What Happened in September 1978

Historical Events

  • Sep 1 #4655 Marjoriika, #4814 Casacci, #5344 Ryabov, #6262 Javid & #8064
  • Sep 1 Baltimore Orioles pitcher Sammy Stewart fans 7 consecutive batters in his MLB debut, en route to 9-3 win v Chicago White Sox

Dawn of the Dead

Sep 1 Horror film "Dawn of the Dead" written and directed by George A. Romero, starring David Emge, Ken Foree and Scott H. Reiniger premieres in Torino

  • Sep 1 Jacqueline Smith of Great Britain scores 10 straight dead center strikes on a 4" disk in World Parachute Championships in Yugoslavia
  • Sep 1 Last broadcast of "Columbo" starring Peter Falk on NBC
  • Sep 2 John McClain performs 180 outside loops in an airplane over Houston

Baseball Record

Sep 2 Yankees right fielder Reggie Jackson hits his 20th HR of the season in a 6-2 home win over Seattle; 19th MLB player to hit 20 HR in 11 straight years

  • Sep 3 Bernard Slade's stage comedy "Same Time, Next Year", closes at the Ambassador Theatre, NYC, after 1,453 performances and a Tony Award
  • Sep 3 Crew of Soyuz 31 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 29
  • Sep 3 Pope John Paul I officially installed as 263rd supreme pontiff

Telethon

Sep 4 Jerry Lewis' 13th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $29,074,405

  • Sep 6 USSR performs underground nuclear test
  • Sep 7 1st game of Boston Massacre, NY Yankees beat Red Sox, 15-3
  • Sep 8 2nd game of Boston Massacre; NY Yankees beat Red Sox, 13-2

Event of Interest

Sep 8 Iranian army fires on Khomeini followers in Tehran, 100s killed

  • Sep 9 3rd game of Boston Massacre; NY Yankees beat Red Sox, 7-0
  • Sep 9 Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an uprising in the Iranian army
  • Sep 9 Baltimore Orioles pull their 7th triple play (5-4-3 vs Toronto)
  • Sep 9 Kylene Barker (Virginia), crowned 51st Miss America 1979

US Open Women's Tennis

Sep 9 US Open Women's Tennis, Flushing Meadows, NY: Chris Evert wins her 4th straight US singles title; beats fellow American Pam Shriver 7-5, 6-4; first time event played on hard courts

  • Sep 10 "Timbuktu!" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 243 performances
  • Sep 10 4th game of Boston Massacre; NY Yankees beat Red Sox, 7-4 to tie for AL East 1st place; Yanks out hit arch rivals, 67-21; score 42-9
  • Sep 10 Arlyne Rhode sets female footbow distance record (1,113 yds & 30")

F1 World Champion

Sep 10 The single point American Lotus driver Mario Andretti earns for finishing 6th at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza is enough to clinch his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship

US Men's Tennis Open

Sep 10 US Open Men's Tennis, Flushing Meadows, NY: Jimmy Connors beats Björn Borg 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to become the first player to win the US Open on 3 different surfaces

  • Sep 11 The last known person dies of smallpox - medical photographer Janet Parker through infection in a laboratory, in Birmingham, England

Taxi

Sep 12 Situation comedy "Taxi" premieres on ABC television starring Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Danny Devito, Tony Danza, Marilu Henner, and Andy Kaufman

  • Sep 13 1st flight of McDonnell Douglas F-18A Hornet
  • Sep 13 New York Yankees recover from 14 games behind to gain sole possession of AL East 1st place with 7-3 win over the Tigers in Detroit

Sports History

Sep 14 MLB Atlanta Braves' Jim Bouton (38) beats San Francisco Giants, his 1st win since 1970

  • Sep 14 Portugal government of Da Costa falls
  • Sep 14 The Provisional Irish Republican Army explode over 50 bombs in towns across Northern Ireland over the next 5 days, injuring 37 people
  • Sep 15 Dodgers become 1st major league team to draw 3 million fans
  • Sep 16 25,000 die in 7.7 earthquake in Tabar, Iran

Film & TV History

Sep 16 Filming begins for "Monty Python's Life of Brian", on location in Monastir, Tunisia

