September 14
September 15 – Charles Grigsby , singer
September 16
September 17 – Karen Akunowicz , chef, cookbook author, and television personality
September 18 – Billy Eichner , actor and comedian
September 20 – Jason Bay , Canadian-born baseball player
September 21 – Josh Thomson , mixed martial artist
September 23
September 24 – Chris Bala , ice hockey player
September 25
September 26 – Kara Medoff Barnett , business executive and arts administrator, executive director of the American Ballet Theatre
September 27
September 28
September 29 – Mohini Bhardwaj , Olympic artistic gymnast
September 30 – Candice Michelle , wrestler and model
Jake Shears
James Valentine
Victoria Spartz
Omar Benson Miller
Usher
Mike Levin
Seth Moulton
Byron Donalds
CM Punk
October 1
October 2 – Deanna Ballard , politician
October 3
October 4
October 5
October 6
October 7 – Omar Benson Miller , actor
October 9
October 10
October 11
October 14
October 15 – Wes Moore , author, entrepreneur, television producer, and Army veteran
October 16 – Mersim Beskovic , soccer player
October 18
October 20
October 21
October 23
October 24
October 25
October 26
October 27
October 28
October 29 – Travis Henry , football player
October 30 – Matthew Morrison , actor, dancer, and singer
October 31 – Brian Hallisay , actor
Bubba Watson
Diplo
Eve
Katherine Heigl
Lauren German
Robert Kirkman
November 1
November 2 – William D. Swenson , Army Lt. Colonel and Medal of Honor Recipient
November 3
November 5 – Bubba Watson , golfer
November 6
November 7
November 8 – Michael Boggs , Christian musician
November 9
November 10
Diplo , DJ and music producer
Eve , rapper
November 11 – Aaron Bruno , singer/songwriter and frontman for Awolnation
November 12 – Lena Yada , model and professional wrestling manager
November 13
November 14
November 15 – Floyd Womack , football player
November 16
November 17 – Reggie Wayne , football player
November 18 – Daniel Chong , animator
November 19
November 20
November 22
November 23 – Destin Daniel Cretton , director
November 24
November 25 – Joe Borchard , baseball player
November 26 – Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz , nonfiction writer and poet
November 27 – Josh Blue , comedian
November 28
November 29
November 30
Jen Psaki
Ian Somerhalder
Jesse Metcalfe
Josh Dallas
Katie Holmes
John Legend
August Pfluger
Tyrese Gibson
December 1
December 4
December 5
Neil Druckmann , Israeli-born video game writer and programmer, founder of Naughty Dog
David Hodges , singer/songwriter and record producer
December 6
December 7
December 8
December 9
December 10
December 11 – Courtney Henggeler , actress
December 12
December 13
December 14 – Cedric Bonner , football player
December 15
December 16
December 17
December 18
December 19 – Patrick Casey , screenwriter and actor
December 20 – Jacqueline Saburido , Venezuelan-born social activist (d. 2019 )
December 22
December 23
December 24 – Tony Angelo , drift racer and stunt driver
December 25 – Jeremy Strong , actor
December 27 – Yasemin Besen–Cassino , sociologist and professor
December 28
December 29
December 30
Sari Anderson , multisport and endurance athlete
Devin Brown , basketball player
Vanessa Short Bull , beauty pageant titleholder
Tyrese Gibson , singer/songwriter, rapper, actor, model, and screenwriter
Andrea Tantaros , television host, political analyst, and commentator
December 31
Stella Abrera
Zoltan Bathory
Evan Blass
William Michael Boyle
Eric Abrahamsen , translator for the Chinese language
Stella Abrera , Philippine-born ballerina
Adeem , rapper
Deborah Ager , poet
Tanya Aguiñiga , artist
Allison Ahlfeldt , Paralympic volleyball player
Nilo Alcala , Philippine-born composer
Dick Allen , bowler
Kalliope Amorphous , artist
Ryan G. Anderson , convicted terrorist
Apexer , artist
Bomani Armah , vocalist
Josh Azzarella , artist
Christian Baldini , opera and orchestra conductor
Audrey Barcio , artist
