- Jan 1 Air India Flight 855 crashes into the Arabian Sea less than two minutes after takeoff, killing all 213 people on board
- Jan 1 Los Angeles Police Chief Edward Davis retires from the police force to launch his political campaign
- Jan 1 News editor Donald Woods finally arrives in London after escaping the apartheid regime in South Africa
PM Ecevit Reelected
Jan 5Bülent Ecevit becomes Prime Minister of Turkey for the 3rd time
Sex Pistol's Final Tour
Jan 5 Start of theSex Pistols final tour in Atlanta, Georgia
Harvey Milk Elected
Jan 8Harvey Milk, the 1st openly gay person elected to public office in California, joins the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
- Jan 8 Israeli government votes to 'strengthen' settlements in occupied Sinai
All Creatures Great and Small
Jan 8 TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" debuts on BBC TV, based on the books byJames Herriot, starring Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy
Sex Pistol's Final Concert
Jan 14 British punk rock bandSex Pistols hold what becomes their final concert at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California
Sex Pistols Break Up
Jan 17 After a tumultuous final tourthe Sex Pistols break up as a band, which is announced the following day
- Jan 18 Geoff Boycott captains England for the 1st time, v Pakistan at Karachi
- Jan 18 Roof of 3-yr-old Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut collapses (no injuries)
- Jan 18 Thiokol conducts 2nd test firing of space shuttle's SRB
- Jan 19 Eddie Mathews elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- Jan 19 Harlem drug lord Nicky Barnes is sentenced to life in prison and a $125,000 fine after being convicted on narcotics racketeering charges
FBI Director Webster
Jan 19 JudgeWilliam H. Webster is appointed Director of the FBI by US PresidentJimmy Carter
Volkswagen Beetle
Jan 19 The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden; Beetle production in Latin America would continue until 2003
- Jan 20 Columbia Pictures pays $9.5 million for the movie rights to "Annie"
Saturday Night Fever
Jan 21Bee Gees' album "Saturday Night Fever" goes #1; stays on top for 24 weeks
- Jan 21 Panamanian boxerRoberto Durán becomes undisputed world lightweight champion with a 12th-round TKO of Esteban De Jesus at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas; defends his WBA title for 12th time, also takes De Jesus’ WBC title
- Jan 23 Belgian industrial Haron Empain kidnapped in Paris
- Jan 23 Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, due to their harmful effect on the earth's ozone layer
- Jan 24 Carter Executive Order on Intelligence (# 12036)
- Jan 25 Muriel Humphrey (D-Mn) appointed to fill late husband's Senate seat
Destination: Void
Jan 26Frank Herbert completes his novel "Destination: Void"
- Jan 26 International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit
Soares Forms Government
Jan 26Mário Soares forms Portuguese government
Larry King Show
Jan 30 Mutual Broadcasting Network begins airing the late-night "Larry King Show" on radio, from Miami, Florida
- Jan 31 Israel turns 3 milt outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements
Polankski Flees US
Feb 1 DirectorRoman Polanski skips bail in the US and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1st Female African American Stamp
Feb 1Harriet Tubman is 1st African American woman to be honored on a US postage stamp
- Feb 3 Australia beat India 3-2 on 6th day of final test, after India are all out for 445 chasing 493 to win
Al-Sadat and Carter Meeting
Feb 3 Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and US PresidentJimmy Carter discuss the Middle East peace process in Washington, D.C.
- Feb 4 NHL New York Islanders rookieMike Bossy scores 1st career hat trick in 6-1 win over Washington Capitols at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York
- Feb 5 Blizzard forms in US North East, 100 people killed in New England and New York over 3 days
- Feb 5 Fred Newman makes 88 consecutive basketball free throws blindfolded
Humphrey Serves Out Husband's Term
Feb 6 Muriel Humphrey, former Second Lady, is appointed to serve remainder of late husbandHubert Humphrey's term as US Senator by Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich
- Feb 6 Snowstorm hits New England, parts of Rhode Island (54" / 137cm)
- Feb 7 Ethiopian offensive in Ogaden desert
- Feb 8 Crown Prince Sad Abdallah al-Salim Al Sabah becomes Prime Minister of Kuwait
- Feb 8 Proceedings of the US Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time
- Feb 10 Frank C. Carlucci succeeds John F. Blake as deputy director of the CIA
- Feb 10 U.S. premiere of "Blue Collar", Paul Schrader's first film direction
- Feb 11 16 Unification church couples wed in NYC
- Feb 11 25th hat trick in NY Islander history,Denis Potvin's 2nd
China Unbans Literary Giants
Feb 11 China lifts a ban on works ofAristotle,William Shakespeare andCharles Dickens
Boxing Title Fight
Feb 15Leon Spinks beatsMuhammad Ali in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- Feb 15 Zaire revises its constitution
- Feb 16 1st Computer Bulletin Board System (Ward & Randy's CBBS, Chicago)
- Feb 17 11 civilians and 1 RUC officer are killed and 30 wounded by a Provisional Irish Republican Army incendiary bomb at the La Mon Restaurant near Belfast
