The temperature on July 28, 1978 was between 12.8 °C and 27.0 °C and averaged 20.6 °C. There was -0.1 mm of rain. There was 12.1 hours of sunshine (77%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 1 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the south. Source: KNMI
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.
January 1 » Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea, due to instrument failure, spatial disorientation, and pilot error, off the coast of Bombay, India, killing all 213 people on board.
February 16 » The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago).
April 14 » Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
June 11 » Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
July 11 » Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
September 7 » While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Gullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella.
Day of death January 18, 1997
The temperature on January 18, 1997 was between 3.2 °C and 5.6 °C and averaged 4.6 °C. There was -0.1 mm of rain. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the south-southwest. Source: KNMI
In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, August 22, 1994 to Monday, August 3, 1998 the cabinet a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabinet-Kok_I" class="extern">Kok I, with W. Kok (PvdA) as prime minister.
January 17 » Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: A Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
January 19 » Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
March 22 » Tara Lipinski, aged 14 years and nine months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion.
June 13 » A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
September 26 » An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse.
December 22 » Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: James Downs, "Downs Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/downs-tree/I312392304875.php : accessed January 18, 2026), "John Eric (Eric) Downs (1978-1997)".
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