Birthday newspaper

Your Front Page: 18 December 1978

A personalised newspaper front page from the day you were born, printed in the style of your birth year.

Enter your date of birth

Your personalised birthday front page

Printed in the style of your birth year, a keepsake to frame, print or share.

Optional. Your birthplace names the masthead; it stays on this device.

The World Birthday Chronicle

Monday, 18th December 1978Tabloid era

Today's news · 1978

Chinese economic reform

People's Republic of China. Reform and opening-up, also known as the Chinese economic reform or Chinese Economic Miracle or Chinese Growth Miracle, refers to a variety of economic reforms in the People's Republic of China that began in the late 20th century, after Mao Zedong's death in 1976.

These transformative policies shifted China towards a market-oriented economy, lifting millions out of poverty and turning the nation into a global economic power.

Famous birthdays: born on this date

Katie Holmes

Born 1978. American actress who rose to fame in the drama Dawson's Creek

Joseph Stalin

Born 1878. Soviet dictator from the 1920s until 1953 who led the USSR through the Second World War and ruled through purges and labour camps

Steven Spielberg

Born 1946. American film director of Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park and Schindler's List, the most commercially successful director in history

Yet to come on this date

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

1979. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly.

Tunisian revolution

2010. The Tunisian revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution and Tunisian Revolution of Dignity, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance.

2022 FIFA World Cup Final

2022. The final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 22nd edition of FIFA's competition for men's national football teams, was played at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, on 18 December 2022, and was contested by Argentina and defending champions France.

Your day in numbers

Star sign

Sagittarius

Fire sign, ruled by Jupiter

Birthstone

Turquoise

The birthstone for December

UK Number 1 single

“Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord”

by Boney M.

World population

About 4.3 billion

People on Earth in 1978

The cost of living in Britain, 1978

Average house

£18,600

Typical UK home

Pint of beer

31p

In a UK pub

Loaf of bread

30p

Large white loaf

Average salary

£4,800

UK full-time, per year

Approximate UK averages at the time, in the money of the day.

How your birthday newspaper is made

Enter your date of birth and we will print a one-off newspaper front page for the day you were born. The headline is a real historical event from our archive, chosen from your exact birth date where we have one, then from the same week, then from the same date in an earlier year. The page also shows famous people born on your birthday, your star sign and birthstone, the UK number one single, the world population and the cost of living in Britain at the time.

  • The layout, typefaces and colours follow the newspaper style of your birth decade: dense broadsheets before 1940, classic bold headlines in the 1940s and 1950s, tabloid energy in the 1960s and 1970s, colour accents in the 1980s and 1990s, and clean full-colour pages from 2000 onwards.
  • Headlines and summaries come from our archive of historical events, built from Wikidata and reviewed by our editorial team. When a famous person linked to the story has a profile on our site, their Wikimedia Commons portrait appears with the photographer's credit; otherwise you see an original woodcut or halftone illustration.
  • Add your town or country of birth to name the masthead, for example The Manchester Birthday Chronicle. Your birthplace is stored only on your device.
  • Every front page has its own link, so you can send it to friends and family, and you can download it as a high-resolution image to print or frame.

Questions people ask

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a newspaper front page from the day I was born?
Enter your day, month and year of birth above and press the button. Your personalised front page appears instantly, with its own link you can share and a download button for a print-quality image.
Are the headlines real?
Yes. Every headline is a real historical event from our archive. If nothing in our archive happened on your exact birth date, we use an event from the same week, or the most recent event on the same date in an earlier year, and the label above the headline says which.
Why does my front page look different from a friend's?
The design changes with the decade you were born in, from ornate pre-war broadsheets to modern full-colour layouts, so each page looks like a newspaper from its own era.
Is the birthday newspaper free?
Yes. Creating, sharing and downloading your personalised birthday front page costs nothing.

Further reading

Reviewed by the Who Shares My Birthday editorial team.

Last reviewed: October 2026