Deaths on August 31

John Wrathall

Died on August 31, 1978

John Wrathall, Rhodesian accountant and politician, 2nd President of Rhodesia (b. 1913)

John James Wrathall, GCLM, ID (28 August 1913 – 31 August 1978), was a Rhodesian politician. He was the last white President of Rhodesia (later holders of the post were only acting as such). He formerly worked as a chartered accountant.

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Events on 1978

11 Feb

Aristotle
Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
27 Apr

Watergate scandal
Former United States President Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
25 Jul

In vitro fertilisation
Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
22 Oct

Pope John Paul II
Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II.
18 Nov

Jim Jones
In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.

Deaths on August 31

John Wrathall

Died on August 31, 1978

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1978

Aristotle

Watergate scandal

In vitro fertilisation

Pope John Paul II

Jim Jones