On This Day

August 1978 in History

Events in History

  • Aug 1 Commandos occupy Iraqi embassy in Paris, 1 dead
  • Aug 3 11th Commonwealth Games open in Edmonton, Canada

Event of Interest

Aug 7 Thousands of mourners file past body of Pope Paul VI

Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
  • Aug 8 Pioneer-Venus 2 with 5 atmospheric probes launched toward Venus
  • Aug 9 USSR performs (underground) nuclear test
  • Aug 10 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya

Funeral of Pope Paul VI

Aug 11 Funeral of Pope Paul VI held in the Vatican

Pope Paul VI's body lying in view in the Vatican after his death
  • Aug 11 Legionnaire's disease bacteria isolated in Atlanta
  • Aug 12 Arron Marshall completes a record shower of 336 hours
  • Aug 12 China & Japan sign peace treaty
  • Aug 12 International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft launched - to study solar wind
  • Aug 13 Bomb attack in Beirut, 175 killed
  • Aug 15 US House of Representatives approves (233-169), 39-month extension for ERA
  • Aug 17 1st successful crossing of the Atlantic by balloon (3 Americans)
  • Aug 18 Memphis Tenn settles with striking police officers & firefighters
  • Aug 20 Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al Airline bus in London
  • Aug 20 Mark Vinchesi of Amherst Mass keeps a frisbee aloft 15.2 seconds
  • Aug 20 Tatyana Providokhina runs female world record 1k (2:30.6)
  • Aug 21 1st gay theme telefilm - Matlovich vs US Air Force
  • Aug 22 Left-wing Sandinistas revolutionaries occupy National Palace in Managua, Nicaragua
  • Aug 23 Iranian students occupies Iranian embassy at Wassenaar
  • Aug 24 USSR performs underground nuclear test
  • Aug 26 Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I
  • Aug 26 Soyuz 31 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 East German) to Salyut 6
  • Aug 28 Donald Vesco rode 21'-long Kawasaki motorcycle at 318.598 mph
  • Aug 28 Ja'afar Sharif-Emami appointed premier of Iran
  • Aug 29 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
  • Aug 31 Constitution adopted by Sri Lanka

Event of Interest

Aug 31 Emily & William Harris plead guilty to 1974 kidnapping of American publishing heiress Patty Hearst

Patty Hearst
Hostage and Bank Robber Patty Hearst
  • Aug 31 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Birthdays in History

  • Aug 7 Alex Timbers, American stage and screen director (Moulin Rouge!), born in New York City
  • Aug 7 Alexandre Aja, French director, born in Paris, France
  • Aug 28 Shaniqua [Linda Miles], American wrestling valet, born in Cincinnati, Ohio

Deaths in History

  • Aug 2 Satomi Myodo, Zen nun/attendant of Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, dies at 82
  • Aug 2 Totie Fields [Sophie Feldman], American comedienne, dies at 48
  • Aug 3 Ezzedin Kalak, Palestinian PLO representative in Paris, murdered
  • Aug 6 Edward Durrell Stone, US architect, dies at 76

Paul VIPaul VI (1897-1978)

Aug 6 262nd Roman Catholic pope (1963-78), dies of a heart attack at 80

Paul VI
  • Aug 9 James Gould Cozzens, American novelist (1949 Pulitzer-Guard of Honor), dies at 74
  • Aug 9 Johan Daisne [Thiery], Belgian writer (Lago Maggiore), dies at 66
  • Aug 14 Nicolas Bentley, British writer and illustrator, dies at 71
  • Aug 16 Alidius Tjarda van Starkenborch Stachouwer, Dutch last Governor-General of Dutch East Indies (1936-45), taken prisoner by the Japanese during WWII, dies at 90
  • Aug 21 Charles Eames, American designer and architect, dies at 71
  • Aug 22 Ignazio Silone, Italian novelist (Fontamara, Pane e vino), dies at 78

Jomo KenyattaJomo Kenyatta (1891-1978)

Aug 22 1st Prime Minister of Kenya (1963-64) and the 1st President of Kenya (1964-78), dies at 83

Jomo Kenyatta
  • Aug 28 Bruce Catton, American historian and writer (Civil War), dies at 78
  • Aug 28 F. Van Wyck Mason, American historian and author (Three Harbours), dies at 76
  • Aug 31 John Wrathall, President of Rhodesia (b. 1913)

Historical Figures

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