The Book Of Me, Prompt #12: The Year You Were Born

The Book of Me, Prompt #12: The Year You Were Born

This week, we are prompted to write about what happened the year we were born.  I was born in 1978, and, honestly, most people don't look back at that period with much positive nostalgia.  Disco was king in the pop music world, the U.S. was smack in the middle of the mediocre Carter administration, and another energy crisis was looming.  However, researching for this exercise made me realize that a lot of important things in history, sports, and pop culture DID happen in 1978, which made me feel better about this era in which I was born. (The events are not listed in chronological order, but they all occurred sometime in 1978.)

TV
- Premieres of Dallas, The Incredible Hulk, and WKRP in Cincinnati, Mork & Mindy
- Other popular TV shows: Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company, Happy Days, Taxi, and M*A*S*H

Mork & Mindy

Print
- Carl Sagan is awarded a Pulizter Prize for his 1977 book, The Dragons of Eden
- Cartoonist Jim Davis creates his Garfield comic strip

Garfield and Friends

Movies
- Grease, Superman, National Lampoon's Animal House, The Deer Hunter, The Wiz, Halloween

Music
- Popular Songs:
     - Night Fever, Stayin' Alive, and How Deep Is Your Love by The Bee Gees
     - You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone
     - Baby Come Back by Player
     - Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel
     - Lay Down Sally by Eric Clapton
     - We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions by Queen
     - Take A Chance On Me by ABBA
     - Dust In The Wind by Kansas
     - Last Dance by Donna Summer
     - Grease by Frankie Valli and You're The One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

Sports

- Super Bowl XII: Denver Broncos vs. Dallas Cowboys.  Dallas wins 27-10.

- PGA Master's Champion: Gary Player

- Wimbledon: Bjorn Borg defeats Jimmy Connors; Martina Navratilova defeats Chris Evert

- NBA: Washington Bullets defeat the Seattle Supersonics in seven games.

- Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens defeat Boston Bruins

- Indianapolis 500 Winner: Al Unser (his third win)

- Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers

- FIFA World Cup: Argentina defeats the Netherlands

- U.S. Thoroughbred Racing: Affirmed wins U.S. Triple Crown, just barely beating out rival Alydar in the Belmont Stakes.  There has been no U.S. Triple Crown winner since.

International News

- Solomon Islands gain independence from the United Kingdom.

- Roman Catholic cardinal, Karol Wojtyla becomes Pope John Paul II.  He remains pope until his death in 2005.  (This was a huge deal for my Dad's side of the family, who were Polish Catholic.)

- First "test-tube" baby born in Britain.

- American followers of cult leader Jim Jones commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, South America

- Isralei Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat sign the Camp David Accords at Camp David, Maryland, in the presence of U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Begin and Sadat later win the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.

Sadat, Carter, and Begin at Camp David, Maryland (Source: Wikipedia)

U.S. News
- Margaret A. Brewer becomes the first female general in the U.S. Marine Corps.
- First legal gambling casino in the Eastern U.S. opens in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Local News

- I was born in the Cleveland, Ohio area.   At the end of January 1978, Cleveland experienced extremely bad blizzard conditions, which essential shut down Northeast Ohio and lead to 51 fatalities.  Considering that I was born in early November 1978, this weather event likely played no small part in me being here today (do the math :-)  Click HERE for a short slideshow of some incredible photos from the event.

Front Page of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 27, 1978