July 1978

1978

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The following events occurred in July 1978:

July 25, 1978: The first human being conceived by in vitro fertilization is born.

July 1, 1978 (Saturday)

The new Northern Territory flag

• Australia's Northern Territory (NT) became a self-governing unit, with Paul Everingham, the Legislative Assembly majority leader, becoming the first Chief Minister. The transition to self-government was celebrated with the raising for the first time of the NT's flag at a ceremony in the capital, Darwin.
• Guerrillas from the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) carried out the massacre of 14 black African workers and their families who lived on a white-owned farm near the town of Rusape in Rhodesia, including five children.
• The first Texxas Jam rock festival was held at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, and featured such artists as Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Journey, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Heart, and comedians Cheech & Chong.
• Born:
  • Mark Hunter, British rower and 2008 Olympic gold medalist; in Forest Gate, Greater London
  • Aleki Lutui, Tongan rugby union player in the New Zealand league, with 38 caps for the Tonga national team; in Tofoa
• Died: General Kurt Student, 88, Nazi German Luftwaffe officer and convicted war criminal known for creating the Fallschirmjäger paratrooper force and for the 1941 massacre of civilians on Crete

July 2, 1978 (Sunday)

• Former U.S. President Richard Nixon appeared at his first public rally since his 1974 resignation, after accepting an invitation to the small town of Hyden, Kentucky for the dedication of the newly-built Richard M. Nixon Recreation Center, which the government of Leslie County, Kentucky, had named in his honor. More than 4,000 people crowded into the gymnasium at the center to listen to Nixon's 41-minute speech.
• Born:
  • Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021; in Tallinn, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
  • Ganesh Kishan, Indian film actor, winner of two Filmfare Best Actor awards; in Adakamaranahalli, Nelamangala, Karnataka state

July 3, 1978 (Monday)

• The Amazon Co-operation Treaty (ACT) was signed.
• By a vote of 5 to 4, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ban profane language from the radio and television broadcast from within the United States, holding that the right of free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution did not include the right to use "indecent language" in broadcasts, and defined "indecent" as "not conforming to generally-accepted standards of morality."
• Born: Mizuki Noguchi, Japanese long-distance runner and 2004 Olympics women's marathon gold medalist; in Shizuoka Prefecture

July 4, 1978 (Tuesday)

• Born: Becki Newton, American actress known for Ugly Betty and The Lincoln Lawyer; in New Haven, Connecticut

July 5, 1978 (Wednesday)

• Born: Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Indian Telugu cinema film actor and producer known for 118; in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

July 6, 1978 (Thursday)

• Born: Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, American actresses known for Sister, Sister; at Coleman Kaserne U.S. Army Base in Gelnhausen, West Germany
• Died: Pietro Montana, 88, Italian-born American sculptor

July 7, 1978 (Friday)

• The Solomon Islands became independent from the United Kingdom.
• Francisco Mendes, Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau since its independence in 1973, was killed in a car accident.

July 8, 1978 (Saturday)

• Voting for President was completed by a 1,011-member electoral college in Italy, composed of all 323 Senators, all 630 Deputies and 58 regional delegates. Sandro Pertini, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, received 832 votes on the 16th ballot, well over the 506 required for a majority.
• Born: Erin Morgenstern, American novelist known for The Night Circus; in Marshfield, Massachusetts

July 9, 1978 (Sunday)

• Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, an former Iraqi military officer who was a vocal opponent of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, and who had served as Prime Minister of Iraq for two weeks in 1968, was shot and mortally wounded by members of Saddam's Mukhabarat secret police as he was leaving the Intercontinental Hotel in London. He died the next day.
• Sandro Pertini was sworn in as the new President of Italy, exactly two months after the May 9 assassination of former Premier (and favorite for the office of president) Aldo Moro. Pertini said in a speech to a joint session of the Parliament at the Montecitorio Palace, "If it had not been for the ruthless assassination, he, not I, would speaking to you today from this platform."
• Born:
  • Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, Russian distance runner, gold medalist in the women's 3000m steeplechase competition in the 2008 Olympics, holder of the women's world record from 2003 to 2016; in Naberezhnye Chelny, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
  • Linda Park, South Korean-born American TV actress best known for her portrayal of Hoshi Sato in Star Trek: Enterprise; in Seoul

July 10, 1978 (Monday)

• Born: Ray Kay (stage name for Reinert K. Olsen), Norwegian photographer and video director, MTV Video Music Award winner; in Haugesund.

