The following events occurred in February 1978:
February 1, 1978 (Wednesday) Film director Roman Polanski skipped bail in the United States and fled to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.
February 2, 1978 (Thursday) Kaiser Matanzima, Prime Minister of the semi-independent South African bantustan of Transkei, announced that he would break diplomatic relations with South Africa and ordered all members of the South African Defence Force to leave the country by March 31. In that Transkei was not recognized by any of the other nations of the world, the diplomatic rift lasted only temporarily. In the Central African Republic, Henri Maïdou, the Minister of Education, Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture, charged with reforming the nation's school system, announced that school uniforms would be required for all Central African schoolchildren by October 1, to be purchased at the students' expense from Compagnie industrielle ouanguienne des textiles, a textile manufacturer owned by the family of Emperor Bokassa the First. When a group of high school students protested having to buy the uniforms, Bokassa would order the deaths of more than 100 of them starting on April 17, 1979. The Peter Maxwell Davies composition, Symphony No. 1, was given its first performance, making its debut at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle. The Washington Star, the financially-ailing evening newspaper for the U.S. capital city, became a subsidiary of magazine company Time Inc. Born: Nelson Chamisa, Zimbabwean politician who was the runner-up in the 2018 presidential election; in Fort Victoria, Rhodesia Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer with 45 caps for the Scotland national team; in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
February 3, 1978 (Friday) The United States ordered Vietnam's Ambassador to the United States, Dinh Ba Thi, to leave the country after allegations that he was involved in espionage, following the arrest of David Truong. The U.S. had reserved the right to expel foreign diplomats as part of the agreement for the UN General Assembly to have a permanent location in New York City. Vietnam's UN office said that the Ambassador would not leave, stating that the chargers were "completely fabricated" and "detrimental" and "totally fabricated," and added, "For these reasons, Ambassador Dinh Ba Thi will continue to carry out normally his duties as the representative of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." Vietnam's government recalled Ambassador Thi two days later, giving the reason as "the U.S. government is trying to disturb activities of the Vietnamese ambassador". Voting was held in the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein for all 15 seats of its parliament, the Landtag. The Vaterländische Union (VU) captured a seat held by the ruling Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei (FBP), gaining an 8 to 7 majority and allowing Deputy Prime Minister Hans Brunhart of the VU to form a government as the nation's new prime minister, succeeding Walter Kieber on April 26. At the same time, Kieber succeeded Brunhart as the Deputy Premier. Serial killer Velma Barfield committed her sixth and last murder as her boyfriend, Rowland Taylor, died from arsenic poisoning. An autopsy revealed the cause, and an exhumation of Velma's late husband Jennings Barfield showed traces of arsenic as well. Velma Barfield would be executed on November 2, 1984. The official Soviet news agency TASS entered the world of cryptozoology and announced in the Communist nation's press that scientists had documented reports from Siberia of "Chuchunaa", a tall human-like creature that "feeds on raw meat, wears a reindeer skin and shrieks a lot" and that was said "to have frightened reindeer breeders, hunters, and mushroom and berry collectors." Born: Amal Alamuddin Clooney, Lebanese-born British lawyer and barrister; in Beirut Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer with 60 caps for the national team; in Tàrrega Fátima Flórez, Argentine actress and comedian; in Olivos, Buenos Aires Province
February 4, 1978 (Saturday) J. R. Jayewardene became the second President of Sri Lanka, succeeding William Gopallawa. Jayewardene had been Prime Minister since July 23, 1977, and guided the transition of Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, to a presidential system of government. Born: Danna Garcia, German-born Colombian telenovela actress; in West Berlin Died: Bergen Evans, 73, American linguistic authority at Northwestern University, author of A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage and The Natural History of Nonsense, former TV host known for the shows The Last Word and Down You Go
February 5, 1978 (Sunday) The Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 struck the New England region and the New York metropolitan area, killing about 100 people, and causing over US$520 million in damage. Elections for President and for the legislature were held in the Central American nation of Costa Rica. Rodrigo Carazo Odio of the new Coalición Unidad (CU) defeated Luis Alberto Monge of the long-time ruling Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN). The CU, composed of four right-wing opposition parties also ended the PLN's plurality in the 57-seat Legislative Assembly, with a 27 to 25 lead over the PLN. Djiboutian Foreign Minister Abdallah Mohamed Kamil took office as the prime minister of Djibouti, succeeding Ahmed Dini Ahmed. Kamil was the third prime minister of the northeast African nation, which had been independent for slightly more than six months. Born: Samuel Sánchez, Spanish professional bicyclist and 2008 Olympic gold medalist; in Oviedo
