What happened in April 1978?
The top front-page story of each day in April 1978, as it was reported at the time. Click a date to see that day’s full front page and the matching birthday books.
- Apr 1🌍 Carter in Nigeria – President Carter begins a historic three-day state visit to Nigeria, marking the first visit by a U.S. President to sub-Saharan Africa.
- Apr 2🌍 Black Hole Discovered – Astronomers found a potential black hole in galaxy M-87, containing five billion times more material than the sun.
- Apr 3🔬 New Cancer Drug Success – California scientists developed a potent anti-cancer drug that kills millions of cancer cells in mice with a single dose.
- Apr 4🌾 Churches Ship Wheat – A ship loaded with 10,000 tons of wheat, donated by American farmers, departed Houston for Vietnam.
- Apr 5🛩️ Lockheed Wins Jet Order – Pan American World Airways announced a $500 million order for 12 Lockheed L-1011 jumbo jets, boosting Lockheed's recovery efforts.
- Apr 6🌍 Heyerdahl Burns Tigris – Explorer Thor Heyerdahl set fire to his reed boat Tigris in protest against Ethiopia's refusal to allow him to land.
- Apr 7🚂 Safety Equipment for Tank Cars – The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed the need for faster installation of safety equipment on jumbo railroad tank cars.
- Apr 8📖 Gutenberg Bible Auctioned – A Gutenberg Bible sold for $2 million, marking the highest price ever paid for a book at auction.
- Apr 9🌍 Tanzania Compensates Peasants – Tanzania will pay $7.5 million to peasants whose homes were demolished during a 1973-74 resettlement campaign.
- Apr 10🏌️ Player Wins Masters – Gary Player clinched the 42nd Masters title, finishing one stroke ahead in a tightly contested final round.
- Apr 11🗽 Soviet Official Defects – Arkady N. Shevchenko, a top Soviet official at the UN, defected to the West, causing shockwaves among officials.
- Apr 12🏛️ 2,000-Year-Old Cupid Returned – A stolen 2,000-year-old Cupid statue was returned to Turkey by the U.S. Customs Service after being retrieved from a New York art dealer.
- Apr 13📺 A Bonanza For TV Addicts – Television technology evolves from black and white to color and large screens, raising questions about future innovations.
- Apr 14🚀 Voyager Contact Restored – American engineers re-established radio contact with Voyager 2, ending a week-long blackout and reviving hopes for its mission to outer planets.
- Apr 15🌊 Wreath for Titanic – A C-130 transport dropped a wreath into the sea near an iceberg to honor the Titanic on the 66th anniversary of her sinking.
- Apr 16🏛️ ABT Dances Into the Met – The American Ballet Theater opens its spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, featuring performances by Cynthia Gregory and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
- Apr 17⚡ Record Reactor Output – The Hanford Nuclear Reservation's reactor became the first in the U.S. to produce 40 billion kilowatts of power, equivalent to 72 billion barrels of oil.
- Apr 18🏃♂️ Rodgers Wins Marathon – Bill Rodgers won the 82nd Boston Marathon in near-record time of 2 hours 10 minutes 13 seconds, marking his second victory in the event.
- Apr 19🌍 Panama Canal Treaty Approved – The U.S. Senate voted to hand over control of the Panama Canal to Panama by 1999, marking a significant shift in U.S.-Latin America relations.
- Apr 20🌍 Panama Canal Treaty Approved – The U.S. Senate approved the treaty ceding the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999, welcomed with relief across Latin America.
- Apr 21🌍 No Smallpox Cases – For the first time in history, the world has gone six months without a reported case of smallpox.
- Apr 22🎨 Rubens Stolen in Florence – Thieves stole Rubens' masterpiece 'The Three Graces' from the Pitti Palace museum in Florence, along with nine other artworks.
- Apr 23🏛️ Rubens Paintings Found – Italian police recovered the Rubens masterpiece 'The Three Graces' and nine other stolen works from the Pitti Palace in Florence.
- Apr 24🏌️ Kuo Golf Victor – Kuo Chie-hsiung of Taiwan won the 1978 Asian golf circuit finale in Japan, shooting a six-under-par 66 and finishing 11 shots ahead.
- Apr 25🕊️ U.S.-Soviet Arms Pact – The U.S. and Soviet Union have resolved a key issue blocking a new strategic arms agreement, showing progress in negotiations.
- Apr 26🔬 New Blood Test Developed – Researchers at the University of Kentucky developed a blood test that is 100% effective in diagnosing contagious equine metritis in mares.
- Apr 27🔬 Satellite Launched – A small satellite designed to record Earth's temperature was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
- Apr 28🏗️ 51 Killed in Collapse – Scaffolding inside a cooling tower at a power plant in West Virginia collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 51 workers.
- Apr 29🔬 Artificial Kidney Developed – A new type of artificial kidney that uses no water and can be worn as a backpack has been developed, promising a breakthrough in dialysis treatment.
- Apr 30🕊️ Pope Appeals for Peace – Pope Paul VI met with King Hussein of Jordan, urging for a Middle East peace based on mutual recognition of rights.
Happy Birthday! 1978 – The Year in Headlines
The whole of 1978 in real headlines. See the 1978 book →