About the day » Wednesday December 20, 1978Calender converter

• Alien Visser († 1982)
• Casey Nicole Olmstead, Cadillac, Wexford, Michigan, United States († 2009)
• Katleen Royen, Hasselt, België († 2011)
• Marc Willem Nicolaas Ketel, Delft, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Alien Visser († 1982)
• Tuli Anskane Westerbeek, Bangla desch († 2002)

• Astrid Pauline Mikkelsen (56), Ringsaker, Hedmark
• ALINA PAULINA DEWITTE (70), Nieuwpoort
• Ana Cândida Ribeiro (77), Viradouro, São Paulo, Brasil
• Alfred William JACKSON (62), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
• Arij van Wezel (78), Rotterdam, Nederland
• Albert Schonewille (74), Hoogeveen
• Antje Derksen (49), Arnhem
• Anna Maria Steins (63), Eindhoven,, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Anna Maria Daalman (83), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Carlos Alberto Ravache (62), São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil

• 1976 » Nenad Vučković, Croatian footballer
• 1978 » Andrei Markov, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 » Bouabdellah Tahri, French runner
• 1978 » Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer
• 1978 » Yoon Kye-sang, South Korean singer
• 1979 » David DeJesus, American baseball player
• 1979 » Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
• 1979 » Ramón Rodríguez, Puerto Rican-American actor and dancer
• 1980 » Ashley Cole, English footballer
• 1980 » Israel Castro, Mexican footballer

• 1972 » Adolfo Orsi, Italian businessman (b. 1888)
• 1973 » Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936)
• 1973 » Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (b. 1904; assassinated)
• 1974 » André Jolivet, French guitarist and composer (b. 1905)
• 1974 » R. A. Bevan, English advertiser (b. 1901)
• 1974 » Rajani Palme Dutt, English journalist and politician (b. 1896)
• 1976 » Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
• 1981 » Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
• 1982 » Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
• 1984 » Stanley Milgram, American psychologist and academic (b. 1933)

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.
• February 8 » Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
• May 3 » The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as "spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
• June 9 » The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.
• November 14 » France conducts the Aphrodite nuclear test as 25th in the group of 29, 1975–78 French nuclear tests.
• November 27 » The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is founded in the city of Riha (Urfa) in Turkey.
• December 15 » U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

The temperature on December 20, 1978 was between -6.1 °C and -2.8 °C and averaged -4.0 °C. There was 0.1 mm of rain. The partly or heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the east.