Date in year · 1978 · The 1970s

March 11, 1978

On March 11, 1978, coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani. The year's #1 song was "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb. Antonio de Nigris, Mirka Federer, Anamaria Marinca would arrive in the same year.

Events

1

Births

2

Deaths

1

Year

1978

1970s

Around 1978

The year in brief

1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1978th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 978th year of the 2nd millennium, the 78th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1970s decade.

Read the full year of 1978 →

What happened

On March 11, 1978

  1. 1978 Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.

    1978 hijacking of an Israeli bus by Palestinian militants near Tel Aviv

    The coastal road massacre occurred on 11 March 1978, when Palestinian militants hijacked a bus on the Coastal Highway of Israel and murdered its occupants; 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were killed as a result of the attack while 76 more were wounded. The attack was planned by the influential Palestinian militant leader Khalil al-Wazir and carried out by Fatah, a Palestinian nationalist party co-founded by al-Wazir and Yasser Arafat in 1959. The initial plan of the militants was to seize a luxury hotel in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and take tourists and foreign ambassadors hostage to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

Arrivals

Born on March 11, 1978

Didier Drogba 1978– Ivorian footballer (born 1978)
Albert Luque 1978– Spanish retired footballer (born 1978)

Farewells

Died on March 11, 1978

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1978

The class of 1978

Others born in 1978

Antonio de Nigris 1978– Mexican footballer (died 2009)
Mirka Federer 1978– Slovak-Swiss tennis player
Anamaria Marinca 1978– Romanian-English actress
Etan Thomas 1978– American basketball player
Carles Puyol 1978– Spanish footballer
Roland Lessing 1978– Estonian biathlete

Step through

Nearby

Keep going

More to explore