The following events occurred in June 1978:
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.
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. 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." The user-friendly computer was offered for sale at $399 (equivalent to $1,925 in 2024). President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines designated Manila and the surrounding suburbs as the National Capital Region by his Presidential Decree No. 1396. 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. 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. The tailstrike repair failure led to the eventual catastrophic decompression and loss of control of Flight 123, resulting in 520 fatalities. Born: Nikki Cox, American TV actress known for Unhappily Ever After, Nikki and Las Vegas; in Los Angeles Justin Long, American TV and film actor known for Ed and for Live Free or Die Hard; in Fairfield, Connecticut 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.
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. Born: Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana, former flight attendant and royal bodyguard who has been the Queen consort of Thailand since her marriage to Vajiralongkorn (King Rama X) since 2019; in Songkhla Lyfe Jennings (stage name for Chester Jermaine Jennings), American R&B singer known for the top selling albums The Phoenix, Lyfe Change and I Still Believe; in Toledo, Ohio Natalia Valevskaya, Russian fashion designer; in Moscow Died: Deborah Howe, 31, American children's writer known for Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery, which inaugurated the Bunnicula series of books continued by her husband, James Howe, died of cancer. So Phim, 47, Cambodian guerrilla leader, former governor of the East Zone of the Democratic Kampuchea and third ranking Communist Party of Kampuchea official, committed suicide rather than facing torture and execution, after refusing to carry out the Cambodian genocide program of Pol Pot.
June 4, 1978 (Sunday) Julio César Turbay was elected to a 4-year term as President of Colombia, defeating Belisario Betancur. Pakistan advanced its Project-706 two months after the April 4 breakthrough by nuclear physicist A. Q. Khan, as the Chaklala Air Force Base Centrifuge Laboratory succeeded at enriching uranium by electromagnetic isotope separation of 238U and 235U isotopes. Piano Jazz, the longest-running cultural program on the U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) network, was broadcast for the first time. AEK Athens F.C. defeated PAOK of Thessaloniki, 2 to 0, to win the Greek Football Cup, after the two teams had finished in first and second place in regular season play in the Alpha Ethniki league, the highest level of soccer football in Greece. Died: Jorge de Sena, 58, Portuguese novelist and poet"Jorge de Sena", by Jorge Fazenda Lourenço, Centro Virtual Camões, Instituto Camões Dominique Darel, 28, French-born Italian film actress, was killed in an automobile accident in Cannes.
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. 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. Born: María Chivite, Spanish politician and president of the autonomous government of Navarre within Spain since 2019; in Cintruénigo, Navarre Qasim al-Raymi, Yemeni militant and terrorist who served as the Emir of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from 2015 to his death (killed by airstrike, 2020) Nick Kroll, American TV, stage and film comedian known for Kroll Show and the Broadway production of The Oh, Hello Show; in Rye, New York
June 6, 1978 (Tuesday)
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. 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."Shah fires Iran's chief of security", San Francisco Examiner, June 6, 1978, p.9 Summoned back from Pakistan "Iran purges 34 SAVAK officials", by Douglas Watson, The Baltimore Sun, October 31, 1978, p.2 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.
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. 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. Born: Konstantīns Konstantinovs, Latvian powerlifter who held the world record in his weight class with a raw deadlift of , for 13 years, from 2009 until 2022; in Liepāja, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (d. 2018) Judith Barsi, American child actress known for voicing the role of "Ducky" in the animated film The Land Before Time; in Los Angeles (murdered, 1988) 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.
June 7, 1978 (Wednesday) The Washington Bullets won the championship of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the U.S. state of Washington, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics, 105 to 99, in Game 7 of the best-4-of-7 series. The English thoroughbred colt Shirley Heights, ridden by Greville Starkey narrowly defeated U.S.-bred Hawaiian Sound before a crowd of 300,000 at Epsom to win the 199th running of the Epsom Derby, the second race of the British Triple Crown of horse racing. British Rail unveiled its Advanced Passenger Train Prototype, capable of speeds of up to , and the most powerful domestic train to operate in Britain, but that would not be funded past 1983. Born: Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Indian technology entrepreneur and founder of One97 Communications; in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh Bill Hader, American actor and comedian, winner of three Primetime Emmy Awards; in Tulsa, Oklahoma Died: Ronald G.W. Norrish, 80, British chemist and 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, known for the Norrish reaction, a photochemical reaction taking place with ketones and aldehydes. Joud el Bayeh, Lebanese banker and politician, director of Banque de la Méditerrannée and mayor of Kfardlakos, was assassinated by six armed men dispatched by Lebanese politician Antoine "Tony" Frangieh.
June 8, 1978 (Thursday) Naomi James arrived in Dartmouth, Devon, 272 days after her departure on September 9, 1977, becoming the first woman to sail by herself around the world via Cape Horn, and only the second to so overall. 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. 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. Internazionale and Napoli had finished 5th and 6th in Serie A competition. Born: Maria Menounos, American actress, journalist, and television presenter; in Medford, Massachusetts Eun Ji-won, South Korean rapper and singer; in Seoul 네이버 인물검색 - 은지원 Naver. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016. Died: Jenny Hasselquist, 83, Swedish prima ballerina Valéria Dienes, 99, Hungarian choreographer and philosopher Ruth Rose, 82, American screenwriter best known for co-writing the script for the 1939 film King Kong as well as for The Last Days of Pompeii and Mighty Joe Young
June 9, 1978 (Friday) Following a decision by church president Spencer W. Kimball and his advisers on the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the reversal of its 126-year old policy of not allowing black men to hold the priesthood. Kimball wrote in a letter that God "has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the church may receive thy priesthood." The United Kingdom's first and only helicopter shuttle service, Airlink, began as a service of British Airways Helicopters, using a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter to transport passengers between Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport, a distance of . The service would last until February 9, 1986. Born: 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 Michaela Conlin, American TV actress known for Bones; in Allentown, Pennsylvania Matt Bellamy, British musician and singer, lead vocalist for the Grammy Award winning rock band Muse; in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
June 10, 1978 (Saturday)