Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby," was born in 1978, in Manchester, England. Gynecologist Patrick Steptoe and physiologist Robert Edwards, from Cambridge University, were the scientists responsible for the first successful case of human in vitro fertilization. In 1999, when Louise Brown was 21 years old, 300,000 women worldwide had already conceived through in vitro fertilization, according to the BBC. In 2006, the number of babies conceived through similar techniques was over 3,000,000.
Pope John Paul, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on 29 September after only 33 days of papal reign. Two weeks later, the conclave elected the first Polish pope, Karol Wojtyla, who was called John Paul II. He was the head of the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, until his death in April 2005. According to the BBC, John Paul II was a great moral figure and a powerful intellectual, who left a mark on the world as well as on his church.
Jim Jones was the founder of the People's Temple, a religious sect based in San Francisco. In 1978, Jones and about 1,000 followers moved to Guyana to establish the community of Jonestown. However, when the experiment deteriorated, Jones ordered his followers to drink poisoned Kool Aid. On November 18 1978, 918 people died at Jonestown.Those refusing to follow Jones's orders were executed, but about 80 people survived. The tragic event sent an alert to the world about the dangers of cult brainwashing.
France started the construction of the Panama Canal in 1880, but in 1904 the United States took over it. Although it was an important passageway during the First and Second World Wars, the canal could not provide passage for larger US vessels from the 1950s onwards. Some politicians believed that the canal was still important for the United State's defense strategy, but President Jimmy Carter was concerned that US control of the canal was causing anti-American sentiments in Panama and other Latin American countries. In April 1978, the US Senate gave up control of the canal to Panama.