June 1, 1978: The 1978 FIFA World Cup begins in Argentina
June 24, 1978: North Yemen President Ahmad al-Ghashmi assassinated
June 26, 1978: South Yemen President Salim Rubai Ali deposed and executed
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June 1, 1978 (Thursday)
The 1978 FIFA World Cup started in Argentina with teams from 16 nations competing in four groups of four teams each, with each team playing the other members of their group once. Group 1 had the national teams of Argentina, France, Hungary and Italy; Group 2 had Mexico, Poland, Tunisia and West Germany; Group 3 had Austria, Brazil, Spain and Sweden; and Group 4 had Iran, the Netherlands, Peru and Scotland. Only one game was played on the first day, with Poland and West Germany kicking off at 3:00 before a crowd of 67,579 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, ending in a 0 to 0 draw.[1]
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June 2, 1978 (Friday)
Deng Xiaoping, Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China, addressed a conference of leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and endorsed the reforms proposed by the Truth Criterion movement for modernization of agriculture, industry, defense and technology, and departing from the approach of the late Mao Zedong.[2] Deng's support would lead to a drastic change in Communist China's economic growth.
The CyberVision 2001 home computer was introduced, appearing in select Montgomery Ward department stores, and billed as being "programmed to talk... play games, teach math, or help with your tax return."[3] The user-friendly computer was offered for sale at $399 (equivalent to $1,925 in 2024[4]).[5]
Japan Air Lines Flight 115 had its tail struck on the runway while landing at Osaka International Airport. The incident caused damage to the rear pressure bulkhead, which was not properly repaired.[7] The Aircraft operated a Boeing 747-146SR, registration JA8119, was later involved in the infamous crash of Japan Air Lines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985, the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.[8] The tailstrike repair failure led to the eventual catastrophic decompression and loss of control of Flight 123, resulting in 520 fatalities.
Died:Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, 82, Spanish footballer, player and president of Real Madrid C.F. since 1943, known for building Real Madrid into one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.[11]
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June 3, 1978 (Saturday)
The first direct presidential election in Bangladesh was held, with ten candidates running for office, including President Ziaur Rahman, who was seeking re-election. President Ziaur received more than 75 percent of the votes cast, with former Bangladesh Army commander-in-chief M. A. G. Osmani garnering almost 22 percent. None of the other candidates received more than one-half of one percent of the votes.[12][13]
Dominique Darel, 28, French-born Italian film actress, was killed in an automobile accident in Cannes.[23]
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June 5, 1978 (Monday)
The government of Vietnam announced that it would allow ships from the People's Republic of China to enter Vietnamese ports in order to evacuate people of Chinese descent, starting on June 20.[24]
The British television crime drama Strangers, starring Don Henderson, premiered on ITV and would run until 1982.
Two days after appearing for Scotland in a 3 to 1 loss to Peru in the World Cup in Argentina, Willie Johnston was banned from the Scotland national team for life when he was found to have taken the banned stimulant fencamfamin.[25]
Howard Jarvis celebrating the passage of Proposition 13
Voters in the U.S. state of California overwhelmingly approved "Proposition 13", an amendment to Article XIII of the state constitution passed in a citizens' initiative that had been placed on the ballot through the lobbying efforts of Howard Jarvis.[29] The measure, approved by more than 62% of 6.8 million voters through direct democracy, reversed a 1976 increase in property taxes on California landowners, and placed limits on future increases in taxes. Placement of the proposition on a state election ballot began a "tax revolt" across the United States.
The Shah of Iran removed his friend General Nematollah Nassiri from the position of Director of SAVAK, Iran's secret police agency, and appointed him as ambassador to Pakistan.[30] Summoned back from Pakistan [31] Nassiri would be arrested on orders of the Shah on November 8 along with 60 other SAVAK officials and, remaining in prison during the Shah's departure and the arrival of the Ayatollah Khomeini, would be executed on February 15, 1979.[32]
The Vienna Convention stop sign
The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, a multilateral treaty to standardize traffic signs, went into effect after ratification by 15 nations, almost ten years after it had been signed on November 8, 1968.[33] The Convention, not signed in the U.S, Canada, Australia or China, applies to signs in almost all of Europe except for Ireland and Portugal.
