Date in year · 1978 · The 1970s

April 14, 1978

On April 14, 1978, tbilisi demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language. The year's #1 song was "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb. Antonio de Nigris, Mirka Federer, Anamaria Marinca would arrive in the same year.

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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.

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What happened

On April 14, 1978

  1. 1978 Tbilisi demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.

    Protests in Tbilisi, Georgia

    On 14 April 1978, demonstrations in Tbilisi, capital of the Georgian SSR, took place in response to an attempt by the Soviet government to change the constitutional status of languages in Georgia. After a new Soviet Constitution was adopted in October 1977, the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR considered a draft constitution in which, in contrast to the Constitution of 1936, Georgian was no longer declared to be the sole state language. A series of indoor and outdoor actions of protest ensued and implied with near-certainty there would be a clash between several thousands of demonstrators and the Soviet government, but Georgian Communist Party chief Eduard Shevardnadze negotiated with the central authorities in Moscow and managed to obtain permission to retain the previous status of the Georgian language.

Arrivals

Born on April 14, 1978

Roland Lessing 1978– Estonian biathlete (born 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

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