# Deaths in 1978
Deaths in 1978 refers to the notable people who died during the calendar year 1978, a year that saw the deaths of political leaders, scientists, entertainers, and several hundred victims of mass violence at [Jonestown](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonestown), Guyana. Reference databases catalog the year's notable deaths in the hundreds: the Deaths Archive lists 206 entries for 1978[1](https://thedeathsarchive.com/), while the Who2 celebrity database names figures from the mathematician [Kurt Gödel](https://www.edgepedia.org/kurt-godel) to the television actor [Bob Crane](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-crane)[2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| January deaths | Hubert Humphrey (January 13, age 66), Kurt Gödel (January 14), and Nancy Spungen (January 12) died within three days of each other[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm) |
| Jonestown | On November 18, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip near Jonestown, Guyana, followed by a night of mass murder and suicide; the Guardian gives 918 deaths, while HISTORY.com gives a final toll of 909, a third of them children[4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past) • [5](https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1978) |
| Heads of state | Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's president from 1964 to 1978, died August 22; Houari Boumédiène, Algeria's president from 1965 to 1978, died November 25[6](https://www.hoyenlahistoria.com/muertes/fecha/1978) |
| Assassinations | Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, a critic of Nicaragua's government, was assassinated on January 10, and riots erupted against Somoza's government[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm) |
| Papacy | Pope John Paul I, head of the Roman Catholic church for just over a month, died in 1978[4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past) • [2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/) |
| Music | The musical world lost Keith Moon and Jacques Brel, and Nancy Spungen was stabbed to death in the Chelsea hotel in New York by Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols[4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past) |
## January 1978
The year opened with a dense cluster of deaths. On January 8, Walter Keirnan, a television host and panelist whose programs included *I've Got a Secret*, died at age 75[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm). On January 10 alone, four figures died: the American composer Don Gillis at 65, the philanthropist [John D. Rockefeller III](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-d-rockefeller-iii) at 71, the country-rock performer Zeb Turner at 62, and [Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-joaquin-chamorro-cardenal), whose assassination set off riots against the Somoza government in [Nicaragua](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicaragua)[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm).
**Politics and science.** [Hubert Humphrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/hubert-humphrey), U.S. Vice President from 1965 to 1969 and Senator from Minnesota, died on January 13 at age 66 in Waverly, Minnesota[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm) • [2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/). The next day, Kurt Gödel died in [Princeton, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/princeton-new-jersey); born in 1906 in Brünn, Austria, he was the mathematician whose incompleteness proof showed that mathematics can have internal contradictions[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm). On January 12, [Nancy Spungen](https://www.edgepedia.org/nancy-spungen) was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, at the Chelsea hotel in New York[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past).
## Political violence through the year
Assassination and political murder marked 1978 beyond January. The former Italian prime minister [Aldo Moro](https://www.edgepedia.org/aldo-moro) was kidnapped and murdered by the [Red Brigades](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-brigades), and [Georgi Markov](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgi-markov), a Bulgarian dissident, was murdered in London with an umbrella that carried a poison pellet[4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past). In San Francisco, Harvey Milk, the gay city official elected to the Board of Supervisors in January 1977, was gunned down in 1978[2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/).
Two heads of state also died. [Jomo Kenyatta](https://www.edgepedia.org/jomo-kenyatta), who had served as Kenya's prime minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as president from 1964 until his death, died on August 22, 1978[6](https://www.hoyenlahistoria.com/muertes/fecha/1978). Houari Boumédiène, president of Algeria from 1965 to 1978, died on November 25[6](https://www.hoyenlahistoria.com/muertes/fecha/1978).
## Jonestown
The year's largest single loss of life was the Tabas earthquake in Iran, which killed about 15,000 people; the Jonestown killings in Guyana occurred on November 18, 1978, with a total death toll of 918[10](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?day=16&month=9). U.S. Representative Leo Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip by members of the [Peoples Temple](https://www.edgepedia.org/peoples-temple); the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide among the cult members[7](https://apnews.com/article/f8e35e8cb6b16fdc57f1f655794eb069). The Guardian puts the total at 918 dead[4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past), while HISTORY.com gives a final death toll of 909, a third of those who perished being children[5](https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1978). [Jim Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-jones), the Christian preacher who led the community, is cataloged by Who2 as having led 908 followers to their deaths[2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/).
## Science, arts, and entertainment
Beyond Gödel, the year's deaths reached across the arts and sciences. The anthropologist Margaret Mead, author of *Coming of Age in Samoa*, died in 1978, as did Golda Meir, the first female prime minister of Israel; the aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt, creator of Nazi Germany's Bf-109; the illustrator Norman Rockwell, cover artist for *The Saturday Evening Post*; and the actor Gig Young, an Oscar winner for *They Shoot Horses, Don't They?*[2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/).
In music, the Guardian's year-in-review names Keith Moon and Jacques Brel among those the musical world said goodbye to[4](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past), and the jazz trumpeter and composer Don Ellis, who wrote the score for the 1973 film *The French Connection*, died at age 44[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm). In sport, the English cricketer Harold Gimblett, who batted in three Tests for England, died by suicide on March 30[8](https://inthe70s.com/generated/obit1978.shtml).
## How the year is recorded
Reference works compile 1978's deaths in different ways. Chronologies such as Ken Polsson's list deaths day by day with ages and fields of notability[3](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm); the scientific journal *Nature* published 51 obituaries for people who died in 1978, including the chemist R. G. W. Norrish (1897–1978) and the mathematician M. V. Keldysh[9](https://www.nature.com/nature/articles?type=obituary&year=1978); and general databases such as Who2 and the Deaths Archive organize the year by celebrity status or total count[2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/) • [1](https://thedeathsarchive.com/).
## References
1. [The Deaths Archive — Notable Deaths Throughout History](https://thedeathsarchive.com/)
2. [Famous People Who Died in 1978, Who2](https://www.who2.com/died-in/1978/)
3. [Chronology of Notable Deaths (1978), Ken Polsson](https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/death/dead1978.htm)
4. [Key events of 1978, The Guardian (2008)](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/29/nationalarchives-past)
5. [1978 Archives, HISTORY](https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1978)
6. [Muertes de Famosos para Año 1978, Hoy en la Historia](https://www.hoyenlahistoria.com/muertes/fecha/1978)
7. [Today in History: November 18, more than 900 die at Jonestown, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/f8e35e8cb6b16fdc57f1f655794eb069)
8. [Obituaries of the Seventies, 1978, inthe70s.com](https://inthe70s.com/generated/obit1978.shtml)
9. [Obituaries in 1978, Nature](https://www.nature.com/nature/articles?type=obituary&year=1978)
10. [Today in Earthquake History](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?day=16&month=9)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › General historical chronologies › Births and deaths by year (annals of persons)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license