WHAT ALL HAPPENED AUGUST TO OCTOBER 1978
Find out what all happened August to October 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)

The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China is signed. (12. August 1978)

PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727-214, collides in mid-air with a Cessna 172 and crashes in San Diego, resulting in the deaths of 144 people. (25. September 1978)

The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FLSN) occupies national palace in Nicaragua. (22. August 1978)

Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. (17. August 1978)

Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II. (22. October 1978)

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

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

Janet Parker is the last person to die of smallpox, in a laboratory-associated outbreak. (11. September 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)

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

While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella. (7. September 1978)

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

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

150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War. (13. August 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)

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)

Three members of the Ulrich family are killed in an accident. This leads to the Ford Pinto litigation. (10. August 1978)

Papal conclave: Pope John Paul I is elected to the Papacy. (26. August 1978)

Muhammad Ali outpointed Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title 3 times at the Superdome in New Orleans. (15. September 1978)