What Happened in October 1978

Historical Events

Baseball Record

Oct 2 NY Yankees win 3rd straight AL East title beating Boston Red Sox, 5-4 in a dramatic single playoff game; Ron Guidry wins #25 aided by Bucky Dent's 3-run homer

Oct 2 Syrian & Palestinians shoot in East Beirut, 1,300 killed
Oct 3 Gold hits record $223.50 an ounce in London

The Boys from Brazil

Oct 4 Film adaptation of Ira Levin's novel "The Boys from Brazil", starring Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier premieres

Oct 4 Funeral services held for Pope John Paul I
Oct 4 Pier 39 opens in San Francisco
Oct 5 Isaac Bashevis Singer wins the Nobel Prize for literature
Oct 5 Over 30 major nations ratify the Environmental Modification Convention which prohibits weather warfare that has widespread, long-lasting or severe effects
Oct 5 Sweden's Fälldin government falls
Oct 6 "Midnight Express" film premieres directed by Alan Parker starring Brad Davis, Randy Quaid and John Hurt
Oct 6 Hannah H Gray inaugurated as 1st female head of a US university (Chicago)

Event of Interest

Oct 6 Iraq declares Ayatollah Khomeini an undesirable person

Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini

Music History

Oct 6 Mick Jagger apologizes for racist lyrics in "Some Girls"

Baseball Record

Oct 6 Royals' George Brett hits 3 HRs, Yanks win championship game 3, 6-5

Days of Heaven

Oct 6 Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven" film premieres starring Richard Gere

Oct 7 LA Dodgers win the pennant
Oct 7 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Kansas City Royals, 3 games to 1
Oct 7 MLB National League Championship: Los Angeles Dodgers beat Philadelphia Phillies, 3 games to 1
Oct 7 USSR performs nuclear test

F1 World Champion

Oct 8 American Mario Andretti in a Lotus finishes 10th in the season ending Canadian Grand Prix at Île Notre-Dame Circuit, but wins his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 13 points from Ronnie Peterson

Oct 8 Ken Warby sets world water speed record at 275.97 knots (511.10 km/h; 317.58 mph) on Blowering Dam, Tumut River NSW, Australia
Oct 8 Yanks win 3rd straight AL Championship, all against Kansas City

Country Music Association Awards

Oct 9 12th Country Music Association Awards: Dolly Parton, Crystal Gayle, and Don Williams win

Music History

Oct 9 John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical "Ballroom" premieres in NYC

Musical Theater and Film Composer John Kander

Event of Interest

Oct 9 P.W. Botha succeeds John Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa

Oct 10 Aerosmith's Steve Tyler & Joe Perry injured by a cherry bomb
Oct 10 British pop music magazine "Smash Hits" first published

Event of Interest

Oct 10 Daniel Arap Moi succeeds Jomo Kenyatta as President of Kenya, rules for 24 years

Oct 10 Steve Perry joins Journey

Event of Interest

Oct 10 US Congress approves dollar coin honoring women's suffrage campaigner Susan B. Anthony

Oct 11 Aristides Royo elected president of Panama
Oct 11 Belgium government of Tindemans resigns

52nd Street

Oct 11 Columbia Records releases "52nd Street", singer-songwriter Billy Joel's sixth studio album; it becomes his 1st chart-topper, and wins 3 Grammy Awards

Pianist, Songwriter and Composer Billy Joel

Baseball Record

Oct 11 Dodgers Bob Welch dramatically strikes out Reggie Jackson in 9th

Oct 12 Representatives of Israel & Egypt open talks in Washington

Murder of Interest

Oct 12 Sid Vicious charged with murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen

Oct 13 "52nd Street" 6th studio album by Billy Joel is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year 1979)
Oct 13 Graig Nettles at 3rd makes many spectacular plays in WS game 3 as Guidry beats Dodgers, after trailing 2 games to 0 Yanks win next 4
Oct 13 Swaziland's new constitution promulgated bans political parties
Oct 13 Tiros N, US's 1st third generation weather satellite, is launched

Radio History

Oct 13 US President Jimmy Carter answers callers' questions on National Public Radio

Film & TV History

Oct 14 1st TV movie from a TV series - "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" continues the story of shipwreck sitcom from1964–67; 6 of the 7 original castaways reprise their roles

Oct 14 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC

Sports History

Oct 14 Despite Denis Potvin hat trick in 3:21 NY Islanders lose 7-10 making Islander record when scoring a hat trick-22-2-1

