WHAT ALL HAPPENED MAY TO OCTOBER 1978
Find out what all happened May to October 1978

Sigmund Jähn becomes first German cosmonaut, on board Soyuz 31. (26. August 1978)

Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft. (21. October 1978)

Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone. (1. May 1978)

Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60 mph at Blowering Dam, Australia. (8. October 1978)

Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born. (25. July 1978)

U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been negligently disposed of. (7. August 1978)

The Solomon Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom (7. July 1978)

David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" killer in New York City, is sentenced to 365 years in prison for six killings. (12. June 1978)

An earthquake measuring 7.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people. (16. September 1978)

Wanda Rutkiewicz is the first Pole and the first European woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. (16. October 1978)

The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. (25. June 1978)

The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke bars quota systems in college admissions. (28. June 1978)

The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. (8. May 1978)

Tuvalu gains independence from the United Kingdom. (1. October 1978)

World News Tonight premieres on ABC. (10. July 1978)

The 730 (transport), Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side. (30. July 1978)

Karol Wojtyla is elected Pope John Paul II after the October 1978 Papal conclave, the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523. (16. October 1978)

The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed. (1. June 1978)

The Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party is founded. (1. October 1978)

Puerto Rico police assassinate two nationalists in the Cerro Maravilla murders. (25. July 1978)