July 11, 1978 (Tuesday)

• The explosion of a tanker-truck at a campsite killed 217 tourists in Spain at the Los Alfaques campground near Alcanar. The tanker was carrying 23,470 kilograms (51,740 lb) of liquid propylene picked up at a refinery at Tarragona, despite the maximum allowed load for the tanker having been 19,350 kilograms (42,660 lb). As the truck was driving past the campsite, the product of overheating and a lack of room to expand during thermal expansion, the pressure increased to the point that the tank exploded at 2:36 in the afternoon and spilled burning fuel into to the crowd of tourists.
• What was, at the time, the most powerful solar flare ever recorded , with an x-ray classification of X15.0. The flare, which would not be exceeded until August 16, 1989, occurred in the course of Solar cycle 21, which had started in March 1976 and would last until 1986.
• Born:
  • Kim Kang-woo, South Korean film and TV actor known for The Taste of Money and the show The Missing
  • Mattias Gustafsson, Swedish team handball player with 20 caps for the Sweden men's national team

July 12, 1978 (Wednesday)

• Voting was held in six Polynesian island territories on whether to be part of the future Federated States of Micronesia by accepting the nation's proposed constitution. More than 60% of the voters on the islands of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap approved becoming part of the FSM, while more than 60% of voters in the Marshall Islands rejected the FSM in favor of becoming an independent nation, and more than 55% those in Palau favored independence.
• Voters in Sierra Leone overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to make the West African nation a one-party state. The All People's Congress (APC) of President Siaka Stevens became the only legal political party, with more then 97% of 2.2 million voters reportedly in favor, while parliament members elected from the Sierra Leone People's Party joined the APC. President Stevens had campaigned for the measure, arguing that a one-party state was "more African" than Western-style democracy.
• Born:
  • Topher Grace (Christopher John Grace), American TV and film actor known for That 70s Show; in New York City
  • Katrine Fruelund, Danish team handball player with 184 caps for the Denmark women's national team that won the Olympics in 2000 and 2004; in Randers.
  • Michelle Rodriguez, American film actor known as the female lead in The Fast and the Furious and its sequels; in San Antonio, Texas
• Died: Jay Williams, American science fiction and fantasy author best known for the Danny Dunn series of children's books between 1956 and 1977.

July 13, 1978 (Thursday)

• Born: Gary David, Philippine pro basketball player who led the Philippine Basketball Association in scoring for four consecutive years from 2009 to 2013; in Dinalupihan

July 14, 1978 (Friday)

• Henri Maïdou took office as the last Prime Minister of the Central African Empire, after being appointed by the Emperor Bokassa. Upon the overthrow of Bokassa and the restoration of the Central African Republic a year later, Maïdou became Vice President in the regime of President David Dacko.
• Soviet dissident Anatoly Shcharansky was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by 10 years in a labor camp, after insisting that the Soviet Union should abide by its commitments in the 1975 Helsinki Accords to improve human rights. Shcharansky was convicted of "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" and on a lesser degree of treason under Articles 70 and 64-a of the penal code for his activity in the Moscow Helsinki Group.
• Entertainment and Sports Programming, Inc., was incorporated in the U.S. state of Connecticut, with Bill Rasmussen as Chairman of the Board of Directors and with a stated purpose of creating a cable television network for sports telecasts. The network would be launched on September 7, 1979 as ESPN.
• Died: Maria Grinberg, 69, Soviet Russian pianist