Simon Barrett , actor, producer, and screenwriter
Zoltan Bathory , Hungarian-born guitarist for Five Finger Death Punch
Matt Bean , journalist
Claire Beckett , photographer
Vaughn Bell , artist
Christopher Belmonte , radio personality
Stacey Bendet , fashion designer and founder of Alice + Olivia
Ruha Benjamin , Indian-born sociologist and professor
Paul Bennecke , political consultant
Jenn Bennett , German-born author and novelist
Kathryn Biber , lawyer and political counsel
Melanie Bilenker , artist
Margot Black , tenant rights organizer, activist, grass-roots lobbyist, and political candidate
Sara Black , artist
Craig Blais , poet
M. Blash , director, screenwriter, actor, and visual artist
Evan Blass , blogger, editor, and phone leaker
J. T. Blatty , photojournalist and Army Captain
Kevin Blechdom , experimental electronic musician and performance artist
Jaswinder Bolina , poet
William Michael Boyle , author
Alex Brewer , artist
Sean Brock , chef
Kelsey Brookes , artist
Julia Brown , artist
Laurie Brown , photographer
Kasey Buckles , professor of economics
Noah Buschel , director and screenwriter
Rhett Ayers Butler , journalist and author
Hubert Humphrey
Blossom Rock
Kurt Gödel
Philip Ahn
Lucius D. Clay
Thomas Wyatt Turner
Bill Lear
Bob Crane
Charles Boyer
Jack L. Warner
Gig Young
Gene Tunney
Jim Jones
Harvey Milk
January 6 – John D. MacArthur , businessman and philanthropist (born 1897 )
January 9 – Robert Daniel Murphy , diplomat (born 1894 )
January 13
January 14
January 18
January 20 – Gilbert Highet , classicist, academic, writer, intellectual, critic and literary historian (born 1906 in Scotland )
January 23
January 30 – Thomas Finney , lawyer and political strategist (born 1925 )[ 18]
February 9 – Warren King , cartoonist (born 1916 )
February 14 – Claude Binyon , screenwriter and director (born 1905 )
February 16 – Edward Lindberg , Olympic track athlete (born 1886 )
February 18 – Maggie McNamara , actress (born 1928 )
February 22
February 28
March 13 – John Cazale , film actor (born 1935 )
March 18
March 19 – Faith Baldwin , romantic novelist and poet (born 1893 )
March 22
March 23 – Bill Kenny , vocalist (born 1914 )
March 31 – Charles Best , American-Canadian medical scientist (born 1899 )
April 9 – Michael Wilson , screenwriter (born 1914 )
April 16 – Lucius D. Clay , military governor of Germany from 1947 to 1949 (born 1897 )
April 19 – Joe Dougherty , first voice of Porky Pig (born 1898 )
April 21 – Thomas Wyatt Turner , civil rights activist, biologist and educator; first African American to receive a doctorate from Cornell (born 1877 )
April 22 – Will Geer , actor, activist, and musician (born 1902 )
May 1 – Edgar Church , comic book collector (born 1888 )
May 6 – Ethelda Bleibtrey , Olympic swimmer (born 1902)[ 19]
May 12 – Louis Zukofsky , modernist poet (born 1904 )
May 14 – Bill Lear , inventor and businessman (born 1902 )
May 16 – William Steinberg , conductor (born 1899 )
May 22
June 3 – Frank Stanford , poet, suicide (born 1948 )
June 18 – Walter C. Alvarez , physician and writer (born 1884 )
June 29 – Bob Crane , actor, drummer, disc jockey, and radio personality (born 1928 )
July 10 – John D. Rockefeller III , philanthropist (born 1906 )
July 18 – Claude P. Dettloff , photographer (born 1899 )
July 26 – Mary Blair , artist, animator, and designer (born 1911 )
July 31 – Enoch Light , violinist, danceband leader, recording engineer (born 1907 )
August 2 – Totie Fields , comedian (born 1930 )
August 4 – Frank Fontaine , comedian and singer (born 1920 )
August 5 – Queenie Smith , actress (born 1898 )
August 14 – Joe Venuti , jazz violinist (born 1903)
August 21 – Charles Eames , architect and designer (born 1907 )
August 24
August 26 – Charles Boyer , film actor (born 1899 in France )
August 27 – Gordon Matta-Clark , artist, cancer (born 1943 )
August 28 – Bruce Catton , Civil War historian, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1954 (born 1899)
