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February 1978

Month of 1978 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

February 1978
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The following events occurred in February 1978:

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February 5, 1978: Blizzard paralyzes northeast U.S. (pictured: snow outside Boston City Hall after the Blizzard of '78
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February 1, 1978 (Wednesday)

  • Film director Roman Polanski skipped bail in the United States and fled to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.[1]

February 2, 1978 (Thursday)

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February 3, 1978 (Friday)

  • The United States ordered Vietnam's Ambassador to the United States, Dinh Ba Thi, to leave the country after allegations that he was involved in espionage, following the arrest of David Truong. The U.S. had reserved the right to expel foreign diplomats as part of the agreement for the UN General Assembly to have a permanent location in New York City. Vietnam's UN office said that the Ambassador would not leave, stating that the chargers were "completely fabricated" and "detrimental" and "totally fabricated," and added, "For these reasons, Ambassador Dinh Ba Thi will continue to carry out normally his duties as the representative of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."[3] Vietnam's government recalled Ambassador Thi two days later, giving the reason as "the U.S. government is trying to disturb activities of the Vietnamese ambassador".[4]
  • Voting was held in the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein for all 15 seats of its parliament, the Landtag. The Vaterländische Union (VU) captured a seat held by the ruling Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei (FBP), gaining an 8 to 7 majority[5] and allowing Deputy Prime Minister Hans Brunhart of the VU to form a government as the nation's new prime minister, succeeding Walter Kieber on April 26. At the same time, Kieber succeeded Brunhart as the Deputy Premier.
  • Serial killer Velma Barfield committed her sixth and last murder as her boyfriend, Rowland Taylor, died from arsenic poisoning.[6] An autopsy revealed the cause, and an exhumation of Velma's late husband Jennings Barfield showed traces of arsenic as well. Velma Barfield would be executed on November 2, 1984.
  • The official Soviet news agency TASS entered the world of cryptozoology and announced in the Communist nation's press that scientists had documented reports from Siberia of "Chuchunaa", a 6.5 feet (2.0 m) tall human-like creature that "feeds on raw meat, wears a reindeer skin and shrieks a lot" and that was said "to have frightened reindeer breeders, hunters, and mushroom and berry collectors."[7]
  • Born:
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February 4, 1978 (Saturday)

  • J. R. Jayewardene became the second President of Sri Lanka, succeeding William Gopallawa. Jayewardene had been Prime Minister since July 23, 1977, and guided the transition of Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, to a presidential system of government.[8]
  • Born: Danna Garcia, German-born Colombian telenovela actress; in West Berlin
  • Died: Bergen Evans, 73, American linguistic authority at Northwestern University, author of A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage and The Natural History of Nonsense, former TV host known for the shows The Last Word and Down You Go[9]
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February 5, 1978 (Sunday)

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February 6, 1978 (Monday)

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February 7, 1978 (Tuesday)

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February 8, 1978 (Wednesday)

  • The popular musical Ain't Misbehavin', a tribute to African-American jazz artist Thomas "Fats" Waller, was given its first performance, premiering at the Manhattan Theatre Club cabaret in New York City before opening on Broadway on May 9.[24]
  • In a yes-or-no election in Syria, voters approved the re-election of President Hafez al-Assad to another 7-year term of office.[25] According to the government, only 4,798 out of 3,980,527 voters chose to vote against Assad, or slightly more than one-tenth of one percent. The Syrian government reported a 97% turnout of the 4.1 million registered voters.[26]
  • The United States Senate allowed regular broadcasting of its proceedings on the radio for the first time, permitting coverage of speeches on whether to ratify the Panama Canal Treaty.[27]
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February 9, 1978 (Thursday)