Oct 14 NY outfielder Reggie Jackson causes World Series controversy; interferes with a throw to 1st, deflects ball away during Yankees, 4-3 Game 4 win over LA Dodgers at Yankee Stadium
Oct 15 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

Nobel Prize for Economics

Oct 16 Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to American political scientist Herbert A. Simon [1]

Economist and Political Scientist Herbert A. Simon

Papal Inauguration

Oct 16 Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla elected Pope John Paul II

Sports History

Oct 16 Test debut of Kapil Dev, India v Pakistan at Faisalabad

Oct 17 Baseball World Series: NY Yankees repeat as champions; beat LA, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium for 4-2 series victory; MVP: NY shortstop Bucky Dent
Oct 17 NY Islanders start a streak of 23 undefeated games at home (15-0-8)
Oct 17 President Jimmy Carter signs bill restoring US citizenship to Jefferson Davis

Music History

Oct 17 US President Jimmy Carter presents Congressional Medal to singer Marian Anderson

Oct 17 USSR performs underground nuclear test
Oct 17 Yanks win 22nd World Championship capping their great comeback year
Oct 18 NY Islanders 1st scoreless tie, vs LA Kings
Oct 18 US 1st daughter Susan Ford announces engagement to Charles F Vance
Oct 20 British ska-rock band The Police perform 1st US concert at CBGBs in NYC
Oct 20 Paul Vanden Boeynants forms Belgium government
Oct 20 US dollar devalued below Dutch Ÿ2
Oct 21 Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
Oct 22 "King of Hearts" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 48 performances
Oct 22 Grete Weitz runs female world record marathon (2:32:29.8)
Oct 22 Laugh-in's Judy Carne arrested at Gatwick Airport for drug possession

New York City Marathon

Oct 22 New York City Marathon: Grete Waitz of Norway wins in her race debut in world record 2:32:30; Bill Rodgers wins his third straight title in 2:12:12

Oct 22 Pope John Paul II is inaugurated as Pope
Oct 23 CBS raises LP prices to $8.98
Oct 23 China & Japan formally ends 4 decades of dissension
Oct 23 Punk rock singer Sid Vicious attempts suicide while at Riker's Detention Center in NYC

Music History

Oct 24 Keith Richards convicted of heroin possession in Toronto

Oct 24 NHL Toronto Maple Leafs set own team record of 28 pts vs NY Islanders

Halloween

Oct 25 "Halloween", directed by John Carpenter, starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut, is released

Oct 25 Israeli government approves "in principle", a draft compromise peace

Sports History

Oct 25 San Diego Padres pitcher Gaylord Perry wins NL Cy Young, 1st to do so in both leagues (AL, 1972)

Oct 26 Independent Counsel Act is signed into law.

Nobel Peace Prize

Oct 26 Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat named joint winners of 1978 Nobel Peace Prize

President of Egypt and Nobel Laureate Anwar Sadat

Oct 27 US President Jimmy Carter signs Hawkins-Humphrey full employment bill

Sports History

Oct 28 Bobby Orr scores his last career NHL goal (vs Detroit Red Wings)

Oct 28 Don Ritchie runs world record 100k (6:10:20)
Oct 28 NBC's premiere of Kiss' acting debut, "Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park" TV film
Oct 30 Laura Nickel & Curt Noll find 25th Mersenne prime, 2 ^ 21701-1
Oct 30 Uganda troops attack Tanzania
Oct 31 Iranian oil workers go on strike
Oct 31 People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) adopts constitution

Events in 1978

Famous Birthdays

Oct 1 Andrew JC Jackson, Australian surf lifesaver
Oct 1 Leticia Cline, American model and TV Personality
Oct 2 Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese J-pop singer-songwriter ("Secret"), born in Fukuoka, Japan
Oct 3 Claudio Pizarro, Peruvian soccer striker (85 caps; Bayern Munich 224 games, 87 goals), born in Callao, Peru
Oct 3 Gerald Asamoah, German soccer forward (43 caps; Schalke 04 279 games, 44 goals), born in Mampong, Ghana
Oct 3 Jake Shears [Jason Sellards], American rock singer (Scissor Sisters), born in Mesa, Arizona
Oct 3 Shannyn Sossamon, American actress
Oct 4 Ko Soo, South Korean television and movie actor
Oct 4 Kyle Lohse, American baseball pitcher (14th pitcher to beat all 30 MLB teams; Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals), born in Chico, California
Oct 5 James Valentine, American musician (Maroon 5), born in Lincoln, Nebraska
Oct 5 Jesse Palmer, Canadian-born American football player, born in Toronto, Ontario
Oct 5 Morgan Webb, American television presenter, born in Los Angeles, California
Oct 5 Shane Ryan, Irish Gaelic footballer, born in Dublin, Ireland
Oct 6 Ricky Hatton, English boxer, born in Stockport, England
Oct 7 Alesha Dixon, British pop singer (Mis-Teeq), born in Welwyn Garden City, England
Oct 7 Nathaniel Rateliff, American roots-rock, R&B, and folk singer- songwriter (The Night Sweats - "S.O.B"), born in St. Louis, Missouri

