Date in year · 1978 · The 1970s

August 17, 1978

On August 17, 1978, double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. 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 August 17, 1978

  1. 1978 Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

    First balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean

    Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed on 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours and 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

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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