  • Don Jamieson, Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs, ordered 11 officials of the Soviet Union to leave the North American nation. Jamieson told the House of Commons that the move came after the Soviets had attempted to recruit a top official of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a spy. Two other Soviet officials, who were away from Canada, would not be allowed to return.[28]
  • William H. Webster, a U.S. federal appeals court judge, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[29] Webster was sworn into office on February 23.[30]
  • The Budd Company unveiled the first self-propelled railcar, the SPV-2000, at a conference in Philadelphia.[31]
  • Serial killer Ted Bundy killed his final victim, a 12-year-old girl in Lake City, Florida, after luring her into his van outside of her junior high school. He discarded her body, which would not be found until April 7, at Suwanee River State Park, 43 miles (69 km) west of Lake City.[32]
  • Plans fell through for the sale of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's to a multimillionaire who intended to move the club to Denver in time for the 1978 season.[33] Marvin Davis had offered Charlie O. Finley $12.5 million for the team in December, but the A's had 10 years remaining on their lease with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
  • The U.S. television series James at 15, starring Lance Kerwin, received its highest ratings ever in the first TV episode to deal with the subject of a teenager's loss of virginity.[34] In that James's first sexual encounter came on his 16th birthday, the program was re-titled James at 16. The program ran for only nine more episodes before being canceled.
  • Died: Daniel Reed, 85, American actor, playwright and screenwriter[35][36]
  • Died: Herbert Kappler, 70, convicted German war criminal responsible for the Ardeatine massacre in Italy, died at home less than six months after his August 15 escape from a prison hospital.[37]

February 10, 1978 (Friday)

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February 11, 1978 (Saturday)

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February 12, 1978 (Sunday)

  • Elections for President and for the bicameral Congress were held in the South American nation of Paraguay. General Alfredo Stroessner won his sixth term as President of Paraguay, receiving almost 91 percent of the vote, with Germán Acosta Caballero finishing second with less than 6 percent. Stroessner's Colorado Party retained control of both houses of the legislature, being allotted two-thirds of the seats in the Senate (20 of 30) and in the Chamber of Deputies (40 of 60).[55][56]
  • Signed on February 16, 1976, the Barcelona Convention, officially the Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, went into effect for the 23 nations with ports on the Mediterranean Sea.[57]
  • Born:
    • Charles McArther Emmanuel, a/k/a Chuckie Taylor a/k/a Roy M. Belfast Jr., U.S.-born Liberian government official who established and commanded the Anti-Terrorist Unit to enforce the rule of his father, Liberian president Charles Taylor, from 1997 to 2002; in Boston.[58] Arrested in 2006 while traveling in the U.S., Emmanuel became the first person convicted under a 1994 law prohibiting American citizens from participating in torture outside of the United States and is serving a 99-year sentence in prison.
    • Gethin Jones, Welsh television host known for Blue Peter and Remembrance Week; in Cardiff

February 13, 1978 (Monday)

  • A bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, where the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was taking place with 12 foreign leaders. Two garbage collectors and a policeman standing guard at the entrance to the hotel lounge were killed, and 11 other people were injured. The bombing, for which Australian Evan Pederick was convicted, was the first incidence of domestic terrorism in Australia.[59]
  • At Ottawa, Canada's Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau opened a three-day conference with the premiers of all 10 Canadian provinces in order to resolve the nation's economic problems, including 8.5% unemployment and 9.5% annual inflation.[60]
  • In the U.S. state of Utah, surgery separating conjoined twins was performed by specialists at the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. The twin girls, born on February 2, shared a liver and the operation was made more complicated by the fact that the twin with the stronger heart provided the oxygenated blood for both children.[61]
  • Soft drink manufacturer PepsiCo Inc. and the Taco Bell restaurant chain announced jointly an acquisition agreement, with Pepsi to purchase Taco Bell for $125 million with the exchange of 1.43 shares of PepsiCo for every one share of Taco Bell.[62]
  • Born: Niklas Bäckström, Finnish ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and the Finland national ice hockey team; in Helsinki[63]

February 14, 1978 (Tuesday)

February 15, 1978 (Wednesday)