Oct 7 Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer, born in Shrirampur, India
Oct 8 Antonino D'Agostino, Italian football player, born in Turin, Italy
Oct 8 Mick O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player, born in Cork, Ireland
Oct 8 Mike Moreno, American jazz guitarist (First in Mind), born in Houston, Texas
Oct 9 Juan Dixon, American basketball player, born in Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 9 Nicky Byrne, Irish musician (Westlife -"You Raise Me Up"), born in Dublin, Ireland
Oct 9 Randy Spelling, American actor (Sean Richards-Sunset Beach), born in Los Angeles, California
Oct 10 Casey Benjamin, American R&B and hip-hop saxophonist, vocoder wizard, and songwriter (The Robert Glasper Experiment), born in the Bronx, New York City (d. 2024) [1]
Oct 10 Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, American actress (Cassidy-Nash Bridges), born in Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey
Oct 11 Kali, Angolan soccer defender (73 caps), born in Luanda, Angola
Oct 12 Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist, born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia
Oct 13 Jermaine O'Neal, American basketball forward (6 × NBA All-Star 2002–07; NBA Most Improved Player 2002 Indiana Pacers; Portland Trailblazers), born in Columbia, South Carolina
Oct 14 Javon Walker, American football player
Oct 14 Justin Brannan, American musician (Most Precious Blood), born in Brooklyn, New York
Oct 14 Paul Hunter, English snooker player (Masters 2001, 02, 04), born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 2006)

Oct 14 Ryan Church, American baseball player
Oct 14 Steven Thompson, Scottish footballer

Usher (45 years old)

Oct 14 American singer (My Way, Confessions) and actor, born in Dallas, Texas

Oct 15 Devon Gummersall, American actor (Relativity; My So Called Life - "Brian'), born in Durango, Colorado
Oct 15 Takeshi Morishima, Japanese professional wrestler, born in Edogawa, Japan
Oct 15 Wes Moore, American politician (1st black governor of Maryland 2023-), born in Takoma Park, Maryland
Oct 16 Abel Talamántez, American LAtin, pop, and Tex-Max singer (Menudo; Los Super Reyes), born in Pecos, Texas
Oct 16 Ethan Luck, American rock musician (The O.C. Supertones; Demon Hunter; Relient K), born in Long Beach, California
Oct 18 Mike Tindall, English rugby union player
Oct 18 Wesley Jonathan, American actor
Oct 19 Chris Sellers, American rapper (Another Bad Creation), born in Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 19 Enrique Bernoldi, Brazilian race car driver
Oct 19 Henri "Trollhorn"Sorvali, Finnish heavy metal muscian (Moonsorrow), born in Helsinki, Finland
Oct 19 Zakhar Dubenskiy, Russian footballer
Oct 20 Michael Johns, American Idol (season 7) finalist
Oct 20 Paul Wilson, Scottish bass player (Snow Patrol), born in Kinlochleven, Scotland
Oct 20 Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer (Wisden Leading World Cricketer 2008), born in Delhi, India
Oct 21 Jimmy López Bellido, Peruvian classical composer (Synesthésie; Warped Symmetry; Aurora), born in Lima, Peru
Oct 21 Joey Harrington, American football player
Oct 21 Will Estes, American actor
Oct 22 Chaswe Nsofwa, Zambian soccer striker (33 caps; Zanaco FC), born in Lusaka, Zambia (d. 2007)
Oct 22 Ed Droste, American indie-rock singer-songwriter (Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"), born in Massachusetts
Oct 22 Owais Shah, English cricket batsman (6 Tests, 2 x 50s; 71 ODIs; Middlesex CCC, Essex CCC), born in Karachi, Pakistan
Oct 23 Archie Thompson, Australian footballer, born in Otorohanga, New Zealand
Oct 23 Jimmy Bullard, English footballer and TV host (Soccer AM), born in East Ham, England
Oct 23 Steve Harmison, English cricketer, born in Ashington, England
Oct 24 Carlos Edwards, Trinidadian footballer (Trinidad and Tobago national football team), born in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago
Oct 25 Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer (Sunderland), born in Aberdeen, Scotland
Oct 26 CM Punk, American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, born in Chicago, Illinois
Oct 26 Eva Kaili, Greek TV presenter and politician, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
Oct 26 Jac Schaeffer, American filmmaker (TiMER; WandaVision), born in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Oct 26 Jimmy Aggrey, English footballer (Torquay United), born in Hammersmith, London
Oct 26 Mark Barry, British pop musician (BBMak - "Back Here"), born in Manchester, England
Oct 27 Dmitri Kogan, Russian concert violinist (Five Great Violins), born in Moscow, USSR (d. 2017)
Oct 27 Sergei Samsonov, Russian ice hockey player, born in Moscow, Soviet Union
Oct 27 Vanessa-Mae [Vanakorn Nicholson], Singaporean-British violinist and Olympic alpine skier, born in Singapore
Oct 28 Gwendoline Christie, English actress (Game of Thrones), born in Worthing, England
Oct 28 Justin Guarini [Bell], American pop singer and actor (American Idol), born in Columbus, Georgia
Oct 28 Marta Etura, Spanish actress
Oct 29 Kelly Smith, English football player (Arsenal Ladies), born in Watford, England
Oct 29 Travis Henry, American football player, born in Frostproof, Florida
Oct 30 Amanda Swafford, American actress and writer (Worst-Case Scenario), born in Hendersonville, North Carolina
Oct 30 Martin Dossett, American football player, born in Portland, Texas
Oct 31 Emmanuel Izonritei, Nigerian boxer
Oct 31 Martin Verkerk, Dutch tennis player, born in Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Oct 31 Zachary Knighton, American actor (Happy Endings), born in Alexandria, Virginia

