September 17, 1978: Egypt's PresidentAnwar Sadat, U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter, and Israeli Prime MinisterMenachem Begin conclude Middle East peace agreement after negotiations atCamp David U.S. presidential retreatSeptember 25, 1978: Crash of PSA Flight 182 kills 144 people in San Diego
Home Theater Network (HTN), the second pay television film channel in the U.S., premiered as a lower-priced ($3.75 per month) competitor to the existingHome Box Office (HBO). Initially shown on New England Cablevision inPortland, Maine, and on for four hours a day, HTN limited its telecasts to films with a "G" or "PG" rating.[1] Unable to increase its viewership sufficiently to meet its expenses, HTN would continue until its shutdown on January 31, 1987.[2]
TheSpeedway bombings, random explosions of homemade bombs, began in the Indianapolis suburb ofSpeedway, Indiana, at 9:50 in the evening with a blast from inside a trash container outside the Hi-Fi Buys store in the Speedway Shopping Center, where windows and a car windshield were shattered, followed 10 minutes later by one in a dumpster behind the Speedway motel and a third at 10:45 in a residential neighborhood.[3]
Born:Adam Yahiye Gadahn, American-born terrorist member of al-Qaeda; as Adam Pearlman in ruralOregon (killed in drone strike, 2015)
The crash of an Airwest Airlines twin-engine Otter airplane killed 11 of the 13 people on board after plunging into the harbor while attempting to land onVancouver Island inCanada. All of the passengers were Japanese tourists. The airplane broke into two on impact, floated briefly, and then sank in 13 feet (4.0 m) of water.[4]
Fred G. Meyer, 92, German-born American grocery store entrepreneur and founder of theFred Meyer store chain[6]
Charles F. Blair Jr., 69, pioneering American aviator, military officer in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force, founder and owner of theAntilles Air Boats commuter airline, was killed in the crash of Antilles Air Boats Flight 941, along with three of his 10 passengers.[7][8]
Pope John Paul I was formally installed as the 263rd pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, with ceremonies taking place at St. Peter's Square in Rome before a crowd of 250,000 people, and an estimated one billion television viewers worldwide.[15]
Seven people were killed at a Labor Day festival in the U.S. town ofDerry, Pennsylvania, and 13 seriously injured, when aHughes 269-C helicopter stalled while flying at low altitude over the parking lot of the St. Joseph's Church.[20]
U.S. CongressmanDaniel Flood, who had represented his district in Pennsylvania for 27 years, was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of perjury on charges of lying about receiving illegal payoffs from persons benefiting from legislation that he had sponsored.[25] Although re-elected in November, Flood would resign halfway through his term in January 1980.
Nikodim Rotov, 48, Russian Orthodox Church archbishop and the Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod, collapsed and died of a heart attack while at a papal audience withPope John Paul I.[27]
Joe Negroni, 37, American rock and roll singer, died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Joe Glick, 75, American boxer and former world welterweight champion[28]
Adolf "Adi" Dassler, 77, German cobbler, inventor and entrepreneur who founded the athletic shoe and sportswear companyAdidas[32]
Willi-Peter Stoll, 28, West German terrorist with the Red Army Faction, suspected of direct involvement in the kidnapping and murder ofHanns Martin Schleyer, was shot to death after police inDüsseldorf spotted him at the Shanghai Chinese Restaurant. Stoll pulled a pistol when asked for his identification and was shot at the scene.[33]
BulgariandefectorGeorgi Markov was fatally poisoned by a Bulgarian intelligence agent who approached him at a street corner inLondon and used an umbrella to inject a pellet into Markov's leg.[34] Markov died four days later.[35][36] An autopsy found aplatinum pellet, smaller than the head of apin and shown by a microscope to have small holes within it.[37]
Simultaneous attacks were started acrossNicaragua by theSandinistas, a rebel organization attempting to end decades of rule of the Central American nation by the Somoza family, led by President Anastasio Somoza.[41] The Sandinistas took control of the cities ofMasaya andEsteli.[42] By Wednesday, the group had control of northern Nicaragua and its three largest cities,Leon, Esteli andChinandega.[43] Nicaragua's National Guard suppressed the rebellion by September 20 at the cost of more than 1,000 lives.[44]
The Soviet space probeVenera 11 was launched from Baikonur at 8:25 in the morning local time (0329 UTC) to explore the planetVenus, and would land there on December 25, returning data for 95 minutes.[45]
Born:Gina Gogean, Romania artistic gymnast, world champion in the vault (1994, 1996); floor exercise (1995, 1996, 1997), and the balance beam (1997); inCâmpuri[46]
New Jersey became the first of only 16 U.S. states to ratify theDistrict of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, a proposed 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have given theDistrict of Columbia two U.S. Senators and at least one U.S. Representative, without making D.C. the 51st state.[52] Without 38 states having ratified by the deadline on August 22, 1985, the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment failed.[52] The vote to ratify was 59 to 12 in the state assembly and 27 to 5 in the state senate.[53]
Born:
Ed Reed, American NFL player, 2004 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, holder of the NFL record for career interception yards (1,590), NFL interception leader 2004, 2008 and 2010), enshrined at thePro Football Hall of Fame; inSt. Rose, Louisiana[54]
The Declaration of Alma Ata was signed in the capital city of the Kazakh SSR in the Soviet Union, providing the core document on primary health care practices and paving the way for what is now the Kazakhstan healthcare system.