- Feb 18 1st Iron Man Triathlon (swim, bike ride, and run marathon) held, beginning and ending at the Aloha Tower in Honolulu Harbor of Oʻahu, Hawaii
Daytona 500
Feb 19 20th Daytona 500:Bobby Allison takes lead with 11 laps remaining; lowest starting position (33rd) for winner until 2007
Grammy Awards
Feb 23 20th Grammy Awards: "Hotel California" by The Eagles;Fleetwood Mac; Debbie Boone win
- Feb 24 Kevin Porter, NJ, sets NBA record with 29 assists in a game
- Feb 27 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
Film & TV History
Mar 1Charlie Chaplin's coffin and remains are stolen from a Swiss cemetery in an extortion plot
- Mar 2 Soyuz 28 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Czechoslovakian) to Salyut 6
- Mar 3 1st day of Test cricket for Desmond Haynes (WI v Australia)
- Mar 4 Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes last issue
- Mar 5 Landsat 3 launched from Vandenberg AFB, California
- Mar 6 Brian Clark's stage drama "Whose Life is it Anyway?" starring Tom Conti and Jane Asher, and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, opens at the Mermaid Theatre, London
Event of Interest
Mar 6 Hustler publisherLarry Flynt and his lawyer shot by a militant white supremacist sniper in Georgia, leaving Flynt crippled and wheelchair bound
- Mar 7 Belgian baron Charles Bracht kidnapped
- Mar 7 Canuck's Ron Sedlbauer fails on 5th penalty shot against Islanders
- Mar 7 Dutch 2nd Chamber votes against neutron bomb
Radio Premiere
Mar 8 The first-ever radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, byDouglas Adams, is transmitted on BBC Radio 4.
- Mar 9 Ice Dance Championship at Ottawa Canada won by Linichuk & Karponosov
- Mar 9 Ice Pairs Championship at Ottawa won by Rodnina & Zaitsev (Soviet Union)
- Mar 9 Ladies Figure Skating Champions in Ottawa won by Anett Pötzsch (East Germany)
- Mar 9 Men's Figure Skating Champions in Ottawa won by Charles Tickner (USA)
The Incredible Hulk
Mar 10 "The IncredibleHulk", starringBill Bixby as David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as his green alter-ego, premieres on CBS
- Mar 10 Soyuz 28 returns to Earth
- Mar 11 Terrorists attack mail truck at Tel Aviv, 45 killed
- Mar 11 USF-led Bill Cartwright scores 23 points as the Dons oust NC
World Record
Mar 12 American speed skaterEric Heiden sets world record in 1000m (1:14.99)
- Mar 16 Amoco Cadiz spills 223,000 tons of crude oil off French coast
- Mar 16 Soyuz 26 returns to Earth
- Mar 16 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Mar 16 US Senate accepts Panama Canal treaty
- Mar 17 Amoco Cadiz tanker spills 1.6 mil gallons of oil off French coast
- Mar 17 Reds don green uniforms for St Patricks Day
- Mar 18 250,000 attend rock concert California Jam II in Ontario, California
- Mar 18 Former Pakistani premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death
- Mar 19 50,000 demonstrate in Amsterdam against neutron bomb
- Mar 20 Flyers' Rick MacLeash scores on 6th penalty shot against Islanders
- Mar 21 Padres fire Al Dark (2nd manager ever fired during spring training)
- Mar 21 San Francisco passes the most comprehensive homosexual rights bill in US history
- Mar 22 France performs nuclear test
- Mar 22 Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (The Flying Wallendas) dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 73
Event of Interest
Mar 22Robert Frost Plaza, at California, Drumm & Market, San Francisco, dedicated
- Mar 22 The Rutles mockumentary "All You Need is Cash" debuts on NBC television
- Mar 23 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Mar 24 Wings release single "With a Little Luck"
- Mar 25 AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament, UCLA beat Maryland 90-74 in Los Angeles
- Mar 27 The Rutles mockumentary "All You Need is Cash" is shown on British TV
- Mar 28 Daryl Gates becomes the 49th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department
Television Finale
Mar 29 TV variety show "TheCarol Burnett Show" last airs on CBS in the US, having won 25 Emmy Awards
- Mar 31 USSR launches Kosmos 1000 navigational satellite
- Mar 31 Wings release "London Town" album
Television Finale
Apr 1 Last episode of "TheBob Newhart Show" sitcom (the Chicago one) airs on CBS-TV
Sports History
Apr 1 New York Islanders right wingMike Bossy becomes first NHL rookie to score 50 goals in a season after scoring #50 and #51 in the closing moments in a 3-2 win over Washington
- Apr 1 Philippine College of Commerce becomes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines by presidential decree
- Apr 2 Georges de Mestral's patent for "velvet type fabric" expires, puts "Velcro" in the open market
- Apr 2 Jamaican batsman Basil Williams scores 100 on debut for the West Indies in Australia's 3 wicket 3rd Test victory in Georgetown, Guyana
Dallas
Apr 2 TV show "Dallas" starringLarry Hagman and Barbara Bel Geddes premieres on CBS as a 5 week mini-series; ratings success leads to a 13 year run
Academy Awards
Apr 3 50th Academy Awards: "Annie Hall",Richard Dreyfuss, andDiane Keaton win
- Apr 3 European Market and China sign trade agreement
- Apr 3Larry King moves his radio show from Miami, Florida to Washington, D.C.