Born in 1978

Famous Weddings

Benny Andersson & Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Oct 6 ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad (32) weds fellow ABBA musician Benny Andersson (31); separate in 1980, divorce in 1981

Oct 31 American "All By Myself" singer-songwriter Eric Carmen (29) weds Marcy Hill; divorce in less than a year

Famous Deaths

Oct 3 Alfred Strange, English soccer right half (20 caps, 3 as captain; Sheffield Wednesday, 253 games), dies at 78
Oct 8 Jim Gilliam, American MLB player and coach (LA Dodgers), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 49
Oct 8 Karl Swenson, American actor (Lars Hanson-Little House on the Prairie), dies of a heart attack at 70
Oct 8 Tibor Serly, Hungarian violinist and composer (American Elegy), dies at 76

Jacques Brel (1929-1978)

Oct 9 Belgian singer, songwriter, actor, director and composer (Le Far West, Pain in the A__), dies of a pulmonary embolism at 49

Oct 9 Pavel Antokolsky, Russian poet and theatre director (Syn), dies at 82
Oct 10 Gesina Van der Molen, Dutch WWII resistance fighter/lawyer, dies at 86
Oct 10 Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpeter and big band bandleader ("Skokiaan"; "Shish-Kebab"; "Dry Marterie"), dies at 63
Oct 10 Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete, politician (Rep-D-Ill; joint world record 100m, Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1936), dies of a heart attack at 68
Oct 12 Nancy Spungen, killed by boyfriend Sid Vicious in NYC
Oct 15 W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (Saipan, Walk to Paradise Garden), dies of a stroke at 59
Oct 16 Daniel "Dan" Dailey, American dancer and actor (You're My Everything, Governor & J.J.), dies of anemia at 62
Oct 18 Frank Woolley, English cricket all-rounder (64 Tests, 5 x 100, 23 x 50, HS 154, 83 wickets, BB 7/76; Kent CCC), dies at 91
Oct 18 Jacques Mornard [Ramon Mercader], Spanish communist (murdered Trotsky in Mexico with an ice axe), dies at 64
Oct 19 Gig Young [Byron Elsworth Barr], American actor (They Shoot Horses Don't They), kills his bride of 3 weeks and commits suicide at 64
Oct 21 Anastas Mikoyan, Armenian revolutionary, politician (First Deputy Premier of Supreme Soviet, 1855-64), diplomat, and cookbook publisher (The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food), dies at 83
Oct 22 John Riley, English poet (murdered) (b. 1937)

Maybelle Carter (1909-1978)

Oct 23 American country singer (Johnny Cash Show), dies at 69

Oct 26 George "Jackie" Grant, West Indian cricketer (West Indian captain 1930-35), dies at 71

Sex Pistols' Break Up

Saturday Night Fever Goes #1

Funeral of Pope Paul VI