Here are some major events and highlights of 1978:

• January 1: The World Health Organization announces that smallpox had been eradicated.
• January 25: The first computer bulletin board system (BBS) was created in Chicago.
• June 25-July 2: The first Camp David Summit was held between President Jimmy Carter and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
• July 26: Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born in England.
• August 26: The Jonestown massacre occurred in Guyana, where 918 members of the People's Temple died from mass murder-suicide.
• December 20: The first feature-length animated film from Disney Studios, “The Rescuers,” was released.
• In sports, the Super Bowl XII was played between the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos, with the Cowboys winning 27-10.
• The New York Yankees won the World Series, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.
• In music, the album "Saturday Night Fever" by Bee Gees was released, becoming one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.
• The first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in England
• The first landing on an asteroid, the 21 Lutetia, by the European Space Agency's probe
• The Charlie Chaplin archives, comprising of thousands of reels of film, was sold to an American film company
• The US passed the Civil Service Reform Act, aimed at improving the federal personnel system
• The Costa Rican Civil War broke out, leading to the end of 44 years of authoritarian rule.