Information for the Year 1978

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  • Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian D. Smith and three black leaders agree on transfer to black majority rule (Feb. 15).
  • US Senate approves Panama Canal neutrality treaty (March 16); votes treaty to turn canal over to Panama by year 2000 (April 18).
  • Pope Paul VI , dead at 80, mourned (Aug. 6); new Pope, John Paul I, 65, dies unexpectedly after 34 days in office (Sept. 28); succeeded by Karol Cardinal Wojtyla of Poland as John Paul II (Oct. 16).
  • "Framework for Peace" in Middle East signed by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin after 13-day conference at Camp David led by President Jimmy Carter (Sept. 17).
  • Population:  4.302 billion
  • Nobel Peace Prize:  Menachem Begin (Israel) and Anwar el-Sadat (Egypt)
  • President Carter chooses Federal Appeals Court Judge William H. Webster as F.B.I. director (Jan. 19).
  • US Supreme Court in Bakke case, bars quota systems in college admissions but affirms constitutionality of programs giving advantage to minorities (June 28).
  • President:  James Earl Carter, Jr.
  • Vice President:  Walter F. Mondale
  • Population:  222,584,545
  • Life expectancy:  73.5 years
  • US GDP (1998 dollars):   $2,291.40 billion
  • Federal spending:   $458.75 billion
  • Federal debt:   $776.6 billion
  • Median Household Income(current dollars):$15,064
  • Consumer Price Index:   65.2
  • Unemployment:   6.1%
  • Cost of a first-class stamp:  $0.13 ($0.15 as of 5/29/78)
  • Super Bowl  Dallas Cowboys defeated Denver Broncos(SCORE 27-10)
  • World Series of Baseball  New York Yankees defeated Los Angeles Dodgers
  • National Basketball Association Championship  Washington Bullets defeated Seattle
  • National Hockey League Stanley Cup  Montreal Canadiens defeated Boston Bruins
  • Women Wimbledon Tennis  Martina Navratilova defeated Chrissy Evert (2-6 6-4 7-5)
  • Men Wimbledon Tennis   Bjorn Borg defeated Jimmy Connors (6-2 6-2 6-3)
  • Kentucky Derby Horse Race Champion  Affirmed
  • National College Athletic Association Basketball Championship  Kentucky defeated Duke (SCORE 94-88)
  • National College Athletic Association Football Champions  Alabama (RECORD 11-1-0) and USC (RECORD 12-1-0)
  • World Cup Soccer   Argentina defeated Holland
  • Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable stereo.
  • Academy Award, Best Picture:  Annie Hall
  • Grammy Award - Record of the Year  Hotel California by the Eagles
  • Emmy Award - Best Television Comedy   All In The Family - CBS
  • Miss America:  Susan Perkins (Ohio)
  • Three Albuquerque, NM, men, Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, and Maxie Anderson, make the first successful transatlantic balloon flight in the helium-filled Double Eagle II.
  • Balloon anigoplasty is developed to treat coronary artery disease.
  • A fusion reaction in a reactor at Princeton reaches 60 million degrees Fahrenheit for 1/20 of a second.

 

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