On this day

October 30, 1978

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of October 25, 1978, covering October 30, 1978.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Grease by Soundtrack

    Grease

    Soundtrack

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    24
  2. 2
    Album cover for Who Are You by The Who

    Who Are You

    The Who

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    8
  3. 3
    Album cover for Living In The U.S.A. by Linda Ronstadt

    Living In The U.S.A.

    Linda Ronstadt

    Last week
    4
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    4
  4. 4
    Album cover for Don't Look Back by Boston

    Don't Look Back

    Boston

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    9
  5. 5
    Album cover for Live And More by Donna Summer

    Live And More

    Donna Summer

    Last week
    6
    Peak
    5
    Weeks
    7

Notable Births

1978Martin Dossett, American football player[†]

Martin William Dossett is a former NFL wide receiver who signed with the Green Bay Packers in 2003. He played college football & ran track at Baylor University. As of January 2025, his son, Mason, is a redshirt wide receiver at Baylor. Dossett has played in professional leagues such as the NIFL, NFL Europe and AF2 before playing in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the Corpus Christi Hammerheads of the Intense Football League.

1978Stephanie Izard, American chef[†]

Stephanie Izard is an American chef and television personality best known as the first female chef to win Bravo's Top Chef, taking the title during its fourth season. She is the co-owner and executive chef of three award-winning Chicago restaurants, Girl and the Goat, Little Goat, and Duck Duck Goat, and opened her first restaurant, Scylla as chef-owner at the age of 27. Izard received a James Beard Foundation Award for "Best Chef: Great Lakes" in 2013 for her work at Girl and the Goat. She has made a number of appearances on Top Chef since her win, both as a guest judge on subsequent seasons and as a participant in Top Chef Duels. In 2017, Izard competed in the Food Network series Iron Chef Gauntlet, where she overall defeated chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Symon, and Masaharu Morimoto to obtain the title of Iron Chef.

Matthew Morrison

1978Matthew Morrison, American singer-songwriter and actor[†]

Matthew James Morrison is an American actor, dancer, and singer, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show Glee (2009–2015).

Dan Poulter

1978Dan Poulter, English physician and politician[†]

Daniel Leonard James Poulter is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich from 2010 to 2024. Poulter is a psychiatrist, and served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Health between September 2012 and May 2015. Initially elected as a Conservative, he defected to Labour in April 2024.

1978Derren Witcombe, New Zealand rugby player and cricketer[†]

Derren John Charles Witcombe is an Australian-born New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. As a player, he played at hooker. He was educated at Pompallier Catholic College.

Historical Context for October 30, 1978

In 1978, the world population was approximately 4,292,097,502 people[†]