November 1978

November 1, 1978 (Wednesday)

• After the invasion of Tanzania by Uganda's army, Ugandan President Idi Amin issued an order annexing of the Tanzanian territory called the Kagera Salient, located on the other side of the Kagera River that was a boundary between the two nations. In response, Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere declared a state of war and mobilized the Tanzania People's Defence Force for a full-scale conflict.
• The explosion of a natural gas pipeline killed at least 52 people in the town of Sánchez Magallanes in the Mexican state of Tabasco, most of whom were employees of PEMEX, Mexico's government-owned petroleum and natural gas company. A spokesman for Pemex said that the gas leak had been traced to a faulty coupling on one of the pipelines linking the Pemex gas fields to Mexico City.
• Canada's prime minister Pierre Trudeau and the premiers of all 10 of the nation's provinces agreed to start writing a constitution for Canada. Although the United Kingdom had granted full independence to Canada in the Statute of Westminster 1931, the UK still retained control over Canada's structure of government.
• Microsoft, the American computer company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen as Micro-Soft Inc., expanded overseas with the incorporation of ASCII Corporation Ltd. by Gates and Susumu Furukawa in Japan.
• The first "plain language law" in the United States went into effect in the state of New York, directing that all consumer contracts for less than $50,000 including leases, loans and credit card agreements must be written in "a clear and coherent manner, using words with common and everyday meanings", and allowing a fine of $50 per violation.
• Born: Jessica Valenti, American feminist writer and newspaper columnist; in New York City
• Died: Fred DeSarro, 41, American racecar driver and hydroplane racer, died three weeks after being injured in a car accident during a practice session at the Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut.

  November 2, 1978 (Thursday)

• At 8:00 pm, the Republic of Ireland's second television channel, RTÉ 2, went on the air at 8:00 in the evening with a broadcast of the opening of the Cork Opera House, with presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir speaking first to the viewers. At 8:05, Ireland's President Patrick Hillery introduced the service and live music followed.
• Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Alexander Ivanchenkov returned to Earth on their Soyuz 29 spacecraft after having spent longer in outer space than any human beings up to that time. The two men, launched toward Salyut 6 on June 15, 1978, had been away from Earth for 139 days, 14 hours and 48 minutes, more than four a half months.

  November 3, 1978 (Friday)

• The Caribbean island nation of Dominica gained its independence from the United Kingdom. At the capital, Roseau, Patrick John, who had been Premier of the colony since 1974, took office as the nation's first Prime Minister but would be removed from office after less than a year. Sir Louis Cools-Lartigue, who had been the last colonial Governor, serving since 1968, took office as the first President of Dominica. After the British flag was lowered shortly after midnight, Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, accepted the lowered flag and delivered a message of congratulations.
• The Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam agreed to a formal military alliance as Vietnam prepared to respond to incursions by neighboring Cambodia. Communist Party first secretaries Le Duan and Leonid Brezhnev of Vietnam and the Soviet Union, and Prime Ministers Pham Van Dong and Alexei Kosygin signed the pact at the Kremlin in Moscow in a televised ceremony.

  November 4, 1978 (Saturday)

• The Presidential Records Act, changing the ownership of a U.S. President's records to the National Archives, rather than allowing former presidents to retain their business records, was signed into law by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The law would not take effect until January 20, 1981, and included a provision allowing a delay of up to 12 years in releasing papers about sensitive cases, in order to guarantee that aides could speak candidly with the U.S. president on controversial issues. The new law was enacted after former President Richard Nixon sought, after his resignation in 1974, to destroy his records as president.
• The Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978 was signed into law in the U.S. as the first federal law for developing solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels.
• The first public dance in the People's Republic of China in more than 12 years as the International Club in Beijing hosted almost 400 people at its reception room. In 1966, when the Cultural Revolution began, music and dancing had been banned on the grounds that the two were "morally degrading" for young people in China.
• Died: Charles D. Tandy, 60, American entrepreneur and chairman of the Tandy Corporation that owned the Radio Shack chain of electronics stores, died of a heart attack while sleeping.

  November 5, 1978 (Sunday)

• Voters in the European nation of Austria narrowly approved a law prohibiting the use of nuclear power. Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, who vowed to resign if voters rejected nuclear power, changed his mind the next day and stayed in office.
• Jafar Sharif-Emami announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Iran as rioting in the nation escalated into the burning of buildings in Iran, including the Information Ministry and part of the British Embassy., and was replaced the next day by Minister of War Gholam Reza Azhari.
• All 17 people on a Nile Delta Air Services flight in Egypt were killed when the Douglas DC-3 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from the airport at Alexandria. All of the passengers were employees of the Western Desert Petroleum Company and were on their way to the Um Barka Oil Field.
• The first world championship in the sport of kickboxing were held in West Berlin in West Germany after the formation of the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations.
• Born:
• *Bubba Watson, American golfer, 2012 and 2014 Masters Tournament champion; in Bagdad, Florida
• *Yvonne van Vlerken, Netherlands triathlete and holder of the 2008 world record for best time in distance races; in Krimpen aan de Lek
• *Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist, winner of the 2007 Volta a Portugal

  November 6, 1978 (Monday)

• The People's Republic of China launched its program to eradicate illiteracy, at the time estimated to be at 25 percent, with as much as 40% for young and middle-aged people. On the proposal of the de facto leader, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, the State Council promulgated the "Directives on the Issues of Literacy". The decree reversed a policy that had been promoted for more than a decade during the Cultural Revolution by Zhang Chunqiao that "the whole country being illiterate is also a victory."
• The "401", the most popular retirement savings plan in American history, was created by the signing into law of the Revenue Act of 1978, an amendment of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Three weeks later, an enterprising lawyer, Ted Benna, outlined the first plan to take advantage of the provisions of 26 U.S. Code § 401, which permitted a delay in taxation of deferred compensation saved from employee payments.
• General Gholam Reza Azhari, Chief of Staff of Iran's armed forces, became the new Prime Minister of Iran as a military government was installed by the Shah in order to stop the growing Iranian Revolution. General Azhari served for less than three months, resigning on January 2 following a heart attack, and he fled the country before the Islamic Republic of Iran was declared.
• The New York Times and New York City's most popular morning paper, the tabloid Daily News, resumed publication after having been closed because of a strike on August 10. The Daily News came back with a 192-page issue and the Times a 96-page return print, with both printing fewer copies than they had before the strike.
• Born: Jolina Magdangal, Filipino singer and actress styled the "Queen of Philippine Pop Culture"; in Quezon City
• Died: U. E. Baughman, 73, Chief of the United States Secret Service from 1948 to 1961, author of the memoir ''Secret Service Chief''

  November 7, 1978 (Tuesday)

• Elections were held in the United States for all 435 seats of the U.S. House of Representatives and for 33 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate. Although the Democrats retained their majority in both houses of Congress, their Senate majority over the Republicans decreased from 61–38 to 58–41, and in the House from 292–143 to 277–157.
• Municipal elections were held in Israel for mayors and council members of cities. Teddy Kollek, mayor of Jerusalem, won a fourth term by an overwhelming vote and his Labor Party retained control of the city council.
• By order of the Shah of Iran, 60 current and former officials of the SAVAK secret police agency were arrested, including directors Nematollah Nassiri and Hassan Pakravan, as well as former prime minister Amir-Abbas Hoveyda. The group of officials remained in prison as the Iranian Revolution as the Shah fled the country and installed the Ayatollah Khomeini took power as the de facto leader, and were all tried and executed in 1979 by the new Islamic Republic.
• Two days after telling a nationwide TV audience that "I have heard the voice of your revolution," the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, ordered the release of all political prisoners.
• Born:
• *Rio Ferdinand, English footballer with 81 caps for the England national team; in Camberwell, South London
• *Mohamed Aboutrika, Egyptian footballer with 100 caps for the Egypt national team; in Nahia, Giza
• Died: Gene Tunney, 80, American heavyweight boxer, world champion from 1926 to 1928