At A Glance

20 January 1978 at a glance

Day of the week
20 January 1978 was a Friday.
Kent Music Report No. 1
The Kent Music Report No. 1 was “Mull of Kintyre” by Wings.
Top Film of 1978
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1978 was Grease.
Best-Selling Vehicle of 1978
Australia's top-selling new vehicle in 1978 was the Holden Kingswood.
Star sign
The star sign for 20 January is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 January 1978 fell in the Year of the Snake.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 January 1978 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 20 January

  • 1972 Pakistan launches its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
  • 1974 China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam.
  • 1986 In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
  • 1986 Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya.
  • 1990 Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Famous people born on 20 January

  • J. J. McCarthy, American football player (born 2003)
  • David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter (1946–2025)
  • Evan Peters, American actor (born 1987)
  • Sid Wilson, American musician (born 1977)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1978 in Australia

A selection from Wikipedia's '1978 in Australia'. Not a complete list.

  • 1 January – Another Vietnamese refugee boat arrives at night, from a camp off the Malaysian coast.
  • 3 January – Bela Csidei, a prominent Sydney businessman, is alleged in the Darwin Magistrates' Court to have been involved in growing marijuana in the Northern Territory.
  • 14 March – Stephen Matthews, aged 20, swept from the Natural Bridge off Albany, by a King Wave. Rescued by whale ship, the Cheynes II. First recorded survival of someone swept into the sea at The Gap and Natural Bridge.
More events of 1978 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in Australia in 1978

Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser

Monarch

Queen Elizabeth II

Petrol (per litre)

$0.12

Loaf of Bread

$0.50

Average House

$36,000

Weekly Wage

$185.00

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Heath Ledger4 April 1979ActorView their day →Patrick Brammall30 March 1976ActorView their day →Rose Byrne24 July 1979ActressView their day →Isla Fisher3 February 1976Actress & authorView their day →Sam Worthington2 August 1976ActorView their day →Toni Collette1 November 1972Actress & musicianView their day →Joel Edgerton23 June 1974ActorView their day →Natalie Imbruglia4 February 1975Singer & actressView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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