This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1978

	January 1st	An Air India passenger flight exploded in midair and crashed into the sea neart Bombay. 213 people died in the crash.
	February 1st	Film director, Roman Polanski, fled the United States after having pled guilty to the charge of having engaged in sexual acts with a 13 year old girl.
	February 6th	One of the worst blizzards in the history of New England, USA, hit the region resulting in unprecedented snowfall and sever cold conditions which killed 17 people and damaged thousands of houses throughout the states of new England.
	February 16th	The first computer bulletin board system (BBS) was created in Chicago.
	March 1st	Charlie Chaplin's body was stolen from the Swiss cemetery it was buried at. The theft was part of a plot to extort money from Chaplin's family, which failed and the culprits were apprehended.
	March 11th	Palestinian, Al Fatah, guerrillas hijacked a bus in Israel, killing 34 civilians and wounding more than 60 others before being killed by Israeli forces.
	March 16th	Italian Prime minister, Aldo Moro, was kidnapped by members of the left-wing terrorist group, Red Brigades. He was was murdered almost 2 months later.
	March 16th	The super tanker, Amoco Cadiz, split in two after it had run aground off the coast of Brittany. It was the 5th-largest oil spill in history.
	March 21st	American hip hop musician, Kevin Federline, was born in Fresno, California. He is most known for his marriage to pop music superstar Britney Spears and their subsequent separation.
	April 2nd	The soap opera, Dallas, premiered on the CBS channel. It run for 13 years straight, earning a following around the globe.
	April 20th	A Korean Air passenger airplane veered off course and entered Soviet airspace. Two soviet fighter jets were scrabbled with orders to shoot down the plane. Air to air missiles were fired on the aircraft which managed to make an emergency landing on a frozen lake, after being hit by one of the rockets.
	April 22nd	The Blues Brothers appeared for the first time on the Saturday Night Live television show.
	May 1st	The first spam e-mail in history is circulated in the internet's predecessor, the ARPANET.
	May 9th	Prime Minister of Italy, Aldo Moro, was assassinated by the terrorist group, Red Brigades.
	May 18th	Charlie Chaplin's body was recovered after it was stolen 2 months ago. It was stolen by a Polish man and a Bulgarian accomplice who intended to extort 400,000 UK pounds from the Chaplin family for its return.
	May 25th	The classic sci-fi movie, Star Wars, was released.
	June 13th	Israeli military forces withdrew from Lebanon.
	June 16th	The hit film musical, Grease, was released.
	June 19th	German basketball player, Dirk Nowitzki, was born in Wurzburg, West Germany. He is widely considered as the best European players to ever play on the NBA and one of the overall best players of his generation.
	June 19th	The first ever comic strip of Garfield was published.
	June 20th	British footballer, Frank Lampard Jr., was born in Romford, England.
	June 22nd	Charon, one of the satellites of the planet Pluto, was discovered.
	June 24th	Spanish footballer, Luis Garcia, was born in Badalona.
	June 24th	Argentine footballer, Juan Roman Riquelme, was born in Buenos Aires.
	August 26th	Italian priest, Albino Luciani, became Pope John Paul I. He died 33 days after his ascendancy and had the shortest reign in modern papal history. He was succeeded by John Paul II, who had the second longest Papacy in history.
	September 5th	Israeli prime minister, Menachem Begin, and Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, began peace talks at Camp David, Maryland, under the mediating eye of US president, Jimmy Carter.
	September 25th	A Pacific Southwest Airlines passenger jet collided in mid-air with a small Cessna plane, causing it to crash in San Diego, California. All 135 passengers died in the crash, as well as the 2 passengers of the Cessna plane and seven people on the ground.
	October 16th	Bishop Karol Jozef Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. He was the first and only Polish Pope who reigned as Pope for 26 years.
	October 27th	British musician, Vanessa-Mae, was born in Singapore. She was considered as a prodigy child violinist and she excelled in performing classical music pieces, however she eventually settled into a unique musical style which can be described as a classical-techno fusion.
	November 3rd	Dominica gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Dominica is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea.
	November 15th	A DC-8 passenger plane crashed outside of Colombo, Sri Lanka resulting in the death of all 183 people on board.
	November 18th	In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led the followers of the Peoples Temple cult to commit mass suicide. 913 people, including Jones, died. 276 of them were children. It is the worst cult related mass suicide ever recorded.
	November 18th	The first ever comic sketch of 'The Blues Brothers' appeared on the Saturday Night Live show.
	November 20th	Greek-Italian painter, Giorgio de Chirico, died at the age of 90. He is considered as one of the most influential painters of the 20th century who helped shape the Surrealism movement.
	December 18th	American actress, Katie Holmes, was born in Ohio. She is best known for her participation in the blockbuster movie, Batman Begins, and for her relationship with movie superstar, Tom Cruise.
	December 27th	Spain became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship.

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