August 31 – Lee Garmes , cinematographer (born 1899 )
September 6 – Tom Wilson , record producer (born 1931 )
September 9 – Jack L. Warner , Canadian-American film executive (born 1892 )
September 11 – Mike Gazella , baseball player (born 1895 )
September 12 – Frank Ferguson , actor (born 1899 )
September 24
September 30 – Edgar Bergen , actor and ventriloquist (born 1903)
October 4 – Roy L. Dennis , American teenager with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (born 1961 )
October 8 – Bertha Parker Pallan , Native American archaeologist (born 1907)
October 10 – Ralph Metcalfe , sprinter and U.S. Congressman (born 1910 )
October 12 – Nancy Spungen , groupie and girlfriend of Sid Vicious , killed (born 1958 )
October 16
October 19 – Gig Young , actor (born 1913 )
October 23 – Maybelle Carter , musician (born 1909 )
November 7
November 8 – Norman Rockwell , painter and illustrator (born 1894 )
November 15 – Margaret Mead , cultural anthropologist (born 1901 )[ 21]
November 18
November 25 – Elaine Esposito , coma victim (born 1934 )
November 27 – Harvey Milk , politician and gay activist, killed (born 1930 )
December 3 – William Grant Still , "the Dean" of African American composers (born 1895 )
December 10 – Ed Wood , American filmmaker, actor, writer, producer and director (born 1924 )
December 15 – Chill Wills , actor (born 1902 )
December 16 – Blanche Calloway , singer, composer, and bandleader (born 1902 )
December 17 – Don Ellis , musician and bandleader (born 1934 )
December 27 – Chris Bell , guitarist, singer and songwriter (born 1951 )
December 28 – Harry Winston , diamond dealer (born 1896 )
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^ Baker, Chris (2 April 2012). "Critique: 'Dallas' Episode 1 – 'Digger's Daughter' " . Dallas Decoder . Retrieved 22 August 2021 .
^ Wylie, William H. (10 April 1978). "Westmoreland Rabbits on Parade" . The Pittsburgh Press . Vol. 91, no. 287. pp. A-1, A-6. Retrieved 24 August 2021 .
^ "U.S. Rabbit All Set to Hop" . Time . 10 April 1978. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2021 .
^ Acton, Robin (24 August 2008). "Local workers recall East Huntingdon plant closing" . Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2021 .
^ Peterson, Iver (28 April 1978). "51 Killed in Collapse of Scaffold at Power Plant in West Virginia" . The New York Times . p. A1. Retrieved 3 September 2021 .
^ Ward, Ken Jr. (27 April 2008). " 'It was gone': String of problems led to 51 deaths at Willow Island" . The Charleston Gazette . Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2021 .
^ "History of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival – Belmont Stakes – Belmont Stakes" . belmontstakes.com .
^ "Grease (1978) – IMDb" . IMDb.
^ Schwartz, Larry (August 12, 1978). "Stingley paralyzed after being clocked by Tatum" . ESPN Classic. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2021 .
^ James Stuart Olson , ed. (1999). "Chronology" . Historical Dictionary of the 1970s . Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-30543-6 .
^ "Investigators probe fatal train wreck" . Anchorage Daily News . 1978-12-05. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2016-09-19 .
^ "The deadly Portland plane crash that changed airline industry" . KOIN.com . 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2023-12-04 .
^ Willis, Dorothy. "The New Improved Version of BJ Penn, UFC MMA Warrior" . Bleacher Report . Retrieved 2024-08-23 .
^ "Thomas Finney, Lawyer, Political Strategist, Dies" . The Washington Post . February 1, 1978. Retrieved 12 July 2023 .
^ "Ethelda Bleibtrey" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 8 March 2021 .
^ The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
^ "Margaret Mead | Biography, Theory, Books, & Facts" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 16 February 2020 .