About the day » Sunday December 31, 1978Calender converter

• N.n. de Boer († 1978)
• Herman Peter van der Meijden, Spijkenisse

• Anna Catharina Hermsen (89), Beugen en Rijkevoort
• Cornelis Albertus Adrianus Swartjes (76), Woerden
• Antonius Wilhelmus Breden (69), Apeldoorn
• Adriaan Kuijpers (88), Rotterdam, Nederland
• Cornelia Maria Hendriks (62), Tilburg
• Arend Jan Kreijkes (67), Rijssen, Overijssel, Nederland
• Andries Scheltes Brandsma (83)
• Diezeraad (76), Epe
• Catharina Maria Overman (102)
• Adriana Vermetten (70), Nieuw-Ginneken

• 1976 » Luís Carreira, Portuguese motorcycle racer († 2012)
• 1976 » Matthew Hoggard, English cricketer
• 1977 » Donald Trump Jr., American businessman and son of U.S. President Donald Trump
• 1977 » Psy, South Korean musician
• 1977 » Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer and coach
• 1979 » Jeff Waldstreicher, American lawyer and politician
• 1979 » Paul O'Neill, English racing driver
• 1980 » Jesse Carlson, American baseball player
• 1980 » Matt Cross, American wrestler
• 1980 » Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player

• 1968 » George Lewis, American clarinet player and composer (b. 1900)
• 1970 » Cyril Scott, English composer, writer, and poet (b. 1879)
• 1972 » Henry Gerber, German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (b. 1892)
• 1972 » Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and Marine (b. 1934)
• 1978 » Basil Wolverton, American illustrator (b. 1909)
• 1980 » Marshall McLuhan, Canadian philosopher and theorist (b. 1911)
• 1980 » Raoul Walsh, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1887)
• 1983 » Sevim Burak, Turkish author and playwright (b. 1931)
• 1985 » Ricky Nelson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1940)
• 1987 » Jerry Turner, American journalist (b. 1929)

1. Jan
2. Martijn
3. Jeroen
4. Mark
5. David
6. Dennis
7. Johannes
8. Peter
9. Patrick
10. Michael
11. Robert
12. Pieter
13. Richard
14. Paul
15. Bart
16. Willem

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Sandra
4. Patricia
5. Marieke
6. Linda
7. Monique
8. Jessica
9. Jennifer
10. Esther
11. Wendy
12. Kim
13. Anna
14. Bianca
15. Cornelia
16. Cindy

• Koningin Juliana (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from September 4, 1948 till April 30, 1980 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 13.9 million citizens.
• January 2 » On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.
• March 2 » Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
• July 30 » The 730: Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
• August 7 » U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently.
• August 26 » Papal conclave: Albino Luciani is elected as Pope John Paul I.
• October 16 » Pope John Paul II becomes the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.

The temperature on December 31, 1978 was between -13.2 °C and -9.5 °C and averaged -11.6 °C. There was 1.2 mm of rain during 4.7 hours. The partly or heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the northeast.