February 6, 1978 (Monday) The Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977 (SEOC), the first U.S. federal law criminalizing the production and sale of child pornography, was signed into law by U.S. President Jimmy Carter after passing unanimously in both the U.S. Senate (401 to 0) and the U.S. House of Representatives (by voice vote, with none opposed). The Prime Minister of Burma (now Myanmar), General Ne Win, began Operation Nagamin, beginning mass arrests of Muslim minorities in the village of Sakkipara and the surrounding Arakan state. Over the next three months, more than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims would flee to Bangladesh. Muriel Buck Humphrey, widow of Hubert Humphrey, was sworn into office to finish out the remainder of his term as U.S. Senator for Minnesota. Humphrey had died of cancer on January 13. The government of Chad severed all diplomatic relations with Libya in the wake of Libya's direct assistance of Chadian rebels and brought the issue of Libyan involvement before the United Nations Security Council. Relations were restored 18 days later at an international peace conference. Born: Olena Zelenska (née Olena Kiyashko), Ukrainian screenwriter and First Lady of Ukraine as wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union Yael Naim, French-born Israeli singer; in Paris
February 7, 1978 (Tuesday) Cornelius "Connie" Mulder, South Africa's Minister of Bantu Administration and Development, and Bantu Education, said in a speech to the National Assembly that after the completion of resettlement of South Africa's black residents to nine bantustans, referred to as "homelands", no black Africans would be allowed to hold South African citizenship. The paramount chief of the Zulu people, Gatsha Buthelezi, declared that the black majority would not cooperate, commenting "If it is the policy of the ruling National Party ot complete black dispossession by making us foreigners, it would be much better to do this by force, as has always been the case, ratherthan to expect us to cooperate in its plans." The longest debate in United States Senate history began when discussion began on whether or not to ratify the Panama Canal Treaty signed in 1977. The sessions were the first for the full Senate (as opposed to committee and subcommittee hearings) to be broadcast and were transmitted on radio because the chamber was unprepared for the setting up of television cameras. The debate would last for more than two months before closing on April 18. The Italian Communist Party (PCI) cleared the way for a new government of ministers to be formed by Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti as PCI leader Enrico Berlinguer announced that it would no longer seek to be part of Andreotti's cabinet in a coalition government. In the 1976 elections, the Communists had won 229 of the 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Andreotti's Christian Democrats had won 262, both short of the 316 seats required for a majority. Andreotti's cabinet had remained intact for 17 months as the leftist parties abstained on votes of no confidence. Born: Ashton Kutcher, American TV and film actor known for That '70s Show and Dude, Where's My Car?; in Cedar Rapids, Iowa"Births— Mercy", "Statistics", The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), February 8, 1978, p.2A ("Feb. 7... Mr. and Mrs. Larry Kutcher, 824 Daniels St. NE, twin sons") Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Nigerian film actress, singer and philanthropist; in Lagos State Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian footballer with 83 caps for the Belgium national team; in Chimay Died: Anil Kumar Gain, 59, Indian mathematician and statistician Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, 78, Pakistani poet known for creating the children's character Tot Batot
February 8, 1978 (Wednesday) The popular musical Ain't Misbehavin', a tribute to African-American jazz artist Thomas "Fats" Waller, was given its first performance, premiering at the Manhattan Theatre Club cabaret in New York City before opening on Broadway on May 9. In a yes-or-no election in Syria, voters approved the re-election of President Hafez al-Assad to another 7-year term of office. According to the government, only 4,798 out of 3,980,527 voters chose to vote against Assad, or slightly more than one-tenth of one percent. The Syrian government reported a 97% turnout of the 4.1 million registered voters. The United States Senate allowed regular broadcasting of its proceedings on the radio for the first time, permitting coverage of speeches on whether to ratify the Panama Canal Treaty.
February 9, 1978 (Thursday) Don Jamieson, Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs, ordered 11 officials of the Soviet Union to leave the North American nation. Jamieson told the House of Commons that the move came after the Soviets had attempted to recruit a top official of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a spy. Two other Soviet officials, who were away from Canada, would not be allowed to return. William H. Webster, a U.S. federal appeals court judge, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Webster was sworn into office on February 23. The Budd Company unveiled the first self-propelled railcar, the SPV-2000, at a conference in Philadelphia. Serial killer Ted Bundy killed his final victim, a 12-year-old girl in Lake City, Florida, after luring her into his van outside of her junior high school. He discarded her body, which would not be found until April 7, at Suwanee River State Park, west of Lake City."FHP finds Kimberly Diane Leach", The History of the Florida Highway Patrol, 1972-1982 Plans fell through for the sale of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's to a multimillionaire who intended to move the club to Denver in time for the 1978 season. Marvin Davis had offered Charlie O. Finley $12.5 million for the team in December, but the A's had 10 years remaining on their lease with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The U.S. television series James at 15, starring Lance Kerwin, received its highest ratings ever in the first TV episode to deal with the subject of a teenager's loss of virginity. In that James's first sexual encounter came on his 16th birthday, the program was re-titled James at 16. The program ran for only nine more episodes before being canceled.