  • Leon Spinks, a 10 to 1 underdog in betting, won the world heavyweight boxing championship in a surprising 15-round decision over defending champion Muhammad Ali in Las Vegas. Spinks, a former U.S. Marine, was competing in only his eighth professional fight. As 5,298 watched at the Hilton Pavilion and millions of others watched on television, the 2 to 1 split decision was revealed, with Art Lurie pointing the fight 143 to 142 for Ali, Lou Tabat 145 to 140 for Spinks, and Harold Buck scoring 144 to 141 for Spinks.[71]
  • Rhodesia, one of only two remaining white-ruled African nations (the other being South Africa), announced that it would implement multiracial democracy within two years. White Prime Minister Ian Smith appeared with three moderate black leaders, Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Chief Jeremiah Chirau and Dr. Elliot Gabellah, to announce a plan to make a transition to black majority rule.[72]
  • Serial killer Ted Bundy was finally apprehended after a patrolman in Pensacola, Florida, spotted a Volkswagen that had been reported stolen earlier in the month. Bundy, who presented identification as Kenneth Misner, was found with the credit cards of two Florida State University students who had been killed on January 15, and was identified by fingerprints taken from him at the Pensacola jail and a Colorado jail from which he had escaped on December 31.[73]

February 16, 1978 (Thursday)

  • The first dial-up bulletin board system, CBBS, went online for people who owned a microcomputer and a modem. Developed by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE), the computerized bulletin board system made it possible for CACHE members to post information and read posts from other members.[74][75][76]
  • The National Savings Movement, started during World War One in 1916 by the British government, was discontinued after a final meeting of its Board of Trustees.[77]
  • Serial killers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr., cousins who worked as a pair in the Hillside Strangler case initially believed to have been committed by one person, claimed their 10th and last victim. Cindy Hudspeth, a 20-year-old student and waitress, had come to Buono's Auto Upholstery Shop in Glendale, California, as a customer. When Bianchi arrived, the pair decided to make Hudspeth their last victim. She was kidnapped, raped and then strangled to death. Her nude body was then placed in the trunk of her car, which was pushed down a hillside.[78] The two were not arrested until Bianchi, on his own, murdered two women in Bellingham, Washington.[79]
  • Serial killer John Wayne Gacy killed and buried 19-year-old William Kindred and buried him in the crawl space beneath his home in the Chicago suburb of Norwood Park, Illinois. Kindred was the last of 26 young men and boys whose body was buried in the basement because Gacy had run out of room.[80] On Gacy's final five murders, the victims' bodies were thrown in the Des Plaines River. Gacy, who killed 33 victims over almost seven years, would be arrested on December 21, 1978.[81]
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February 17, 1978 (Friday)

February 18, 1978 (Saturday)

  • In an event that triggered the Iranian Revolution that would topple the Iranian monarchy within one year, at least 14 people were killed and 125 injured in the city of Tabriz when police intervened to stop a ceremony to commemorate the deaths of protesters on January 9.[92][93]
  • The city of Faya-Largeau in northern Chad fell to FROLINAT (Front de libération nationale du Tchad), the Chadian rebel group led by Hissène Habré and supported by the Libyan Army.[94]
  • The very first Ironman Triathlon race, which would later develop into a series of races worldwide for the Ironman World Championship, was started on the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. A followup to triathlon events staged in San Diego, California in 1974 and 1975, the event was the first to refer to its champion as an "Ironman" and followed the standards used in three existing long-distance events: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 mi (3.9 km)), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 mi (185 km)) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.219 mi (42.195 km)), with all three to be run on the same day in the Ironman competition with one change, making the bicycle race 115 mi (185 km).[95] Of 15 entrants, 12 finished the race, with Gordon Haller, a U.S. Navy Communications Specialist, finishing first in 11 hours and 46 minutes.[96]
  • Born: Sarah Jio, American journalist and novelist known for Blackberry Winter; in Seattle
  • Died:
    • Maggie McNamara, 48, American stage, film and TV actress, committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates.[97][98]
    • Yusuf Sibai, 60, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, editor of the newspaper Al Ahram and a popular novelist, was assassinated by two Abu Nidal Organization terrorists— one from Kuwait and the other from Iraq— while he was attending an international conference of cultural officials at the Nicosia Hilton Hotel in Cyprus.[99] The terrorists then took 30 other delegates hostage and threatened to kill their captives unless they were flown out of the country.

