The following events occurred in October 1978:
October 1, 1978 (Sunday)
The nation of Tuvalu, formerly the British colony of the Ellice Islands, became independent from, but remained in association with, the United Kingdom. Sir Toaripi Lauti became the first prime minister of the South Pacific set of islands and Sir Fiatau Penitala Teo became the first Governor-General as representative of the constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The People's Republic of China and the ruling Chinese Communist Party inaugurated the "Democracy Wall" ( 西单民主墙, Xīdān mínzhǔ qiáng) in Beijing, allowing civilians to freely place their opinions on posters on the city's Xidan Wall, without the prospect of reprisal. The approved Wall was consistent with recommendations made on August 18, 1977 for encouraging limited freedom of speech and debate, with the slogan "To liberate thought, to provide the best service to the people, are the duties of CCP members." To defuse the growing public dissent in Iran, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi announced a general amnesty to all dissidents living outside of Iran, including the Ayatollah Khomeini, but the decree came too late to stop the Iranian Revolution. Voters in the island nation of the Comoros overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, changing the form of government and renaming their country the "Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros". In eastern India, 88 people were killed when a crowded bus fell into a flooded ravine in the remote South 24 Parganas district of the state of West Bengal. The bus driver was attempting to avoid hitting a cow and ran off of the road. In Canada, a fire at the Ripple Cove Inn at Ayer's Cliff, Quebec, killed eight vacationers and left eight others injured and four missing. Born: Katie Aselton, American TV actress known for The League; in Milbridge, Maine
October 2, 1978 (Monday) Barkat Gourad Hamadou became the new Prime Minister of the African nation of Djibouti, and the fourth in the 16 months since Djibouti had become an independent nation."Nov 1978 – Cabinet Reorganization under New Prime Minister", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 24, November 1978, Djibouti, p.29308 Hamadou would continue as Prime Minister for more than 20 years before stepping down on March 7, 2001. Mamdouh Salem was dismissed as Prime Minister of Egypt by President Anwar Sadat after three years in office, and succeeded by Mustafa Khalil. Zastava Automobiles of Yugoslavia produced the first of its popular compact automobiles, the "Yugo", presenting the first model to President Josip Broz Tito. American comedian Tim Allen was arrested in Traverse City, Michigan after he and a friend, Gerald Mead, sold of cocaine to under cover officers of the Michigan State Police."Five men charged in cocaine ring", AP story in Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer and News, October 4, 1978, page=B-6 Allen was charged with drug trafficking under his real name, Timothy Alan Dick. Pleading guilty to felony charges and agreeing to become an informant, Allen was sentenced to at least three years in the federal prison in Sandstone, Minnesota and released after serving 28 months. After turning his life around, Allen would go on to success as a comedian, the star of the hit TV sitcom Home Improvement, and a bestselling author. Born: Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese pop singer known as "The Empress of J-pop"; in Fukuoka
October 3, 1978 (Tuesday) The crash of a Finnish Air Force DC-3 killed all 15 people aboard. One of the engines stalled shortly after take off from Kuopio to Helsinki and the airplane crashed into Lake Juurusvesi.Suomen Airlines crash, Aviation Safety Network Most of the victims were politicians and prominent businessmen (including three members of Parliament) who were attending a National Defence Course meeting organized by the Finnish Defence Forces. Tarja Halonen, a labor union official who would serve from 2000 to 2012 as the first female President of Finland, had been scheduled to be on the flight but was advised by her physician to cancel because of her pregnancy. In France, gunmen shot and killed 10 people and wounded 11 others in the Bar du Téléphone in Marseille, shooting every person in the tavern, apparently in a fight between rival street gangs. At 8:10 pm, the three killers entered the bar, then shot every person within four minutes. While some suspects were arrested and released, no person was ever brought to trial. The second birth of a "test tube baby" conceived by in vitro fertilization took place at the Bellevue Nursing Home hospital in Kolkata in India with the arrival of Kanupriya Agarwal, daughter of two members of the Marwari merchant caste, Bela and Pravat Agarwal, following the use of IVF by Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay. Born: Gerald Asamoah, Ghana-born German footballer with 43 caps for the Germany national team; in Mampong Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian footballer with 85 caps for the Peru national team; in Callao Fredrik Vejdeland, Swedish neo-Nazi and leader of the Nordic Resistance Movement, classified by the U.S. as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist; in Östersund Died: Alexander Belov, 26, Soviet basketball player and 1972 Olympic gold medalist, inducted to the FIBA Hall of Fame, died from a cardiac sarcoma, a rare cancer of the heart tissue. Cooper Smeaton, 88, Canadian ice hockey referee and chief of officiating in the National Hockey League from 1917 to 1937, later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
October 4, 1978 (Wednesday) The funeral of Pope John Paul I was held in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. The FBI arrested two men who had furnished detailed plans to an undercover agent whom they were attempting to recruit for a 12-man crew, with a goal of stealing the U.S. Navy attack submarine , equipped with nuclear missiles, from its base in New London, Connecticut. According to the plan, given to the FBI agent at a meeting in St. Louis, the men planned to board a sub tender at New London, use plastique explosives to sink it and block the harbor, and possibly to fire a nuclear missile at New London or another U.S. city. U.S. Navy Rear Admiral David Cooney commented, "No 12 people off the street are ever going to operate a submarine like this." Born: Phillip Glasser, American voice actor best known for voicing Fievel Mousekewitz in An American Tail and its sequels; in Tarzana, California Died: Rocky Dennis, 16, American teenager who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia who became the basis for the 1985 film Mask.