TheFord Motor Company became the first U.S. corporation to be indicted on criminal charges, as a grand jury inElkhart County, Indiana, returned a four count criminal indictment for reckless homicide and criminal negligence in the design and manufacture of aFord Pinto automobile that had burst into flame in an accident on August 10 that killed three girls.[68]
The National Emergencies Act of 1976, passed on September 14, 1976, became effective, terminating four different states of emergency that had been declared in 1933 (to prevent bank failures), 1950 (during the Korean War), 1970 (during a postal strike) and 1971 (an economic policy declaration), ending the power of the U.S. President "to institute martial law, seize property and restrict travel" as well to "send armed forces into action abroad, take control of communications facilities and even set the stage for secret rules and regulations by closing theFederal Register.[70]
In the Philippines, 17 people near Manila were killed when a Philippine Air Force airplane crashed into the Barrio Santos neighborhood, along with 15 of the 24 people on the aircraft. The Fokker F-27 airplane was attempting to land at Nichols Air Base during a thunderstorm and was carrying members of the security staff of President Ferdinand Marcos, who had accompanied him to birthday celebrations.[71][72]
After only 17 days in office, the government of Portugal's Prime MinisterAlfredo Nobre da Costa and his 14-member cabinet were forced to resign when a vote of no confidence passed, 140 to 123 in the Assembly of the Republic.[73]
The U.S. TV science fiction comedyMork & Mindy, starringRobin Williams andPam Dawber, premiered on the ABC network and would become the surprise hit of the 1978-79 U.S. prime time season as the third most popular program of the year. Despite the show's success, its producers decided to change the format the following season and ratings would decline dramatically, with cancellation in 1982 after four seasons and 91 episodes.
Born:
Ben Cohen, English rugby union player, with 57 caps for the England national rugby union team and captain of the 2003 world champions; inNorthampton,Northamptonshire[74]
For the first time in thoroughbred horse racing history, two U.S. Triple Crown winners competed against each other in the same race.Seattle Slew, who had won the Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes) in 1977 upset the 1978 Triple Crown winner,Affirmed in theMarlboro Cup Invitational Handicap at Belmont, New York, finishing in first place three lengths ahead of Affirmed.[83]
Born:Stephanie Murphy, American politician, U.S. Representative for Florida from 2017 to 2023 and the first Vietnamese-born woman to be member of the U.S. Congress; as Dang Thi Ngoc Dung inHo Chi Minh City[84]
Rolf Günther, a pastor in the town ofFalkenstein inEast Germany, committedself-immolation in front of his congregation during services at the Church of the Holy Cross. Günther had doused himself with a flammable liquid while in thevestry of the Church before walking to the front of the altar while the parishioners were singing a hymn, then stretched out his hands to the altar candles to ignite himself. Church officials denied that his action was politically motivated.[88]
Pegasus 1, at 3,200 pounds (1,500 kg) one of the heaviest satellites ever launched into space, fell out of orbit after more than 13 years and burned up as it plummeted through Earth's atmosphere over northernAngola,[89] with one large fragment plunging into the Atlantic Ocean off of the Angolan coast.[90]
The American TV situation comedyWKRP in Cincinnati, about a fictionalradio station inCincinnati,Ohio, premiered on the CBS network for the first of 90 episodes over four years. The last original episode would be telecast on April 21, 1982.[91]
Two days after the signing of the Camp David Accords, U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter made one of the most important decisions of his presidency and held a meeting at the White House withChai Zemin, the Director of the Liaison Office of the People's Republic of China in Washington, to discuss relations between the two nations. After conferring with Chai, Carter orderedLeonard Woodcock, the U.S. liaison in Beijing, to inform the Chinese government of a change in U.S. foreign policy, and to establish full diplomatic relations by January 1, 1979. The conferences thereafter would be kept a secret for almost three months before a joint announcement from both Washington and Beijing that the U.S. and the PRC would exchange ambassadors and that the U.S. would sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China atTaiwan.[93]
TheSolomon Islands was admitted as the newest member of the United Nations.[94]
Born:Mariano Puerta, Argentine tennis player who reached the finals of the 2005 French Open but was banned from the sport for eight years because ofdoping; inSan Francisco, Córdoba[95]
Died:Carl Bridgewater, 13, a newspaper carrier in England, was shot dead when he inadvertently disturbed a burglary.
