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1978 Trivia, History and Fun Facts |
Table of Contents Quick Facts from 1978 |
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Top Ten Baby Names of 1978Jennifer, Melissa, Jessica, Amy, Heather, Michael, Jason, Chris, Topher, David, James |
The Sex Symbols, Hotties, and Fashion IconsLoni Anderson, Barbara Bach, Adrienne Barbeau, Kim Basinger, Valerie Bertinelli, Dyan Cannon, Lynda Carter, Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Harry, Kate Jackson, Marilu Henner, Lauren Hutton, Maria João, Cheryl Ladd, Olivia Newton-John, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Bernadette Peters, Victoria Principal, Diana Ross, Jane Seymour, Brooke Shields, Jacquelyn Smith, Suzanne Somers, Donna Summer, Cheryl Tiegs, Lindsay Wagner, Mary Woronov |
Leading Men and Hollywood HeartthrobsChristopher Reeve, John Travolta, Warren Beatty |
“The Quotes”“My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.” “Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” “Za Plane! Za Plane Boss!” “Nanoo Nanoo!” “Toga! Toga!” “We’re from France.” “Here’s to good friends.” |
Time Magazine’s Man of the YearDeng Xiaoping |
Miss AmericaSusan Perkins (Columbus, OH) |
Miss USAJudi Anderson (Hawaii) |
The ScandalsThe FBI set up “Abdul Enterprises, Ltd.” and posed as Middle Eastern businessmen. They videotaped talks with government officials, where they offered money in return for political favors to a fictional Middle Eastern businessman. 11 U.S. government officials were out of a job after this bribery and conspiracy scandal. There has been some debate about 3M’s Post-it notes. The product was used in a marketing campaign in 1978 as ‘Post N Peel’ and sold nationally in 1980 as ‘Post-it Notes.’ New products are in ‘test mode’ all the time. We say 1980. 12-year-old Brooke Shields starred in Pretty Baby, a film about a whorehouse. The Twinkie Defense appeared. Dan White killed Harvey Milk and George Moscone. The jury agreed that he had diminished mental capacity from eating too many Twinkies. Jim Jones got 909 followers to commit suicide (including many children) by drinking poisoned Flavor-Aid in his Jonestown commune. A misunderstanding led to why “Drink The Kool Aud” emerged. The Unabomber sent his first bomb to Professor Buckley Crist at Northwestern University—the result was a slight injury to Officer Terry Markman. A computer “testing malfunction” caused the United State’s Defense System to go from an “at ease” DEFCON 1 to a “fire up the missiles” DEFCON 5. |
Star Wars Holiday SpecialThe 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special featured the main actors from Episode IV. It is generally considered pretty bad. It also introduced Boba Fett. |
Rock Star DeathsKeith Moon (accidental overdose of prescription medication) Both Mama Cass and Keith Moon died in Harry Nilsson’s London apartment 4 years apart – in 1974 and 1978. |
Ouch!2,300 students in Harrisburg, PA, tried to set a WR for the largest tug-of-war game. Instead, disaster ensued. The 2,000ft long braided nylon rope snapped, recoiling several thousand pounds of stored energy. Nearly 200 students lay wounded, 5 with severed fingertips, and hundreds more faced 2nd-degree burns. |
UFO ConnectionPilot Fredrick Valentich and his plane disappeared during a UFO encounter. His last communication was, “Melbourne, that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again… (two seconds open microphone)… it is hovering, and it’s not an aircraft…”. He described “4 points of light of an elongated UFO”. Recent astronomical simulations show a perfect diamond formed by Mercury, Venus, Mars, and nearby star Antares was in the sky then. |
1978 Pop Culture Facts & HistoryBen and Jerry opened their first ice cream parlor in Burlington, Vermont. There is a “WELCOME TO CLEVELAND” sign on a rooftop in the flight path of a Milwaukee airport. It has been confusing passengers since 1978. Mark Gubin, the creator, said: “Living in the world is not a dress rehearsal. You better have fun with it.” Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made it to the top of Mount Everest, the first to do so without supplementary oxygen. The first Test Tube Baby, Louis Brown, was born. Home Depot was founded in Atlanta, Georgia. According to Charmin makers Procter & Gamble, a 1978 survey found that Mr. Whipple was the third best-known American, behind former President Richard Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham. (And ahead of then-president Jimmy Carter.) Horst Rechelbacher invented Aveda shampoo. Actor John Cazale only ever appeared in 5 movies over six years (1972-1978), and all five films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He died while filming his last movie, The Deer Hunter. Star Wars broke the US Weekend Box Office record twice, first on the 11th weekend of its initial 1977 run and then again on the first weekend of its 1978 re-issue. Jaws 2 held the record for one month in between, so they both took the record AND lost it to the same film. Actor Marlon Brando was paid $3.7 million and a percentage of the profits for twelve shooting days playing Jor-El, Superman’s father, in the superhero flick Superman. For ten minutes of screen time, Brando earned $14 million. Christopher Reeves, who played Superman, reportedly earned $250,000. Christopher Reeves also got third billing behind Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman. The Pizza Planet truck from the Toy Story series is a 1978 Toyota Gyoza Mark VII Lite Hauler. Over 98% of Cadillacs sold in 1978 were equipped with a vinyl roof. On Prince’s debut album, For You, released in 1978, he wrote, arranged, composed, produced, and performed the album all by himself at twenty years old. September by Earth, Wind & Fire was not released initially on a standard album but was first featured as a bonus track on their 1978 compilation: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1. At the 1978 Asian Games, North and South Korea’s national football (soccer) teams made it to the grand finals, only to end the match 0–0 in overtime, forcing the two teams to share Gold. On June 8, 1978, Larry Bird signed a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the Boston Celtics, making him the highest-paid rookie in sports history. During a 1978 Monday Night Football game, Howard Cosell commented on a delicious new snack he was eating; thus, stadium nachos went mainstream. The “1st & Ten” graphics system for drawing lines on TVs to create an on-field marker to help TV viewers identify the NFL’s first down distances was conceived and patented in 1978 by David W. Crain. It also won two Emmys. Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 1978: $162,000 |
The HabitsPlaying Simon, Toga Parties, watching Grease, and singing along. |
1st Appearances & 1978’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and PresentsHungry Hungry Hippos, Simon |
Best Film Oscar WinnerAnnie Hall (presented in 1978) |
Broadway ShowsDeathtrap (Play) Opened on February 26, 1978, and closed on June 13, 1982 |
East End ShowEvita (Musical) Opened on June 21, 1978, and closed on February 18, 1986 |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1978A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner |
1978 Most Popular TV Shows1. Laverne & Shirley (ABC) |
1979 Billboard Number One SongsDecember 24, 1977 – January 13, 1978: January 14 – February 3: February 4 – March 3: March 4 – March 17: March 18 – May 12: May 13 – May 19: May 20 – June 2: June 3 – June 9: June 10 – June 16: June 17 – August 4: August 5 – August 11: August 12 – August 25: August 26 – September 8: September 9 – October 27: October 28 – November 3: November 4 – November 10: November 11 – December 1: December 2 – December 8: December 9 – January 5, 1979: |
SportsWorld Series Champions: New York Yankees |
More 1978 Facts & History Resources:Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com) |