October 5, 1978 (Thursday) Sweden's Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin announced his resignation along with his cabinet of ministers after a disagreement on whether Sweden should build two additional nuclear reactors to join the six already operating. His coalition of the Center, Conservative and Liberal parties had been elected in 1976 as the first government since 1932 not to include the Social Democrats. "All parties in a coalition must be able to compromise," Fälldin told reporters, "but no coalition party should demand of another to extinguish its soul." Fälldin's government remained as caretakers until October 18, when a new government was formed by Ola Ullsten. The Environmental Modification Convention, signed on May 18, 1977, and meant to ban contemporary and future weather modification technology in warfare, became effective upon ratification by 20 nations. The Jesus Is Lord Church, which claims one million members in 60 nations, was founded in Manila by Professor Eddie Villanueva of the Philippine College of Commerce, with 15 students as its members. The New York Post became the first of New York City's three major daily newspapers resume publication after News Corp, owned by magnate Rupert Murdoch, reached an agreement with the pressman's union. The Post had last appeared on August 9, the day before the strike against the three dailies. Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Polish-born American Jewish writer of short stories, novels and children's books, was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born: James Valentine, American guitarist for Maroon 5; in Lincoln, Nebraska
October 6, 1978 (Friday) During Operation Unitas in Chile, a joint training exercise by the navies of the United States, Peru and Chile, a U.S. Navy R6 transport crashed into a hill while attempting to land at Santiago, killing all 16 people aboard. The airplane was flying at when it hit the side of the high mountain.Operation Unitas accident, Aviation Safety Network The sudden collapse of a steel cofferdam killed seven construction workers at the Lake Keowee reservoir near Pickens, South Carolina. The men had been inside the temporary watertight structure and lower than the surface to pump out water to allow work on the water system of Greenville County when the wall collapsed, drowning them. One worker who had been standing on the rim of the cofferdam survived after being washed out to the edge of the lake.
October 7, 1978 (Saturday) In the Soviet Union, all 38 people on Aeroflot Flight 1080 were killed when the Yakovlev Yak-40 crashed shortly after takeoff from Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) en route to Kostanay. Because the crew had not de-iced the engines, the number one engine stalled and the Yak-40 struck trees on a hillside.10/07/78 Aeroflot crash Aviation Safety Network The Kingdom of Spain enacted a law permitting the sale of contraceptives and other aids to birth control for the first time in Spanish history, repealing all criminal penalties that had forbidden their sale and use. The New Zealand Parliament was dissolved by Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, and new elections were scheduled for November 25. U.S. Representative Charles Diggs, a Democrat Congressman for Michigan since 1955, was convicted in a federal court in Washington D.C. on 11 charges of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms. He would be re-elected to a 13th term one month later, censured by the House on July 31, 1979 and, after resigning on June 3, 1980 when his convictions were upheld on appeal, begin serving 14 months in prison. Born: Bom Kim (Kim Beomseok), South Korean and American businessman and billionaire, founder of the South Korean e-commerce company Coupang; in Seoul Died: M. S. Baburaj, 57, Indian film score composer and film score for Malayalam cinema, died of a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
October 8, 1978 (Sunday) Australia's Ken Warby set the current world water speed record of 317.59 mph (511.11 km/h) on the Tumut River at the Blowering Dam in New South Wales."The fastest man afloat: Warby breaks own record", By David Robertson, The Sydney Morning Herald, October 9, 1978, p.1 Warby was piloting his speed boat Spirit of Australia. The record was still standing more than 45 years later."The deadly history of the water speed world record", by Sanj Atwal, GuinnessWorldRecords.com, February 7, 2024 The Brisbane City Azzuri defeated Adelaide City Zebras, 2 to 1, to win the championship of Australia's National Soccer League before an overflow crowd of 6,964 fans at the 5,000 capacity Perry Park in Brisbane, Queensland. Died: Jim Gilliam, 49, American baseball player in the Negro Leagues (for the Baltimore Elite Giants and in Major League Baseball for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, 1953 National League Rookie of the Year, died of a brain hemorrhage. Karl Swenson, 70, American actor on film, television, stage and radio
October 9, 1978 (Monday) The Uganda–Tanzania War began in Africa as the Ugandan Army began making the first attacks on Tanzania's Kagera Salient, on order of President Idi Amin. Tanzania would win the war within less than a year and President Amin would be overthrown. P.W. Botha succeeded John Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa.