The following events occurred in July 1978:
July 1, 1978 (Saturday)
Australia's Northern Territory (NT) became a self-governing unit, with Paul Everingham, the Legislative Assembly majority leader, becoming the first Chief Minister. The transition to self-government was celebrated with the raising for the first time of the NT's flag at a ceremony in the capital, Darwin. Guerrillas from the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) carried out the massacre of 14 black African workers and their families who lived on a white-owned farm near the town of Rusape in Rhodesia, including five children. General Fernando Lucas García was inaugurated for a four-year term as the new President of Guatemala, succeeding Kjell Laugerud García. Former U.S. President Richard Nixon appeared at his first public rally since his 1974 resignation, after accepting an invitation to the small town of Hyden, Kentucky for the dedication of the newly-built Richard M. Nixon Recreation Center, which the government of Leslie County, Kentucky, had named in his honor. More than 4,000 people crowded into the gymnasium at the center to listen to Nixon's 41-minute speech."Gallery: Nixon's 1978 visit to Hyden", The Courier-Journal (Louisville KY), July 15, 2016 The first Texxas Jam rock festival was held at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, and featured such artists as Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Journey, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Heart, and comedians Cheech & Chong.Vernon Leroy Gowdy III Texxas Jam: 1978–1988, Lulu Com (2014); ; The 1978 Memphis fire and police strikes commenced with a strike action by firefighters. Born: Mark Hunter, British rower and 2008 Olympic gold medalist; in Forest Gate, Greater London Aleki Lutui, Tongan rugby union player in the New Zealand league, with 38 caps for the Tonga national team; in Tofoa Died: General Kurt Student, 88, Nazi German Luftwaffe officer and convicted war criminal known for creating the Fallschirmjäger paratrooper force and for the 1941 massacre of civilians on Crete
July 2, 1978 (Sunday) Australia's government announced that it was purchasing the Cocos Islands from their owner, John Clunies-Ross, whose family had been granted private ownership of the 27 Indian Ocean atolls in 1886 by the British Empire's Queen Victoria. The Commonwealth of Australia had placed the Cocos under government authority in 1955. At the time of Australia's acquisition, the Cocos had 360 inhabitants, mostly Australians of Malay descent as well as the Clunies-Ross family. As the deadlock in Italy's presidential election continued in the electoral college, the founder of the Italian Socialist Party, Chamber of Deputies President Sandro Pertini was introduced as a compromise candidate. The People's Republic of China announced that it would not provide further economic aid to Vietnam, after having given 14 billion U.S. dollars to North Vietnam and over the previous 20 years, with decreasing amounts after the 1975 conquest of South Vietnam. The last edition of the New York Times to be set using Linotype machines was released. Born: Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021; in Tallinn, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union Ganesh Kishan, Indian film actor, winner of two Filmfare Best Actor awards; in Adakamaranahalli, Nelamangala, Karnataka state
July 3, 1978 (Monday) The Amazon Co-operation Treaty (ACT) was signed by the South American nations of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela to promote sustainable development of the basin of the Amazon River valley.Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization website (in Spanish ) archived by the Wayback Machine The children's afternoon TV program Récré A2 premiered on the French TV network Antenne 2, and would run for almost 10 years. Intended to run only during summer vacation, the show was broadcast as an after school program from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on most weekdays, with a two-hour program on Wednesday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00. It would conclude on June 29, 1988, a few days short of its 10th anniversary."VIDÉO - 40e anniversaire de la première diffusion de l'émission jeunesse culte Récré A2" (VIDEO - 40th anniversary of the first broadcast of the cult youth show Récré A2), by Yannick Borean, France Bleu, July 3, 2018 By a vote of 5 to 4, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ban profane language from the radio and television broadcast from within the United States, holding that the right of free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution did not include the right to use "indecent language" in broadcasts, and defined "indecent" as "not conforming to generally-accepted standards of morality." Born: Mizuki Noguchi, Japanese long-distance runner and 2004 Olympics women's marathon gold medalist; in Shizuoka Prefecture Died: Michela Schiff Giorgini, 54, Italian archaeologist specializing in Egyptology, known for her excavations of the Temple of Amenhotep III and his queen, Tiye, died of meningitis. James Daly, 59, American TV, film and stage actor best known as the co-star of the TV hospital drama Medical Center, died of a heart attack.James Daly, Actor, Is Dead at 59; Took Many TV Character Roles The New York Times via Internet Archive. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
July 4, 1978 (Tuesday) U.S. Patent No. 4,098,260 was awarded to inventor William Goettl for designing the first solar thermal collector, initially designed to be used in providing solar panels and a system for air circulation to be placed on the roofs of buildings to safely warm water pipes and air ducts. Born: Becki Newton, American actress known for Ugly Betty and The Lincoln Lawyer; in New Haven, Connecticut
July 5, 1978 (Wednesday) General Ignatius Acheampong, President of Ghana since 1975 as Chairman of the National Redemption Council of the West African nation, was overthrown in a military coup d'etat led by his Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Fred Akuffo. The Soyuz 30 spacecraft returned to Earth after its crew, Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk and Mirosław Hermaszewski, the cosmonaut from Poland, had completed almost eight days on the Salyut 6 space station. Born: Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Indian Telugu cinema film actor and producer known for 118; in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
July 6, 1978 (Thursday) A fire killed 12 people and injured 15 others after breaking out on a British Railways sleeping car. The fire, caused by the ignition of bags of linen that had been placed next to an electric heater, broke out in the early morning while passengers were riding from Plymouth, Devon to London. By the time the fire was discovered at 2:41, the train stopped near Taunton, Somerset and most of the victims had been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. South Korea's President Park Chung-hee was re-elected for the fourth time by an electoral college of 2,581 members who had been approved by voters on May 18. President Park was the only candidate on the ballot and received 2,577 votes, while three electors did not cast a ballot and one, Park Seung-guk, submitted a blank ballot as a protest against the process.Jurgen Kleiner, Korea: A Century of Change (World Scientific, 2001) p.164. Born: Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, American actresses known for Sister, Sister; at Coleman Kaserne U.S. Army Base in Gelnhausen, West Germany Died: Renzo Montagna, 84, Italian Army officer and fascist who was the last commander of the Blackshirts paramilitary group and later the police director of the Nazi-backed Italian Social Republic Babe Paley (b. Barbara Cushing), 63, American magazine editor, socialite and fashion icon, died of lung cancer. Pietro Montana, 88, Italian-born American sculptor
July 7, 1978 (Friday) The Solomon Islands became independent from the United Kingdom. with Sir Peter Kenilorea as the first Prime Minister and Sir Baddeley Devesi as the first Governor-General. Francisco Mendes, Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau since its independence in 1973, was killed in a single vehicle car accident near the city of Bafatá. What has been described as "the first recorded hip hop song", "Enterprise" was released as part of the 41 songs on the album Runaways (Original Broadway Cast Recording), from the 1978 Broadway musical Runaways. Born: Misia (stage name for Misaki Itō), popular Japanese singer and philanthropist; in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture Saud al-Qahtani, Saudi Arabian advisor to King Abdullah, accused in an arrest warrant in Turkey for the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey; in Riyadh Mustafa al-Shamyri, Yemeni citizen imprisoned at the U.S.-owned Guantanamo Bay detention camp for 13 years from 2004 to 2017 after being accused falsely of terrorism as a victim of mistaken identity. Died: Morris the Cat, 17, popular advertising mascot for the Star-Kist Foods company who had appeared in dozens of television commercials for 9Lives catfood since 1966, with actor John Erwin doing the voice-over for the cat's thoughts. Henry Trefflich, 70, German-born American animal importer nicknamed "The Monkey King" for his capture and reselling of wild animals to zoos around the worldRobert D. McFadden."Henry H.F. Trefflich, Importer of Animals, Dies at 70; 'Monkey King of America' Co-author of Two Books", The New York Times, July 10, 1978
July 8, 1978 (Saturday) Voting for President was completed by a 1,011-member electoral college in Italy, composed of all 323 Senators, all 630 Deputies and 58 regional delegates. Sandro Pertini, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, received 832 votes on the 16th ballot, well over the 506 required for a majority.The outsider who won the race, The Economist (London, England), July 15, 1978, p. 45 Sandro Pertini was sworn in as President of Italy, the next day, exactly two months after the May 9 assassination of former Premier (and favorite for the office of president) Aldo Moro. Pertini said in a speech to a joint session of the Parliament at the Montecitorio Palace, "If it had not been for the ruthless assassination, he, not I, would speaking to you today from this platform." Brazil's Museu de Arte Moderna, which had opened in 1948 in Rio de Janeiro, lost 90 percent of its works of modern art (950 out of 1055) when the museum accidentally caught fire. Among the works destroyed were paintings by Pablo Picasso ("Cubist Head" and "Portrait of Dora Maar"), Miró ("Persons in a Landscape"), Salvador Dalí ("Egg on a Plate, Without the Plate"), Max Ernst, and Joaquín Torres-García, whose artworks were on display as part of a retrospective sponsored by the museum. Born: Erin Morgenstern, American novelist known for The Night Circus; in Marshfield, Massachusetts
July 9, 1978 (Sunday) The first elections in 12 years were held in Bolivia, with the government declaring General Juan Pereda as the winner of the presidential election, and reportedly defeating former presidents Hernán Siles Zuazo (who served 1956 to 1960) and Víctor Paz Estenssoro (who served 1960 to 1964). Investigations supported allegations of a rigged election, including the fact that the government that 1,971,968 votes had been cast, 102.6 percent of the 1,921,556 registered voters. Pereda's Unión Nacionalista del Pueblo (UNP) party was also reported to have won a majority of votes (53%) for the Chamber of Deputies. The South American nation's electoral court annulled the results 11 days later and Pereda became President anyway on July 21, when a military coup d'etat removed General Hugo Banzer. Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, a former Iraqi military officer who was a vocal opponent of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, and who had served as Prime Minister of Iraq for two weeks in 1968, was shot and mortally wounded by members of Saddam's Mukhabarat secret police as he was leaving the Intercontinental Hotel in London. He died the next day.