February 19, 1978 (Sunday)

  • A rescue attempt by Egypt's Sa'ka Forces to rescue 15 hostages on a Cyprus Airways DC-8 at Larnaca on the island of Cyprus succeeded in saving 14 of the captives, but at the cost of the lives of 18 of the 76 commandos and the wounding of 18 others during a battle with troops of the Cypriot National Guard.[100] Eight Cypriot soldiers and two journalists were injured as well. The government of Cyprus had agreed to let the two Abu Nidal Organization gunmen safe passage out of the country and 19 of the hostages were released, while the terrorists kept 12 others to take with them, along with the airline's crew of three. After departing Nicosia, the DC-8 was refused permission to land by the nations of Algeria, South Yemen and Libya, and returned to Cyprus and landed at Larnaca. According to the government of Cyprus, negotiators had reached a deal with the terrorists when Egyptian C-130 Hercules made an unauthorized landing with the commando force.[101]
  • Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500 NASCAR race after four favorites— Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, David Pearson and A. J. Foyt— crashed because of tires that disintegrated at high speed. Petty, Waltrip and Pearson, were "far ahead of the rest of the pack" when a blowout happened on of Petty's tires and the three leaders slid into the infield. Foyt took the lead, but lost control when his car ran over tire debris from Benny Parsons's car.[102]
  • Died: Pankaj Mullick, 72, Indian film composer, singer and actor

February 20, 1978 (Monday)

February 21, 1978 (Tuesday)

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The Coyolxauhqui Stone

February 22, 1978 (Wednesday)

  • Navstar 1, the first satellite in the Global Positioning System (GPS), was launched into Earth orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff took place at 23:44 UTC (3:44 in the afternoon local time) from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 3. The Navstar, officially "OPS 5111", was part of "Block I", the first group of 11 GPS satellites.[114][115]
  • The Istiqlal Mosque, with capacity for as many as 120,000 worshipers, was inaugurated in Jakarta by President Suharto as Indonesia's national mosque.[116][117]
  • The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 234 to 182, to cancel $462 million of further funding for the B-1 bomber and to divert the money elsewhere, following up to the U.S. Senate vote to cancel funding for a fifth and sixth B-1.[118]
  • Died: Debbie Weems, 28, American singer and actress on stage and TV, best known as a recurring cast member on the children's TV show Captain Kangaroo, jumped or fell from a building in New York City.[119]

February 23, 1978 (Thursday)

February 24, 1978 (Friday)

  • The explosion of a railroad tanker car killed 16 people in Waverly, Tennessee, and injured 43 others. Two days earlier, the freighter hauling the car had derailed on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad line, and a hazardous materials (hazmat) crew of workers was handling the cleanup effort. At 2:58 in the afternoon, as temperatures were warming up from 20 °F (−7 °C) to 60 °F (16 °C) a tanker that had been carrying over 30,000 U.S. gallons of liquefied petroleum gas experienced a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE).[123]
  • U.S. President Carter signed the Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 into law, adding 400,000 acres 625 square miles (1,620 km2) of wilderness in four western U.S. states to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
  • Fishermen in Japan finished a three day operation to kill dolphins who were in the waters around Iki Island. Starting on February 22, a fleet of 300 fishing boats converged on a school of dolphins at sea, herded them toward the island shore, dragged them onto the beach and clubbed over 1,000 dolphins to death. A spokesman said that the fishermen had decided on the dolphin massacre because the swimming mammals consumed cuttlefish and hamachi (yellowtail snappers), the two varieties of fish that the fishermen relied upon for most of their income.[124]
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  • Died:

February 25, 1978 (Saturday)

  • In Argentina, the collision of a train with a delivery truck killed 55 people at a crossing in Sa Pereira, Santa Fe Province.[128][129] With 2,130 passengers on board, the Estrella del Norte train was traveling from San Miguel de Tucumán to Buenos Aires. The truck's driver disregarded warning signals in an attempt to cross the tracks before the train arrived.
  • Poitín, the first feature film to be made entirely with Irish dialogue, was released.[130] The title referred to poitin, homemade distilled beverage produced by moonshiners.
  • The owner of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, Harold Ballard, angry over a new bylaw of the National Hockey League requiring all uniforms to include a player's name, complied with the letter of the law, if not the spirit, by sending out his team with names stitched on their dark blue jerseys used for away games, but with letters of the same dark blue color. "I've complied with the NHL bylaw," Ballard told reporters in Chicago. "The names are stitched on, three inches high. It's a pity you can't see them."[131]
  • Born: Yuji Nakazawa, Japanese footballer with 110 caps for the Japan national team; in Yoshikawa, Saitama Prefecture
  • Died:
    • U.S. Air Force General Daniel James Jr., 58, the first African American to reach the four-star rank in the U.S. Armed Forces, died of a heart attack only three weeks after his retirement.[132]
    • Edith Humphrey, 102, British inorganic chemist and the first British woman to obtain a doctorate in chemistry[133]
    • Margarete Bieber, 98, the second woman to become a university professor in Germany[134]