  • Sep 16 Grateful Dead perform in Cairo, Egypt
  • Sep 16 New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox, 3-2; at Yankee Stadium; Blue Bombers 6th win over arch rivals in 2 weeks
  • Sep 17 30th Emmy Awards: "All in the Family"; Ed Asner & Sada Thompson win
  • Sep 17 After 6 losses to the New York Yankees in September, the Boston Red Sox finally score a 7-3 win over their arch rivals at Yankee Stadium
  • Sep 18 "WKRP in Cincinnati", an ensemble TV sitcom created by Hugh Wilson and set in a struggling radio station debuts on CBS
  • Sep 18 All four Kiss members release solo albums
  • Sep 20 Musical review "Eubie!", based on the songs of composer Eubie Blake, opens at Ambassador Theater, NYC; runs for 439 performances
  • Sep 20 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • Sep 20 Yamada Mumon Roshi visits Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach Germany
  • Sep 21 3rd Toronto International Film Festival: "Girlfriends" directed by Claudia Weill wins the People's Choice Award
  • Sep 21 The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs at the RAF airfield near Eglinton, County Londonderry; the terminal building, two aircraft hangars and four planes are destroyed
  • Sep 22 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin returns home after Camp David summit
  • Sep 23 100,000 cheering Egyptians welcome Anwar Sadat home from Camp David peace summit
  • Sep 24 Dutch women hockey team wins world championship

Sports History

Sep 24 Ron Guidry beats Cleveland 4-0, raising his record to 23-3 ERA 1.74

  • Sep 24 USSR performs underground nuclear test
  • Sep 25 PSA Boeing 727 and a Cessna private plane collide over San Diego, California; 144 die
  • Sep 26 NY District Court Judge Constance Baker Motley rules that women sportswriters cannot be banned from locker rooms
  • Sep 26 RR clerks go on strike, halting more than 2/3s of rail service
  • Sep 27 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • Sep 27 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
  • Sep 28 Israeli Knesset endorses Camp David accord

Never Say Die

Sep 28 Metal band Black Sabbath release their 8th album "Never Say Die", last to feature Ozzy Osbourne before he was fired

  • Sep 28 Syrians & Lebanese engage in heavy fighting in Lebanon
  • Sep 29 "Flying High," debuts on CBS
  • Sep 29 "For Richer, For Poorer," TV Daytime Soap; last airs on NBC-TV
  • Sep 30 Cleveland, Houston, NY, Philadelphia & Pittsburgh Phillies win 3rd consecutive NL East Division title
  • Sep 30 Major Indoor Soccer League grants 1st 6 franchises to Cincinnati
  • Sep 30 Phillies clinch NL East title

Famous Birthdays

  • Sep 1 Lucie Blackman, English murder victim (d. 2000)
  • Sep 1 Max Vieri, Australian soccer forward (6 caps; Verona, Napoli), born in Sydney, Australia
  • Sep 2 Matthew Watkins, Welsh rugby union centre (18 caps; Newport, Llanelli Scarlets), born in Newport, Wales (d. 2020)
  • Sep 3 John Curtis, English footballer, born in Nuneaton, England
  • Sep 3 Michal Rozsival, Czech ice hockey player, born in Vlašim, Czechoslovakia
  • Sep 3 Nick Wechsler, American actor (Roswell), born in Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Sep 3 Paul Moor, English ten-pin bowler, born in Kingston-upon-Hull, England
  • Sep 3 Valfar, Norwegian heavy metal vocalist and musician (Windir), born in Sogndal, Norway (d. 2004)
  • Sep 4 Christian Walz, Swedish artist, born in Stockholm, Sweden
  • Sep 4 Natalie Diaz, American Mojave poet (Postcolonial Love Poem - Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 2021), born in Needles, California

Wes Bentley (45 years old)