July 15, 1978 (Saturday)

• "The Longest Walk", a project of the American Indian Movement in support of tribal sovereignty and protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples of the United States, was completed after 205 days and a journey of more than 3,200 miles (5,100 km) from San Francisco to Washington D.C.. After starting on February 11 with a ceremony at Alcatraz Island off of the coast of San Francisco, the walk was completed with a rally of several thousand people in front of the Washington Monument. The U.S. Congress followed by withdrawing several proposed bills from consideration, and the approval of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act by both the House and the Senate on July 27, followed by the signing of the bill into law by U.S. President Carter on August 11.
• Born: Yuri Nikitin, Ukrainian gymnast and 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the trampolining event; in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
• Died: Matthew Walker Sr., 71, African-American surgeon

July 16, 1978 (Sunday)

• Pope Paul VI, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, became seriously ill at his summer residence at the Palace of Castel Gandolfo, the day after meeting with Italy's President Sandro Pertini. The 80-year-old Pontiff's condition worsened over the next three weeks and he would die on August 6.

July 17, 1978 (Monday)

• Born: Justine Triet, French film director known for Anatomie d'une chute (Anatomy of a Fall); in Fecamp, Seine-Maritime departement

July 18, 1978 (Tuesday)

• Born:
  • Shane Horgan, Irish rugby union player with 65 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team; in Bellewstown, County Meath
  • Joo Sang-wook, South Korean TV actor known for Special Affairs Team TEN; in Seoul

July 19, 1978 (Wednesday)

• Born: Fahad Yasin Haji Dahir, Somali government official, Director of Somalia's HSNQ intelligence agency 2019 to 2021, National Security Advisor tp the President from 2021 to 2022; in Mandera, Kenya
• 'Died: Malcolm Galloway, 91, founder of the New Zealand Red Cross

July 20, 1978 (Thursday)

• Born: Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey star and captain of the Russian national team who appeared in five consecutive Winter Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018), winner of three consecutive Frank J. Selke Trophy awards and four consecutive Lady Byng Memorial Trophy awards in the National Hockey League; in Yekaterinburg (now Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

July 21, 1978 (Friday)

• General Juan Pereda, who was declared the winner of the July 9 election in Bolivia despite evidence of massive fraud, was installed as the new President of Bolivia. The Bolivian Army staged a coup d'etat that toppled President Hugo Banzer, who had come to power in a coup in 1971.
• The divorce of Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Antony Armstrong-Jones, became final 18 years after they had married, and marked the first royal divorce since 1901.
• Born: Kyoko Iwasaki, Japanese swimmer and 1992 Olympic gold medalist, at age 14 in the 200m breaststroke; in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture

July 22, 1978 (Saturday)

• Born:
  • A. J. Cook (Andrea Joy Cook), Canadian TV actress known for portraying Agent JJ Jareau for more than 15 years on the American crime drama Criminal Minds; in Oshawa, Ontario
  • Dennis Rommedahl, Danish footballer with 126 caps for the Denmark national team; in Copenhagen

July 23, 1978 (Sunday)

• Born: Stefanie Sun (stage name for Sng Ee Tze), popular Singaporean singer, songwriter and actress; in Singapore

July 24, 1978 (Monday)

• In Acapulco, Mexico, Margaret Gardiner of South Africa was crowned Miss Universe.

July 25, 1978 (Tuesday)

• Louise Brown became the first human being to be born after conception through in vitro fertilization, and the original "test tube baby", was delivered at Oldham General Hospital in the British city of Oldham in Greater Manchester.

July 26, 1978 (Wednesday)

• Born:
  • Eve Myles, Welsh TV actress and the female lead in the BBC series Torchwood; in Ystradgynlais, Powys
  • Jehad Muntasser, Libyan footballer with 34 caps for the Libya national team; in Tripoli.

July 27, 1978 (Thursday)

• In the city of Marathwada in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Hindu residents began a riot after the state government had approved the renaming of Marathwada University to "Ambedkar University", in honor of B. R. Ambedkar, a hero among the Dalit caste, formerly referred to as the "untouchables". At least 27 people, mostly Dalits, were killed and the approval of the name change was revoked. The continued agitation for the renaming of the university would continue until 1994, when a compromise settled on the name "Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University".

July 28, 1978 (Friday)

• The 100-member Asamblea Constituyente of Peru opened its first session after being assembled by General Francisco Morales Bermudez, the president of Peru, to write a new constitution to facilitate the South American nation's transition back to democracy after a decade of military rule.
• Voters in the Maldives overwhelmingly approved the installation of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, with almost 93% agreeing that he should be the successor of President Ibrahim Nasir.

July 29, 1978 (Saturday)

• Carlos Menem, formerly the Governor of Argentina's La Rioja Province was released from the Magdalena prison more than two years after he had been arrested on charges of corruption following the 1976 overthrow of President Isabel Perón. In 1989, after the restoration of democracy, Menem would be elected as the President of Argentina and serve for more than 10 years, until 1999. Menem would later be arrested on charges of embezzlement in 2001 and 2013, being placed under house arrest each time.

July 30, 1978 (Sunday)

• On the Japanese island of Okinawa, residents returned to driving on the left side of the road, the law in the rest of Japan, more than 43 years after of having been switched to right-hand traffic when the island had been under American control.
• Convicted murderers Randy Greenawalt and Gary Gene Tison, both serving life sentences at Florence State Prison in the U.S. state of Arizona, was able to escape with the aid of Tison's three sons, Donald, Ricky and Raymond, who were not searched when they arrived for a visit. Once inside, two of the Tison brothers pulled out a shotgun from a cardboard box they had carried inside. The next day, the escapees murdered a family of four, including two children. After 12 days on the lam, Greenawalt and two of the Tison brothers were captured; Gary Tison fled the scene but was later found dead. Greenawalt would be executed at Florence State Prison in 1997, while the surviving Tyson brothers would have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
• Farnum Fish, 81, American airplane pilot known as "The Boy Aviator" for having been a licensed pilot at age 15.

July 31, 1978 (Monday)

• In Burma (now Myanmar), Operation Nagamin, the forced expulsion of the minority Rohingya people in Arakan State (now Rakhine state) to Bangladesh ended as Burma and Bangladesh signed a repatriation agreement moderated by the United Nations and the International Red Cross. The Burmese military operation had started on February 6 and as many as 250,000 people were forced to flee. After the signing of the pact, more than 180,000 returned from Bangladesh to Burma.
• Royal assent was given in the United Kingdom to the Scotland Act 1978, providing for residents of Scotland to vote on limited self-government. The Act also required that at least 40 percent of Scotland's registered voters had to approve of the change in law, rather than a majority of voters who participated in the referendum. The voting, held on March 1, 1979, showed that 51.6% voted yes, but less than 2.4 million of Scotland's 3.7 million registered voters particpated, so the approval was by less than one-third of the electorate.
• North Korean agents kidnapped Kaoru Hasuike and his girlfriend, Yukiko Okudo, from a beach in the town of Kashiwazaki in Japan's Niigata Prefecture, and kept them for the next 24 years. The two, who married and had children, were allowed to visit Japan in 2002 while North Korea held their daughter and son as hostages. Hasuike and Okudo elected to remain in Japan, and the two children would be allowed to leave two years later. Hasuike would later publish a memoir, Abduction and My Decision, recounting his experience.
• Born:
  • Tui T. Sutherland, Venezuelan-born American children's book author known for the Wings of Fire series; in Caracas
  • Will Champion, English drummer for the rock band Coldplay; in Southampton, Hampshire
• Died: Enoch Light, 70, American dance band leader