February 26, 1978 (Sunday)

  • The 5th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, with 3,497 delegates, opened its first session for a term that would last for more than five years.[135] Almost 90% of the seats (3,116) were filled by members of the Chinese Communist Party, while another 381 were reserved for eight other organizations approved by the Communists, including the "Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League", the "China Association for Promoting Democracy" and the "China Democratic League".
  • Eight motorists were killed and 67 motorists and residents injured near the town of Youngstown, Florida, by chlorine gas from a ruptured railway tank car. The cloud of gas stalled car engines on U.S. Route 231 by cutting off the oxygen needed for combustion. Those remaining in their vehicles died quickly, and others who tried to flee were overcome. The accident arose when 47 freight cars and five locomotives of a Bay Line Railroad train were derailed.[136] The cause of the derailment was laid by National Transportation Safety Board to "sabotage as a result of someone realigning the rails at a joint in the track."[137][138]
  • Elections were held in the West African nation of Senegal for the 100-seat National Assembly and for President. The voting was the first since independence to allow candidates from more than one political party. President Léopold Sédar Senghor of the Parti Socialiste du Sénégal (PS) was re-elected with 82% of the vote, compared to slightly less than 18% for his opponent from the Parti démocratique sénégalais (PDS), Abdoulaye Wade.[139]
  • Voting was held in the South American nation of Colombia for the 112-member Senate and the 199-member Chamber of Representatives. The Partido Liberal Colombiano (PLC) won a majority in both chambers, with 62 in the Senate and 111 in the Chamber. The Partido Conservador Colombiano gained seats but remained in the minority.[140] Voting for President would take place on June 4.
  • Died:

February 27, 1978 (Monday)

  • The Rhodesian Army crossed into the neighboring nation of Botswana at the border town of Kazungula and encountered members of a unit of the Botswana Defence Force at Lesoma, mistaking them for Zimbabwean nationalists. Fifteen Botswanan soldiers and a civilian were killed and three of its army's vehicles were destroyed in the battle.[143][144]
  • For the first time, South African political prisoners on Robben Island were allowed to receive news. Prison authorities taped the Radio South Africa news service report in the morning and in the afternoon, and then played it over the audio system in the prisoner cells every evening. Newspapers and magazines would not be allowed until 1980.[145]
  • Pope Paul VI approved the publication of Normae Congregationis de Modo Procedendi in Diudicandis Praesumptis Apparitionibus as Revelationibus (Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations), written in Latin and intended solely for reading by authorized Roman Catholic bishops.[146]
  • The Soviet Union launched the last of its Tsiklon (Cyclone) navigation satellites into orbit, after placing the first one into space in May 1967. With the system in place, the Soviet government allowed the USSR's merchant marine and fishing vessels to use the service.[147]
  • Born:
  • Died: Robert Sobukwe, 53, South African anti-apartheid activist and first president of the Pan Africanist Congress, died of complications of lung cancer.[150]

February 28, 1978 (Tuesday)

  • Moussa Traoré, the president of the west African nation of Mali, ordered the arrest of his allies Tiécoro Bagayoko, Director of the National Security Service, along with Kissima Doukara, the Minister of Defense and Internal Security, and Public Works Minister Karim Dembele, who had been plotting a coup d'etat.[151] Bagayoko and Doukara were sentenced to the Taoudenni prison camp that they had designed for political prisoners, and worked in the salt mines until being murdered in August 1983.
  • Born:
    • Yasir Hameed, Pakistani cricketer with 176 caps for the Pakistan national team in Test cricket and 147 caps in One Day International Play; in Peshawar
    • Benjamin Raich, Austrian alpine skier and winner of two Olympic gold medals in 2006 in the slalom and giant slalom, and three world championships; in Arzl im Pitztal[152]
  • Died:

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