The Rhodesian Air Force, Rhodesian Light Infantry and Special Air Service carried outOperation Snoopy, a massive retaliation against theZimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) in neighboringMozambique, nearChimoio, as well as against the armored division of the army of Mozambique.[96] The operation was a punitive strike against the ZIPRA guerrillas for the September 3 shootdownAir Rhodesia Flight 825 and the massacre of its survivors.
B. J. Vorster announced at a press conference that he was resigning asPrime Minister of South Africa after 12 years because he was unable to fulfill "the strenuous duties of office," but added that he would be available to fill the largely ceremonial office ofState President.[97] Vorster would be replaced on October 2 by his Minister of Defence,P. W. Botha.
Soviet cosmonautsVladimir Kovalenok andAleksandr Ivanchenkov, in orbit on theSalyut 6 space station, broke the record for longest time in outer space, surpassing the old record of 96 days and 10 hours. The two had been launched onSoyuz 29 on June 15.[98]
A U.S. NavyP-3 Orion fell apart while flying near the town ofPoland, Maine, when an over-pressurized fuel tank caused one of its wings to separate from the craft, followed by part of the tail section, the other wing and the engines. All eight people aboard were killed.[108][109]
Born:Harry Kewell, Australian footballer with 58 caps for the Australia national team; inSydney[110]
Died:A. J. Bakunas, 27, American stuntman, died one day after attempting to regain the world record for highest jump from a structure. Bakunas was inLexington, Kentucky, where he had been part of the filming of the movieSteel, when he jumped from a height of 323 feet (98 m) from a tall building, with plans for his fall to be stopped by an inflatedairbag. The bag split upon impact and he was fatally injured.[111]
Major League Baseball playerLyman Bostock, an outfielder for theCalifornia Angels, was fatally wounded when he was shot in the head while visiting friends inGary, Indiana.[112] Before driving to Gary, Bostock had scored the Angels' final run in a 5 to 4 loss to theChicago White Sox at Chicago's Comiskey Park.[113] He died the next day.
The AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini ofIran, who had lived atNajaf inIraq for 13 years, was expelled from Iraq by President Saddam Hussein, pursuant to an agreement between Iran and Iraq, in order to prevent Khomeini from inciting a revolution.[117] Khomeini was turned away from several Muslim nations before settling in France atNeauphle-le-Château. Three months later, Khomeini would return to Iran as its leader and the Shah of Iran would be forced to flee into exile.