Died:Paul Lambert, 43, American college basketball coach for Southern Illinois University, was killed in a fire at the Airport Holiday Inn motel in Columbus, Georgia, two months after being hired to be the head coach of Auburn University's men's basketball team, and six months before the start of the 1978-1979 college basketball season.[35]
British Rail unveiled its Advanced Passenger Train Prototype, capable of speeds of up to 162 miles per hour (261km/h), and the most powerful domestic train to operate in Britain, but that would not be funded past 1983.[38]
A team of the French mountain police patrol located a sack of undelivered mail at the foot of the Bossons Glacier in the Alps, more than 27 years after it had been thrown clear of the November 3, 1950, crash of Air India Flight 245. All but eight of the 112 pieces of mail were forwarded to the addresses listed.[45]
At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Internazionale of Milan defeated S.S.C. Napoli of Naples, 2 to 1, to win the Coppa Italia, Italy's highest level professional soccer football tournament.[46] Internazionale and Napoli had finished 5th and 6th in Serie A competition.
Miroslav Klose, Polish-born German footballer with 137 caps for the German national team from 2001 to 2014, holder of the record for most goals scored (16) in the FIFA World Cup, 2006 German footballer of the year; in Opole, Poland[55]
Affirmed held off Alydar to win the Belmont Stakes[57] and would be the last horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown of Horse Racing (the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes) for 37 years, until 2015.[58]
A fire at the Borås City Hotel in Swedenkilled 22 people and injured 55 others, mostly technical college students celebrating the end of the school year with a dance. The fire broke out in the lobby of the hotel and quickly spread to a restaurant on the second floor, and the hotel ballroom on the third floor, where 150 people were attending the dance.[59]
Died:Akenzua II, 79, ceremonial monarch of the Edo people in the African nation of Nigeria as the Oba of Benin since 1933.[68] Akenzua was succeeded as Oba by his son, Prince Solomon, who would be crowned as the Oba Erediauwa on March 23, 1979.[69]
David Berkowitz, also referred to as the "Son of Sam", received a 25-year prison sentence with the possibility of parole after he was found guilty of 6 counts of second degree murder and 7 counts of attempted second degree murder.[72]
For the first time, the U.S. House of Representatives allowed a live broadcast of one of its sessions, with Associated Press Radio after authorization by Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill.[73]
Died:Guo Moruo, 85, Chinese author, historian and archaeologist[74][75]
June 13, 1978 (Tuesday)
The explosion of a gun turret on the Soviet navy cruiser Admiral Senyavin, during a test firing exercise, killed 37 of the ship's crew. The disaster occurred as shells were being fired from a 152mm cannon. After eight were fired, a ninth shell became stuck in the gun turret and on the next firing, the tenth shell impacted the ninth, exploding both and sending smoke back into the bow tower, killing everyone inside. The incident would remain secret until after the end of the Soviet Union in 1992.
The Ehden massacre took place in Lebanon as 1,200 members of the Kataeb Phalangists killed almost 40 people in an attack on the mansion of Antoine "Tony" Frangieh, a leader of the Marada Brigade.[76] The attack, ordered by Bachir Gemayel and carried out by hundreds of guerrillas led by Samir Geagea and Elie Hobeika, was made in retaliation for the June 7 assassination of Joud el Bayeh.[77] Gemayel would be elected President of Lebanon in 1982, but assassinated before his inauguration.
Complying with a United Nations resolution, Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon after 91 days of occupation.[78] Rather than turning authority over to a UN peacekeeping force, however, the Israelis invited Lebanese Christians to replace them.[79]
In Guatemala, 17 soldiers were killed by a bomb planted by the Guerrilla Army of the Poor, in an apparent retaliation for the May 29 massacre of 38 protesters in the village of Panzós.[81]
American mobster Anthony Provenzano, nicknamed "Tony Pro", suspected in the 1975 disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, was convicted of the 1961 murder of Anthony Castellitto and sentenced to life in prison.[82] He would die ten years later at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary at the age of 71.[83]
The Cleveland Barons (NHL) of the National Hockey League went out of business, with the league merging the Barons' assets and debts with those of the Minnesota North Stars.[84] The Barons' failure was the first in more than 25 years, when the NFL's Dallas Texans folded after the 1952 NFL season, and would be the last in any of the four major North American sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) for 46 years until the folding of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes in 2024.
