Four decades ago,
the original Star Wars movie was released in theaters, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the 40th president of the United States, the Trans-Alaska pipeline pumped its first barrels of oil, the cold war was was still going on and much more...
Take a brief look 40 years ago.
- In the parliamentary elections in New Zealand, the conservative national party of Prime Minister Robert Muldoon has suffered losses, but remains the strongest party.
- Despite the intensified measures against terrorism adopted by the Spanish Government on 9 November 1978, the wave of terrorism in the Basque Country does not stop. A 55-year-old taxi driver is being murdered near the Basque city of Bilbao.
- The 43-year-old American Elaine Esposito dies after a 37-year coma in Holiday (Florida). As a 6-year-old girl she was no longer anesthetized after an appendectomy.