The Movie Timeline - be obsessive, be very obsessive


Movie history events from 1978

Gambling legalised in Atlantic City. (Atlantic City) (Atlantic City)

Randy Daytona's mom dies. (Balls of Fury)

Kenneth J Kitsom is born. (Reno, Nevada) (The Bourne Legacy)

Jack Twist meets lover-to-be, Randall Malone. (Childress, Texas.) (Brokeback Mountain)

Helen Sharp takes her fiance, Dr Ernest Menville, to see Madeline Ashton perform; Madeline ends up stealing him away from her. (Broadway) (Death Becomes Her)

Debbie does Dallas. (Dallas, Texas) (Debbie Does Dallas)

Local and county police engage in a large gun battle with the murderous Firefly family. (Texas) (The Devil's Rejects)

Donnie Brasco. (Donnie Brasco)

A young Eskimo boy (Poochook) accidentally gets hit by a mysterious ray during a secret British experiment at the North Pole and finds that he is now electrified. (North Pole) (Electric Eskimo)

Lorna does not think having sex with men without having a relationship will stop her from doing anything. (New York City) (Friends with Benefits)

Michael Corleone's investiture. (New York) (The Godfather: Part III)

Five childhood friends win their junior high basketball championship. During the celebration, their coach "Buzzer" encourages them to live their lives in a similar way to how they played the game. (New England) (Grown Ups)

The year on a banner at Stanton High. (Connecticut) (Grown Ups 2)

Jill Metzner is born. (Snowmonton) (Jack Frost)

Two highschool sweethearts go missing. Their bodies were never found. We later find out that the Creepers took them. (USA) (Jeepers Creepers)

Maurice Pitka starts training under Guru Tugginmypudha to become a love guru. (India) (The Love Guru)

Taxi begins on US TV. (Man on the Moon)

FBI agent and criminal profiler Will Graham comes out of retirement to hunt an elusive serial killer, enlisting the help of Hannibal Lecktor. (Manhunter)

Django leaves the New Age movement. (United States) (The Men Who Stare at Goats)

Bill James makes a mathematical platform for baseball. (Moneyball)

Tom's father tells him via radio that he is in New Guinea. (New York City) (Mr. Popper's Penguins)

Tom's father tells him via radio that he is in New Guinea. (New York City) (Mr. Popper's Penguins)

Kathy H, Tommy D and Ruth study at Hailsham, a school/institution they are not allowed to leave. (Hailsham School, UK) (Never Let Me Go)

Another zombie outbreak takes place. (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) (Night of the Living Dead 3D)

Apollo Creed thinks about having another boxing match with Rocky in a gym. (Rocky III)

Jim Court tries taking his daughter Diane on a flight to Los Angeles. She screams and they are not allowed to fly. Diane's scream is later recorded for commercials. (Seattle, Washington) (Say Anything...)

Steven Orth is born. (Woodsboro, CA) (Scream)

Survivors of the Alliance/NEB war face a newly self-evolved AI that wishes to end human existence. (Screamers)

A car salesman does not help Louis Dainard with financing. (Lillian, Ohio) (Super 8)

Superman appears for the first time. (Metropolis) (Superman)

A meteorite containing Kryptonite found in a mine in Ethiopia. It's named 'Addis Ababa L9 Pallasite Meteorite'. (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) (Superman Returns)

Rick Masters is in prison for armed robbery. (Los Angeles, California) (To Live and Die in LA)

Thomas "Mickey" Macray begins serving the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. (Boston, Massachusetts) (The Town)

1978 Gyoza truck later used by Pizza Planet and driven by toys is made. (Toy Story 2)

3801 La Salle Ave is built. (Los Angeles, California) (We Bought a Zoo)

January: The funeral of Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams. (London) (Chariots of Fire)

January: Marjane Satrapi decides to become a prophet. The Iranian Revolution begins. (Teheran, Iran) (Persepolis)

Wednesday 4th January: Capricorn One appears to take off for its mission to Mars - in fact the astronauts are secretly escorted to a studio in the desert. (Capricorn One)

Sunday 8th January: Mary Mattock is evaluated after she kills her family with a hatchet. (Long Island, New York) (Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet)

Monday 9th January: Harvey Milk and others are inaugurated to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

Monday 23rd January: Joanna Kramer officially takes custody of her son Billy, but leaves him with his father, Ted. (Kramer vs Kramer)

Tuesday 14th February: Pi arrives in his lifeboat. (Mexico) (Life of Pi)

Sunday 19th February: Oika Shipping Company writes an insurance report concerning the sinking of the Tsimtsum after Pi tells a couple of representatives two versions of his story. (Life of Pi)

March: Maya is born. (Highlands, New Jersey) (Jersey Girl)

Thursday 30th March: Lisbeth Salander is born. (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)

Saturday 1st April: Fred and George Weasley are born. (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

Wednesday 12th April: Floyd Lawton, who will later be known as Deadshot, is born. (Gotham, New Jersey) (Suicide Squad)

Thursday 20th April: Philippe Cadieux is born. (Dillmont, New York) (Source Code)

Sunday 30th April: Lisbeth Salander is born. (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest)

May: A group of rabbits, led by Hazel and Fiver, leave Sandleford Warren and establish a new warren at Watership Down. (Hampshire, UK) (Watership Down)

Monday 8th May: David Berkowitz pleads guilty for the Moskowitz and Violante slayings and sentenced to 365 years prison. (Summer of Sam)

Tuesday 9th May: The body of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is found, riddled by bullets, in the back of a car. (Rome, Italy) (Year of the Gun)

Sunday 14th May: Capricorn One seems to land on Mars - in fact it's in a studio in the desert. (Capricorn One)

Thursday 18th May: Sheriff John Quincey Wydell along with local authorities in Ruggsville County leads a "search and destroy" mission on a decaying farmhouse. (Texas) (The Devil's Rejects)

Friday 19th May: Claire Keesey is born. (Boston, Massachusetts) (The Town)

Monday 22nd May: A drunk Dan White confronts Harvey Milk at his 48th birthday party. Milk tells White that the Briggs Initiative, known as Prop 6, is not about people's jobs, but people's lives. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

Friday 16th June: Jay Moriarty is born. (Georgia) (Chasing Mavericks)

Sunday 25th June: San Francisco gay rights parade. Despite assassination threats, Harvey Milk speaks to the crowd and urges those in the closet to come out. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

Thursday 29th June: Bob Crane is murdered. (Scottsdale, Arizona) (Auto Focus)

Thursday 29th June: Jennifer Hill signs over the deed to her house to Edward Bloom, ensuring that Edward can buy the town of Spectre part and parcel. (Spectre, Alabama) (Big Fish)

Tuesday 4th July: David Scott Freeman falls from a tree, and seemingly jumps through time. (Flight of the Navigator)

Tuesday 18th July: Dick Eklund vs. Sugar Ray Leonard at the Hynes Auditiorium (Boston, Massachusetts) (The Fighter)

Sunday 6th August: Pope Paul VI dies. (Castel Gandolfo, Italy) (The Godfather: Part III)

September: Skywalker Ranch is assembled. (Marin County, California) (Fanboys)

Tuesday 12th September: Arnie Cunningham becomes the new owner of the car known as Christine. (Rockbridge, CA) (Christine)

Tuesday 19th September: Capricorn One explodes on re-entry, meaning the astronauts pretending to be inside while actually in a studio several miles away suddenly become targets. (Capricorn One)

Saturday 23rd September: Etheline Tenenbaum writes a check for $187.00 made out to "Cash" for her son Chas. (The Royal Tenenbaums)

Thursday 28th September: Pope John Paul I dies. (Vatican City) (The Godfather: Part III)

October: Mathematician John Nash begins tutoring students in the Princeton library. (Princeton University) (A Beautiful Mind)

Tuesday 10th October: Sarah Fielding is born. (Colorado) (Timecop)

Friday 13th October: KISS plays concert at Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI. (Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI) (Detroit Rock City)

Friday 13th October: Albert Grape commits suicide by hanging himself in his basement. (Endora, Iowa) (What's Eating Gilbert Grape)

Monday 30th October: Michael Myers escapes. (Smith's Grove, Illinois) (Halloween)

Tuesday 31st October: Michael Myers murders a-plenty, and may or may not die himself. (Haddonfield, Illinois) (Halloween)

Tuesday 31st October: Michael Myers kills more people then gets killed by Dr. Loomis (Haddonfield, Illinois) (Halloween II)

Tuesday 31st October: Darby Crash and The Germs are forcibly ejected from the Roosevelt Hotel after Crash intentionally smashes a ceiling mirror as part of their performance. During the subsequent melee, Crash attempts to incite the agitated crowd to riot, yelling: "We can burn this place to the ground!" (Hollywood, California) (What We Do Is Secret)

November: David Aames turns eleven. (New York City, New York) (Vanilla Sky)

Wednesday 1st November: A newspaper article details Michael Myers' killing spree the previous night. (Haddonfield, Illinois) (Halloween: H20)

Tuesday 7th November: The Briggs Initiative, also known as Proposition 6, is defeated. (California) (Milk)

Friday 10th November: Dan White resigns his position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

Tuesday 14th November: Dan White reverses his resignation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

Saturday 18th November: 900 members of the People's Temple commit mass suicide on the orders of Jim Jones, drinking poisoned punch. Jim Jones is found shot dead having preached his last words to a tape recorder. (Jonestown, Guyana) (Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple)

Saturday 18th November: Harvey Milk begins recording his will. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

Thursday 23rd November: Thanksgiving: Arnie visits Dennis in hospital, after Moochy is killed by the car Christine. (Christine)

Monday 27th November: Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White. (San Francisco, California) (Milk)

December: A license plate expires. (Phantasm)

Monday 18th December: Tommy DeSimone kills Parnell "Stacks" Edwards. (Queens, New York) (Goodfellas)

Sunday 31st December: Dennis and Leigh decide to destroy the car Christine. (Christine)


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