Sep 4 American actor (Yellowstone), born in Jonesboro, Arkansas

  • Sep 5 Chris Hipkins, New Zealand Labour politician and Prime Minister of New Zealand (2023), born in Hutt Valley, New Zealand
  • Sep 5 Chris Jack, New Zealand rugby union footballer (All Blacks), born in Christchurch, New Zealand
  • Sep 5 Laura Bertram, Canadian actress (Trance Gemini-Andromeda), born in Toronto, Ontario
  • Sep 5 Sylvester Joseph, West Indian cricketer, born in New Winthorpes, Antigua
  • Sep 5 Zhang Zhong, Chinese-Singaporean chess player, born in Chongqing, China
  • Sep 6 Alex Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player, born in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela
  • Sep 6 Cisco Adler, American singer and record producer, born in Los Angeles, California
  • Sep 6 Mathew Horne, English actor (Gavin & Stacey), born in Nottingham, England
  • Sep 6 Natalia Cigliuti, Uruguayan-American actress (Lindsay-Saved By Bell: New Class), born in Montevideo, Uruguay
  • Sep 6 Tony Thaxton, American drummer (Motion City Soundtrack), born in Mechanicsville, Virginia
  • Sep 7 Adrian [General Austin] Witcher, American rapper (Another Bad Creation), born in Columbus, Georgia
  • Sep 7 Erwin Koen, Dutch footballer, born in Den Helder, Netherlands
  • Sep 8 Gerard Autet, Spanish footballer, born in Manlleu, Spain
  • Sep 8 Gil Meche, American baseball player, born in Lafayette, Louisiana
  • Sep 9 Kurt Ainsworth, American baseball pitcher, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Sep 9 Mariano Puerta, Argentine tennis player (World #9 2005; French Open runner-up 2005), born in San Francisco, Argentina
  • Sep 9 Shane Battier, American basketball player, born in Birmingham, Michigan
  • Sep 10 Manju Warrier, Indian Malayalam actress, producer and dancer, born in Nagercoil, India
  • Sep 11 Ben Lee, Australian singer-songwriter ("Cigarettes Will Kill You"; "Love Me Like the World Is Ending"), and actor (The Rage in Placid Lake), born in Sydney, Australia
  • Sep 11 Dejan Stanković, Serbian footballer (Serbia National Team captain), born in Belgrade, Serbia
  • Sep 11 Ed Reed, American Pro Football HOF safety (Super Bowl 2012 Baltimore Ravens; NFL Defensive Player of the Year 2004; 5 × First-team All-Pro; 9 × Pro Bowl), born in St. Rose, Louisiana
  • Sep 12 Ben McKenzie, American actor (Gotham), born in Austin, Texas
  • Sep 12 Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and actress, born in Sassari, Italy
  • Sep 12 Michael Paget, Welsh guitarist (Bullet for My Valentine), born in Bridgend, South Wales
  • Sep 12 Ruben Studdard, American singer (American Idol, I Need An Angel), born in Frankfurt, Germany
  • Sep 13 Darren Kenton, English footballer (Norwich City), born in Wandsworth, England
  • Sep 13 Megan Henning, American actress (I Know Who Killed Me), born in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Sep 13 Swizz Beatz [Kasseem Dean], American rapper and record producer (Full Surface Records), born in New York City
  • Sep 14 Ben Cohen, English rugby union outside back (57 Tests; Northampton RFC, CA Brive, Sale Sharks RFC), born in Northampton, England
  • Sep 14 Carmen Kass, Estonian model (estimated to have been the second-highest-paid model in the world in 2002), born in Talinn, Estonia
  • Sep 14 Danielle Peck, American country music singer ("Findin' a Good Man"), born in Jacksonville, North Carolina

Ron DeSantis (45 years old)

Sep 14 American Republican politician, Governor of Florida (2019-), Representative (2013-18) and presidential candidate, born in Jacksonville, Florida

  • Sep 15 Eiður Guðjohnsen, Icelandic footballer (Chelsea, Barcelona) and manager, born in Reykjavík, iceland
  • Sep 16 Dan Dickau, American basketball player, born in Portland, Oregon
  • Sep 16 Matthew Rogers, American TV host and country singer, born in Arcadia, California
  • Sep 16 Nick Cordero, Canadian Broadway actor (Bullets Over Broadway), born in Hamilton, Canada (d. 2020)
  • Sep 17 Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Sep 18 Augustine Simo, Cameroonian footballer, born in Bangangté, Cameroon
  • Sep 18 Pilar López de Ayala, Spanish actress (Juana la Loca), born in Madrid, Spain
  • Sep 18 Shelly Moore, Miss Teen USA (Tennessee, 1997), born in Jacksonville, Florida
  • Sep 19 Michelle Alves, Brazilian supermodel, born in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
  • Sep 19 Nick Johnson, American baseball player, born in Tempe, Arizona
  • Sep 19 Nigel Mitchell, English TV presenter (Quizmania and Capital Disney), born in Kingston Upon Thames, England
  • Sep 20 Dante Hall, American football player
  • Sep 20 Patrizio Buanne, Austrian-Italian singer and guitarist, born in Vienna, Austria
  • Sep 20 Sarit Hadad [Sarah Hudadatov], Israeli pop and Mizrahi singer, born in Afula, Israel
  • Sep 20 T.J. Tucker, American baseball player
  • Sep 21 Doug Howlett, New Zealand rugby union footballer, born in Auckland, New Zealand
  • Sep 22 Ed Joyce, Irish-English cricketer, born in Dublin, Ireland
  • Sep 23 Anthony Mackie. American stage and screen actor (Brother To Brother; The Hurt Locker - "Sgt. Sanborn"; Captain America -"Falcon"), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Sep 23 John "Worm" Miller, American filmmaker, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Sep 23 Keri Lynn Pratt, American film and television actress (Jack & Bobby), born in Concord, New Hampshire
  • Sep 24 Javier Perianes, Spanish concert pianist, born in Nerva, Spain
  • Sep 24 Tarek Saab, American TV show contestant (The Apprentice), born in New Bedford, Massachusetts
  • Sep 25 Jodie Kidd, English model, born in Guildford, United Kingdom
  • Sep 25 Joel Pineiro, Puerto Rican baseball player, born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
  • Sep 25 Ricardo Gardner, Jamaican soccer winger (111 caps; Bolton Wanderers 342 games), born in St. Andrew Parish, Jamaica
  • Sep 25 Roudolphe Douala, Cameroonian footballer, born in Douala, Cameroon

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (45 years old)

Sep 26 Kenyan long-distance runner, born in Kapsabet, Kenya

  • Sep 27 Brad Arnold, American singer (3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"), born in Escatawpa, Mississippi
  • Sep 27 Jon Rauch, American baseball player (tied equal tallest MLB player at 6ft 11in), born in Louisville, Kentucky
  • Sep 28 Bushido [Anis Ferchichi], German rapper, born in Bonn, West Germany
  • Sep 28 Marzena Godecki, Polis-Australian actress (Ocean Girl), born in Bytom, Poland
  • Sep 29 Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian singer (She's So High, World Idol)
  • Sep 30 Candice Michelle, American female wrestler

Famous Weddings

George Harrison

Sep 2 British musician George Harrison (35) marries American record label marketer Olivia Arias (30) at the Henley-on-Thames Register Office in England

Gloria Estefan

Sep 2 Cuban-American singer Gloria Fajardo (21) weds "Miami Sound Machine" musician and producer Emilio Estefan (25) in Florida

Meryl Streep

Sep 30 Actress Meryl Streep (29) weds sculptor Don Gummer (31) in Mason's Island, Connecticut


Famous Deaths

  • Sep 1 Olga de Haas, Dutch ballerina, dies as a result of anorexia nervosa at 33
  • Sep 2 William Nebergall, American inorganic chemist (invented fluoride toothpaste), dies at 63 [1]
  • Sep 5 Joe Negroni, American rock vocalist (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 37
  • Sep 6 Adolf Dassler, German entrepreneur (founder sportswear company Adidas), dies at 78
  • Sep 6 Tom Wilson, American record producer (Sun Ra; Bob Dylan; Simon & Garfunkel; Mothers of Invention; Velvet Underground), dies of a heart attack at 47

Keith Moon (1946-1978)

Sep 7 British rock drummer (The Who - "Bell Boy"), dies of a drug overdose at 32

  • Sep 8 Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, Argentine film director (Monday's Child), dies at 54
  • Sep 8 Pancho Vladigerov, Bulgarian pianist, composer (Vardar Rhapsody; Song to Peace), and pedagogue, dies at 79
  • Sep 9 Hugh MacDiarmid [pen name for Christopher Murray Grieve], Scottish poet (leader of the Scottish literary renaissance), dies at 86
  • Sep 9 Jack L Warner [Jacob Warner], Canadian-American film executive and president of the Warner Bros. Studios, dies at 86
  • Sep 10 Ronnie Peterson, Swedish auto racer (World F1 C'ship runner-up 1971, 78), dies in crash during Italian F1 GP at 34
  • Sep 11 Georgi Markov, Bulgarian writer and dissident, assassinated (probably stabbed by an umbrella with poison) by KGB and Bulgarian Secret Service in London at 49
  • Sep 11 Janet Parker, English medical photographer, the last person to die of smallpox, dies at 40
  • Sep 11 Mike Gazella, American baseball player (NY Yankees), dies at 82
  • Sep 12 Frank Ferguson, American character actor (My Friend Flicka - "Gus"; Peyton Place - "Eli Carson"), dies of cancer at 71 (0r 78, birthdate disputed)
  • Sep 15 Robert Cliche, French Canadian politician and judge (b. 1921)
  • Sep 15 Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft builder, dies at 80
  • Sep 16 Bill Foster, American Baseball HOF pitcher (NgL All-Star 1933, 34; NgL World Series 1926, 27; Chicago American Giants), dies at 74
  • Sep 19 Étienne Gilson, French philosopher and historian, dies at 94
  • Sep 22 Lina Carstens, German actress (Homeland, Broken Jug), dies at 85
  • Sep 23 Jay Adler, American actor (Macon County Line; Illegal, Big Combo), dies at 79
  • Sep 24 Hasso von Manteuffel, German WWII general (5th Panzer Army) and politician, dies at 81
  • Sep 24 Ruth Etting, American stage, radio, and screen singer ("Shine On Harvest Moon"; "Ten Cents A Dance"), and actress (Roman Scandals; Ziegfeld Follies), dies at 80
  • Sep 24 Virginia Valli [McSweeney], American (mostly silent) film actress (Wild Oranges; Pleasure Garden), dies at 73
  • Sep 25 Claire Adams, Canadian born silent film actress (Legally Dead, End of the Road), dies at 80
  • Sep 26 Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (Nobel 1924-discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy), dies at 91
  • Sep 28 John Paul I [Albino Luciano], 263rd Roman Catholic pope (1978), dies after 33 days as pope at 65
  • Sep 30 Beryl Booker, American swing and cool jazz pianist (Dinah Washington), dies at 56
  • Sep 30 Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy), dies at 75