1978

The otter becomes a protected species, ending hunting of it.
A North Sea storm surge ruins four piers in the UK: Herne Bay, Margate, Hunstanton and Skegness.
Early May Bank Holiday observed for the first time.
Freddie Laker is knighted.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy first broadcast by BBC Radio 4.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita opens at the Prince Edward Theatre in London.
The BBC is hit by a series of strikes. From Thursday 21 December, BBC One and BBC Two television are taken off air, as the BBC members of the ABS union strike over pay. On 22 December, the ABS union calls its radio members out on strike, which leads to the merging of BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 into one national radio network, which from 4.00pm that day provides a management-run schedule of news and music. With the strike called so close to Christmas, the BBC does not want their festive television programming to be interrupted (Bill Cotton, the controller of BBC One, has prepared two Christmas schedules for BBC One, one if there is no strike, and one filled with repeats and films if there is), and so the BBC and ABS go to the government’s conciliation service ACAS, and a deal is reached by 10.00pm on 22 December, with the unions getting a 15% pay rise. BBC One and Two return to normal service by lunchtime on Saturday 23 December, with all BBC radio stations resuming normal programming at breakfast time of the same day.

Kate Bush became the first female solo artist to reach number one in the UK charts with a self-written song (“Wuthering Heights”).
Def Leppard’s permanent drummer Rick Allen joined the band at the age of 15.
The Bee Gees’ Saturday Night Fever became the biggest-selling album of all time (until overtaken in 1983).

Artist	Title
Althia & Donna	Up Town Top Ranking
Brotherhood Of Man	Figaro
Abba	Take A Chance On Me
Kate Bush	Wuthering Heights
Brian & Michael	Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats & Dogs
The Bee Gees	Night Fever
Boney M	Rivers Of Babylon
John Travolta & Olivia Netwon-John	You’re The One That I Want
The Commodores	Three Times A Lady
10cc	Dreadlock Holiday
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	Summer Nights
The Boomtown Rats	Rat Trap
Rod Stewart	Do Ya Think I’m Sexy
Boney M	Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord

Gordon McQueen, 25-year-old Scotland central defender, becomes Britain’s first £500,000 footballer in a transfer from Leeds United to Manchester United.
Liverpool F.C. retain the European Cup with a 1–0 win over Club Brugge K.V., the Belgian champions, at Wembley Stadium.
Cricketer Ian Botham becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.

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