- Apr 6 Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh by inn & 193 to win Ranji Trophy
- Apr 7 Guttenberg bible sells for $2,000,000 in New York City
Sports History
Apr 7 US Court of Appeals upholds CommissionerBowie Kuhn's voiding of attempted player sales by A's owner Charlie Finley in June 1976
- Apr 7 US PresidentJimmy Carter defers production of neutron bomb
- Apr 9 Brewers sweep Orioles 11-3, 16-3, & 13-5 (each with a grand slam)
Sports History
Apr 9 In separate NBA games Denver's David Thompson scores 73 points & San Antonio'sGeorge Gervin scores 63 points (33 in 1 quarter)
- Apr 10 Formation of Major Indoor Soccer League announced
- Apr 12 Gyorgy Ligeti's opera "Le Grand Macabre" premieres in Stockholm
- Apr 13 Jackson slugs a 3-run HR in the 1st inning, & the field is showered
- Apr 14 David Hare's play "Plenty" premieres in London
- Apr 14 Korean Air Lines Boeing 707, fired on by Soviets, crashes in Russia
- Apr 14 Thousands of Georgians demonstrate in the capital Tbilisi against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language
- Apr 14 WRR-AM in Dallas Texas changes call letters to KAAM
- Apr 15 43 die as 2 express trains collide head-on south of Bologna, Italy
- Apr 15 Great Britain performs nuclear test
Sports History
Apr 16 Cardinals'Bob Forsch no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, in St. Louis
- Apr 16 NBC's premiere of miniseries "Holocaust"
- Apr 17 63,500,000 shares traded on NY stock exchange (record)
Pulitzer Prize
Apr 17 Pulitzer prize awarded toCarl Sagan for "Dragons of Eden"
Event of Interest
Apr 22 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won byEarl Anthony
Sports History
Apr 23 MLB Cincinnati Reds second basemanJoe Morgan ends record streak of 91 consecutive errorless games
- Apr 23 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Baseball Record
Apr 24 AngelsNolan Ryan strikes out 15 Mariners, 20th time he has 15 in game
- Apr 25 ABC premiere of crime drama "Vega$"
- Apr 25 Mascot Phillie Phanatic makes its first appearance
- Apr 25 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more
- Apr 26 France sends troops to Chad
- Apr 26 NASA launches space vehicle S-201
- Apr 27 Afghanistan revolution (National Day), pro-Russian military coup
- Apr 27 Cooling tower collapses at a coal-fired power plant at Willow Island, West Virginia, kills 51
Film & TV History
Apr 30 British film "The Stud" starringJoan Collins, based on the book by her sisterJackie Collins premieres in UK
- May 1 1st African American mayor of New Orleans, Ernest Nathan Morial, inaugurated
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
May 1Jackie Chan's breakthrough film "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" directed by Yuen Woo-ping, is released in Hong Kong
- May 1 Naomi Uemura became 1st to reach North Pole overland alone
- May 2 1978 NFL Draft: Earl Campbell from University of Texas first pick by Houston Oilers
- May 3 "Sun Day" - solar energy events held in the US
- May 3 First unsolicited bulk commercial email ("spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the US West Coast
- May 3 Last cricket test match appearance for Bobby Simpson, at Kingston
- May 3 West Indies all set to lose the cricket test v Australia at Kingston till riots end game
- May 4 Russian leader Brezhnev visits West-Germany
Event of Interest
May 9 American publishing heiressPatty Hearst returns to jail, after legal appeals to her bank robbery conviction fail
- May 9 Corpse of kidnapped Italian ex-premierAldo Moro found
- May 9 Fee Waybill of rock band The Tubes breaks a leg falling off stage
- May 11 Margaret A Brewer is 1st female general in the US Marine Corps
- May 12 US Commerce Department says hurricane names will no longer be only female
- May 13 Henry Rono of Kenya sets record for 3,000 m steeplechase (8:05.4)
- May 13 Joie Chitwood drives a Chevette 5.6 miles on just 2 wheels
- May 14 First round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta
- May 17 Los Angeles Dodgers Lee Lacy hits record 3rd consecutive pinch-hit home run
- May 18 Italy legalizes abortion
- May 18 Russian dissident Yuri Orlov exiled to compulsory work
- May 20 Three PFLP members kill a police officer near El Al Airlines at Orly Airport in Paris
- May 20 US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists