Britain and the World 1978

BRITAIN AND THE WORLD SINCE 1953

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	1978
Jan1	An Air India jumbo jet exploded in mid-air near Bombay, killing 213.
Jan14	Sex Pistols' final concert takes place at Winterland , San Francisco
Jan18	Geoff Boycott captains England for the first time v's Pakistan in Karachi
Mar1	Charlie Chaplin's coffin was stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial. It was found 10 miles away on May 17.
Mar16	Israeli Forces Invade Lebanon
	The Italian politician Aldo Moro is kidnapped by the left-radical Red Brigades who massacred his escort, and after 55 days detention murdered him as well.
Mar17	Amoco Cadiz tanker spills 1.6 million gallons of oil off French coast
Apr8	Regular broadcast of proceedings in Parliament starts
Apr18	The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on Dec. 31,1999.
Apr20	Korean Airlines flight 007 shot down by Soviets in Russian airspace
Apr21	Sandy Denny 31 former lead singer with Fairport Convention dies of a brain hemorrhage after falling downstairs. She is buried with her mother and brother at Putney Vale cemetery (Block V, grave 38)
May1	First May Day holiday in Britain
May9	The body of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was found in the boot of a car in central Rome, a victim of the Red Brigade
May17	Compact discs - CD's - were created by Philips.
May20	Mavis Hutchinson, 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day
Jun12	David Berkowitz, known popularly as "Son of Sam," received the maximum penalty -- 25 years to life in prison -- with a recommendation that he spend the rest of his days in prison.
Jun25	Argentina beats Holland 3-1 in soccer's 11th World Cup at Buenos Aires Argentina
July8	Pluto's companion later to be called Charon is found
Jul25	The first test-tube baby was born in Oldham General Hospital. It was a girl, and she was named Louise Joy Brown.
Aug6	Pope Paul VI dies of heart attack at summer residence at 80
Aug20	Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al Airline bus in London
Aug25	Turin shroud, once venerated as the burial cloth of Christ, went on public display for the first time in 45 years.
Sep6	Palestinian guerrillas hijacked four airliners travelling to New York from Europe. One Pan Am Jumbo was blown up the next day in Cairo and two Boeing 707s which landed at Dawson's field in Jordan were blown up on September 12. The fourth plane landed in London and hijacker Leila Khaled was arrested
Sep7	Keith Moon drummer with The Who dies in London from the effects of a drugs overdose (Hemineurin). The flat in which he died No 9, 12 Curzon Place, London was the same one that Cass Elliot (Mamas and Papas) died in (29th July 1974). Keith was cremated at Golders Green crematorium
Sep11	Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov who worked for the BBC World Service is murdered by a poison pellet that was injected by the tip of an umbrella. He dies four days later
Sept29	Pope John Paul is found dead. He was Pope for 33 days
Oct15	Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland was elected Pope and took the name John Paul II, the first non-Italian Pope in 456 years.
Nov18	Jim Jones, a U.S. pastor, led 914 of his followers to their deaths at Jonestown, Guyana, by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit drink. Cult members who refused to swallow the drink were shot.
Nov30	Publication of The Times suspended - industrial relations problems (until 13 Nov 1979)
Dec11	Two million demonstrate against the Shah of Iran. On Jan 16 the following year he flees to Egypt
Dec24	Soviet Troops invade Afghanistan and in doing so commenced a war that was to have far reaching concequences for the Soviets

Last Updated 25/02/16 15:49

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