Died:
John Paisley, 55, U.S. intelligence agent and CIA officer, disappeared inChesapeake Bay after being last seen on hissloopBrillig after departing from Solomons Island. The empty boat ran aground the next day at Point Lookout.[118] A body, identified by Paisley's dental charts, was found floating inChesapeake Bay one week later, at the mouth of thePotomac River. The decomposing corpse had been belted with 40 pounds (18 kg) of divers' weights, and a .38 caliber bullet was found behind Paisley's left ear.[119][120]
Artist's Rendition of the Initial collision (top) and GIF of the Radar tracking of PSA Flight 182 (bottom)
InSan Diego,California, 144 people were killed whenPacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collided with a small private airplane while attempting to land. At the time, the PSA 182 crash was listed as the worst air disaster in U.S. history, killing 128 passengers and seven crew on the airliner, both the flight instructor and the pilot on the Cessna 172, and 7 people near Balboa Park in San Diego's North Park neighborhood.[122] The Boeing 727 crashed at the intersection of Nile Street and Dwight Street, and through houses as far as Boundary Street.[123]
Testimony before theUnited States House Select Committee on Assassinations resolved a mystery of almost 15 years about the "umbrella man" who could be seen on film footage opening an umbrella at the moment of the fatal shot during the 1963assassination of John F. Kennedy. Ending speculation that he was sending a signal to shooters, Louie Steven Witt, an insurance salesman in Dallas, said that his purpose was to protest against Kennedy with a symbol of appeasement, said that "If the Guinness Book had records for people being in the wrong place at the wrong time and doing the wrong thing, I'd be number one in that category without even a runner-up."[124]
LIFE, a news and picturemagazine, which had published as a popular weekly from 1936 to 1972, returned to regular publication as a monthly.[125]
Air Caribbean Flight 309 crashed on takeoff fromSan Juan, Puerto Rico, after narrowly missing a collision with Eastern Airlines Flight 75, which was landing at the same airport. Thewake turbulence from the Eastern Airlines L-1011 Tri-Star jet was powerful enough that the pilot of the smaller Air CaribbeanBeechcraft 18 lost control and the aircraft plummeted into a tavern in the San Juanbarrio ofSanturce. All six people on the Air Caribbean plane were killed, and several people in the tavern were injured, two of them fatally.[128][129]
South Korea launched its first ballistic missile, "Korea-1", aNike Hercules surface-to-air rocket with a range of 90 miles (140 km), and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. PresidentPark Chung Hee had previously ordered the development of short-range missiles and a nuclear weapons program that he forecast to be operational by 1983. After Park's assassination in 1979, his successor,Chun Doo-hwan, discontinued further spending on the two programs.
In a vote by parliamentary members of South Africa's rulingNational Party, Defense MinisterP. W. Botha was selected to be the new party chairman to succeed the outgoingJohn Vorster, and effectively became the designated successor to Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa. On the first ballot, none of the three candidates received the 87 votes required for a majority, with P. W. Botha having 78, Black Affairs MinisterCornelius "Connie" Mulder 72 and Foreign MinisterPik Botha 22. Pik Botha withdrew and in the second vote P. W. Botha defeated Mulder, 98 to 74.[130]
Graveside of August Sabbe, the last Estonian partisan
August Sabbe, the last of theEstonian partisans who had resisted the Soviet Union's annexation ofEstonia since 1940, was discovered, by twoKGB agents who had been posing as fishermen. Sabbe, who had been the remaining member of the "Forest Brethren" ("Metsavennad") had hidden in the woods for more than 30 years before being tracked down by the Soviet intelligence service to his birthplace at the village ofPaidra in theEstonian SSR and had jumped into theVohandu River rather than to be arrested, and drowned at the age of 69.[132]
Pope John Paul I made his last public appearance, speaking to and entertaining a crowd at his fourth weekly papal audience.[133]
Pope John Paul I died after only 35 days as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. According to a spokesman for the Vatican, the Pope died a about 11 o'clock at night and his death was not discovered until 5:30 the next morning when his household staff arrived to wake him up.[134] Almost 40 years later, an Italian journalist would publish findings that Pope John Paul had complained of chest pains the night before, and had severe pain in his chest at 7:00 in the evening while reciting thevespers along with his secretary,Bishop John Magee. Although the pain lasted for five minutes, the Pope directed that his physician, Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, not be called.[135]
Outgoing Prime MinisterJohn Vorster was elected by a joint session of both houses of South Africa's parliament (the House of Assembly and the Senate) as the newState President of South Africa, a largely ceremonial post, with voting along party lines and 173 of the 204 votes coming from the National Party. Sir de Villiers Graaf of the New Republic Party was a distant second with 19, and Guerenino Bozzoli of the Progressive Party had 12.[138]
Finnair Flight 405 was hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras inOulu inFinland.[139] After collecting a $206,000 ransom, Lamminparras released 45 of his 48 hostages, taking with him the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer on a flight toAmsterdam in the Netherlands.[140]
Born:Candice Michelle (ring name for Candice Michelle Beckman), American professional wrestler and model and 2007 WWE Women's Champion; inMilwaukee
Died:Edgar Bergen, 75, American ventriloquist, comedian and radio star known for his program (with his dummy,Charlie McCarthy) onThe Chase and Sanborn Hour on the NBC Radio Network, was found dead in his room at the Caesars Palace hotel inLas Vegas, where he had been booked for a two-week performance.;[141] Bergen's death came only nine days after he had announced his retirement and his donation of the Charlie dummy to the Smithsonian Institution[142] and the day after his third performance during the booking.
