WHAT ALL HAPPENED AUGUST TO DECEMBER 1978
Find out what all happened August to December 1978

U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan (15. December 1978)

Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship. (27. December 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 pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform. (22. December 1978)

150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War. (13. August 1978)

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

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

Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor. (She will serve until January 8, 1988.) (4. December 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)

In San Francisco, California, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White. (27. November 1978)

In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier. (18. November 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)

Spain approves its latest constitution in a referendum. (6. December 1978)

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

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

Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (10. December 1978)

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is founded in the city of Riha (Urfa) in Turkey. (27. November 1978)

The Solomon Islands join the United Nations. (19. September 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)