What happened in 1978

“Night Fever”

Bee Gees · 8 weeks at #1 in 1978

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1. Jan 7How Deep Is Your LoveBee Gees1 wk
2. Jan 14Baby Come BackPlayer3 wks
3. Feb 4Stayin' AliveBee Gees4 wks
4. Mar 4(Love Is) Thicker Than WaterAndy Gibb2 wks
5. Mar 18Night FeverBee Gees8 wks
6. May 13If I Can't Have YouYvonne Elliman1 wk
7. May 20With A Little LuckWings2 wks
8. Jun 3Too Much, Too Little, Too LateJohnny Mathis/Deniece Williams1 wk
9. Jun 10You're The One That I WantJohn Travolta & Olivia Newton-John1 wk
10. Jun 17Shadow DancingAndy Gibb7 wks
11. Aug 5Miss YouThe Rolling Stones1 wk
12. Aug 12Three Times A LadyCommodores2 wks
13. Aug 26GreaseFrankie Valli2 wks
14. Sep 9Boogie Oogie OogieA Taste Of Honey3 wks
15. Sep 30Kiss You All OverExile4 wks
16. Oct 28Hot Child In The CityNick Gilder1 wk
17. Nov 4You Needed MeAnne Murray1 wk
18. Nov 11MacArthur ParkDonna Summer3 wks
19. Dec 2You Don't Bring Me FlowersBarbra Streisand & Neil Diamond2 wks
20. Dec 9Le FreakChic3 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1978; weeks count only those in 1978.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Feb 16The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).
2. Mar 2The late iconic actor Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from his grave in Switzerland.
3. Jun 12American serial killer David Berkowitz, popularly known as the "Son of Sam", was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison for each of six killings.
4. Jun 25The rainbow flag representing gay pride was first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade.
5. Jun 28In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the U.S. Supreme Court barred quota systems in college admissions but held that affirmative-action programs advantaging minorities were constitutional.
6. Jul 7The Solomon Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
7. Sep 5Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace discussions at Camp David, Maryland.
8. Sep 19The Solomon Islands join the United Nations.
9. Sep 28Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the first year of three popes since 1605.
10. Oct 1Tuvalu gains independence from the United Kingdom.
11. Nov 3Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
12. Nov 27In San Francisco, city mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.
13. Dec 4Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco's first female mayor.
14. Dec 11The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  Jimmy Carter

• UK Prime Minister

  James Callaghan

• Prime Minister of Canada

  Pierre Trudeau

• President of France

  Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

• German Chancellor

  Helmut Schmidt

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Takeo Fukuda → Masayoshi Ōhira

• Soviet leader

  Leonid Brezhnev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1978, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• January JonesAmerican actress · Jan 5
• Israel KeyesAmerican serial killer (died 2012) · Jan 7
• Chad JohnsonAmerican football player · Jan 9
• AJ McLeanAmerican singer, dancer, and actor · Jan 9
• Jeremy CampAmerican singer-songwriter and musician · Jan 12
• Kristen SchaalAmerican actress, voice artist, comedian and writer · Jan 24
• Ashton KutcherAmerican model, actor, producer, and entrepreneur · Feb 7
• Jensen AcklesAmerican actor and musician · Mar 1
• Brooke BurnsAmerican fashion model, television personality, and actress · Mar 16
• Kevin FederlineAmerican dancer and television personality · Mar 21

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.