^Tuohy, William (September 4, 1978). "Pope Formally Installed at Outdoor Mass— 250,000 Gather for Solemn, 2½-Hour Rites in St. Peter's Square".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^Smit, Barbara (2008).Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud that Forever Changed the Business of Sport. New York: CCCO/HarperCollins Publishers. p. 4.ISBN9780061246579.
^"Top W. German Fugitive Killed".Los Angeles Times. Reuters. September 7, 1978. p. I-8.
^"Defector Dies; Blamed Poison-Tipped Umbrella".Los Angeles Times. AP. September 13, 1978. p. I-7.
^Greenwood, Leonard (September 12, 1978). "Somoza Troops Mount Major Counterattack— Battle 1,000 Rebels in Masaya; 3-Day Death Toll of 200 Feared".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^Greenwood, Leonard;del Olmo, Frank (September 14, 1978). "Rebels Holding 3 Nicaragua Cities— Martial Law Declared Throughout Country".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^"Nicaragua Claims Total Victory but Rebels Pledge New Uprising".Los Angeles Times. AP. September 21, 1978. p. I-11.
^Warga, Wayne (September 10, 1978). "Jack Warner, Hollywood Movie Pioneer, Dies at 86; He and a Brother Introduced Sound to Films in 1928".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^"Jack L. Warner's Death Closes Out Pioneer Clan of 'Talkies'".Variety. September 13, 1978. p. 2.
^Green, Larry (September 15, 1978). "Ford Firm Indicted in Deaths of 3 Girls".Los Angeles Times. p. I-7.
^Vines, Patricia C.,"Annie Ina Laidlaw (1889–1978)",Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved2023-12-09
^Averill, John H. (September 15, 1978). "Law Ends Four States of Emergency".Los Angeles Times. p. I-8.
^Hawn, Jack (September 16, 1978). "Ali Turns Back Clock and Wins Title Again— Becomes Champion for the Third Time With Unanimous Decision Over Spinks".Los Angeles Times. p. III-1.
^"German Air Pioneer Messerschmitt Dies".Los Angeles Times. AP. September 16, 1978. p. I-4.
^"Iran Quake Leaves 11,000 Dead, 40 Towns in Ruins— Only 2,000 in City of 12,000 Survive 7.7 Shock; Death Toll Rising as Bodies Are Pulled From Rubble".Los Angeles Times. AP. September 18, 1978. p. I-1.
^Morris Jr., Joe Alex (September 19, 1978). "Iran City No longer Exists; Victims Hunted in Rubble— Quake Toll in Northeast Area May Reach 15,000; Tabas Destroyed in 90 Seconds; Disease a Threat".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^Nelson, Jack (September 18, 1978). "'MIDEAST PEACE FRAMEWORK' SIGNED— Sadat and Begin Pledge Treaty Within Three Months; Carter Hails Success of Negotiation".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^Mutalib, Hussin (18 June 1996).Islam, Muslims and the Modern State: Case-Studies of Muslims in Thirteen Countries. Palgrave Macmillan (June 18, 1996).ISBN978-0-333-66969-3.
^"CIA May Be Involved In Boat Mystery".The Daily Times (Salisbury MD). September 27, 1978. p. 10.
^"Ex-CIA Official's Body Found in Bay— Shot Behind Ear, Belted With Diving Weights, Maryland Police Report".Los Angeles Times. AP. October 4, 1978. p. I-13.
^Wellens, Karen;T.M.C. Asser Instituut (1990).Resolutions and statements of the United Nations Security Council (1946–1989): a thematic guide. BRILL. p. 200.ISBN978-0-7923-0796-9.
^Foisie, Jack (September 30, 1978). "Vorster Elected South Africa President".Los Angeles Times. p. I-14.
^Puintila, Lauri (2010).Kaappari Lamminparras: Suomen ensimmäisen konekaappauksen tarina (in Finnish).WSOY.ISBN978-951-0-35501-5.
^"Finn Hijacks Jet for Ransom".Los Angeles Times. October 1, 1978. p. I-2.
^Haslett, Bill (October 1, 1978). "Edgar Bergen, 75, Found Dead in Vegas Hotel Suite".Los Angeles Times. p. I-1.
^West, Richard (September 22, 1978). "Bergen to Finally Dummy Up".Los Angeles Times. p. II-1.
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