Baseball player Pete Rose began what would become the longest streak in the National League of consecutive games with at least one hit, making a single in a game against the Chicago Cubs. The streak would reach 44 games in a row, making it the first challenge to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941, before ending on August 1.[85]
Born:
Diablo Cody (pen name for Brook Busey Maurio), American screenwriter, producer and director, Academy Award, BAFTA award and Tony Award winner; in Lemont, Illinois[86]
Dox (pen name for Jean Razakandraina), 65, Madagascar poet known for his work in poetry in the Malagasy and French launguages, was fatally injured after being accidentally knocked down a flight of stairs.[89]
June 15, 1978 (Thursday)
Italy's President Giovanni Leone resigned six months before his term was to expire, after having been convicted of tax evasion and involvement in a bribery scandal. Amintore Fanfani, the president of the Italian Senate, automatically became the acting president and called upon the parliament to elect a new president.[90]
Born:Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer with 37 caps for the Netherlands national team; in Helmond[93]
June 16, 1978 (Friday)
At a joint ceremony in Panama City, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama's military leader, General Omar Torrijos, signed the instruments of ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty and the Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty, providing that Panama would have full control of the operations of the Panama Canal, to take effect at noon on December 31, 1999.[94]
The GOES-3 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) weather and communications satellite was launched from the U.S., and placed intogeostationary orbit the next day. Positioned over the U.S., it was used initially for weather forecasting as well as for communication. Ceasing to function as a weather satellite in 1989, it would continue until its deactivation on June 29, 2016, a communications satellite, operating for a total of 38 years.[96]
The musicalEvita, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, was performed for the first time, premiering in London's West End at the Prince Edward Theatre. With Elaine Paige in the title role as Argentine First Lady Eva Peron, Evita ran for 3,176 performances on the West End before closing more than seven years later on February 8, 1986.[115] With an American cast, Evita would make its Broadway debut on September 25, 1979, and run for 1,567 performances (with Patti Lu Pone in the title role) until June 26, 1983.
A shootout between Provisional IRA members and the British Army in Northern Ireland left one civilian and three IRA men dead.[116]
In World Cup competition, the determination of which two teams would qualify for the June 25 championship game was decided. In Group A, the Netherlands and Italy both had records of 1-1-0 (one win, one draw) and were scheduled to play each other in Buenos Aires. The Netherlands won, 2 to 1, to win Group A with a record of two wins and one tie. In Group B, Argentina and Brazil also had records of one win and one draw; Brazil had a goal differential of +3 points and Argentina +2 points. In the first match, Brazil beat Poland 3 to 1 to increase their differential to +5, so Argentina had to win and to get at least four goals more than opponent Peru; Argentina defeated Peru, 6 goals to 0.[117]
Charon, a satellite of Pluto, was discovered by astronomer James Christy at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station in Arizona.plate on left showing Charon compared to plate on the right, as viewed from Earth Christy had been examining highly magnified images of Pluto on photographic plates taken with the telescope in April and notice a slight bulge that was visible at regular intervals between times that the photos were taken.[120] As a result of the discovery, postulations about Pluto's size, mass, and other physical characteristics because the calculated mass and albedo of the Pluto–Charon system had previously been attributed to Pluto alone. The International Astronomical Union formally announced Christy's discovery to the world on July 7, 1978.[121][122]
A shootout in the La Mesa Prison in Mexico's Baja California state, near Tijuana, killed Warden Salvador Gonzales Gutierrez, an assistant warden, two prison guards and four prisoners. Gonzalez had been targeted for assassination for his was attempts to reform the prison by stopping wealthy narcotics dealers who continued to operate behind the prison walls.[125]
Died:Richard "Toby" Tobias, 46, American stock car and sprint car racer known for his modification of stock cars by producing a chassis of tubular steel, was killed in a crash while competing in a USAC spring car race at the Flemington Speedway in New Jersey.[126] He was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, the National Sprint Car and the Northeast Dirt Modified Halls of Fame.[127]
June 24, 1978 (Saturday)
Ahmad al-Ghashmi, President of the Yemen Arab Republic since the October 11 assassination of his predecessor in office, was assassinated by an envoy from South Yemen, who had been sent by South Yemen President Salim Rubai Ali.[128][129] Both President al-Ghashmi and the South Yemen envoy were killed in the explosion of a bomb inside a briefcase. Salim Rubai Ali was assassinated in a coup three days later.[130]
Mario Kempes scoring the go-ahead in extra time past Jan Jongbloed
Argentina defeated the Netherlands, 3 to 1, after extra time to win the 1978 FIFA World Cup.[131] Argentina had been leading, 1 to 0, with nine minutes to play when Dirk Nanninga, a substitute for the Netherlands, scored in the 81st minute to tie the game. After 15 minutes, the score was still 1 to 1. Mario Kempes, who made Argentina's first score, made the go-ahead goal past Dutch goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed in the second overtime for a 2 to 1 lead and then made an assist to Daniel Bertoni who effectively put the game out of reach.
The Palace of Versailles in France was heavily damaged by a bomb planted by Breton nationalists.[133] Two Breton nationalist terrorists, Lionel Chenviere and Patrick Montausier, were arrested four days later by police at the Breton capital, Rennes.[134]
Hermaszewski, the first space traveler from Poland
Soyuz 30 was launched from the Soviet Union with the first cosmonaut from Poland, Mirosław Hermaszewski, along with Belarusian Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk, who was on his third mission.[135] Hermaszewski became only the space traveler who was a citizen of neither the Soviet Union nor the United States, and was trained and sent under the Soviet Interkosmos program.
Seasat, the first orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans, was launched by the U.S. from Cape Canaveral. The satellite's mission would last for less than four months, ending on October 10, 1978, when a short circuit in Seasat's electrical system caused it to shut down.[136]
In Moscow, the U.S. Embassy gave sanctuary to a group of seven Russian people who rushed passed Soviet police into the embassy entrance, and requested asylum. Pyotr Vashchenko, his wife Augusta and three of their daughters were accompanied by two other people who identified themselves as members of a sect of Pentecostal Christians.[137] For the next five years, the "Siberian Seven" would stay inside the U.S. embassy compound, living in a one-room basement apartment in what one reporter would describe as "religious refugees, embarrassing to one superpower, frustrating to the other."[138] The group would finally be granted exit visas and permission to emigrate by the Soviet government on June 26, 1983.[139]
Arif Heydarov, the Minister of Internal Affairs in the Soviet Union's Azerbaijani SSR and a KGB officer in charge of security in what was then a constituent republic of Soviet Union, was assassinated by an official of the republic's penitentiary.[145] Heydarov, the Deputy Internal Affairs Minister, Salahaddin Kazimov and an assistant, Aziz Safikhanov, were at a branch office in Agdash when Zia Muradov entered the office and shot both of them before committing suicide. Heydarov died at the scene, and Kazimov died three days later.[146] The news of the assassination would be published later with the statement, "Deputy of the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic, Lieutenant General Arif Nazar oglu Heydarov died tragically while on duty. Deputy Minister Salakhaddin Kazimov and assistant Aziz Safikhanov, who were in his office, were shot along with the minister."[147]
Multi-candidate elections were held in the southeastern African nation of Malawi for 87 of the 102 seats in the National Assembly. Although Malawian President Hastings Banda had to approve all candidates, and 15 of the seats were filled by Banda appointees, voters in 47 of the 87 constituencies had a choice of candidates, marking the first such election in the nation's history.[149]
Voting for President began in Italy to find a replacement for Giovanni Leone, as a 1,011-member electoral college gathered in Rome. The college was composed of all 323 Senators, all 630 Deputies and 58 regional delegates. On the first three ballots, a two-thirds majority (at least 675 votes) was necessary to win, and on the first ballot, former Justice Minister Guido Gonella of the Christian Democrats received 392 votes, Communist Party candidate Giorgio Amendola had 339 and the other votes were divided among ten candidates.
The accidental explosion of an ice cream truck in New York City injured 114 bystanders in lower Manhattan, 15 of whom sustained serious injuries.[154]
The inaugural voyage of the Venture Cruise Lines ocean liner SS America began with a ship unprepared for business. Problems with its lack of cleanliness, leaking pipes and overbooking that caused many to be turned away, ended with passengers so angry that the ship returned to New York and 969 disembarked. The ship departed again later in the day, and 200 more passengers elected to leave.[155] On its third try on July 3, SS America stopped at Nova Scotia and was served with $2,500,000 worth of claims for refund. The ship would be impounded on July 18, fail its inspection (with a score of 6 out of 100) and be ordered sold on August 28 after Venture Cruise Lines filed for bankruptcy.[156][157]
Died:William F. Harrah, 67, founder of Harrah's Casino in 1946, operator at the time of the world's biggest purely gaming casino business[158]
